Brynn's POV
"Well we know the secret now to getting you to freeze time and a person. Just get you good and p****d off!!" Rafael snickered at a frozen Arlen with his head bent over, mouth puckered in a kiss. It would have been absolutely hysterical had I not been so panicked! The wizards must've been watching us from somewhere because as soon as I ran to get them, they were on their way to us.
"We'll get him unfrozen. Relax and do what we practiced." George encouraged me. I took a deep breath and counted to ten, focusing on the many happy moments with my parents deep in my memories. Slowly, Arlen started moving again.

"My neck hurts! How long was I froze for?" Arlen asked us as he rubbed the side of his neck.
"It was about fifty seconds." George answered him.
"Ah. Much better than twenty." Arlen grinned at me then his face dropped when he saw how mad I was.
"George and Rafael? Give us a minute." I snarled out. The wizards made out of there like bats out of hell and left us alone in the meadow. I stormed right up to Arlen and got in his face.
"There are other f*****g ways to get me mad than to try and kiss me without asking!!" I hissed at him.
"It worked though, didn't it?" Arlen smugly said.

"Watch out or I'll do it again!" I shouted at him. Arlen's blue eyes narrowed at me, his own expression angry and somewhat disappointed.
"How much longer are we going to keep doing this?" Arlen asked me.
"Doing what?" I asked in bewilderment.
"We met close to two months ago. And in all that time we have never even held hands much less kiss. How much longer are you going to make me wait?"

"So you weren't kidding earlier about not being able to wait much more." I whispered. But hadn't I known? Arlen's been dropping subtle hints for weeks. He's been trying to hold my hand when we are alone and I shrink back on instinct. Light arm wraps around my shoulders have been working over to bear hugs. And while I am drawn to Arlen so very much, I'm still terrified of getting hurt again.
"When was the last time you talked to your therapist?" Arlen asked me.
"The f**k she have to do with this?!" I shouted in defense.
"EVERYTHING BRYNN! You haven't been seeing her since you came here! I've offered to take you and you have absolutely refused to go! Our relationship is suffering because of your past!!" This was the angriest I have ever seen Arlen.
"Our relationship isn't suffering Arlen because there isn't one! It's a friendship! An arrangement if you will. I haven't even agreed to accept you yet!" I told him.
"Well you better make up your mind Brynn and fast, because I'm tired of the hot and cold. I've been patient. I've been kind, and I've been more than fair. Just when I think we turn a corner and I can finally get close to you, you turn me away and shut down again! I can't take much more, Brynn! It's at a point I'm beginning to wonder if it's better to go the rest of my life without a mate than go through the torture I've been through the last couple of months with you!!"
Hot angry tears sprung in my eyes. Arlen was really at his breaking point with me. Yet as I stared at him, I didn't see the anger in his eyes anymore. Hurt and pain radiated all over him. How is it so many people wear heartbreak in their eyes?
Is this what I've driven this man to? Jesus Christ, I have been such a selfish woman and friend to this man who has done nothing but try to help me and keep me safe!!
"You don't want me to go, do you." I whispered, looking down at the ground.
"No. It will break my heart more than you can ever know. But I need more than what I've gotten here Brynn. And if you aren't ready for that, I'll understand and won't force you to stay." Arlen said softly to me.
"If I leave? Will you wait for me?" I turned my head, not wanting him to see the tears in my eyes.
"I'll never reject you willingly, Brynn. But if you want to reject me and move on, I'll accept it. And I will still do whatever I can to get rid of Patrick Jenkins once and for all." Arlen told me.
Of course Arlen would. But he dodged my question.
"I didn't ask what you would do if I rejected you. I asked you if you would wait for me to get my head on right and get some things worked out." I looked Arlen right in his eyes.
"Only if the understanding was that if you felt you could not work through it and could not have this life, you would come here and reject me face to face." Arlen told me, watching me carefully.
Ashamedly, that's exactly what I had thought about to avoid seeing the hurt on his face. A cowards way out if there ever was one. Just how does this man know me well enough to know that??
Because Arlen's my soulmate. That's why.
And it's time I stop sabotaging myself and holding back from him. I care about Arlen Miller. Hell, I may even love him. But I'm not getting ahead of myself.
But one thing is certain. I'm staying here with him.
The tears finally leaked out of my eyes. "God I've been absolutely terrible to you. I'm so sorry I didn't think about your feelings, Arlen." I sobbed and he immediately took me in his arms.
"I'm selfish right along with you then. I thought I could wait patiently, you know? Just wait for you to shine through and accept me. Guess I'm not as strong as I thought with you, Brynn." He whispered against my hair. How right I felt in his arms. Like I was right where I was supposed to be.
"I'm scared Arlen. You have been so good to me, yet I saw what I saw that day you punished that woman and I can't unsee it. I know your reasons and I accepted your explanation. But there is a part of me that is scared you could turn on me like that if I keep turning you down or make you mad." It hurt to admit all that to Arlen, but it had to be said.
Arlen took my face in his hands and for the first time, I didn't even flinch. He touched his forehead to mine.
"I'm only a monster when I have to be. I'm a fair man and most of all, I'm an honorable one. I won't force you to give yourself to me, Brynn."
"I know." I whispered. Very few men in this world have the honor that Arlen Miller has.
"I just ask that you give me something to show me you care for me as much as I care for you. A hug, a kiss on the cheek, hell anything. I don't think that is too much to ask." He's right. I took a deep breath wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and kissed his warm cheek.
"I can do that. I'll try anyway." I smiled at Arlen as he kissed my forehead.
"That's my girl. Now I saw you and that wizard dancing to some music the other day."
"What, doing that side step song with Rafael? That wasn't exactly dancing but me trying not to break my foot!" I laughed remembering I tripped over Rafael's feet constantly.
"Well maybe I want you to dance with me." Arlen told me.
"I'll need lessons. I broke a couple of Rafael's toes." I laughed and Arlen laughed right along with me.
"That can be arranged." Arlen smiled at me.
"You know something Brynn? Seeing you dance like that gave me some ideas indeed." Arlen was inches from my face and I could feel his breath on my neck. I stepped back before he sensed how turned on I was getting.
One look at Arlen's face told me he had sensed my arousal. His nostrils flared and his blue eyes darkened in lust. My mind flashed back to the only other man I knew romantically and this was so different. Patrick's gazes of lust always seemed predatory. With Arlen, this was pure desire and need that he was fighting like hell to control.
And I'm not afraid of it. I want him to lose that control. I want him.
I walked towards Arlen instead of away from him like I have been the last couple of months. "I'm not good at this Arlen. I'm not good at reading cues." Arlen's eyes twitched.
"What am I thinking, Brynn? You are my mate. You will know. Just think." Arlen encouraged me, his breath hot on my neck.
"That you want to kiss me. Take me back to your bedroom and make wild passionate love to me and make me yours. But you won't do that until I tell you I want you." I whispered as I looked at him.
"See? You can read my mind. Just as I can read yours." Arlen smiled and leaned in lightly, pecking my lips. I stayed absolutely still and let him.
"I couldn't read Patrick's. I only knew when the beatings were coming." I said out of the blue. Arlen held me tightly to him and I breathed his scent in to get myself regulated again. As long as I live, I'll never want to smell another man. Pine and a light aftershave are forever embedded in my soul.
"I barely knew Patrick when I was 19 and I know him even less now. I didn't know how to be a girlfriend because he kept me in what was basically a prison, only serving him. Everything was always on HIS terms and I had to basically be a live in maid, cook, and someone to warm his bed. My payment for that was lies, cruelty and chaos! I honestly wish I had just met you from the beginning and not ever met that son of a b***h!!"
Arlen's lips met mine with passion and a fire like nothing I've ever known. He took and tasted, leaving me hungering for more. Need and longing hit me and I responded eagerly back to him, wrestling for some control.
"My pace, Brynn." He whispered as he gently pushed my back into a tree, looking around to make sure no one was watching. Arlen kissed me again and I wrapped my legs around his hips, using them to hold me up. His hardness pushed against me and I lost my control, rubbing against him desperate to relieve the aching.
"Brynn stop. S**t!" Arlen pulled away and took deep breaths, visibly shaking.
"I'm..I'm..." Arlen touched my lips with his fingers.
"Don't say sorry. I had to stop you before I ripped your clothes off and f****d you right here in the open. Our first time is meant to be much more." While I loved how considerate Arlen was being of me, I was a bit bummed that wasn't what happened.
"Too bad. We could've given Rafael the show he's been looking for." I snarked making us both laugh.
"He is one weird man." Arlen and I sat down on the ground against the tree trunk as he pulled me onto his lap.
"Arlen? Can I ask you something?"
"Anything, Brynn."
"Can you love me? Even when I'm not loveable?" I had to hear him say it.
Arlen stared at me in confusion. He touched my nose and traced the outline of my jaw before bending down to meet my lips.
"My Brynn. What else can I do with you but love you forever?"