Chevalier looked down at him, enraged by the attack. "You have no idea who you are dealing with, and I won't tell this to you again... never even think about touching her!"

Steven managed to sit up, but his neck was still at an odd angle. "She smells so good."

Steven inhaled deeply, savoring the aroma of the room.

Chevalier's foot connected with his jaw, shattering it and dropping him back to the floor. "Do it again. I dare you."

"How do you do it?" Steven asked, his jaw healing quickly. "How can you be around her with the smell of her blood so near to you?"

Chevalier knelt beside him. "Control, boy... something you better have soon."

Steven's eyes grew wider. He clutched his chest and screamed an inhumane, guttural scream. His body writhed in agony on the floor as he fought to stop the torment. Chevalier ran full force into the bathroom door, sending it into splinters on the floor. Emily was curled up in the corner. Her eyes were glazed over and unmoving. He reached out and touched her face.

"Emily, enough." His tone was forceful.

She jumped at his voice, her eyes coming to rest on his. She was shivering. Fear had taken over her body.

The screams from the bedroom stopped suddenly.

He whispered softly, "It's okay, Em... everything's fine."

"It was so quiet... I thought... he..."

"Emily"

"I thought he'd killed you," she said, her eyes filling with tears.

Chevalier smiled. "Not a chance. You did well, child. I'm very proud of you."

She looked up at him, confused.

"Stay here. I'll go take care of Steven." He stood up, but he didn't walk away when he felt her hand close around his ankle.

"Please don't go."

"I won't be long. It's okay. He'll be too out of it to resist me." He gently pulled away from her grasp.

Emily watched the door, waiting for Steven to come for her. Her head began to throb with the tension. It was taking too long. A noise in the adjacent bedroom made her heart skip a beat, and she readied herself for an attack. When Chevalier stepped through the doorway, she buried her face in her hands and fought back the tears.

He sat down on the floor beside her and watched her for a moment. "You did very well."

"I didn't do anything but hide in here." Her words were mumbled beneath her hands.

He smiled. "No, Emily. You fought back. You did just what we were waiting for."

She risked a glance up at him. "I didn't do anything."

He sighed, wondering how she could control something she had no memory of doing.

Chapter 5.

Things in the high country mansion progressed slowly. Emily didn't seem to be able to control any of her abilities, and she hadn't been able to use them on Steven since the first day. Hours turned into days and those blurred into weeks. Chevalier finally called a halt to it all, ordering a day of rest for everyone. The tension in the house had grown immeasurable, and tempers were beginning to flare.

It irritated Chevalier how much Steven longed for Emily's blood, and how he looked at her and wanted to touch her. It wasn't long before Steven began to repress the feelings, hiding them from the Old One and Emily. It wasn't helping things that Chevalier hadn't quenched his thirst in almost four weeks. He found himself watching Emily's neck closely, his throat burning with every throb.

Chevalier had an ulterior motive for calling a day off. He needed to head down to civilization to calm his thirst. With Steven locked in his cage and Emily lounging in the library, he took his leave and flashed to the snowcat. Watching the home disappear into the trees, he had a sudden pang of guilt. For the first time, he thought that he may be fighting a losing battle, putting both Steven and Emily through unnecessary torment.

He knew Ulrich would have heku searching for them all over the world. It wouldn't be long before one of them located this home. He could take care of a handful of them at a time, but eventually, Ulrich would come and bring hundreds of coven members with him. He would take Emily away. Chevalier had no doubt that after that, he would never see her again, no matter how hard he tried and how much he searched.

He pulled his car into the small town buried deep in the mountains and counted himself lucky. A suburban full of California tourists were wandering aimlessly, taking pictures, and looking around the ground for colorful rocks. One older woman wandered away from the rest. She was headed directly for the nearby group of trees with her camera dangling from her wrist. Chevalier waited for her and satiated himself within just a few minutes. He gazed into her eyes and whispered a story about mosquitoes and bees. She headed back to her group, grasping her wrist and unsure of what just happened to her.

He'd been gone for just over four hours when he pulled the snowcat into the mansion's garage. He listened to the quietness of the house but couldn't hear any footsteps and thought that she was still immersed in a book, curled up on the over-stuffed couch in the library. He could hear Steven in the dirt room, calling out, complaining about his thirst.

Chevalier stepped into the library, but it was empty. He inhaled deeply, but her scent was faint in the room. She'd been gone for some time. The nearer he got to the bedroom, the stronger her aroma became. It seemed to be oddly more potent than usual, as if intensified. The cause became clear as he approached the room. He could feel the mugginess in the air and hear the jets from the tub.

He hesitated for a moment. Part of him wanted to turn away and give her privacy. Another part of him longed to see her and to move closer to the scent of her blood. The latter won, and he stepped quietly into the bathroom.

Emily was lying in the jetted tub. Bubbles cascaded over the side, smelling of fresh strawberries. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was deep and rhythmic. She had fallen asleep. A book was lying open on the side of the tub, and he glanced at it quickly. She was reading Anna Karenina. He saw the irony and smiled.

As he sat quietly on the edge of the tub, he remembered the similarities from the first time he'd seen her. He watched her. The bubbles were moving gently with the jets, leaving small windows into the water. First, a fleeting glimpse of her milky thighs, then a flash of her soft breasts, rising and falling with her breath. He was hypnotized with the images, the all too brief look he caught before the bubbles shrouded it. His eyes lingered long after the offending bubbles obscured his view of the tight contours of her lower abdomen.

His trance broke when she jerked awake. "Chevalier!" she gasped. Grabbing a towel from beside the tub, she pulled it into the water.

He smiled as the blush rose quickly to her cheeks. "Yes?"

She had to fight the towel to cover herself. The jets made it almost impossible to keep the towel where she wanted it. "Get out!"

He stood and watched her struggle. "Why should I, when the view's much better in here?"

That left her speechless, and she stood, deciding the towel would cover more of her if she was out from the jets. She carefully kept the towel pressed to the front of her but grimaced when she noticed his eyes travel up her firm thighs to her exposed waist, following up her delicate curves to her neck and came to rest on her eyes. Her face burned with embarrassment, and the blush deepening.

"You really shouldn't sneak up on people," she said, trying to figure out how to get out of the deep tub without exposing more.

Chevalier grinned, enjoying her predicament. "It wasn't hard. You were asleep."

"Turn around. I need to get out."

"No"

"What?" She began to fidget.

"I said no." His grin widened.

"Wh... what... why not?"

He moved closer to her. "Why don't I join you in there?" He began to unbutton his shirt, exposing his chiseled chest.

"No!" she yelled, placing one hand against his chest to push him away from her. The feel of her hands on him sent a shock through his body. She briefly let her hand linger on his chest, but then sharply drew it back.

Before she could protest again, he had his pants off and was stepping into the bubbly water. She caught a quick glance of his perfect form and turned her eyes away, embarrassed.

"What are you doing?" she asked him hurriedly, still avoiding looking at him.

"I told you. I'm taking a bath." He reached out and ran his hand gently down her leg, enjoying the goose bumps that rose at his touch. "Sit down."

"I... um... I think I'm done actually. Wh... why don't you just en... enjoy yourself, and I'll, well, leave you erm... alone." She stared at the wall, using all of her power not to look down at his flawless body.

"Suit yourself," he said as his fingertips lightly tracing an invisible line up her hip. Her skin was soft beneath his touch.

Emily clutched the towel tighter to her as her entire body tensed. A panicked sound escaped her lips, fear taking over.

"Please," she whispered. "Don't look at me." In an instant, she was out of the tub and ran through the door, slamming it behind her.

Chevalier sighed and picked up the book, reading aloud the first line he saw, "He could not be mistaken. There were no other eyes like those in the world. There was only one creature in the world who could concentrate for him all the brightness and meaning of life."

He smiled, relaxed into the jets, and shut his eyes.

The room was empty when he emerged, fully dressed and ready to face the consequences of his actions. Some things, he reasoned, were worth it. He couldn't help but grin as he followed her scent into the hallway.

Emily wasn't hard to find. The hot water intensified the sweet aroma only she possessed. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching as she searched the cupboards for something. She seemed to have spotted what she wanted high up on the top shelf, and before Chevalier could understand what she was doing, she hoisted herself onto the high counter and was on her tiptoes, reaching for the elusive item.

She let out a small scream and fell backwards when he touched her waist to steady her. His quick reflexes caught her mid-fall, and he cradled her close to his body.

"Don't do that!" she yelled, hitting him on the chest.

"I'll stop doing that, when you stop trying to kill yourself." He hesitated and then placed her gently on the floor.

Emily moved away from him, and she had a small bottle in her hand. She added the contents to a boiling pot on the stove and turned the burner down before turning to him. "It's not safe to sneak up on people, Chev."

He ran through her words in his head. No one had ever called him Chev. "Hmm, well, would you like me to put bells on?"

"That would be very helpful, yes." She turned back to the boiling pot and began to stir.

He moved closer to her and pressed his body against her back. Chevalier gently pulled her hair away from her face before wrapping his arms around her waist. "What are you making?"

She didn't answer but leaned her head back against his shoulder. He looked down at her and noticed that her eyes were shut. She was still warm from the bath, and her scent filled his senses as he pressed his lips against her hair.

This time, he was ready for it when she tensed, and he didn't release her. She raised her head and grabbed the spoon, stirring again.

"Why do you do that?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Pull away from me. It's quite aggravating." He spoke into her ear softly.

"I don't know what you mean." He let go of her when she turned to find a bowl.

"Of course you don't," he mused.

Emily filled the bowl with steaming stew and sat at the counter to eat. He watched her and noticed that she blushed more as time went on, and she was obviously aware of his gaze.

"Why do you do that?" she asked, not looking up.

"Do what?"

"Watch me." This time, she raised her piercing green gaze at him accusingly.

"I like what I see."

She frowned and continued to eat in silence. Once the kitchen was clean, she headed out to the spacious living room where white couches were positioned in front of massive windows that overlooked the majestic Rocky Mountains. She sat in the middle of the couch, pulled a blanket over her, and stared out the window, drawing her knees up to her chest.

Chevalier stood behind the couch. "I won't stop."

"Stop what?" Her eyes didn't move from the snow-covered trees.

"Watching you and appreciating what I see."

She sighed. "Maybe if you watch long enough, you'll find something else."

"I doubt it."

"Maybe if you watch long enough, you'll see the truth," she whispered, soft enough he had to strain to hear.

He moved to her side and took her hand in spite of her protests. They sat in silence, watching as the sun crept behind the Rockies and disappeared, leaving the snow to glimmer in the moonlight. She fell asleep shortly after dusk, so he picked her up carefully and cradled her in his arms, knowing she wouldn't let him do that if she was awake. He wanted to reach into her mind and remove the doubt and the self-loathing, everything planted there to control her. He concentrated on the rhythmic sound of her breathing to stop the anger that encompassed him whenever he saw what Keith had done to her.

A sudden thought occurred to him. As vile as it seemed, he wondered if those insecurities were the key to her abilities. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe it wasn't heku blood that allowed her to turn heku to ash. Maybe all she needed was motive. If her greatest fear was intimacy, then that's what he needed, forced intimacy. His conscience screamed at him. It was wrong and abhorrent, but the possibilities were endless.

Chevalier quickly laid her on the bed and covered her with the down quilt, and then he headed down to get Steven from his cell. The darkness was again comforting to him. Steven glared out at him from the small cage. Chevalier would normally reprimand him for such behavior, but tonight, he needed Steven to concentrate on only one thing.

He opened the door. "Get out. I have something for you to do."

Steven stepped cautiously out of the cage and dropped to his knees before Chevalier. "What is it, master?"

Chevalier fought back the disgust for what he was doing. He struggled to remember that it was ultimately for her own good. "Tonight... tonight I let you touch Emily."

Steven's eyes brightened. "Thank you, master, thank you!"

Chevalier scowled down at his young prisoner. "You will do exactly as I say, nothing more, nothing less. There will be no improvising and no, I repeat no... biting."