Fate

She pushed him away and quickly scurried as far from him as she could. The day had barely begun and she already felt doomed. "Why do you keep saying that? Are you… did you see something?" she asked nervously. It couldn't be true. She loved Jack. How could her future have anyone else?

Caleb's lips lifted into a soft smile as he watched her reaction. If only she could see the future he had witnessed of them together. He was curious to know what she would do. Would she give up on Jack and finally accept him? No, she was rebellious. He knew the harder someone pushed her, the harder she fought back, which meant she would do everything in her power to fight against a future that she would resent; believing it was decided for her by something or someone other than herself.

She frowned when he didn't answer. His silence only made her more suspicious. He seemed so confident every time he talked about their future. Could it really be true?

He watched her gulp and move back a few more steps until she bumped against the wall. He moved towards her, not bothering to hide his speed anymore. If they were going to be together, he didn't want to hide anything from her. He felt confident she wouldn't run away terrified anymore.

Rose felt air fanning around her and she gasped when she realized Caleb's movement caused it. She swallowed hard as he stood in front of her, looking down at her silently. He always moved at the pace of a normal human, so she had almost forgotten they had super speed. Damn vampires. For once, she was envious of their power. She wished she had super speed so she could run away from this devil before he ate her alive.

"Why is it so hard for you to accept it?"

She frowned and her heart stopped as he reached out and placed his hands against the wall on either side of her head. "I already have someone I love," she muttered, cheeks turning red as she breathed in his scent. Even though she wanted to tell him the truth, part of her felt a little guilty as she said it so bluntly. She was telling her fiancée she was in love with another man…

"People fall in and out of love all the time sweetheart. It's normal for you to love one man, but find someone else you love more." Even though her words hurt, he refused to show her the pain she was causing him. He had known from the beginning how hard it was going to be to win her love.

She shook her head. "That's never going to happen Caleb," she said, voice barely a whisper.

He smiled and lifted a strand of her hair, twirling it in his finger. "Are you sure?"

His smile sent a chill down her spine. "I'm not the type of girl who falls in and out of love easily. When I fall in love, its because I'm absolutely sure that I want to spend the rest of my life with that person."

"Then why did you agree to marry me?"

She could see the anger he was trying to hide in his eyes. His gaze was burning a hole through her. She held her breath as his hand grazed her cheek while he swept the strand of hair behind her ear. He already knew why she agreed to this marriage. "I believe you already know."

"You were forced by your father?"

She gulped, but shook her head. Her father had made it very clear she could not expose him to Caleb. She was sure Caleb probably knew the truth, but to protect Jack from her father, she would deny it to her last dying breath.

Caleb knew she was lying. He knew her father had forced her to marry him, otherwise she wouldn't be here. Even knowing that, he hadn't helped her, because he wanted her here. He was a selfish asshole who had let the woman he loved get blackmailed into marrying him. He wasn't sure how her father did it, but he guessed it had to do with Jack; otherwise, she would not have been so compliant. "Tell me the truth."

She let out the breath she had been holding. "I'm here because of the deal you made with my father. You will control your… people and make sure they won't hurt anyone as long as I marry you," she said as she looked up at him, eyes narrowed. It was partially truth.

"Do you really care about strangers so much?"

"Every human life has value. Maybe not to you or your kind, but to me its important to keep humanity safe."

Her glare made his lips lift into a wide grin. "I admire your compassion. It's one of the reasons I love you." It was also the reason he had come this far, being the powerful man he had become. Because of her, he had moved forward and built this empire that could be rivaled by no other. All thanks to the compassion of an innocent human girl whom he had happened to run into by chance… or perhaps it had been fate all along.

Her cheeks burned hot with his words. He always threw her off guard when he said things like that. She turned her head, unable to meet his gaze anymore. "Like you said, people fall in and out of love all the time. It's possible you will fall in love with someone else."

"I have lived for over a hundred years and have loved only one woman."

Her heart raced in her chest as his words made her stomach twist and turn with weird emotions. She bit her bottom lip nervously. "Nothing is written in stone."

"You're right. We make our own fate," he said confidently. He lifted her chin with his right hand until her gaze was back on him. "Our fate is tied together sweetheart. You will realize it sooner or later. You are mine and you will always belong to me."

She grinded her teeth together. "I'm not an object you can posses Caleb."

"I never said you were."

She glared up at him. "Then don't treat me like one."

"When have I treated you as such?"

She frowned. "You just said…"

"That you are my woman and you will always be my woman." He smiled as he heard the erratic beating of her heart.

She lifted her hand and wrapped it around his, pulling it away from her face, but before she could retrieve it, he laced his fingers with hers and lifted her arm above her head against the wall. Her breath caught and her breathing became labored as he did the same thing with her other arm. She stood trapped between the wall and the man who wanted to devour her.

Caleb felt his arousal spiking as she looked up at him with those beautiful innocent eyes. He moved closer to her until their bodies were touching, her soft breasts against his hard chest.

Rose trembled as heat engulfed her. She quickly pressed her legs together before he had a chance to move between them. "Let me go please." Was it normal to love one man and be so aroused by another? What was wrong with her? She looked away again. It must be from years of craving intimacy with Jack, and never getting any. It was the only explanation she could come up with. She should have forced herself on him when she had the chance!

He took a deep breath, taking in her scent and let it burn through him. He wrapped his left hand around her wrists, holding her arms above her head as he lowered his right to lift her face up to him. He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip and felt her shiver.

She gasped as she felt an electric current run through her with his touch. She was powerless. Her body became hotter, her breathing more labored and her heart pounded in her chest. "Please," she whispered as he continued to look down at her with that mesmerizing gaze.

"Are you scared of me?" he asked, voice barely audible as he waited for her answer.

She gulped. "A little," she said honestly.

His lips lifted into a small smile, satisfied that she was being honest. "Why a little?"

"Because…" If she listen her reasons would she ever finish? "There are a lot of reasons, but the main one is your reputation."

His eyebrow lifted. "What pray tell is my reputation sweetheart?"

"That you're the devil himself," she whispered, voice trembling. She wasn't sure why she was being so honest with him. Her father told her a lot of things about him, of course, in warning to make sure she wouldn't dare to disobey.

He chuckled lightly. "The devil himself…" he repeated sounding it out. "Doesn't sound bad. I actually like that."

She frowned as she stared at him. Only an idiot or a very sadistic individual would be happy to be referred to as the devil, and Caleb was no idiot.