Burning Rose

Life, death, rebirth, a love unending...Fates circle seemed in perpetual motion as of late. Alexandra Jade mused while looking out into the winter night. Fat flakes of snow dotted the earth below her balcony. The woman was hardly dressed for the cold. An oversized black shirt and loose sleep shorts were all she and normally braided white-blond hair fell to loose to her waist.

Alex gave a light shiver as she watched the world below, lost in thought. For the first time in a number of years, she was content. Happiness was so often short lived for yet, this time, she did not fret over its longevity, she merely accepted its existence. A soft chuckle coincided with the warmth of a cloak settling around her shoulder. "If you are so content, why do you so stubbornly resist moving forward?" That husky inquiry caused a soft scream to catch in her throat. Light above, Nicholas Taltos was the only person alive that could scare the wits out of her! "That, my dearest love," he continued, "is because I am your pyrocant. Your greatest weakness." His head dipped and murmured the next words against the soft shell of her ear. "But you avoid my question, I can sense your intention to do so. Why do you resist being mine in all things, Alexandra?" Telepathy was both a blessing and a curse at times. Nicholas had the ability to worm his way past whatever walls she erected in her head to keep him out.

What could she say to such a question? Alex thought. Her greatest weakness. The idea terrified her completely. She had settled against his chest when he gave a frustrated growl and spun her to face him. "What terrifies you? Why can't you say the words Alexandra?" He spat as his hands closed around her upper arms. Hand that were moments ago gentle held her like a vise. "The almighty Sorceress surrenders nothing to me yet takes whatever she pleases." Nicholas's gaze narrowed as he spoke. "It stops tonight, little one. Your loving words are no longer enough."

Before she could stammer out a heated answer, he teleported them from the balcony. He was tired of fighting her to love her. Days ago, he had informed that overprotective brother of hers not to be alarmed at her sudden mental disappearance. Where they reappeared was a warm, well lit parlor. It was his home away from the palace and he had a few surprises in store for his favorite fire-wielding spitfire.

"Nicholas, what the devil are you doing?!" She said as soon as they reappeared. The beginnings of a fine temper edged her voice. Under normal circumstances, her powers would be responding to her temper and the hearth would be following her every movement. Alex pulled in an effort to extract herself from his forceful embrace. Fire bled through her veins in a normal setting yet now, nothing responded to her emotional call. The confusion derailed her temper at not only being absconded with but manhandled as well.

He answered her thoughts aloud while addressing her confusion with a soft chuckle. "Did you truly think I would bring you to a place that would allow you to harm me with that temper?" His hands tightened on her arms on her upper arms. They would be bruised come the morning if they were not already. "You do not trust me to protect you, to provide for you. That will change." He forced her to her knees before him--an act that brought heat to her sea-hued gaze. "This place is warded against everything you are. You will only touch your skills if I allow it girl. We will remain her until you learn to respect not only me but also my wants and needs from you. You will stop lying and hiding your heart from me." She started to interrupt him, to explain herself. "Do not waste your diplomatic tongue on me. You have no defenses, no reasonable excuse for your behavior. You cannot hide here. You are just a woman in these walls."

Nicholas watched as a single, fat tear rolled down Alex's cheek. "Tears will not save you." He said firmly. "Nor will they stop me. What frightens you? What terrifies you so that you shut down? I will not be a convenience for you Alexandra. Tell me."

Her voice was so soft that he nearly missed her words. "I fear all of it--of you being my weakness. I fear what that means..." The tears came more readily as she spoke.

"You fear what you don't understand, don't you?" Nicholas reached down and stroked her cheek. When she started to nod, he grasped her chin and forcefully tilted her face up to his. "Use your words."

"I'm terrified!" She choked out, her fear and anger at this entire situation was strangling her. "Is that what you wanted to hear?! What if something happens?! What if we bond so completely that my life begins and ends with yours!? Her words were becoming more heated as she spoke and silently, Nicholas thanked the fates the wards held against the forces behind her words. "What if you vanish because I am not enough for you? Or my duty calls me to do more than you can handle again?!"

"Enough!" The force of his words stunned her into silence. He released her chin with a little shove that sent her sprawling on her rear. "You fear the very thing that would make us both whole. All your talk about being complete but you run from the idea like a child afraid of the dark!"

"What if I lose you Nicholas?! Then what?" Alexandra demanded as she sprung to her feet. His response was so sudden, she had no time to react or respond. His fist wrapped in her white-blonde curls and pulled her heard against his chest. "You have learned nothing! All these years of my teaching you and you learn nothing Alexandra Elizabeth!" Alex could feel tiny strands of her hair coming out in his grasp as he jerked her from the floor until they were eye to eye. "Fate will give and take as she chooses. Your fears are in the way and I will see them broken tonight! You will accept this, accept me. Do you want this Alexandra?"

His fist in her hair made her squirm--the sudden pain and force from him stirred something deep within her. He would accept no more than the blunt truth. "Yes Nicholas, I do." Her words were a heated whisper as she struggled beneath his hand. She dared not consider thoughts of vengeance for this for she could hide nothing from him in these surroundings.

"You will hide nothing from me again, Alexandra. Let go. I will care for you. Give in to what you want." Nicholas released his grip on her hair and sent her yet again to her knees before him. He felt her steeling herself inside, this time in anger instead of fear. "No, you will not lash me with that temper or those claws you're hiding." A silken cord was summoned to his hand and, before she could scramble away, he advanced on her and flipped her onto her stomach. Soon enough, her wrists were bound behind her back.

Her mental cursing was enough to make the sadist in him smile. "Temper, temper." He said as he flipped her onto her back. Her eyes were green right now, as they often were during times of high emotion. Light above if there were no wards, the house would be burning down around them. "Your words lie, Alex. Everything you say is tainted by your fear and anger." The back of his hand caressed her jaw line. "Lets see if your body is more honest. Lay still or I will telekinetically bind you or warp your mind so completely that you'll be no more than my puppet. Do not challenge me tonight." She froze when he spoke of warping her mind. Alexandra was one of the most gifted mentalists the realm had ever known and if anyone could follow through on that threat, it was this man. "Good girl." He murmured though he could sense the outrage in her. Also, he could sense her attempts to emotionally withdraw from him.

He reclined beside her and stroked a hand down her cheek to the elegant curve of her neck. "Yes, lets see if your body tells the truth of your heart." His fingers continued down until he reached the first button of the shirt she had stolen from his closet. "I see I have a shirt thief." HE said softly as he touched her collarbone. "You will mend this later." He said as he jerked on the fabric and sent buttons flying.

A gasp tore from her throat at his sudden aggressiveness. Her back arched as his touch continued into the valley between her breasts. "My beautiful girl." He whispered as his fingertips continued towards her navel. "Surrender to me. Stop fighting." His voice was soothing to her. Alexandra felt her anger fading beneath his hands. "I fear you won't be able to mend these, pet." His voice was husky with desire. That was when she felt cold steel against her bare skin. The tip of his blade slid along her hip, cutting away her sleep shorts. Soon enough they were gone and she lay bare, bound and helpless before him . "There is a darkness in me, little one. Surely you sense it. My shadows, my need to possess you." Her logical duty driven mind moved to interrupt him. "No, don't think. Feel. Respond to me Alex, open for me." The light tip of his dagger trailed along the line of her hip. She could feel the did of his blade. The slight scratch of his dagger drew a hungered whimper from her. Nicholas could feel her walls crumbling. The tip of his dagger pressed more firmly into her flesh. It pierced her skin and welled a small dot of blood on her skin. "Does the dark scare you?" The pain brought another groan from his victim.

"Not from you." She whispered as she turned her eyes from him. Alex could feel the heat spreading between her thighs but could not writhe against the razor sharp blade pressed against her hip.

A quiet chuckle answered her whisper. "At last we have truth. Close your eyes, Alexandra." When she complied, the warmth of his hand replaced the cold of the dagger. Soon she felt the soft pulse of his healing skills. "Keep them closed. Do you trust me?" He said softly as he pushed more power into her body. Because of the wards, she could not push anything away, she merely had to ride the waves that seemed to heighten her sense. Her hips rocked against his hand as he continued to pulse energy into her. The warmth settled beneath her skin and wrapped around her heart. It was the beginnings of a full bond between them. When he was finished, she would be his in all things--mind, body and spirit. "Answer me." He repeated, drawing back enough for her to breathe and give him an answer.

It felt as though many warm hands stroked her skin, drawing fire from her veins. Alex gulped for air beneath him and, eventually she found the words to answer him. "With my life Nicholas," The words were breathy and heated but completely honest. She was lost in the swirl of power he was using to heighten her senses. He pushed until their emotions were bonded completely. It was the very thing she feared--where she began he ended.

Again, his words touched her ears. "Do you love me?" He fed power into her until she was nearly drunk with it. Barely she answered him. "With all that I am." Alex writhed beneath him as he used his skills to hone her senses and feed her desire. He was amplifying the sensation to hide his actions in her head.

Mentally, he tore down the walls between them and bonded their minds. He could feel her psyche begin to rebel against his foreign presence. Normally, these types of things were done with mutual consent but hell would freeze before she consciously agreed to what he was doing. Her fear too often interfered where reason should have reigned. He soothed her mind as he exerted his will upon her. His thoughts were clear to her. "You are mine. Do you deny it?" He covered her body with his--adding physical contact to the mess he was making of her magical senses. When he ground his hips against hers, Alex gave a hungry cry and arched her back. "N-never again, my love." She gasped out her body shook beneath him.

"Good girl." He said and returned to his reclined position beside her. He itched to take her but his possession of her was not complete. His hand slid down to the gentle curve of her hip. Along her hip he drew his skills with fire. As the flames burned into her skin, Alexandra screamed. She took great gulps of air against the agony of melting flesh. Nicholas focused his energy in a very specific pattern along her skin. He warded the scar so it could not be healed or removed by any means. Beneath him, Alex remained still, quivering as the heat ate at her skin. The sweet agony of the burn pushed her higher. Her mind never stopped to wonder what it was he was doing. His power had intoxicated her and she was lost to the mix of pleasure and pain.

What remained when his hand withdrew was the infinite symbol. Infinity, where he began, she ended. They were each others. The curves of the sideways figure eight were formed from the stem of a rose, complete with thorns. Where the symbol intersected, the flower itself lay. The rose that haunted his dreams was finally his.

Somewhere among her screams Nicholas had felt her release. Beside him, she quivered and panted. With care, he rolled her over and removed the cord that bound her wrists and discarded the shirt. "Your hands and arms, give them to me." She presented him with the numb appendages. He gently began to rub circulation back into her arms. His mental influence was beginning to retract and soon enough she would sense what he had done.

Her eyes traveled down her body to the symbol burnt into her flesh. As she calmed, her mind traced over his essence bonded to her own. She followed the mental and paths he had forged. As she did, her pride began to rail against the choice he has stolen from her. How could he?!