Her eyes darted rapidly around the room, he sensed her desire to flee, but they both knew that there was nowhere for her to go. “My room?” she croaked.

“Unless you would prefer to spend the night in my room.”

Her mouth dropped in horror, her gaze flew wildly back to his. He could hear the frantic beat of her heart pounding crazily in her chest as she made a small sound of terror. “No!”

Braith found himself slightly insulted by her vehement cry. He quirked an eyebrow, wondering why this frail slip of a girl aggravated, intrigued, and caused such a strange reaction within him. She was nothing special; she most certainly was not the kind of woman he preferred, the curvy, graceful, beautiful, and eager kind. No this girl was hard, pointy, skinny, average, and anything but willing as she gazed at him in horror.

“I didn’t think so,” he told her.

He rose swiftly, ignoring her as he moved across the room. He only turned back at the doorway of the side apartment. She had risen, but remained unmoving by the sofa, her hands folded before her. He was surprised to realize that with the light filtering in from the windows, her hair was the color of a dark flame burning brightly within the room. The light was soft on her hard angles, making her appear gentler and prettier. He froze as he gazed at her, soaking the sight of her in. She may not be beautiful, but she was the most wonderful thing he had seen in years.

Chapter 4

“It’s a shower.”

Arianna jumped in surprise, spinning at the sound of the soft voice. The prince was leaning casually in the doorway of the bathroom. Though his customary glasses were in place, she could feel it as his eyes scanned rapidly over her. She took a small step back, her bare heel coming in contact with the cool bottom of the contraption that he had just labeled a shower.

He strode slowly toward her, his large body powerful and graceful. Aria tilted her head back, her mouth parting slightly as she gazed at him in silent wonder. She had not seen him since last night, but she had not imagined his size, his aura of power, or his hard masculine beauty. In fact, it seemed even stronger and more overbearing today than it had yesterday.

He stopped before her, placing his hand against the wall beside her head as he reached around her with the other. Aria jumped in surprise, moving slightly away from the strange contraption as water suddenly splayed forth, wetting the back of her bare legs. She turned, her eyes widening, her mouth dropping as she stared at the water spraying from the nozzle above her. The prince turned the two handles below it, slowly adjusting the flow and heat of the water.

“Amazing,” she whispered.

“I suppose it is.”

She started slightly as she felt his fingers within her hair, curling it around his finger. She turned toward him, unable to speak as he wrapped it ever more slowly around. She couldn’t move away from him, couldn’t reach up to tug her hair back. She could only stand in silent wonder as he coiled it halfway around his finger before lifting his gaze to her again.

“You will enjoy it Arianna.”

Her eyes widened, she swallowed heavily as she tried to calm the fierce pounding of her heart. For a moment she had no idea what he was talking about; if it was him she would enjoy, or if it was the shower. And at the moment she wasn’t sure either as she completely forgot that he was her enemy, and that she hated him.

Then, his finger unraveled from her hair and he took a small step back. “I have sent for Maggie to assist you again.”

Though she was glad that it was Maggie and not Lauren or Julia, she didn’t want someone seeing her naked, or helping her dress again. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. “That’s not necessary,” she said softly.

“You are my guest, and as such, you will be afforded the luxuries of a guest.”

She quirked an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly as she studied him. “I’m a guest now, am I?” she inquired.

“You are whatever I decide I want you to be,” he growled back. Despite the fact that the heat of the water was rapidly warming the room, Aria felt a chill race down her spine. “For however long I want you to be.”

She stared up at him in wide eyed amazement. The thin gown they had placed out for her to sleep in last night was beginning to cling to her body from the steam rapidly filling the room. Her heel connected with the shower again as he leaned ever closer to her. He was near enough that she could see the dark bristles of hair lining his hard jaw. Close enough that his strong, masculine scent engulfed her, nearly overwhelming her with its enticing smell. “Being a guest isn’t really such a bad thing Arianna, now is it?” he whispered.

Her heart leapt, flipping over within her chest as he took a small step back. He was playing with her like a cat with a mouse. She knew that, but to her utter disgrace she was ashamed to realize that she could not help but feel some strange, horrific, form of attraction toward the deadly, vile creature. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the tangled coil of emotions wrapping through her, but she found that she could only stare breathlessly up at him as he continued to lean over her, his hand resting just centimeters from her head.

The soft clearing of a throat brought both of their gazes to Maggie. She was standing in the doorway, her large brown eyes wide and questioning as she glanced rapidly between the two of them. In her arms she clutched a couple of towels, a few bottles of something that Aria did not recognize, and what appeared to be fresh clothes.

The prince stared silently at Maggie for a moment before stepping slowly away from Aria. He strode forward, pausing briefly at Maggie’s side to gaze upon the things gathered within her arms. “No heels,” he commanded gruffly. “And no perfume.”

Maggie jumped slightly, her gaze darted instantly to the things within her arms. Her forehead furrowed in puzzlement, her dark eyebrows drew tightly together. Aria watched in surprise as her Maggie stared quizzically at the prince, her gaze rapidly searching his face as she shook her head slightly. Aria didn’t understand the woman’s strange reaction to the prince’s words. Perhaps she was the only one that didn’t wear the awful monstrosities that passed as shoes around here. But even as she thought that, she knew she was wrong, Maggie was wearing simple, comfortable looking shoes. Then why the hell did the woman look so confused by his words?

Maggie shook her head as if to clear it, her forehead cleared. The prince was gone by the time Maggie picked the heels up from the pile and dropped them on the floor. Maggie turned her attention to Aria, who was too tired, stunned, and confused to offer any protest as she was once again scrubbed, cleaned, and dressed in another article of clothing that she never even would have considered wearing before. This time it was a soft green dress that floated about her ankles as she moved. Her feet remained blessedly bare.

She walked silently behind Maggie as they slipped through the luxurious room she had spent last night in, then the small sitting room before it. And finally back into the main room. The prince was standing before one of the bay windows, looking down at the gardens. He did not look at them, but simply gestured toward the door. Maggie bowed her head, nodded to Aria and slipped swiftly away.

“I had some food brought up for you.”

Aria had already noticed the heaping mounds of food piled upon the tray in the middle of the room. Her stomach rumbled eagerly, and loudly. She had never seen so many wonderful looking things in her life. She remained frozen for a moment, uncertain of what to do as she gazed upon the cheese, fruits, breads, and meats piled upon the tray. It was enough to feed all of the people within the caves for a day as they had all learned how to eat scarcely, and survive on very little. In fact, Aria couldn’t remember a day when she had not gone to sleep at least a little hungry.

This might very well be her first.

“Arianna?” She turned toward the prince, blinking rapidly as her stomach continued to rumble loudly. So loudly in fact, that she was embarrassingly certain he could hear it. He stared at her for a long moment, his eyebrows raised over the dark lenses of his glasses. “You are hungry Arianna, you must eat.”

She nodded mutely, but she could not bring herself to step up to that heaping tray, not when so many others would be going hungry today. Not when her family would be going hungry today. For the first time she allowed her thoughts to turn to her family. They would be worried sick about her, half crazed with their loss. Poor William was probably devastated. Her father and Daniel would be moving stoically onward, burying their pain, which would eat them alive inside. Just as it always did. They would bury themselves in plans, and future attacks, and their anger and hatred for the vampires would grow until it consumed them.

Aria shuddered; she wrapped her arms around herself as she fought against the tears of despair and longing that threatened to spill. She was staring at the prince, but she could not see him through the waves of homesickness that swamped her. And then there was Max, poor Maxwell, trapped somewhere within this town, with some creature that Aria highly doubted was being as nice to him as the prince was being to her.

She did not want to think about what that monster was doing to strong, caring Max. Yet now that she had opened that can of worms, she could not get it to close again. She was not the most experienced person in the world, but she had lived in the woods, and on the far edges of society long enough to know the base cruelty that could be committed by vampires, and by broken, corrupt people. Her family had always tried to keep her sheltered, but there were some things that one could simply not be kept protected from forever. And Max would be experiencing many of those things over his time with that woman.

The soft touch on her arm caused her to jump slightly. She blinked the prince into focus, trying hard not to let him see just how lost she felt right now. “I was not thinking last night Arianna; I am not used to having humans around for more than an hour or two. You have to eat, you must be hungry.” Her stomach rumbled in eager response to his words. His frown deepened; his concern for her became apparent. “Come.”

He led her to one of the sofas and settled her upon it before turning to the tray. Aria watched in awe as he heaped a plate high with food. She was certain that he had never done this for anyone; she could not understand why he was doing it for her, or why he had even rescued her from the ugly little vampire of yesterday. He turned back to her, handing her the overflowing plate. There were foods on it that she didn’t even recognize.

She stared at it for a long moment before he handed her some napkins and a fork. She twisted the fork in her hand as she inspected it. She had seen them before, had even used them a few times, but she was not well versed with the practice of it. She much preferred her fingers, but she had a feeling that the use of her fingers would not be overly accepted here.

He placed a smaller tray over her lap, and then lightly placed her plate on top of it. Aria’s hands were trembling as she moved the fork awkwardly in her hand. She stabbed at some of the fruit before successfully spearing it with the strange utensil. She longed to dive into the heaping plate of goodies, but forced herself to at least try to appear civilized in this grand place.

The prince placed a glass of some orange colored liquid beside her. “What is that?” she inquired, heat coloring her face as she realized she had forgotten to swallow her food first.

He didn’t acknowledge her breech in manners though, but instead sat on the sofa beside her. “Orange juice, I have heard that it is rather tasty. People seem to like it anyway.” Aria studied it for a moment longer, lifted it, sniffed it, and then cautiously took a sip. The liquid was cool, sweet, and refreshing. She downed the rest of the glass in one long swallow. “You approve?”

She smiled tremulously at him as he reached over to refill her glass. She studied him questioningly; she was unable to understand why he was doing this for her, why he was being so kind to a rebel human. She did not ask him though, for she wasn’t entirely certain he would give her a truthful answer, and she didn’t think he would appreciate her mentioning it in the first place. Instead, she decided to simply enjoy the delicious meal she had been handed.

She dug in with renewed gusto, somewhere along the way she even forgot that he was watching her as she repeatedly helped herself to some more of the delicious concoctions upon the large tray. Her stomach was bloated, but wonderfully full for the first time ever when she finally pushed her plate aside, wiped her mouth on her napkin, and sighed contentedly.

“Are you full now?” he inquired softly.

Aria ducked her head; heat flooded her face as she realized exactly what she must have looked like in front of him, eating almost half of the copious amounts of food upon the tray. She had just consumed more than she normally would have in three days. “Yes.”

“Good. I must go out for a bit, but if there is anything you need Maggie has been told to get it for you. You need only ring for her. There is also a guard stationed outside your door so do not consider escape.”