Her eyes creep open with excruciating slowness, her head throbbing like hell. Her vision is blurry, but she knows instantly that she's in some sort of room, laid on a comfortable bed. She forces herself to move a bit, shifting her body slowly.

Her vision gradually blurs into focus and she blinks rapidly. Her head feels like someone tried to bash her brains with a baseball bat and somehow she survived that. It hurts so bad but she ignores the pain to assess the current situation she's in.

Her wrists and feet aren't tied together, which is positive. But she knows for sure that she's held captive in this room. She looks around, up at the ceiling and at the caramel painted walls. There is one window, an unmoving ceiling fan above and another door which she assumes leads to the bathroom. It can't be a hotel, it would take a lot to carry an unconscious woman with a metal arm without drawing an ounce of attention. So this must be a safehouse.

She doesn't know if she should be grateful to be alive, because there's still no assurance of her safety. He's still the Winter Soldier, whether he's her mate or not. It doesn't change anything. She doesn't think it does. She'll have to come up with an escape plan soon, she doubts she's going to live through this.

But her omega side is telling her no. That she has to stay put until he comes back, that she must stay with him for as long as she lives. She has to trust him. She wants him to come back and it's starting to overwhelm her. She needs him so much it hurts the more she realizes this.

She sits up and the second her feet hit the floor, she hisses. She looks down at her foot and is not surprised to find it wiped clean from blood. The ankle on her foot is swelling painfully and it warmly throbs. She stands and tries not to put any weight on the leg, limping across the room.

She heads to the door and stretches her arm to open the handle but the door already flies open & she steps back, her breath caught in her throat.

There he is, broad shouldered and tall, towering over her as he steps in slowly. His face mask & goggles are gone, and she's looking into pale blue eyes.

So his eyes are blue.

He wears no emotion on his face, his eyes showing only coldness; eyes of an emotionless killer. She gulps. She's never imagined the face of the Soldier to be soft featured. She finds that her attraction to him has only just increased and the core between her legs starts to pulse.

None of them say a single word, just silently stare at each other. So intense. The air around them getting thin.

And then he's pulling her closer, his flesh hand closing around her arm. The touch is electrifying and is enough to make her want more. This whole thing is beyond her. She doesn't know what to do but allow him to pull her closer in his firm hold. Their eyes penetrating each other. Then his pulling the side of her t-shirt down over her shoulder with his other hand, the metal one, to look at the bullet graze he gave her.

It's a mark of ownership. His mark. That she is his and his only.

I belong to no one, she stubbornly thinks. But her omega side is burning with wild desire and madness at the thought of being owned by the Winter Soldier.

Natalia doesn't know what to do but get angry. She balls her hands into fists as he inspects the small bleeding graze before he's running his cold metal thumb over it, making her flinch slighty. Everywhere he touches, his metal hand trailing up to her chin, makes her shiver. He thrusts her chin up a little roughly and stares at her with his stormy eyes. Studying her face with a stern look. She wonders if he likes what he sees, not that she cares - which is a lie because her omega side is searching for approval from the alpha, as much as that disgusts her.

Without warning, he lifts her off her feet and carries her over his shoulder like she weighs nothing.

She gasps and forces herself not to fight back. She hangs over his shoulder uselessly, her hair hanging downward, as he walks them into the bathroom. And then he's sitting her on top of the bathroom counter with his hands still on her before he grabs out the first aid kit without looking at her.

She sits there, eyes widened. She runs her hand over the mass of hair hanging in her face and pushes it back. She knows he will be like this often. Carry her around and take care of her, being protective of her as the alpha he is. But the thought of that makes her want to wince. Natalia never needed protection, not even since she was a small child.

She thinks in the silence as he quietly takes care of her ankle. The moment she feels him touch it, her attention snaps back to him with a glare. "I can do that by myself you know."

He isn't saying anything back, or sparing her one glance. Too focused on her foot. She rolls her eyes but suppresses a sigh.

Does he even talk though?

"You shouldn't have left the bed." He finally speaks, long seconds after. His voice a bit raspy.

She swallows, his voice making her wet her panties more. She wants to hear him talk more, she wants him to look at her as he talks to her. She squeezes her hands together to keep from reaching out to pull him into a kiss with a fistful of those long brown locks in her hands.

She decides to lean away from him, for some space. Then she's feeling him wrap bandage around her foot. When he's done, he rises up straighter and still doesn't look at her. "You should get back to bed."

She frowns. "Why?"

"I have to go." He says, putting the aid kit box away.

Her frown deepens into a scowl. She says nothing as he retreats without looking at her and then he's heading to the door out of the bedroom. She climbs off the counter carefully with her other foot first before she's limping after him, angrily. He's about to walk out of the door before she speaks. "So I'm supposed to wait for you again until you come back?"

He turns to her fast and then he's into her personal space, their chests mere inches from touching. She doesn't dare move or breathe. He's looking down at her plump lips painfully and is restraining himself from attacking her mouth with his, putting his desire aside. "Stay here and don't do anything stupid." He rasps before he's out the door.

She scowls at the place he stood and clenches her fists. She swears she was just about to pull him into a kiss if he didn't walk away so fast.

>>>>>>>