She couldn't maintain the speed and he was drawing on strength from Faerie, something she had never tried to do before.
His arm slid around her and the sudden loss of momentum had knocked them both to the ground, rolling and leaving a long gouge in the green hill.
Panting, she threw herself to her feet and ran to him, driving her foot into his side and sending him flying up the hill but he was on his feet again within a breath of her foot finding his side.
Growling, he ran for her and she ducked, lifting up enough to drive her elbow into his back and he staggered.
Reaching behind her, she drew out the large two knives that crossed against her lower back and she went after him, her mind set on destroying this new mortal host of his.
Seeing her coming, he was able to block her first thrust for his chest, the second grazing his cheek as he tilted his head back in an attempt to dodge it.
His eyes glowed a rich gold as he retaliated, throwing a hard underarm punch for her stomach. Her body twisted, his fist grazing her but missing a damaging shot.
Another slash was deflected, barely missing his throat and her attempt to drive the second knife into the side of his neck was caught. Fingers closing around hers, he spun her and used her own knife at her throat to hold her still.
His fingers were painfully hard on hers, keeping her from being able to release the blade as he pulled her firmly against his chest, keeping her from being able to bust his nose open with the back of her head.
He was panting heavily in her ear, his free hand curling around her waist to trap her other arm at her side and they stood still, trying to recover from the sprint and fight.
"Now be a good girl and don't struggle," he breathed as he pressed his body forward and hers was forced to bend with his until he drove his knee into the back of hers and she buckled, landing hard on her knees with his body leaning over hers.
"Let go of the knife," he said slowly.
She released the blade at her side, the one at her throat unable to be released.
"Good girl. If you try and stab me, I will hurt you," he said slowly as his fingers loosened on hers and the second blade fell to the ground with the first. "That's my girl."
He kept his fingers on hers, pulling her arm down until it was wrapped around herself and he was able to hold her by the wrist. Using his body weight, he finally pressed her to the ground and he sighed in relief, releasing her wrist and placing his hand against the centre of her back to keep her pinned.
Sitting on her backside, he looked down at her and smiled, her head turning just enough to see him sitting on top of her.
"That wasn't so hard, was it?" he asked while she glared at him. "Don't be a spoil sport, I won fair and square. Now I get my prize."
His fingers pulled the long length of her hair out of the back of her shirt and he began to unwind the tight braid, his fingers smooth and fast. Once it was free, he took one of the throwing blades from her thigh and used it to cut a lock of her hair, holding it up to examine in the light.
He smiled happily, tied it into a smooth knot and then tucked it away in his pocket.
"What do you want?" she demanded, shivering as he leant down and the tip of his nose traced a line on her throat as he breathed in her scent.
"You, Etani. Only you," he said gently as he reached under her and began to unbuckle her belt.
"Is anyone in this world capable of taking 'no' as an answer?" she snarled.
He laughed, removing the belt and throwing it away. "Oh, don't worry, I'll be gentle," he paused and then laughed again. "No, I won't."
She waited, his hands tracing down over her backside and then up between her legs as he released the straps and they too were thrown away, far out of her reach.
The laces of her corset were next and he pulled them free, grinning as he used the strings to bind her hands and then the second going around her throat, suddenly pulled tight and cutting off her air as he leant down.
"You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment," he relished her gasping for air, his eyes cold on her as she choked. "Since you were but a little girl, crying for your daddy when that Cain fellow killed him. Then screaming for your mother to wake up but she never did."
His words cut her, the string pulled tighter as he forced open the back of her corset and pulled it out from under her, throwing it away.
"I tried to get to you when you left Ceress, but that damned cat was there. He wouldn't let me near." She could see blackness creeping in on her vision, fear washing through her as he undid her boots and shoved them off, leaving her with nothing but her base clothes.
"Then you ran, and you ran." The string pulled tight until no more air could slip past and she felt herself fading. "And I followed, and followed. But you always managed to get away from me," he whispered in her ear, watching her face as her eyelids fluttered.
She was suddenly able to breathe and she gasped in air, her head spinning as she heaved.
"No my darling girl, I want you conscious," he said maliciously, enjoying her struggles. "You were so beautiful, prowling your way through the human world and killing without mercy. Anyone who crossed you ended up dead, anyone who looked in your direction ended up dead."
His free hand gripped the back of her shirt and pulled it up, his body shivering as his hand pressed against her bare skin, feeling the softness of it.
"Such a perfect creature, so hungry and never satisfied," he leant over her and dragged his tongue hard up the side of her face, grinning when she shuddered. "I knew I had created the one, especially with what happened with Faerie. Such a waste of perfectly good Fae."
He forced his hand up under her and found her breast, squeezing and fondling her painfully.
She felt her boot and her attention immediately snapped to it, the soft pad of one of her custom knives giving her hope.
"And then the lich catches you and I was certain you were lost to me. They're not the sharing type," he said and in a whip, he had flipped her over and pinned her back down.
She didn't try and struggle, not wanting him to restrain her further, instead she worked on trying to inch her boot up towards her hands, her attention turning to cutting the string. They broke in a matter of seconds and she was free.
"Then I found out about the war and I was so excited to join in. I knew you would be involved, that idiot king has no idea just how powerful you are."
At her not fighting, his hands went the hem of her shirt and he pulled it up to expose her, his eyes bright as he leant down and bit her breast.
She cried out as he drew blood, using her unconscious squirm to wiggle the boot up but it wouldn't go any further.
Cursing, she thought over her position and then she did either something very stupid, or very clever.
She shifted herself, pulling her legs out from under him and parting them, one of hers on either side of his hips.
He went still, staring down at her, and then growled. He assumed she wanted him, but the position allowed her to move the boot up and her fingers grazed the leather.
He licked the trickle of blood from her breast and moaned at the taste of her before he gave her a warning look and kissed her hard.
She wanted to kill him, she really did. But she resisted the urge to try, instead she shifted the boot up a little higher and edged it around to find the knives.
Her lips moved against his, meeting the ferocity of his kiss with hers.
Her fingers found his hair and she gripped it hard, controlling his head as she bit his lower lip.
He sucked in a breath and growled his pleasure at her cooperation.
Fingers closing on the knife, he rolled, and she suddenly found herself on top of him, his arousal obvious under her as she straddled his hips.
Leaning down, she kissed him with as much passion as she could give a man she hated, and couldn't remember the name of.
While she was down, her hand extended and she fished one of the knives out of the boot and her thumb pressed off the woollen ball cap.
She ground herself down on him to keep him occupied, his hands finding her hips and pushing her down harder.
His eyes were closed and so he missed her lifting the knife, but they opened in some primal warning system, even as the blade plunged into his eye.
The side of her hand was covered in blood and goo as she let go of the knife that had plunged in up to her fist and she wiggled it, scrambling his brains just to be sure.
His body jerked and she felt the malicious intent of the demon leaving the human as the human died.
She knew he would be back and he wouldn't fall for her game again. But until then, she had time to escape. Jumping off him, she scrambled to pull her boots on and she gripped the handle of the knife in his eye, jerking it sideways to snap off the thin blade.
She had made them so that the blade would easily break and remain lodged in the wound, making it harder to heal. In this case it only meant he was still dead, but that was irrelevant.
Finding her belongings, she dressed quickly and bit her finger to open the door, throwing one last glance at the beauty of the land she had just left before stepping through into Summer.