"Honored?" I glared at him, pausing in my efforts. "I should be honored that I am now bound to you like...like some kind of slave?" I seethed.

Pashnirix sighed. "Not a slave," he said almost tiredly. "I would never do such a thing. To restrain a will as strong as yours would be the gravest sin."

"Then WHAT?! What the hell are you trying to accomplish here, Pashnirix?" I screamed. When he didn't answer me immediately, I went back to clawing at my arms. I could feel my element slipping up on me, my senses sharpening, ready for a fight. I was a tiger; tigers don't do well when caged.

"Rexikat, would you please calm down, for just a minute, and listen to me," said Pashnirix in a low voice. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just relax."

I didn't want to relax. I wanted out. "Take these things off me," I growled. "Take them off now."

Pashnirix shook his head. "I cannot do that," he said, "or rather, I will not."

I couldn't take it anymore, his smug, chilled attitude. I leaped off the bed, surprised when he didn't move as I tackled him to the ground. He fell to the floor with a grunt, pinned underneath me.

"Why?" I said, slashing him across the face. "Why do you insist on owning me? I'm not one of your possessions; I'm not some thing to be claimed! I refuse to be owned!

"Ever since the first time we fought, you've been going on about how we have so much to learn from each other, how much you have to learn from me! I don't understand!" In frustration, I grabbed his shoulders, slamming him on the ground again.

"You're right," he said, "you don't understand. You still don't understand. And you won't, not until you understand that there are other ways to feel--"

"Don't you dare," I growled, holding a clawed hand to his throat. "If you say that to me one more time, I swear I'll kill you."

We both fell silent, and the room was quiet but for my harsh breathing. "Rexikat," he finally said, "the armlets do not restrict your will in anyway. They simply prevent you from leaving this world until..."

"Until what?" I asked.

"I say so," he admitted. "I can take them off myself, but I'm not willing to take that risk. Not until you listen to me, and learn."

"So you're content with keeping me here as your pet until--"

"Not a pet," he growled back at me, eyes flashing, "never a pet. An equal."

I drew back, surprised at his sudden anger. He took the opportunity to knock me off him, and drew himself up off the floor. He picked me up by the arm, and held me against the wall.

"Listen," he said viciously in a low voice with narrowed eyes, "I know you are upset. I know you don't like being caged. Trust me, I know. I've trapped you here when that's the last thing you wanted. But you are not in any way my slave, nor are you a pet. You are mine, my equal, my rival, my mate, the only one who deserves my respect in this universe."