Chapter 6

Serene looked at me with sympathy in her eyes from explaining what happened during dinner.

"Do you think Aiden will hurt them?" I asked as I picked my nails.

"No, he must be smarter than to do that." She replied while sitting at the edge of my bed.

"My father doesn't like Aiden in the slightest, but my mother loves him dearly it seems! I think Aiden can sense my father's disliking, and I am afraid that it won't end well for him." Serene frowned from my words. "What should I do?"

"If Aiden senses your special relationship with your father, I am afraid he might use that against you. I know you don't want to, and I wouldn't want to either, but I would try to convince your father and yourself to act kindly to him. If you keep defying him, he might threaten you with your father's safety." Before I could respond, a knock sounded at the door. I began to walk over to the door to open it, but it was flung open to reveal Aiden.

"Serene, if you could pack a bag for Taisa, please," Aiden commanded. I looked up at him, confused about what was going on. "We are leaving." Serene immediately did as she was told while I walked up to him.

"What? Are you serious?" I asked with concern about the lack of information I was receiving.

"Yes, now come with me." He gripped my bicep and tugged me out the door. I prevented myself from going any further when I yanked my arm away from him.

"You just got here! You arrived not even two hours ago and you want to leave already?" I questioned while hugging my arm to my body.

"Taisa, this is not up for discussion. We are leaving now." He said and reached for my arm again, but I stepped back just in time.

"Tell me what is going on right now. I am not going anywhere with you." I hissed at him angrily. I watched as Aiden quickly stepped in front of me and lowered his face so that it was level with mine.

"I don't think I gave you an option." He seethed.

"What happened down there? Why aren't you telling me what is going on?" I kept my face close to his to assure to him that I wasn't intimidated.

"Don't worry about it. If you come with me willingly, I won't give you another reason to worry." I remembered what Serene had said about him threatening my father. Looking down to the floor, I debated wether I wanted to fight this or not, but Serene came behind me and placed her hand on my shoulder. I turned to see the fearful expression that took over her face.

"Taisa..." she said shakily. "Please, just go with him." I swallowed the lump in my throat and eyed Aiden who seemed to be pleased with Serene. He scanned his eyes from Serene back to me and raised his eyebrows, telling me to chose the right way to go about this. After hearing the fear in her voice, I didn't have much choice since the last thing I wanted to do was make her worried.

"Fine." I surrendered. "I'll go with you." Aiden then stood straight and looked down at Serene to give her a thankful nod. She handed him the bag she hand prepared and I watched as her shaky hands let go of the strings. Aiden kissed her hand and quietly thanked her. He reached for my hand but I turned to embrace Serene.

"Just don't be stupid." She said into my neck, tightly hugging me back.

"I'll try my best." I said. "I will see you soon, okay?" She nodded and parted from me. Aiden successfully took ahold of my hand and pulled me away with him. I felt horrible for leaving Serene like this, but there was nothing I could do to control this.

"Aiden-" I tried, but he was quick to stop me.

"Don't say a word until we get into the plane." He snapped. I wanted to push my questions further but I had second thoughts once I looked up at his furious expression. I allowed him to pull me out of the castle so that I didn't jeopardize anything more than I already have.

We eventually reached his jet, which he helped me up to. I stood in the entrance silently as he disappeared into the front. I felt utterly terrified and alone now that I was on my own with Aiden, on my way to his kingdom. I Paced back and forth, biting my thumbnail as I waited for something else to happen. The doors to the jet began to close, closing off any last chances of getting out of this situation. Aiden came into the area, eyeing me down. "Go change into something more comfortable, it's about a twelve-hour flight." He handed me my bag and pointed to the direction of the bathroom. I clutched the bag to my chest and shuffled in the direction he had pointed to, still stunned from the sudden events. I locked myself in the room and put my hands on both sides of the sink, lowering my head and trying to comprehend everything that was happening.

I let out a heavy breath and opened my bag to pull out pajama shorts and a loose shirt. I put it on and observed myself in the mirror to flatten out my hair that was sticky with hairspray.

If only I could hide in the bathroom for the remainder of the trip.

I built up the courage and walked out of the bathroom to see Aiden occupied by his phone. He felt my presence and looked up at me, placing his phone into his pocket. Aiden's eyes scanned my body as if I was his prey, making me awkwardly wrap my arms around my body as he strutted up to me. Aiden stood at my toes, looking down directly into my eyes. "Let me make this clear for you now, so there are no mistakes later on." He said lowly. "The way you dress in my kingdom will heavily reflect on me, and how you look now is completely inappropriate because I can practically see every muscle in your legs. However, I will let this slide right now since you're just with me." He moves his hand so that it was cupping the back of my neck.

"What is this? What do you think you are doing here exactly?" I questioned, not phased by his tone. "First you tell me to leave my own dinner table, you pull me out of my castle, and now you are commenting on my body." I listed before I tore his hand off of me. "If you want my respect, this is not how you're going to get it." Aiden soaked in my words and pressed his lips together. He then snaked his arm around my waist and pulled my body to him. I gasped at his sudden action and held up my hand to his chest to separate us as much as possible, but my nose was already in the cave of his collar bone. He was leaned down, right next to my ear.

"It blows me away how you decide to use your words with me, especially with the lack of knowledge you have about the situation. You're walking on ice, dear." I closed my eyes. I didn't want to admit it, but he was right. I should be knowing what I was up against before using my mouth considering how unpredictable this man was. I felt the force of his hand increase on my back, making me suck in a breath through my teeth. "Do you understand that, Taisa?"

"Yes," I said firmly. I could feel his lips form into that smirk of his.

"Are you going to continue?"

"No," was all I said. Aiden then lifted his face and placed a kiss on my temple.

"Come with me." He said as he stepped away from my side. I quietly followed behind him as he walked through his rather impressive jet. "I had a bed made for you." We approached a nice twin bed. "Sit." He said and patted the mattress. I did as he asked and sat down onto the bed and watched as he sat on the bed directly across from me. The jet began to move after some time.

"Why won't you tell me what's going on?" I finally let out.

"You don't need to know everything right now, Darling. It's better that you don't."

"If it's about me or anyone in my family, I deserve to know." I made myself more comfortable by scooting back farther onto the bed and hugging my legs to my chest.

"I understand that, but I am afraid that this affects your safety and security. The responsibility to take care of you was given to me the moment I placed that ring onto your finger, and I'm going to do it in the way I see fit."

"What about my family? Are they safe?" I asked. "If anything, they are what I am most concerned about."

"It has come to me that your father is against our engagement and wants to speak with the Emperor. I believe that he understands that it would only cause more trouble, but anything for his lovely daughter, right?" His tone made me feel cold.

"Aiden, please, don't hurt my father,"

"I won't lay a finger on him if you just behave, that is all I ask of you." His word choice sparked a flame inside me.

"The problem is that you expected me to worship you without question. I would be more willing to be open to what you say if you didn't decide to expect me to behave like I'm some damn dog of yours." I flamed. I think both Aiden and I were shocked when that came out of my mouth, and I regretted it instantly. He got up from his bed and stepped over to me, making me lean back. He caught me off guard when gripped my neck and pushed me flat onto the bed. Aiden hovered over my body, restricting any possible movement, and brought his face close to my own. My heart pounded in my chest with fear as he completely took control over my body with just his hand.

"You are not going to speak to me with such disrespect, kitten." He demanded with pure venom in his words. " I look for respect in everyone, especially you. I refuse to have my own fiancée talk to me the way you do."

"Go to hell." I breathed. I released the devil inside of him. Aiden picked me up by the neck and slammed me against the wall, making my ears ring from the impact. He pressed his body up against mine and squeezed my neck tighter than before. It was enough to cause me to fight for my breath.

"Say one more thing, and I will stop this plane and get my fucking gun!" He threatened. "You really have some nerve to talk to me like that, and I will make sure it doesn't continue. Your father's life depends on how you behave, Princess. I wouldn't fuck that up if I were you." Aiden's language towards me was definitely a surprise, but I couldn't comprehend how angry he was. It only made me more curious about what happened between him and my father. "Stop fighting." He demanded, noticing my hands gripping his own desperately. It only made him tighten his grip, causing me to wince from the pure torture. "Stop fighting, Taisa!" I knew what he was trying to do, he was trying to get me to submit underneath him, but I couldn't cave.

Not yet.

I fought to bring air back in my body as I clawed at his hands, beginning for him to let go of me. Seeing that I kept my efforts, Aiden increased the pressure he held on my neck and harshly brought his lips next to my ear. "Stop. Fucking. Fighting."

My vision began to blur from the lack of oxygen that my body was receiving, and I felt my muscles growing weaker by the second. I knew that if I just complied, this would all be over, but I didn't want to. Unfortunately, with my body not being able to take it anymore, I gave in. My hands fell away from his, and the rest of me relaxed under him. Fresh oxygen replenished me as he lifted the pressure from my throat not even a secondater. "There we go." He said, keeping his lips where they were. "Now was that so hard, baby?" He questioned softly, keeping his voice light, yet filled with so much hate.

I let in small gasps of air as his hand was still resting on my throat, ready to act if he needed. Although I could breathe again, my body felt weak and vulnerable, especially now that I knew what power he held over me. Aiden not only was growing confident in his mental dominance, but now he knew that he could win every time, no matter how hard I fought back. Aiden brought his head back up to meet my face and stared into my heavy eyes. "You can't keep doing this, Taisa." He said to me. "You can't keep fighting me."

I was too tired to respond, but I felt so defeated and powerless against him. He had such an upper hand in everything, and he's never going to give me a chance. "You're never going to win."