A low groan escaped him; he lifted her as if she weighed no more than a feather, pulling her tight against him. His hands were in her hair, his lips against her cheek and ear. “It will not be so Arianna,” he whispered. She pulled slightly back to stare at him questioningly. “I will not take the risk of killing you. I will not be the one that kills you.”
Aria frowned at him; she bent her forehead to his. “I will survive it.”
“There is no guarantee. I will not risk it.”
“But I will die no matter what!”
He managed a wan, halfhearted smile. “Then I will just have to make sure it is not for a very long time.”
“I will grow old.”
“You will grow even more beautiful. And when you are gone, I will follow you.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks. She was far more accepting of her own death than she was of his. But then again, she had expected to die every day since she was old enough to realize what death was. “No Braith. No. I see the way you are now, what you said earlier…”
“I was wrong,” he said firmly. “It was a moment of weakness, it won’t happen again. I will not do that to you.”
His eyes were beautiful, bright as he watched her, smiled at her, and loved her. He kissed her lightly, his mouth warm and hard against hers. For a moment Aria allowed herself to forget there were other people in the room. For a moment there was only the two of them, and none of the pressure. For a moment, just a small fraction of a second, there was total joy, total happiness, and true wonder in a world that often lacked such things.
And then Braith was pulling away and the world was once again intruding upon them. Aria wrapped her arms around his neck, dropping her head to his shoulder she buried her face in his neck, wanting to keep the world at bay for a little longer. He continued to hold her tight, but she knew his attention was not solely focused upon her anymore. As prince, as the future ruler of his world, and hers, he had other matters to attend to. But for right now she just wanted to hold him, just wanted to feel safe, and loved.
Chapter 15
Arianna was finally asleep, but it had only been a matter of time before exhaustion won out over her stubborn nature. She had fought against it for a long time before succumbing to the needs of her body. She was curled up on the couch, her head in his lap, her hand curled around his thigh. Achingly sweet, she appeared exceptionally young to him. Then again, she was exceptionally young compared to him.
He trailed his hand across her silken hair, running it lightly through his fingers. Melinda was watching him with interest, but she did not protest the fact that Braith still refused to untie Ashby. She may be his sister, but he was not going to be outnumbered by them. Not when Arianna’s life was on the line.
Ashby sat beside her, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Though there was tension in his eyes, his posture remained casual, and he retained his mischievous air. “I never suspected anything between you two,” Braith said softly.
“There was a lot going on at the time.” Melinda’s gaze drifted toward Arianna. “I never suspected anything between the two of you either, but then I never thought you were capable of love. Especially not with a human, especially not with your blood slave. Though I was curious as to why you had finally taken one. Now I know why.”
Braith didn’t take offense to her words. He hadn’t thought he was capable of love either. He cared for his brother Jericho; he even cared for Melinda, though he had never known her as well as Caleb or Natasha. Even when Melinda had returned to the palace, she had remained mostly distant from her other siblings, aloof. However, she hadn’t really known them, as she’d spent her first twenty seven out of thirty years in exile, with their mother.
The war had been raging in full force by the time Melinda returned, Braith had only seen Melinda a handful of times before his vision was lost. Though she had continued to mature over time, most of her growing had been completed before he was blinded; she had not changed much since then. Even after he had lost his sight, he had only come into contact with her once a month, if even. He’d assumed that she did the same things as Natasha. That she wandered about the palace, enjoying the luxuries, and thriving on the blood.
Apparently she had actually been escaping into the wilderness to nourish and spend time with her lover. Melinda had always seemed so sweet and young to him. Apparently her picturesque face and quiet demeanor hid a far stronger personality than he had ever suspected.
“Why did you keep returning to the palace? Why didn’t you just stay here?”
“Someone had to bring back the slaves. Someone had to keep the locals around here quiet. Someone had to make sure they did not send out new guards, and when they did, we had to be prepared to take care of them. Someone had to spy, to see if there would ever be a chance that we could escape together and finally be free.”
Braith nodded, slightly impressed by his sisters cunning, daring, and skill. He was also slightly put off by her manipulation and cold admission about her deceptions. He made a mental note not to trust her, he didn’t think she was inherently cruel, but it was more than obvious she would do anything to keep Ashby safe, and Braith was certain that Ashby would do the same thing for her. Neither of them was going to leave his sight until Jack arrived. It was the only way he would feel marginally better about Arianna’s safety.
Arianna stirred slightly, her hand tightened on his thigh. “You know that you don’t have a prayer of keeping her human,” Ashby said softly.
“I won’t change her.”
“You may not want to change her, you may think that you can keep yourself from doing so, but we all know the truth here Braith. You think you can go the next five, ten, fifty years risking her life, and watching her die?”
“If I have too.”
Ashby shook his head; he leaned back against the wall. The young vampire girl remained silent; she had offered no further protests to her restraints. She was sullen, resigned to remaining tied for a long time. “You’re only in the beginning stages of this Braith.” Ashby folded his hands before him as he stared fiercely at Braith. “Do you think it’s going to get easier as the years go on? It grows and intensifies; the bond between you will become something so intense that it will take everything you have to get through one second without her. You asked me earlier who I was expecting; do you think it was this girl?” He gestured sharply at the young vampire girl.
“No, I thought it was Melinda at the door. Do you know how hard it is to see her go back there? I hate myself every time she leaves here, every time she returns to that depraved hell hole. If there was ever a time she didn’t return from there, I would be there in a heartbeat, killing everyone in my way until they finally took me down. I would welcome the death they would finally deliver to me. She’s human Braith; you will live with her mortality every second of your life together. You won’t be able to handle it, I can promise you that.”