She had a brief glimpse of a shadowed room that seemed to consume an enormous amount of space. Oddly, even in the dark and with a muted sense of vastness there was a feel of warmth to the room.

No. She gave an unconscious shake of her head.

The feeling of warmth was not the room, but the entire house.

As if those who had lived here had made it truly a home and left behind the echoes of their happiness.

Lost in her ridiculous thoughts it took a moment to realize that Viper had not turned toward the nearby doorway that led further into the house. Instead he was climbing the wide sweep of stairs.

Crap.

Whatever his promises of not forcing himself upon her she didn't trust him.

He was a vampire.

Enough said.

"Surely that isn't all the rooms on this floor?" she demanded.

"No, but they are not nearly so intriguing as the rooms above." His voice was the same velvet midnight of his eyes. Just as magical,

Damn him.

"I wish you would put me down. I'm perfectly capable of walking." And running. And locking herself in the nearest room.

"I like the feel of you close to me." He reached the landing and turned into the first door on the right. He paused only long enough to touch the switch on the wall before continuing into the center of the room. "Here we are."

Holding herself stiffly, she studied her surroundings. She wasn't sure what she expected. Whips. Chains. Shackles bolted to the wall.

Instead she discovered a room that possessed the same welcoming warmth she had sensed from downstairs.

"This is your bedroom?" she demanded, regarding the large four-poster bed with its thick quilt and hand-carved dresser that held a vase of fresh daisies.

She could think of nothing less suited to the elegant, sophisticated vampire.

Oddly his face became an unreadable mask. Even the midnight eyes were guarded.

"Actually it is yours."

Her heart forgot to beat. "Mine?"

"Do you like it?"

"I..." She licked her dry lips. Suddenly the soft, charming room was more frightening than any amount of chains or shackles. "Why?"

He studied her expression with that unnerving intensity of a predator. "Why what?"

"I'm your slave. You can do anything you want to me. Why are you treating me like some sort of privileged guest?"

"It is because you are my slave that means I can treat you in any manner I think fitting."

She closed her eyes against the power of his gaze. "Please, just tell me what you want from me" she whispered. "The not knowing is worse than anything you can do to me."

There was a moment of hesitation before he was striding forward. Before Shay knew what was about to occur, she felt herself being tossed onto the center of the soft bed.

Her eyes flew open as she landed, but not in time to prevent him from following her downward and covering her body with his much heavier frame.

"Very well." His head angled downward until his lips were pressed to her throat and the silken silver hair brushed her face. "I want you in my bed beneath me, screaming out my name as you come in pleasure " he murmured, his mouth moving against her skin to send a thousand tingles of delight through her body. "I want to drink deeply of your blood and bathe in your heat. I want to wrap myself in you until I can get you to stop haunting my dreams. Is that what you wanted to know?"

Her eyes slid shut as she battled the urge to wrap her legs around his waist and beg to be taken exactly as he described.

He wasn't the only one haunted.

"Not really," she rasped.

"Don't worry, pet. I don't force myself on women. We have an eternity to sate my hungers." His mourn shifted so she could feel the sharpness of his fangs. "Both our hungers."

She shivered even as she shook her head in denial. "You know nothing of my hungers."

"I intend to learn."

A sharp, poignant sadness swept through her, helping to dispel the seductive madness that this vampire could infect with such terrifying ease.

"What I desire you can't offer."

Easily sensing her withdrawal Viper pulled back to regard her with a fierce expression.

"Never doubt me, Shay. I am a vampire of amazing skills." He kissed her with a swift, but shocking intimacy before he was pressing himself fluidly to his feet. A smile touched his lips as he regarded her sprawled on the soft quilt, as if the sight of her lying there somehow pleased him. "Rest well."

Unbelievably, he turned and walked out of the room.

He hadn't chained her to the bed.

He hadn't locked her in the closet.

He hadn't even closed the door.

Cautiously pressing herself upright Shay gave a shake of her head.

What the hell was going on?

Viper made his way through the dark house to his private study. It was close to dawn but he still had a few details to tidy up before seeking his bed.

A pity one of those details wasn't the beautiful Shalott alone in her room, he acknowledged with a rueful sigh. His body still ached with the effort it had taken to leave her alone on that bed.

His mind might assure him that she would soon enough be offering herself without hesitation, but his frustrated desire insisted that it couldn't possibly be soon enough.

Five minutes from now couldn't be soon enough.

Entering the book-lined room he moved straight to the door hidden behind the walnut paneling. Pressing the lever that would let him into the security room beyond, Viper stepped inside and regarded the bank of monitors with a faint sense of pride.

Unlike many of his kind he had never shied from embracing the latest technology. It went beyond arrogant to downright stupid to ignore the ever-changing world.

Besides, if he were perfectly honest, he would admit that he was like any man. He had to have the coolest, the shiniest, most expensive toys with which to play.

At his entrance a small, redheaded vampire watching the monitors was on his feet with his fangs fully extended.

Viper raised a calming hand. "Be at ease."

Realizing who had snuck up on him, the vampire offered a deep bow. "Master."

"Have there been any disturbances?"

"No. It has been very quiet." The green eyes narrowed. "Are you expecting trouble?"

"There is the possibility that I was followed tonight," Viper said. "I want the guards doubled and everyone on full alert."

"Of course, master."

Viper smiled at the swift obedience. No questions. No arguments. No lethal glares.

His employees were far better trained than his new slave.

"Who is on duty after you?"

The vampire glanced toward the list that was set by one of the monitors. "Santiago."

"Good." Viper gave a nod. Santiago was still a young vampire, but he was well-trained and capable of thinking on his feet. Nothing would be allowed to slip past him. "I want you to warn him to keep a close watch on the grounds."

The redheaded vampire regarded him with a curious expression. "Should he keep a close watch for anything in particular?"

"I have a guest staying with me," Viper confessed with a smile that refused to go away. "A very special guest. I fear she might decide to wander off while I sleep."

"Ah. You want to have her captured and returned?"

Viper gave a slow shake of his head. "No. If she is seen trying to leave, I am to be awakened immediately."

The vampire gave a surprised lift of his brows. "You don't want her halted?"

"Not unless Santiago suspects there might be something dangerous lurking nearby." Viper glanced toward the monitors.

"I think it might be interesting to discover just where my guest decides to go."

It shouldn't have been surprising that Shay overslept.

She had paced the floor of her bedroom for over an hour before she had at last accepted Viper was not coming back. That there wasn't going to be any torture, or tormenting, or rape.

At least not yet.

She wasn't nearly ready to believe that it wasn't in her future.

Still it was a shock when she at last awakened and realized that it was already past five in the afternoon.

Good God. She had not only slept, but her sleep had been deep and utterly free of nightmares.

It was unheard of.

It had to be the soft, feather mattress. Or the silence that drenched the estate, she reassured herself as she muttered a few choice curses and scrambled to the bathroom to toss water on her face. It certainly couldn't be that she felt at peace in the home of a vampire.

That would be beyond ridiculous.

She managed to find a new toothbrush and toothpaste in the attached bathroom, as well as a hairbrush that she used to smooth her long hair before she braided it and hurried down to the kitchen.

With no change of clothing, she was forced to remain in the harem pants and glittering top, but as she moved toward the back door she noticed the heavy velvet cloak that Viper had tossed aside the evening before.

She was hot as sensitive to the brisk fall air as a normal human, but she didn't possess the ability of a true Shalott to ignore the elements.