Chapter 56: 56__A battle of the weak and the strong

Rogan stared darkly at the three before him, trying to read their expressions.

“If you’re lying to me, I’m gonna kill you.”

Maia’s eyes widened up at him. “*Nooo*. You shouldn’t kill them.”

Rogan pursed his lips. Damn, he couldn’t even be properly evil with her around. “Fine. I won’t kill you, I’ll just make you wish you were dead.”

“We’re not lying, goddamn it,” said Vlad, still rubbing his aching chest.

“But that’s all we can tell you,” added Seth. “Anything more and we would be disobeying the orders of our king—”

“Yeah, whatever.” Rogan waved away those words. “So what you’re saying is… Viktor knows who’s after Maia? And that he’s trying to get to her… to get to who’s after her?”

Seth looked uncomfortable. “That’s not what I said. All I said was he knows who’s after h—”

“Perfect,” said Rogan. He’d gotten everything he needed, not from their words, but their faces. He waved a hand. “Leave.”

Taking Maia and Clover’s hands, he turned to leave.

“Rogan,” Seth said. Rogan stopped. “Viktor isn’t trying to reach out to you through this. As far as he’s concerned, it has nothing to do with you and he’s just trying to sort out his own affairs. Do not think this ties in with you two’s relationship.”

Rogan said nothing, staring at the dark halls of the garden verandas. He turned his head a degree to the right. “When I say leave… you should leave.”

Hearing the warning, Maia tightened her grip on his hand.

The Legion exchanged looks and finally withdrew, turning around and walking off into the thick shrubs of the garden.

Rogan stalked on, tugging Maia and Clover along with him.

Clover watched the Vampires leave with saddened eyes. That Vampire friend of hers kept disappearing like this and without a word too.

And whose fault was it? Her widened eyes turned sharp with a glare directed at Rogan. *Him*! Him and his wizardly ways! How could he throw all that dark magic at her friend?

“Bully.”

Rogan pursed his lips. “I heard that.”

Clover pouted. “Did you see, Maia? Did you see how Rogan hurt my friend?”

Maia looked at her around Rogan. “But, Clove, you also almost got hit. Are you okay? Why did you try to protect that Vampire? Do you know him?”

“Of course, I know him, he’s my friend! He brought me home last time when I was sick in the forest.” She sighed. “He’s so kind and gentle and handsome! Did you see how he protected me back?”

“Stop talking,” Rogan muttered. “Don’t ever get in the way of magic like that again, I don’t care which idiot you’re trying to protect.”

Both girls made faces at him which Rogan was too distracted to notice. His mind was dwelling on one thing only.

Viktor knew who was after Maia?

Or perhaps Viktor was after Maia.

Rogan wanted to bet on the second.

**************

The house was as dark as the pits of hell when they entered. Maia again stood as stiff as a wooden plank as Rogan shut the front door behind him.

She stood, her shoes clutched in her hands as he casually stalked off into the dark, disappearing from before her eyes.

He’d been quiet on the way back, even when the girls had been speaking about what happened at the ball. Maia figured he had a lot on his mind.

But that was no reason to leave her lost in the darkness of this cave of a house.

“I’m blind…” she whispered pitifully, pushing a foot carefully forward. She swallowed, reaching out one hand to feel about the void before her.

Was this what death felt like?

Her hand collided with something hard. Maia poked it with a finger. A pillar?

What was a pillar doing in the middle of the parlor? She stroked it.

The pillar suddenly grew a hand and gripped her wrist. Maia squeaked.

“Did your Nana teach you to touch a man like that?” Rogan muttered, hooking her hand onto his shoulder. “Now, hold onto me. I should have known you were human earlier from how blind you are in the dark.”

Maia scrunched up her nose as he led her through the house. “This house is too dark… I wouldn’t even see a hiding ghost.”

“I would,” Rogan said firmly. “So don’t worry.”

Maia pursed her lips. That’s right. Rogan would send all ghosts into the afterlife the moment he saw them, wouldn’t he? She could trust him, couldn’t she? Even if he’d once tried to give her to the Shifters. Even if the ghosts had told her to stay away from him.

She bit her lip. Sure, he was bad, but how bad could he be if he stopped at nothing to protect her?

Maia smiled. “I think you’re nice. With rusty, sharp edges, but still nice.”

Rogan made a face as they walked into the kitchen and the moonlight hit them through the large windows. “The hell are you talking about?”

She shrugged, finally retracting her hand the moment she could see. “I’m just saying, you’re nice.”

“I’m not nice.”

“You are, you protected me from the Vampires.”

Rogan shrugged off his jacket with a scoff. “So you knew I was protecting you and you still got in the way like that?”

Maia leaned against the table, watching him. Why was he standing in the moonlight and removing his clothes? Was this was Claudia called being a tease? He tossed his jacket onto a chair and ran a hand through his now messy hair.

“I was protecting you from irresponsible actions,” she said distractedly, staring at him.

The moonlight dipped into the space at the base of his neck where his button was open and she found it strangely enticing.

Rogan went to the cupboards and reached up for his tray of vials.

Maia watched him pop open a purple one and pour it down his throat. She swallowed when his throat muscles worked to down the liquid.

“Irresponsible actions?” Rogan asked, replacing the empty glass vial. “You want to talk about irresponsible actions? Huh?” He turned around to find Maia sitting on the window seat, the moonlight behind her. His gaze took in the parted slits of her skirt and the glowing skin of her legs that was boldly exposed. Turning away, he focused on his vials. She couldn’t entice him, she was only human.

“You would have killed them if I hadn’t stopped you,” Maia said with a tilt of her head.

“And that’s why you jumped onto the magic in my hand,” countered Rogan, replacing his tray of vials.

“Yes, I was being a hero.”

He came to stand before her, leaning against the table. He looked right at her face, seeing it clearly even with the bright light behind her. “A hero?” he demanded sarcastically. “How? You’re a little human, Maia.”

At that, she scoffed. “So? I’m still strong!”

“Right, and you also could drop dead at a single dragon’s breath.”

Maia pouted. “The dragon has no business breathing on me in the first place. Point is, I’m not weak.”

Rogan straightened, suddenly wanting to tease her. “I don’t care what you say, human equals weak.”

Biting her lip, Maia kicked out a leg, but miserably failed to hit Rogan.

He snorted. “Apparently human equals short legs as well.”

He walked away from her with a triumphant smirk, pleased with himself. A sudden shove got him stumbling forward.

Rogan turned around with a raised eyebrows to see Maia glaring up at him with hands on her hips. “See? I even managed to push a big, old, Vampire Sorcerer. I am not weak!”

Rogan put his hands in his pockets and looked mockingly pensive. “Whatever made me suspect you were a werewolf or a fairy? Yes, you’re tiny like a fairy, but you have none of the strength of a wolf and you can’t even fly like a fairy. You’re just a weak—”

Another shove got his back slammed against the wall.

Rogan secretly clenched his teeth. Goddamn that had been strong. But he didn’t feel like telling her that. A genuine chuckle broke out of his throat. He looked at Maia, noting the smirk on her face. “Was that your best effort?”

Maia’s smirk melted off, her mouth pursing with frustration.

Before Rogan could poke more at her pride, she took a step forward and then another. He watched her approach, her walk slow and deliberate, her gaze riveted to his face.

Soon she was crowding him and Rogan got the bizarre urge to disappear into the wall behind him. “What are you doing?”

Maia gripped his shoulders and shoved them back against the wall. Her lips curved into a smirk at the look on Rogan’s face. “What am I doing? I’m trying to show you which one of us is weak.”

He raised a brow but then she began to undo the buttons of his shirt.

Rogan scoffed in amusement, turning his face away from her. “What a waste of your time. You’re a *human*. I’m a Vampire Sorcerer of two royal bloodlines, there’s no comparis—”

He froze.

Maia grinned.

Swallowing carefully, Rogan brought his gaze to her face. “You don’t… you don’t wanna play that game with me, Maia. Remove your hand. Now.”

At the breathlessness of his voice, Maia almost laughed. She didn’t obey his orders. She did the opposite and stroked him, her hand fearless over his groin, growing only more fervent the harder he got.

Rogan’s breath clogged in his throat and he gritted his teeth as he stared at her face.

This was a senseless situation. So what if she had one palm flat on the bare flesh of his chest and her other palm in a much more dangerous area. She was still just his little human.

A human would *not* overpower him!

“I’ll count to three,” Rogan murmured tightly, even as she pressed closer, a daring look darkening her eyes. “And then you—”

Her hand slid up his chest, curving around his neck. Rogan felt himself crumble a little and clenched his teeth harder.

She pulled him a little lower, bringing her mouth to his but never touching it. She left him like that, a breath away from her lips and with her hands doing the most torturous things to his body. His arousal was so very obvious, Maia felt victory course through her.

He could smell her skin, could smell the perfume on her neck. It drove him insane. The very fact that he was struggling to not give in to his desire to drag her against him and ravage her mouth was insane. Rogan felt both his Vampire’s and Sorcerer’s power tremble. This woman who was a little human, she was weakening him.

How dare she?

Maia shrieked as Rogan quite literally picked her up, off the floor, flipping their positions. He pressed her against the wall, feeling his body overheat at the feel of her legs hooking around him.

“You need to stop playing dirty,” he told her darkly. “Because that’s a game I will always win.”

His hands grabbed her skirt. Maia held onto his shoulders, her eyes growing wider with every rip and tear she heard go through her clothing. “Rogan—”

“Let’s play dirty then,” he murmured, a fanged smile curving his lips.

Maia released a shuddering breath, her entire mind getting captivated by him and the aura he exuded. He couldn’t do this to her. She gripped his arms desperately, whining as she tried to break out of his power. “N-no, I’m winning…”

The torn skirt fell to the floor and Maia felt Rogan’s hands began their revenge on her. Her back arched, her lip trapped between her teeth with her efforts to not make sounds.

“Are you?” He chuckled and somehow, the dark sound sent ripples of arousal through Maia and she felt her face grow crimson red. “Are you winning, Maia?”

This was a ridiculous game they were playing, but she did not want to lose. It appeared Rogan didn’t give a damn. His fingers worked expertly between her thighs, getting slicker with wetness after every stroke. Not hard and fast like the first times they’d been together. He was being so gentle and attentive and damn torturous, the sensations were sending Maia deep into insanity.

Her head arched back and he immediately took the neck she offered to him, grazing his fangs against its softness and torturing himself to no end with the flesh he could not bite.

When her hands cupped his face and she pressed her lips to his, Rogan threw himself into the kiss with every ounce of his desire, further fuelled when Maia nipped at his lip with her teeth and rocked herself desperately against his hand.

“S-stop…” she breathed. “Just stop being gentle… *fuck*.”

That was the moment he lost his mind. Rogan shoved away from the wall, and they stumbled wildly through the dark, attached tightly to each other. Why was the sound of her cursing when aroused such music to his ears?

He could no longer pace himself, his control had snapped and there was no fixing it, but at the sound of Maia’s moaning, she didn’t want him to control himself.

Rogan cursed.

How the hell had he gotten himself addicted to a little forest rabbit? A little human forest rabbit who could turn him on like a light switch!

He groaned with both frustration and arousal, kicking a mystery object out of his path as he carried her away.

Just for tonight, he’d let himself go. He wouldn’t think about how he could be the reason why she was in danger. He didn’t want to reason and plan.

Maia felt a sharp cold wind and then they fell onto Rogan’s thick bed. His weight bore down on her and she almost purred with delight.

She tried to shove off his shirt, but Rogan suddenly grabbed her wrists, pressing them down into the bed.

His lips curved into the most devilishly sexy smile she’d ever seen, his eyes swirling insanely as he hovered over her.

“Now…” he whispered. Maia trembled. “…let’s play dirty.”