5

Kaitlyn

"Feeding me twice in one day? To what do I owe the honor?" With the return of my strength, my snark rises from the ashes like a phoenix. What a day in a hot, steamy bathing pool can do for a woman is nothing short of a miracle. With clean pajamas as my armor, I regain my confidence. I looked at the exit crevice with new eyes and the strength to try to escape…

Almost…

If Serik busied himself with his morning chores longer, I'd disappear. Why wasn't he gone as long? Snow sticks to his fur, which dampens my spirits. If winter would ever end, I could traverse the landscape without freezing solid. Frozen slush and frigid mud have the same frostbite potential for my feet. I need the Arctic to thaw or a better escape plan than running barefoot across the tundra. There's no way I'm staying here until June when the boreal forest warms and blooms with flowers.

"What are you talking about? You have months of food at your fingertips," he scowls, dropping a bowl of greens in my lap. "You can't trick me like my previous pleasure mates. I know I provide well for you."

"Provide for me? Are you serious? Where's the television, the streaming service with thousands of channels, the walk-in closet of designer clothes, the maids to clean up after me, the sports car, and the nights on the town? If you think you succeed in the boyfriend department, you are sorely mistaken," I shout.

He doesn't need to know I had a moment where I imagined myself a Viking queen when I awoke amongst his soft furs. Last night I dreamed I lived in an ancient arctic world where Serik was my servant. Not only did he feed me grapes and file my ragged nails, but he served me in carnal ways, too. Those teeth of his scored my most sensitive places and left rings of bite marks all over my body. The dream was so real; I checked myself for marks when I awoke.

"If I knew what any of those things are, I'd give them to you. Don't you see? I gave you everything I can think of to please you," he snaps as he paces at the edge of the bed. His bed. He yanks the fur atop his head in two giant fists. Strands fall from his fingers when he drops his hands to his sides. "You aren't supposed to be so difficult!"

"Well," I huff, jumping to my feet to block his path. "If I'm so difficult, why don't you take me home?"

"Because you are mine," he sneers through his crooked fangs.

"Maybe I'm supposed to be a loaner and not a purchase," I sneer back at him. I bump my chest against his abs as I step into his space. Wanna fight, Serik? Let's go. "You can always return a loaner."

"I'll never return you and you can never go back. Get used to it," he hisses, bending down so our noses brush.

I hold my ground and glare at the ogre. His eyes blaze with icy fury, which kicks my simmering arousal to a boil. On the outside, I'm cool as a cucumber, but the inferno between my legs distracts me from my tirade. Oh, to be manhandled by a wild beast who's strong enough to handle me. I bet sex with him is primal and I wouldn't have to ask him to play rough. I don't want true penetration, which would rip me apart, but we could get off with other activities…

"Never return? I think not," I snap, confident he wouldn't hurt me despite his temper.

"Oh yes," he whispers. "You are mine with nowhere to go."

"Want to bet?"

"Because I destroyed it all—your laboratory, your black vehicle, the men who attacked what's mine," he says with the cocky smirk I used to fear. Now I find the monster more infuriating than anything else.

"Liar," I sneer. The icy fingers of reality douse the flames of my arousal.

"Oh no, my chernyrozd," he says, picking me up bridal style. He carries me into the main room where I spent my first days of captivity. I hate my involuntary shaking and the way I clutch him as we squeeze through a rock crevice. More than my behavior, I hate how he rubs soothing circles on my back. Shouldn't he be struggling with my weight and not comforting me?

When he treats me with tiny gestures of affection, I can't hate him.

"This is Patricika's weapon," he says, setting me down beside a five-foot PVC pipe. I make myself heavier and sit cross-legged just to annoy him. "It's the greatest at destruction—"

"My brothers built potato guns to shoot Drain-o bombs when they were kids. Not impressive," I say with a sniff. I fold my arms and shrug to knock him down a peg.

Unbeknownst to Serik, I'm about to shit a brick. The end of the pipe is burnt. The opposite end has an animal skin diaphragm with the elasticity to launch more than a potato. The diameter of the PVC pipe also suggests he launches watermelons—flammable watermelons. A powder-explosive propelled watermelon or a flaming pile of debris of that size could blow up an SUV—especially when the SUV has a conscientious owner who always keeps her gas tank full. The first day I waited for Adam, I refilled my gas tank to the brim. Holly did too. It probably saved her life, but doomed mine.

"Your body language says you don't care, but dushevnayasvyaz lets me sense the fear in your heart," he whispers as he bends over me. "There is no home for you but this one. Nobody to care for you but me. I won—"

"Won what? What's your prize? What did you win by blowing up half my belongings, my employer's building, and my car—my new car?" My pulse jumps inside my wrists as my blood pressure skyrockets.

The wheels in my brain spin as the amount of damage totals. In one morning, Serik's tirade cost over three hundred thousand dollars—not to mention the priceless artifacts inside the lab. The accountant in me is horrified for a heartbeat as I calculate the number of classes and extra workshops the department must offer to rebuild the center. The donations required equate to all our earnings from the annual alumni picnics…for the rest of my life…if we have one quarterly…maybe monthly.

But no, I'll probably be fired for the destruction. Who will believe that a deranged snow monster who tried to win my love with a potato gun kidnapped me? I ball my fists as my rage blows through me. It whistles with each exhale. My belly quivers as I clutch the last thread of my sanity.

Our foreheads bump as I surge to my feet. My screams echo in the cave, but I don't feel them leave my lips. I pummel his rock-hard abs with my tiny fists. A large, strong hand lands on my shoulder. Not restraining me, but enough pressure to stabilize us both as my wild swings threaten to knock us to the ground. I curse him up one side and down the other while he silently takes my abuse. Tears stream down my face.

Fire scorches my throat. I sag against him and sob. His vanilla-scented cocoon invites me to release my frustration. He runs a claw along my spine in soothing strokes, but otherwise, lets me cry out my feelings. My hysteria evaporates and I come back into my body. He kisses the top of my head and coaxes me closer. His arms wrap around me.

"This is what I win, chernyrozd," he whispers. "Your surrender into my embrace."

"Why do you call me that? What does it mean?" My lips trail along his ribs, nuzzling his fur.

"It's the Chuchunya word for blackbird. The tiny songbird lives in the central grounds year-round. She isn't afraid of winter, predators, or humans. She sings during the blizzards," he says as his arms lock tighter. "My fierce mate shows her strength before submitting to her male. This allows her to assert herself as a partner to the male she wishes to provide for her. I'll never doubt that you are ferocious—"

"Ferocious songbird?"

His chuckles warm my soul and calm the chaos in my mind. If I'm trapped with Serik any longer, I'll be fired and replaced. Wouldn't it be freeing to let their problems go? My replacement can deal with the budget. I laugh with Serik as I imagine someone tackling the deficit. Where will they stay while hunting Adam? Adam…this is all his fault.

Until today, I daydreamed of muscling my way out of here and running the four hours to Yellowknife. What if I used my brain? It's significantly stronger than my athletic prowess. I need ammo in the form of information. What are Serik's resources and connections to the human world?

"Something that bothers me, Serik, is how you know Adam and Holly. You said Adam permitted you to kidnap Holly. I'm confused. People rarely kidnap others—unless they are criminals. Can you explain this to me?"

"Let me feed you," he begs, swinging me into his arms. I'm emotionally drained, so I allow him to carry me into his room. My muscles tense as he sits on the bed. If he notices, he ignores my response. With me cradled under one arm, he grabs the bowl of greens, which he dressed with berries, nuts, and an oily coating.

"Open," he says with a pinch of salad between his fingers. Do I want to know how clean his hands are? If I'm playing nice to escape, I must comply, but…gross. "Take a bite and I'll talk while you chew."

I scowl until the salad releases its nutty oils inside my mouth. Then my eyes roll backward in bliss. I never thought I would fall in love with salads without cheese or croutons.

"Thank you. It brings me the greatest pleasure when you eat what I provide—even if you are a vegetarian."

I let the vegetarian remark slide because there's no way I'm sharing a kill with him.

Bloody carcasses with vacant eyes are a hard pass.

"Patricika was my mate after Adam gave her up the first time. When he returned, she claimed he was her dushevnayasvyaz. He didn't deny it—quite the opposite—so I let her go. Their love's stronger than a blizzard's winds. She was supposed to spend the zima season with me, by clan law. However, I can't stand between soulmates."

Soulmates? Love? The last words I expected to come out of Serik's mouth were love and soulmate. Did Serik kidnap another lady and Adam rescued her? That's on brand from what I know of Adam…and Serik. Rumors run rampant around campus about Adam breaking up fighting couples at the bar or in parking lots. He punished more than his share of bullies—both entitled students and blowhard faculty members. It's part of his dashing hero persona that has half the student population swooning. Adam saving Patricika rings with truth.

"Where is Patricika now?" If Adam loves this chick, then they are hiding together. If I find her, I'll find him…and be another damsel he rescues…after I wring his neck.

"They live with Sergei and Sydney. Adam isn't Chuchunya and can't use his dushevnayasvyaz to heat a dyla weturanya—like me," he says, puffing out his chest. "He must rely on a mated Chuchunya."

I shake my head at the implied rivalry between Serik and Adam. If I had to guess, the rivalry is one-sided. Patricika chose Adam over Serik because our species sticks together. While Serik seems to be over her, he's still fighting for a place in Adam's shadow. Well, he can get in line behind most of the junior faculty I manage.

"Is Sergei's home…cave…thing far from us?"

"If you are looking for Adam, I saw him this morning. He fired some of the cannon shots that burned down the center…and your car. He left Patricika in the north with Sergei and Sydney to deliver their kit. I don't think he is the mate everyone thinks he is. Please know that when your labor time comes, I'll be by your side. I won't abandon you," he promises, feeding me another bite.

The salad turns to sand in my mouth as the implication raises the hairs on my arms. Adam abandoned this poor woman to have natural childbirth in a snow monster commune on the Arctic tundra—thousands of miles from the nearest hospital. She's been kidnapped, traumatized, and now forced to labor without drugs…while he blows up our link to civilization. Why didn't the dumbass use my car to take his baby mama to a hospital instead of blowing up our greatest asset in my escape plan? More unsettling is Serik's promise to hold my hand while I birth our imaginary children. He's been respectful of my lady bits, but how long will he hold out? Long enough for me to escape?

"I'm not having children," I declare. Once the words leave, I can swallow my food with ease. It's a line I'm not willing to cross. Hopefully, my declaration will punch a hole big enough to deflate his overblown notion that we're destined mates.

"You aren't pregnant because I haven't knotted you," he says in slow, measured syllables like I'm too young to know how babies are made. "Even though I rutted Patricika and Manya, I didn't give them my knot to impregnate them. I didn't want kits with a pleasure mate."

"Wait, you had sex with the same Patricika who is now pregnant with Adam's baby?" I'm missing a huge piece. Did he force himself on this lady? How terrible for her! I'm an ungrateful princess in comparison. Adam needs to rescue her, not me—wait! Maybe Adam told Serik she's north birthing kits so he could sneak her away to civilization. That's why nobody can find him and why Serik thinks she's giving birth in a snowdrift.

"Patricika's a tough Chuchunya female. She's—"

"Adam's soulmate is a snow monster," I interrupt. My heart drops into my churning stomach like a rock falling into a volcano. If he's with Serik's snow monster ex-girlfriend, there really was a trade. Adam honestly sold Holly to Serik for a female monster. "And they love each other?"

"They have what I hope to build with you, chernyrozd," he says, stuffing another bite into my mouth. "Let me show you I can love you too. I'll fill your belly with kits to bring this home love and laughter. Our own family of vegetarian Chuchunya!"

Not if my IUD has a say about it.