So startled by the visceral images, I jerked my hand back, knocking the glass onto the table, spilling its contents all overthe table. I pushed back, standing from my seat before the wine could spill onto my lap.
“I’m so sorry...” I murmured quickly, face burning. “Excuse me.”
I didn’t wait to see if he was mad or if someone would clean up the mess, completely out of character for me. Which said all there was to say about how off kilter my captor made me feel.
My feet raced out of the dining room and didn’t stop until I reached the main foyer. I almost headed straight to his bedroom, where he would surely confront me about what had happened.
Not willing or able to face him until I had gotten a hold on myself, I changed my direction toward the gardens.
I sank onto a bench, gripping the back of it while I breathed heavily. Each breath pulled in a lungful of floral scents, somehow calming my racing heart.
The stars were barely visible with nightfall ending and day beginning. It was strange to think that I’d been here so long that I’d become used to going to bed when I would have usually been getting up for the day.
Twisting in my seat, I stared out at the garden before me. Blackthorn had shared this with me. Something so personal and sacred to him. It had really made me see the other side of the vampire and not the vicious monster the villagers would call him.
Oh, if they could see me now.
I let out a short laugh, pressing a hand to my face.
Subjectively, Blackthorn could be seen as attractive by some. I’d always considered myself someone who cared more about aperson’s personality over their looks, having been fooled many a time by a pretty face. Except there’s an intensity about him that made my heart race every time he was near.
I sank into the bench, blowing out a hard breath. What was wrong with me? I couldn’t really be falling for my captor, could I?
For a moment, just a heartbeat, I considered what it would be like to stay here with Blackthorn. To live out my days with just him and the handful of servants. No waking up before the rest of the world and working until exhaustion. No fear of what kind of mood Rumple was in that day. I could almost see myself being... happy.
That single thought was all that was needed to make me cry out, a vicious jolt of pain that pulled me off the bench and onto my hands and knees. Grasping my stomach, I braced my other hand on the group and breathed through the pain, forcing myself to think of returning to the factory. That staying here wasn’t an option.
No matter how much my heart was starting to think otherwise.
Chapter 22
I lingered in the gardens until the sun beamed into the glass paneling of the green house. The halls were deserted as I walked through the corridors. My eyes skimmed the walls, taking in every piece of neglected art, cobwebs stretched across the corners. It was easy to imagine what this place would have looked like back in its glory days. The fact that it had become in such disrepair made my heart ache.
By the time I reached our bed — Blackthorn’s bedroom, I hoped I’d been gone long enough that the vampire had retired for the day, keeping me from having to have an uncomfortable encounter with him.
I cracked the door open, wincing at the creak that resulted in. Cast in darkness, the drapes pulled closed to keep the sunlight out. I blinked a few times trying to get my eyes adjusted to the darkness. My eyes darted to the bed, almost sighing in relief at the lump on Blackthorn’s side of the bed.
Slipping my shoes off my feet, I held them in my hands as I made my way to the open closet. Trying to undress myself in a dress that took another person to get into required stretching and bending in ways I hadn’t thought possible. Eventually, I untangled myself from my gown and slipped into my nightgown.
My gaze slid over to the bed, watching for any movement as I crept through the room and to the closed bathroom door. My back up against the door, I twisted the handle, eyes narrowed on the bed for any sign that Blackthorn was waking up. Breath held, I slipped into the bathroom, closed the door and leanedmy forehead against the wood. My eyes closed as I blew out the breath I was holding.
Water splashing hit my ears and my eyes snapped open. Instead of a darkened room, a golden light filled my eyes. My fingers tightened around the handle of the door, my heartbeat picking up the more water swished behind me.
My eyes slowly closed, and I muttered under my breath, praying for anyone who could hear me to suck me into the floor right then and there. To save me from what was going to be one of the most humiliating moments of my life.
Frozen in place, I contemplated the likelihood that Blackthorn hadn’t seen me yet. Maybe he’d fallen asleep in the bath, and I could sneak back out before—
“Are you going to stand there all night?”
The humor in his voice made my shoulder bunch up to my ears. No such luck.
My fingers slowly let go of the door handle, aching at the intensity of which I had been gripping it. Keeping my eyes lifted to the ceiling, I turned to face the very person I was trying to avoid.
“I thought you were asleep,” I murmured.
The water splashed again. “What was that?”
“I said—” My gaze flicked down briefly before shooting back up to the ceiling. My cheeks burned red. The sight of the bare-chested vampire — a vampire I knew was completely naked before me — caused my body to react involuntarily. “I thought you were asleep.”
