Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen
Zen’s POV
I could feel her heartrate quicken beneath my thumb on her wrist. I initially thought that it was because of fear, but the way her thighs were squeezing together under my calves made me think otherwise. I smirked. I could talk to her like this, but it would be cruel, and I would risk her not listening to half the shit I said.
“I’m going to help you up, but you have to promise me that you aren’t going to attack me. Okay?” It seemed like a fair deal, but she replied with a scowl. I raised a brow at her.
“You just attacked me.” She claimed, scoffing. I chuckled, softening my eyes.
“Nu-uh, buttercup. I disarmed you. It was self-defense. Now, do we have a deal or no? I really don’t mind us staying like this a little longer.” I knew I was being a bit of an ass, but I didn’t exactly expect her to go rogue on me. With how she reacted to the gun being in the car, I didn’t expect her to use one against me. She was either crazy or scared out of her mind, and I was leaning towards the former. Her eyes welled up with tears as they looked back in mine, making me feel a little guilty. She nodded, agreeing to my terms. I followed through on my end, climbing off of her before helping her to her feet. Thankfully, she walked away from where I kicked the gun, choosing to plant herself on the chair beside the table.
I relaxed, walking to sit on the edge of the bed between her and the door. I wasn’t looking forward to any big confessions, but I knew that I needed to at least be mostly honest if I wanted her to trust me.
“So, what do you want to know?” I asked, leaning my elbows on my knees and rubbing my hands together. She looked down, picking at her nails.
“The park. It wasn’t a chance meeting, was it?” She sounded hesitant.
“No.” I answered simply. She looked up, her bright blue eyes piercing mine. She wanted to know more. “I had staged it.” I confessed, carefully assessing her reaction. She didn’t look surprised yet.
“Why?”
“I needed you to trust me. I needed to get you home.” She flinched at my words. I understood why. I probably sounded like a pretty sick bastard considering that I fucked her that day. “Not to sleep with you.” I felt the need to defend myself, even though the real reason was a far worse sin. Her tears began spilling over, but she pretended not to notice, letting them drip onto her lap.
“Then why?” She choked out. Here goes nothing.
“To kill you.”
Her eyes grew wide and her jaw fell slack. Her hands and legs began to tremble noticeably, but she couldn’t pull her gaze from mine. After about fifteen seconds, her eyes flickered towards the door.
“Don’t.” I warned, lowering my gaze. She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to stifle her crying. “Elizabeth-“ She pushed the backpack off the table towards me, jumping to her feet and making a break for the door. She was too slow and predictable. I really wished she would just listen. I didn’t actually want to kidnap her, but I couldn’t risk her running out there and attracting attention.
I wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting her off her feet. I figured this was a gentler way to restrain her than what I was trained to do. She immediately began to scream, so I covered her mouth with one hand and brought her back to the bed. She wouldn’t stop kicking and scratching me, but the pain was nothing. That was until she bit down on my hand, hard. She drew fucking blood.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” I growled, tossing her onto the mattress. She tried to crawl away, but I grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her closer to me, straddling her like I had earlier. She started screaming again, but my hands were trying to keep hers restrained and one had fucking holes in it. I did the next best thing.
I moved my mouth to stifle her screams. I knew that this wasn’t making me look much better, but I had run out of options that wouldn’t hurt her. She stopped screaming, taking in a deep and shaky breath. Her eyes were wide staring back at me. I loosened my grip a little, showing her that I didn’t want to hurt her, while slowly moving my lips across hers. I could feel the spark I had grown to expect when I kissed her, but I wasn’t sure if she could too. There was no way in hell I was risking using tongue, though, seeing as how I was quite fond of my tongue and didn’t want to lose it.
Within moments her body relaxed, even to the point that she was kissing me back. Her eyes drifted closed and she let out a soft moan.
I would be lying if I said it didn’t turn me on a little to be in that position with her. Still, I had to explain myself to her. She needed to understand that my goal was no longer to kill her, but to protect her. I reluctantly pulled away from her, but only slightly. My mouth was still within inches of hers.
“Elizabeth. Princess… I’m… was an assassin. I was hired to kill you, but I couldn’t do it. I chose to abandon the hit. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know. All I know is that I can never return to that life again. I betrayed my group by saving you last night. If they find us, we are both going to die. I know I don’t deserve it, but I need you to trust me. I have nothing left. I swear… I’ll never lie to you again. Just… fuck. Please. Believe me.”