the next morning her stomach was grumbling from hunger, she couldn't remember the last meal she had. The chicken she'd had yesterday had been more than she was used to and had only served to open up her stomach. Though she was hungry her stomach ached as if it could not possibly digest anymore food than it was.

Rolling over to face khan's side of the bed she heaved a sigh of relief when she realised he wasn't there, she was glad she did not have to deal with his overbearing personality so early on in the morning, especially when her stomach was gnawing at her.

Climbing out of the bed she trudged towards the bathroom, last night she had been too angry and humiliated to fully take in the size and decor of the room which was really big considering it managed to fit in a large bed and two leather sofas. There was a large book shelf towards the door, a chest of draws and plenty of room to pace around. The maroon walls made the room look permanently shrouded in night and were bare from any any trinkets or little Nick-Knack's making the room look cold and desolate despite the large fire place. The room definitely fit khan's personality that was for sure, cold and gloomy.

Making her way into the adjoining bathroom, Neema conceded that she could get used to this life as long as the bath stayed. It had been years since she last had a bath by herself because yesterdays ordeal did not count. Every opportunity she'd had to wash herself in the underground villages had been in the communal showers where she spent most of her time coupon cleaning her siblings and making sure no soap got in their eyes. By the time it was her time to shower she had a minute or two at the maximum. She wasn't ungrateful because at least she got to clean herself, some people were worse off than her, she just wasn't sure if she could ever go back to that after soaking in Khan's bath. Having a large bath at her disposal was a pleasant change.

She could imagine spending most of her days in this very tub, it was like a small lake, well maybe not that big but the size of it definitely dwarfed Neema. She could probably swim laps in the ginormous bath, the jets were the only reason as to why she wasn't testing out her theory and the fact that she did not know how to swim. The bubbles they created were helping to soothe all her aches and pains.

Thinking of pains, Neema realised that her back had stopped hurting her a little after the mating took place. Twisting her arm around her back she felt the expanse of her skin, where there should have been open flesh wounds, she felt faint lines on her back. The skin was rough and slightly scabbed over and touching them caused little pin pricks to tremor through her spine but it was a pleasant change from the fire she felt. It was like the healing process had fast forwarded a couple of weeks, her back would probably be scarred badly but at least she didn't have to go through the long tedious process of healing. She would be able to move about freely and figure out where Khan had stashed her siblings and the little blondie.

She wondered if it had anything to do with Khan flushing her body with his wolf genes, when he had bit her he had given her body a little bit of his strength to help with the whole human carrying a wolf baby process, so maybe by doing that it had caused her body to heal itself. Still she had never heard of wolves healing a person in such a way.

She was not complaining though; those lashings had really caused her body a lot of grief, it was barbaric of them to treat people that way, when all they had done was try to survive with hand they had been dealt. She just couldn't believe they were so blasé about corporal punishment on people who had committed no real crime.

"Stupid wolves" she growled under her breath as she flicked the water about in her frustration.

"Who are you cursing now?" Chuckled the voice from the door.

Neema shot out from her sunken perch in the bubbles, droplets of water flying through the air as she twisted her body towards the door.

"God damn it" she screeched when she realised it was just Khan, he had nearly killed her with fright, clutching her chest in her hand Neema glared at him completely forgetting about her naked state.

She was made fully aware of it when Khan began stripping off his clothes as if to join her, when she saw his face full of determination, she began paddling away from his approaching form. Khan was dangerous no matter what mood he was in, his aura screamed violence and dominance, he would simply steam roll over Neema and any resistance she would put up. When they were both naked Neema felt any of her negative convictions towards him ebbing from her body as she became heated in his presence.

"Oh no you do not" he groaned as he reached out and dragged her body back to his side of the tub.

By then the bottom half of his body was merged in the water saving Neema the embarrassment of seeing him completely bare.

"Let me go Khan, I don't wanna be in here with you" Neema protested breathlessly.

She did not want Khan touching her, all she wanted to do was have a nice bath before she went to go find her siblings. She knew she had been in the water for a long time but Khan had not been around and it had been such a long time.

Ignoring her protests Khan began nuzzling at her neck, prepping her skin for another douse of his bite. The male clearly had issues because she hadn't even left the room and he was already reinstating his mark, purring into her collar and pawing at her skin. Making it abundantly clear what he wanted.

Against her bodies will Neema found herself swatting at his face and pushing his bulky frame away from hers. The distance allowed her to regain the remnants of her composure. It was crazy what a little touch from him could do to her body, it seemed all he needed to do was touch her and her body was a live wire. In a clear and concise voice Neema let Khan know she wasn't entertaining him today. "I need to see my siblings" she gritted out when he began snarling at her.

She could not understand his behaviour; she had done nothing wrong. She had bended to his will time after time but now she drew the line, she needed to the children and she was not going to be deterred by Khan, not this time. She was tired of idly sitting by whilst there were three children out there who depended on her to find them, she did not want to placate him any longer but his current behaviour was proving to be an issue. His eyes had eyes started turning a wild red and his teeth elongated into sharp points, large enough to tear her neck in half. His nails were grappling with her wet skin as he clutched her hips towards him, as if he was trying to get inside her a second time. She knew she had to placate him someway or else she wouldn't be leaving that room anytime this year but she would not be having sex with him second time, not this century.

Placing her small but calloused hand on his snarling jaw, she stroked his beard. Her hand slowly travelling over his snarling lips and up to his forehead, lightly tracing the scar that slashed across his brow until her hands found themselves in his luscious hair, the tips of his black locks wet from the water. In the few times she had met him his hair had always been tied back that she did not really notice it, like this though, he looked so primal and feral, it scared her.

When his snarling has lessened and the growls had morphed into light rumbling through his chest she slowly removed her hand from where it was embedded, his silky curly locks no longer in hiker grasp. Leaning back on her heels she placed her hand back into the water, extremely slowly so he did not react to any of her movements.

The atmosphere had changed from one brimming with promises of violence to one filled of subtle sultriness, the humidity from the bath causing a sort of cocoon surrounding the two.

Leaning in towards his body Neema felt herself just wanting to taste him, just a little taste of his spicy scent to drive her through the day. She could barely stop herself from leaning into his chest and flicking one of his small dark nipples, suctioning the water away from his skin. Her mind was a riot. She had promised herself she would not give in to him but found that there was little she could actually do to stop her body from reacting to his presence

Her eyes did not stray from Khan's as she continued to suction the nub of flesh, his once red eyes dulled into the hazel of his natural eye colour but blazed with the anticipation of where her touch would lead. His arousal saturated the air and stood heavy above the water, pulsing, throbbing, waiting.

She hated to admit it but his eyes were both his salvation and curse. When he was angry the pure evilness emanated from them, sinking fear into the very depths of her soul but at times like this, when neither of them could control the pulse of this bond, his eyes filled her with so much hope and longing she was scared to look away. When he stared at her like she was the most delectable morsel he would ever have, Neema felt her heart fluttering in her chest and her mind drawing a blank. Creating a haze throughout her that forgot all the problems him and his kind had created for her and her family.

A clear cough from the door way brought them both out of their stupor, Khan twisted his body in front of Neema to hide her body from the intruder. She could feel the spell that was cast around them being broken, replaced by khan's rage and hostility.

"How dare you step foot into my private domain without permission. Do. Not. Do it. Ever. Again" he bellowed, annunciating each word with a brutal growl. Neema could tell that his hackles were rising at the presence of whoever had entered the room, Khans broad back not only obscured her from the intruder but also meant that she could not see who the person was. Though she wanted to know who was brave or dumb enough to enter Khans room without permission, she also did not want to move just in case Khan became reminded of what Neema had been luring him towards.

"Uhh, I- I umm, I am S-S-S-sorry" stammered the voice from the door, followed by the pitter patter of the person retreating footfall. Khan did not even need to tell the intruder to leave, the anger emanating off him in waves had the poor person running from the room and slamming the bedroom door in their haste to leave.

The trance had been broken, forcing Neema to return to reality. in this reality her and Khan were not two lovers who had been sharing a bath together before they would explore each others bodies, no, Khan was the warden to her jail cell and the wolf who had stolen her siblings from her. Khan was a condescending and demanding male and Neema was his resistant mate, she could not forget the role she played, even if her heart wanted her to be something more she could not.

Neema really wanted to hurt that intruding person, he had sabotaged a good opportunity for Neema, if she had been thinking clearly she could have used her sexuality to exert information from Khan. It was too late now, Khan was extremely irate and had begun retreating from the tub already, if she tried to lure him now it would be obvious and would only backfire on her. She did not know Khan well but she knew he was no idiot; he would smell Neema's intentions from a mile off. Her opportunity to act had already come and gone, now she would have to find another way to find her siblings and she doubted anyone would willingly help her.

Hindsight really was a bitch, she wished she would have acted sooner and kissed him while she still had the chance, then she could have hooked him with the fake promise of her willing body. Once she had him there she was sure she could get him to agree to anything, well anything other than her freedom, namely her brother and sister moving next door.

It had not skipped Neema's attention that Khan had not agreed to the demand she had made last night, she had no intention of waiting for his approval but it would have made the move much easier if her had agreed. Neema did not know him well enough to predict how he would react once he realised she had moved her siblings next door without his permission.

She could only hope that he would not mind, at least she could say that she did warn him.