Aria did not appreciate being played with. Especially not right now. Right now she simply wanted to go back to sleep and give her body a chance to heal before it was assaulted again tomorrow. “Yes, that girl,” she snarled.
The prince’s gaze wandered over her body once more. Aria was surprised to realize that he appeared angered by what he was seeing. “Why did she do this?”
Aria shrugged, wincing as she instantly regretted the action. Pain tore through her, she clamped down hard on the small cry that wanted to escape. “Because she can. I am just a blood slave after all.”
His jaw clenched tightly, his hands fisted momentarily. “You may be a blood slave, but you are my blood slave.” Aria would not meet his gaze, she kept her hands folded before her as she focused upon the back wall, refusing to look at him or respond to him anymore. “Stand up,” he commanded gruffly. Aria’s jaw clenched, but she did not move. “Get up!”
The words were practically snarled at her, but she didn’t move. She had been beat down enough over the past week, she would take whatever small victories she could get right now, and disobeying him was one such victory. She did not think about the fact that she was disobeying the prince, that he could do whatever he wanted to her right now. She just didn’t care anymore.
He made a soft hissing sound, and then his hands were upon her arms. She was surprised by how gentle his touch was as he lifted her to her feet. Aria’s eyes snapped back to him, her mouth parted in surprise as she gaped at him. He placed her on her feet, his hands rested lightly on her arms as he took a step back. Heat flooded her face, embarrassment suffused her. She couldn’t stop her hands from instinctively fluttering up to try and cover herself, but he pulled them easily aside.
Aria bit on her lip, fighting back waves of anger and despair as she stood before him, her body almost completely exposed for him to see. Yet, he did not leer at her, did not stare at her as if she were inferior to him and unworthy. His fingers trailed lightly over her ribs, running along the edges of the dark bruise that was clearly obvious against her pale skin. Though she kept her face impassive, she felt her body instinctively flinch away from his touch as it neared her broken rib.
His jaw clenched as his hand stilled upon her skin, his palm flattened gently upon her. “Your rib is broken.”
“I know.”
His head came slowly up, his shaded eyes were hidden, but she could sense the question behind those dark lenses. She did not answer it, as far as she was concerned he did not need to know how it happened. He already knew who and why and that was enough for her. Instead, she remained immobile, frozen beneath his touch. His hand remained against her, gently cradling the broken bone housed beneath her skin. His touch was far kinder than she had expected from him, he was the one that had allowed this to happen after all.
“And she did this to you?” Aria remained silent, trying to keep the tears in her eyes back. She did not want him to see them, did not want him to know that his gentleness touched her so deeply. Especially when she had decided that he was nothing but evil, that she wanted nothing to do with him, and that he was just tormenting her. “Arianna?”
She turned her head away. “Yes.”
She could feel the tension that seized him, the anger that locked his bones, and yet his hand against her ribs remained surprisingly gentle. He leaned closer to her, his mouth momentarily pressing against her ear. She could feel the brush of his lips against her skin as he spoke. “It won’t happen again.”
A single tear slid free, a shudder tore through her, neither of which she could hide from him. He wiped the tear away before sweeping her into his arms. Aria gasped, expecting pain to explode through her, and yet the way he cradled her did not leave any room for pain. It was so gentle, so sweet that she could only gaze up at him in dazed wonder. “Don’t.”
He did not respond to her simple word, did not look at her again as he left the room. Aria tried to squirm against him, tried to break free, tried to feel some anger again, but she was so beat down, so broken, that she could not find much of a protest. True panic tore through her when he placed her down in the middle of his room. She tried to jerk free, but he grasped lightly hold of her wrist, pulling her gently back.
“You need to be watched over. Broken ribs can be dangerous.” He said simply, as if this was enough of an explanation for everything that was happening now. As if this was enough explanation for everything that she found so confusing and dizzying. It was not, but she did not argue. She simply wanted to sleep again, if she could.
They stared at each other for a long moment before he released her wrist. He lifted her gently again, placing her down upon the softest, most wonderful thing she had ever experienced. It was only after she sank into the mattress that she realized she was in his bed, and it was only after that realization that she knew she never wanted to leave. Her hands stroked over the thick blanket, the soft sheets. It was a little bit of heaven here on earth.
Then, the fear kicked in. She was in his bed! She tried to sit up, but pain lanced through her side causing an involuntary gasp to escape her. He was at her side instantly, his hands upon her shoulders as he tried to push her back down. She wanted to struggle against him, but there wasn’t much fight left in her at the moment.
“Rest Arianna, relax, I won’t hurt you.” She eyed him wearily, unable to believe him. He sighed softly, shaking his head at her. “You can’t sleep alone tonight, you might puncture a lung. You need to be watched over, and since I much prefer my bed you will be staying in here for the night.” Her mouth parted as she gaped at him. He was going to stay in here, with her? She thought her heart was going to leap out of her chest as it hammered wildly. “I can tape your ribs for you…”
“It’s ok, I’ll be fine,” she assured him quickly. It would be a little too intimate if he did such a thing; it was bad enough he expected them to sleep beside each other tonight. Plus she preferred not to have her ribs taped, especially before going to sleep.
He held the nightgown out to her, rolling it up within his grasp. “Put your arms up.”
She frowned at him before lifting her arms slowly up. She struggled to keep her face blank as her body screamed in protest. He studied her for a moment before gently rolling the nightgown over her. She lowered her arms back down, relief filling her as the pain eased slightly. He adjusted it, pulling the material easily down her legs. Heat flooded her face; she ducked her head as his hand brushed against her thigh.