By choice or by force Ch. 01

By choice or by force

A bonding must occur

Chapter One

She knew that she was foolish to go out alone late at night like that.

But Laurie was struggling to sleep, and the idea of a cup of hot milky chocolate had grown in her mind, whilst she had lain tossing and turning in her bed.

Once the idea had formed, she knew that trying to sleep was hopeless, and so she pushed back the covers and slipped into her robe, and then padded across the tiled floors of her apartment, to her kitchen.

The refrigerator revealed the almost empty carton of milk, just enough for her morning coffee, and then she had remembered.

Laurie's plan had been to buy some on her way home from work tomorrow night.

She slammed the fridge door in a fit of temper, and padded back to her bed.

But the idea of a hot milky drink, had taken root, and now it was all she could think about.

With a frustrated little sigh, she got out of bed again, and pulled on her stretchy jeans and then her boots.

She bundled into her coat, and snatching her purse and her keys, she marched from her flat, and thumped the button on the elevator.

The little metal box took her from her top floor suite to the ground floor.

"Evening Miss Beaumont," the middle-aged doorman greeted her jovially. "This is a late hour to be out an about?"

"Good evening, George," she smiled sweetly, and her pale blue eyes lit up in her pretty, tired face. "I am having trouble sleeping," she explained. "So, I thought that a nice hot milky drink would help me."

"That sounds like a good idea?"

"Yes, the only problem being -- I ran out of milk!"

"Ahh."

She looked at him hopefully. "I don't suppose..."

He smiled down regretfully at her petite five-foot person. "Sorry miss Beaumont, but I'm off milk for a bit, the doctor thinks that I might have a lactose problem!"

"Oh well," she sighed tiredly.

"But there is that all night shop just on the corner, less than five minutes' walk away."

"That's what I was thinking too," she smiled again and George wondered if he should offer to go for her.

"Do..." he began, but she just held up her hand.

"Thank you, George, -- but I would hate for you to get into trouble for leaving your post."

"Well then, the least I can do is watch you go," he sighed. "I should be able to keep you in sight until you get to the main road, and I will wait out on the kerb to watch for you coming back as well."

She had to admit that the idea of the affable George watching out for her -- did make her feel a little bit safer.

"Thank you, George... I shouldn't be long."

She marched briskly down the darkened road, and relied on the street lamps to plot her course to George.

At the deserted main road, she turned back and saw the shadowy figure leaning out of the shadow of the building. With a little smile she held up her hand and waved, and then marched across the road, to the row of shops, most of which were closed.

The shop on the corner was at the other end of the row, and she could see as she walked that it was all lit up and welcoming.

The alley way in the middle of the row, was the only bit to cause her concern, but she simply walked on the road close to the kerb, but keeping well away from that dark entrance.

A few steps further, and she was at the shop, and she stepped inside with a little sigh of relief, totally oblivious to the shadowy figure who was watching her from that alleyway.

**

Michael had been away for the weekend, and arrived back at just after eleven o'clock in the evening to find George the door man hovering on the kerb and wringing his hands.

"Good evening George, how are you... is everything okay?" he asked in an affable if disinterested way.

George looked at him awkwardly. "Good evening Mr Richards, sir... it's that miss Laurie, sir she just popped out for some milk, sir," he said anxiously. "She was only going to that all-night shop down the road, but she's been gone for a bit longer than I think she should have been..." He looked up at him almost beseechingly. "I was just thinking that I should go and look for her, but I shouldn't be leaving my post at this time of night.

Michael turned to looked down the darkened street.

"I had to nip inside for minute, just a minute I was, so surely something could not have befallen her then?"

Michael blocked out the man's droning and opened up his senses, his sense of smell, his hearing, all became that much keener.

He heard the muffled sound of a phone ringing inside, and then a frightened whisper touched his ears.

"Please... don't... don't!"

"Why don't you go and answer your phone George, while I go and find your miss Laurie, and escort her back."

"Yes sir, right you are sir!" George said so eagerly that Michael grinned as he began to walk quickly down the street.

The moment he knew that George was gone, Michael began to run, in long quick strides.

His senses were still open, and he heard a whimper and then the tearing of fabric.

"Don't!" he heard again as he neared that alleyway.

He heard a laboured breathing, and there was the foul smell of stale body odour mingling with a faint flowery aroma.

Michael turned down that alleyway and thundered down its length.

He vaguely remembered the young girl, he thought as she fell away from the man and clutched at her torn jacket.

The man would have followed her down, had Michael not shouted loudly.

"You there!" he bellowed, and the man whirled on him in panic and surprise.

"Me sir, I did nothing sir! You misunderstand sir!" he gabbled, as he backed away.

Michael curled his hand, to hide the black claws, but all the man saw was a thunderstorm attached to a fist, coming right at him. He gave a low groan and turned and bolted, further down the alleyway.

Michael stared after him for a moment, and had to stamp down the urge to follow, and let his animal instinct deal with the creep.

He gave a low sigh, as his metallic eyes cleared, and his claws retracted leaving him fully human once more. He bent slightly and held out his hand to the young woman half lying and half sitting in shock. "Here, let me help you up."

She looked up at him in bewilderment, and their eyes met and locked, and he vaguely noticed the golden sheen to her blue eyes, and then he lost the moment, as a memory invaded his consciousness.

Michael was transported back to another moment in an elevator.

A moment when a strange young woman had looked at him, and had locked eyes with him, and he had seen a flicker in her pale blue gaze.

Her pupils expanded and then contracted back again, leaving a deep blue almost smouldering gaze, full of promise and hope and unconditional love.

He had felt a jolt low in his gut, and had begun to close the distance between them, when the elevator doors had opened, and his senses had been swamped by the smell of perfume and pure sex of the woman who joined them.

"Well hello," the woman smiled at him, even as she cast a quick glance at the girl cowering in the corner. She dismissed her immediately as unimportant and unthreatening, as she stepped closer to Michael.

Michael remembered how only a few minutes later, he had stepped out of the elevator, with that woman -- Sheila, and had accompanied her back to her place.

He remembered how he had spent the night with her, had screwed her brains out, had penetrated and violated, and stroked and caressed, until she cried out in ecstasy, and begged for mercy, as he had been driven and determined to stamp out all memories of the girl in the elevator.

He had thought that he had succeeded too... until now.

Now as he looked down at the girl and her eyes swirled with the hint of an inner light, the pale blue deepened suddenly to a dark smouldering deep ocean blue, and he knew that he had just been kidding himself.

She had been there all along in the back of his mind -- the edge of his subconscious; as he realised suddenly just why he had felt a sense of disappointment every time he had ridden the empty elevator ever since.

He felt himself sinking into the depths of her eyes, her soul, her being.

He knew that he would bury himself deep inside her, and never want to leave again.

"Thank you," she suddenly stammered nervously and the spell was broken.

Her hand touched his, and reality returned.

She felt cold and weak, and he pulled her effortlessly to her feet. She would never -- ever be able to handle him and his animal instincts.

"Come on, I'll walk you back," he said distantly, as he pushed down the gut-wrenching disappointment.

All of his life he had felt out of place.

He was a highborn of his race, one of the old true blood, he was seen as a prince -- a king, a forgone leader, and was held in great respect and sometimes even fear, by others of his kind.

As a young man he had realised quickly that he would never find the perfect mate; that any female from his kind, would see him immediately for what he was and would always be slightly -- if not completely in awe of him.

Michael knew that he wanted an equal in his mate. That the one he would bond with for life would never be less than him.

But that ruled out almost entirely his own kind -- which in itself would be a problem since he was of the old blood.

But Michael also knew that he could not bond with a human pure blood either. He would always be too much for a human female -- as his encounter with Sheila had proven. She had cried for mercy -- just as he was getting going!

They walked silently down the street, and Michael had to fight not to breathe in deeply -- to inhale her scent, and snatch in a taste of her from the air itself.

He had to fight not to open up his senses -- to listen for her heartbeat, because he knew that if he did, he could lose himself to that steady beat, and let loose the animal within.

"Miss Laurie -- there you are!" George was standing out on the pavement again, and wringing his hands as he worried and fretted over one of the tenants.

"Yes, George, here I am safe and sound." Laurie smiled tightly at the doorman, who just nodded with relief, as he held the door open to let them inside.

"She is a little shaken up, by a rather unsettling encounter, and so I will see her up to her apartment and make sure that she is okay," Michael told George firmly.

The door man simply nodded again, and looked relieved that Michael seemed to want to take control of the situation.

"You just go with Mr Richards, Miss Laurie, I am sure that he will take very good care of you."

Michael led her across to the elevator, keeping his arm around her waist so that he could support her if she might stumble or fall -- well that was the reason that he told himself, even if deep down he knew it for the lie that it was.

Meanwhile, Laurie felt like she had just died and gone to heaven, after such a terrible fright, of almost turning into her other form after that man attacked her like that.

She had not for one moment been afraid of the attacker -- but more afraid of what she might have done to the would-be attacker.

Ever since that night -- months ago now when she and her sister Iris, and their father had gone out hunting.

It had been a game, a chance for them to shift into their wolf forms, and hone their senses by tracking the local animals.

Laurie had surprised them all that night, with her skill and speed, and absolute determination to win.

She had caught the stag, and made the required contact, before falling away and letting it escape to freedom.

But for a moment there, when she had felt the heat beneath her paw, and heard the frantic beat of the stag's heart. For a moment, she had wanted to finish the hunt -- with the kill.

And now when the moon was full, Laurie had to fight the call, and steel herself not to give in and lose herself to the animal side of her nature.

It was a battle she had been fighting for some time now, in silence and solitude, and she was terrified that she was losing the fight. They were half way through the lunar cycle now, but already she could feel as the moon began to fill out, to grow stronger in its influence.

But now her mate was with her, and his touch kept her grounded more firmly than anything or anyone else ever could have done.

They stepped into the elevator and as Michael let her go, she shrank into the corner, the same as she had done on that other occasion.

Laurie thought of the warm milk that she had been craving, and sighed in regret.

"Well so much for that idea!" she muttered.

"Sorry... Did you say something?" Michael blinked at her and for a split-second Laurie thought that there had been a metallic glint in them.

She shook her head impatiently. Wishing that he was more than just a human, would not make him so. And Michael was too much of a man to ever consider the ritual of converting him.

"Nothing," she sighed. "I went out in the first place to get some milk, but that scuffle took care of that!"

"It was foolish of you to go out so late on such a petty errand."

She stared at him for a moment, and her mouth dropped open as she fought the almost overwhelming urge to drop to her knees and beg his forgiveness.

"I'm sorry," she finally snapped. "but who put you in the role of my father?"

Michael looked shocked -- positively shocked for a moment, and then he stepped close to her.

"I would never presume to act as your father," he said with a low growl as he reached for her, and pulled her roughly into his arms.

Yes... there was a definite metallic glint in his eyes. The hazy thought drifted through her mind as she saw him leaning down and towards her.

She knew that he was going to kiss her, the pressure of his hands on her arms tightened to hold her in place and his breath fanned her face, and for whatever reason she just knew that he was going to kiss her.

She kept her eyes wide open, despite the burning need to close them and open up her other senses, to feel his kiss on every level available to her.

She really wanted to close her eyes and savour the contact of his lips, and live it in the way that she had fantasised so many times over the last few months.

Every instinct told her to close her eyes, but she kept them stubbornly open, as his lips hovered over hers.

Suddenly the elevator shuddered to a halt and the doors slid open.

"Excuse me, but can I get in, please." The female voice was mature and full of humour, and Laurie just wanted to melt into the corner again.

"Of course," Michael said calmly as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side, in a very possessive manner.

He stepped back taking Laurie with him, and made room for the woman to step in.

The woman pressed the button on the panel which would take her down to the ground floor, and Laurie wondered idly where she might be going at this time of night.

The doors closed and the elevator shuddered into motion again, taking them all the way to the top floor first, so that Michael and Laurie could get out before carrying the other woman down to the ground floor.

As the doors opened again, Laurie squirmed away from Michael and stepped out of the elevator with a little gasp of relief.

She dug her keys out of her pocket and stepped towards her door.

"Well thank you for your assistance tonight and good night," she babbled as she twisted the key, and her door slid open, even as the doors to the elevator closed again.

She stepped into her apartment and gave a squeaky sort of squeal as Michael pressed against her as he followed her into her room, and kicked the door too behind him.

"I just want to check you over, and make sure that you aren't in some sort of delayed shock or were injured without being aware of it."

Once again, the tone of his voice brought her father to her mind, and his authority when he chose to exercise it.

It darkened her pale blue eyes to a midnight blue, and when she turned around to snap at him, he stepped back in surprise.

"I seem to recall telling you -- only a few moments ago... that you are not my father!" she snapped through gritted teeth.

He could feel the firmness of the door at his back, preventing him from stepping further away from her. And suddenly all Michael wanted to do was to get far away from her -- as far away as he could.

He stepped forward again with the intent of pulling open the door and leaving her apartment, but for some reason that one step turned into two and suddenly Laurie was in his arms again and he was pressing his lips against hers even as she reached up and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

"I have no wish to be your father," he growled against her mouth.

Her mouth opened as she started to say, "Good!"

But his tongue shot in and effectively silenced any more of her shocking defiance.

Michael had never yet found a woman who could resist him when he chose to influence them.

It had always been so easy for him to exert his control, so easy that in the end he could not stand even the thought of doing it.

It was of course in his nature to be the dominant one, he was of the old blood and so it was his instinct; but for many years now he had hated that side of himself and fought it until he thought it truly buried.

He had been more shocked than Laurie when he had spoken and the authority had entered his voice.

He had seen her mouth go slack and her eyes dilated, and her body went weak.

He had started to reach out and catch her as she looked like she was about to crumple up under the weight of his voice.

And then she had straightened and looked him straight in the eyes and told him to get stuffed!

True that had not been her words but the meaning was the same.

She had defied him!

This little scrap of a girl -- who could not even walk down a street without the need to be rescued -- this child had defied him!

Of course, she was no child, she was a woman, through and through, and she was -- she would be his!

Michael wanted to shout out with delight, to beat on his chest and yell to the world.

"At last I have found my mate!"

And he suddenly had the need for her to know it. To know that she belonged to him -- and only him.

He wanted to take her and make her his, and bond her to him -- whether she understood it or even wanted any of that or not.

Thought went out of the window and instinct stepped in as he reached and literally threw her over his shoulder.

"Mine!" Was all he could mutter as he carried the stunned young woman through to her bedroom and dropped her onto the bed.

"Mine!" he growled again as he began to tug at his clothes.