She didn't want to lose him. She wanted to save him somehow, even when he didn't want to be saved. The thought that he still desired death even after his impassioned speech on the rooftop and her risking everything by remaining with him was like a knife to her chest, piercing her heart and filling her with pain.

Since the night he had killed his parents, he had constantly sought his death, and had constantly punished himself for living by refusing to fight his bloodlust. He craved the torment as a twisted form of payment for his sins.

"You don't want to save yourself." It left her lips in a whisper before she could contain it.

She felt Snow's glare on her face and refused to let it fluster her. Now that she had started, she needed to continue and let it all pour out of her. She needed to make him see what he was doing to himself.

"You never stopped seeking your death... an easy way out. You would sooner lie down and die than fight to live." Aurora pushed away from him, the feel of his arms around her stifling her now rather than giving her comfort, making it impossible to breathe.

She only made it to the edge of the bed before he gathered her back into his arms, caging her against his powerful body. She tensed, expecting him to be rough with her, angered by her barbs.

Snow gently cleared the hair from her face with one hand and then his large palm cupped her cheek. He stared down at her, lying on his side with her. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, not when nothing she did would change his mind.

He didn't want to save himself. Not even for her sake.

He sighed, curled his fingers under her jaw and tilted her head back. Aurora closed her eyes. It didn't deter him. He found another way to sneak around her defences.

He kissed her, softly and slowly, full of feelings that warmed her body but failed to lift the chill from her heart.

"I could learn to desire to live again in time," he whispered against her lips, "if you stayed with me."

It tore at her heart. "I don't have time. You have less than three days now."

He drew back and she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Why do you have to go in three days?" His dark silvery eyebrows knitted into a frown.

"I must report to my master." It wasn't a lie.

"I will take all the time I have with you then, and make the most of every minute." He dipped his head and kissed her again, melting her defences completely and setting her blood on fire.

She responded this time, sweeping her lips over his, savouring his cool taste. He drew her closer, the full length of his bare body against hers beneath the black covers, stirring the fire within her into an inferno that pooled in her belly and at the apex of her thighs. She told herself that she couldn't do this again, couldn't give herself to Snow when all he wanted was death and it would lead to granting that wish.

Her master would kill him without hesitation.

Her body didn't get the message. It burned wherever he touched, achy and hot, shivering with a fierce need to be one with him again, regardless of the consequences.

Aurora slipped one hand around the nape of Snow's neck, burying her fingers in his overlong white hair, and deepened the kiss. Her tongue bravely stroked his and he moaned, the sound wanton and erotic, deep and thrilling, tempting her into doing it again.

A knock sounded.

Snow growled, his hands caught her waist, and he pushed her back, breaking their kiss.

"What?" He twisted at the waist, looking over his shoulder at the panelled mahogany door.

"Let me in, Snow." Antoine, and he sounded very upset about something.

Aurora guessed it was her presence in the theatre, and in particular Snow's room. Antoine didn't trust her. She could never hold that against him. He wanted to protect his older brother and those at the theatre, people he considered his family. She hadn't exactly proven herself worthy of his trust either, sneaking into Snow's room and making herself visible only to him.

"Go away," Snow snarled and rolled back to face her.

Metal scraped on metal.

Antoine would not be denied.

The door opened and Aurora gasped as Antoine burst into the room, his red eyes seeking her. Instinct told her to hide herself from his gaze by shrouding herself but she refused to heed it and instead gathered the black covers to her chest, shielding her nudity. She rose into a sitting position. Snow instantly moved to shield her too. The covers pooled around his waist and his big body blocked her view of Antoine.

"I said, go away." Snow's deep voice was little more than a dark growl. Aurora peeked over his left shoulder.

"Not until I see her." Antoine casually closed the door and leaned against it, folding his arms across his chest, causing the silver-grey shirt he wore to tighten around his muscles. The red in his eyes faded but lingered around the edges of his irises and his pupils returned to normal.

She laid her hand on Snow's shoulder to let him know she was all right with his brother meeting her. She wanted to allay Antoine's fears and didn't want the brothers to argue about her. It had hurt her when Antoine and Snow had come to verbal blows about her at the party. She didn't want it to come to that, or worse, this time.

Snow huffed, the sound feral and menacing, and slipped nude from the bed. Antoine kept his gaze fixed on Snow, tracking him across the room, a wary edge to his ice-blue eyes. Snow swiped a fresh pair of black underwear from the chest of drawers and put them on. Aurora remained where she was, clutching the covers to her, her legs tucked close to her bottom beneath them.

Antoine's pale gaze slid to her. "I take it you have slept with my brother?"

Her cheeks blazed. Snow growled a warning.

"That would be a yes." Antoine's eyes narrowed with his frown, a piercing look she was used to receiving from Snow and one the brothers had practiced to perfection. She had never met brothers who shared such similar facial features and expressions.

Aurora wasn't sure what to say to Antoine to smooth that frown away, and his dark emotions with it. She was tired of lying to everyone, covering her tracks and concealing the real reason she was here.

Or was it the real reason?

Part of her now felt as though the reason she was here with Snow was because she needed to spend time with him, ached to be in his arms and look upon his face, and hear his voice, and breathe in his masculine scent. She hungered for the sweet gentle caress of his touch. She wasn't here to watch him so she could judge him. She was here to satisfy her need to be close to him, because she feared that she was going to lose him.

Sleeping with him had probably only signed his execution order though.

She shoved that thought out of her mind. She could still gather enough evidence to prove that Snow was not a threat to humankind as her superiors believed. She was no longer impartial, but that didn't mean she couldn't make them see the truth about Snow.

They had to look at all the evidence she produced to support her verdict. If she could get enough to prove him capable of functioning safely in society without any danger of his affliction consuming him and causing him to massacre hundreds in a quest for blood, then they would have to accept her decision. Wouldn't they?

She didn't care what happened to her, not anymore, not as long as Snow lived.

She wouldn't falsify her claims though. She needed to do something that would make Snow reveal that he was able to become a part of society again.

He would never do such a thing though. He was too fixated on his past and on punishing himself. He needed to move beyond that before he could begin to recover and gain complete control over his bloodlust. He needed to face his sins and learn to accept them.

"What are you thinking, Angel, to turn your look so dark?" Antoine said and she jerked her head up, her focus zeroing in on him.

Snow stared at her too, his gaze boring into the side of her face, and his curiosity laced the air as thickly as Antoine's did.

"I am thinking on something your brother said to me just a few moments ago." Not a lie. She glanced at Snow, catching his narrowed gaze and the weight of guilt in his pale eyes.

"Will you elaborate?" Antoine said and she looked back at him and shook her head. "Why not?"

"It is not for you to know. If Snow wishes to tell you, then he may." Aurora calmly held his gaze, fighting to contain her fear that he might ask Snow and his brother might answer. That answer would wound Antoine. He fiercely clung to the hope his brother could free himself of bloodlust and lead a normal life, and she admired him for it. She didn't want to deal that hope a blow that might kill it. "This is not the first time you have seen me, is it?"

Antoine didn't answer but she could see in his eyes that her suspicion was correct.

"I had expected you to question me about my lack of wings." She shifted on the bed, bringing her knees in front of her and curling her arms around them. Antoine's eyes darted to her shoulders and back to hers. He quickly masked his curiosity, his expression turning dark again. "I can let them out if you would like to see them for yourself?"

"What I would like is to know why you are here?" Antoine flexed his fingers against his biceps. "Why does my brother suddenly have an angel interested in him? Is it because of what he has done?"

Aurora expected Snow to growl and intervene, angered by his brother's line of questioning. He remained where he was in the middle of the room, between the foot of the bed and the bathroom door, his air relaxed.

"It is not so sudden," Aurora whispered and then tilted her chin up and looked across at Snow. "We have known each other a long time... far longer than you have known your brother, Antoine."

"What?" Antoine barked.

Snow smiled at her and then turned it on his brother. "It is true. Aurora saved my life when I was a boy, barely fifty in age. If it were not for her, you would have no older brother."

Antoine gawked at her.

"So you could say that I am here because of what I have done, not what your brother has done. I felt Snow suffering because of his bloodlust and I desired to soothe him. I did not realise that singing to him had become a way of weakening the hold his bloodlust has over him, not until I sung to him that night, for the first time in two thousand years." Aurora continued to stare at Snow and his gaze drifted back to her, full of warmth and deep emotions, ones she didn't dare to unravel because she still feared what was happening between them.

"She is the reason the females can sing you to sleep and you are much better when you awaken?" Antoine didn't sound as though he believed it.

Snow nodded.

"She is. I remember after she pulled me from the lake... she was singing to me when I came around. It made me feel better. Warm. Safe." Snow chuckled and shook his head. "I suppose it must be the reason why I have more control over my bloodlust whenever a female has sung me to sleep. It subconsciously takes me back to that night and Aurora, and that feeling of calm and safety."

Aurora was glad that she had done something for him all these years without even knowing it. She had given him a way of clawing back control over himself. Could she work on that?

If her blood and her song calmed his demons and turned him into the man standing before her, casual and unaffected by his affliction, as in control of himself as his brother was, could years with her give him back his desire to live and his life? He had said that he could find the hunger to live again if she stayed with him.

An impossible dream.

Her superiors wouldn't accept a verdict on Snow based on theories she had no evidence to substantiate.

Antoine raked his gaze over her, assessing her, scrutinising every inch of her. Darkness loomed in his pale eyes again, his expression hardening with each second. He still wasn't convinced. She still admired him for it.

He wanted to protect his brother. Until she proved herself as an ally, and not a threat to Snow, he wouldn't trust her. It would take time to convince Antoine that she had only his brother's best interests at heart. She didn't want to sentence him to death. Her mission now wasn't one to decide whether Snow lived or died.

It was one to prove Snow worthy of a second chance. She would accept no other outcome.

"My brother may have some unfounded faith in you... but I cannot grant you the same." Antoine stepped away from the wall and lowered his arms, straightening to his full impressive height at the same time. He looked down at her, eyes dark and expression fierce. Red ringed his irises. "If you ever harm Snow, you will answer to me... and I will show you no mercy."

"Antoine." Snow was across the room in a flash, his hands clasping his younger brother's shoulders, shoving him against the black wall. "Back down, Brother. I have told you that she is my responsibility, and I will not let you threaten her."

"I hope for your sake you are right about her, and you know what you are doing." Antoine peeled Snow's hands off his shoulders and opened the door. He sighed, turned back into the room and lifted his left hand to cup Snow's cheek, and whispered, "Forgive a man for worrying about his only brother?"

Snow pressed his forehead against Antoine's and closed his eyes. "Always."

Antoine lingered a second longer and then left the room, slowly closing the door behind him. Snow stared at the door, motionless, his muddled feelings flowing across the room to her.

"He is only concerned about your welfare," she said and he looked over his broad bare shoulder at her.

"I know... but I do not like it when he makes out that you are a threat to me." Snow ran his fingers through his hair, tugging the long white lengths back, and clasped the back of his head. "I am more of a threat to you than you are to me."

Possibly. She smiled to alleviate the nervous edge in his eyes. He didn't need to fear that he would hurt her. She was strong enough to handle him even in his darkest rages and she felt certain that she could subdue him now that she knew the power her song held over him.

The fact that he clearly trusted her touched her though. She had watched him for centuries and in that time had come to realise that he had difficulty trusting others because he didn't trust himself.

He also let his guard down around her and the only other person in this world he did that with was his brother.

Both of those things should have pleased her deeply and warmed her heart, but she still couldn't shake the dreadful guilt that dragged her insides down whenever she thought about her mission, even now that she had decided to alter its parameters.

Aurora held her hand out to him and he locked the door and stalked back towards her, the sensual shift of his body with each step rekindling the embers of the fire he had ignited in her veins.

She let the black covers fall away from her and met him at the edge of the bed. There was something she had wanted to do to him ever since he had revealed the full design of his tattoo to her. He stopped before her and she didn't hesitate. She caught the waist of his black trunks above his right hip and pulled the soft material down, exposing the full length of his ink.

Aurora leaned in and ran her tongue over it.

Snow growled, grasped her arms, and pulled her up onto her feet. She wobbled on the mattress. He tugged her closer to him until his body pressed flush against hers and his arms caged her like steel bands, and tilted his head back.

Aurora dipped her head and kissed him. He instantly took control of the kiss, turning it hard and fierce, filled with rough passion that thrilled her.

He had been so gentle with her on the rooftop that she had expected him to be like that again, but this savageness excited her, flooding her mind with exotic possibilities.

She tried to keep up with his kiss and when that failed, she gave herself over to her passion and nipped at his lower lip between kisses, eliciting dark erotic moans from him that rumbled through his big body and into hers.

Her body came alive, belly heating and tightening, desire overwhelming her as her breathing quickened and a need to feel Snow's hands on her, palming and caressing, teasing her to another earth-shattering climax, consumed her. Snow's aggressive kisses, the feel of his body against hers, and his unrelenting grip, wasn't enough to satisfy her dark hungers. She needed more.

Aurora grabbed his shoulders and twisted with him, forcing him down onto the bed. His breath left him on impact and she didn't give him a chance to draw another before she was astride his hips. She braced her hands against his broad chest, moaning at the feel of his hard muscles beneath her fingers, and kissed him again, capturing his mouth with aggression that surprised her.

Snow's big hands caught her bare bottom and he palmed it just as she had desired as he kissed her, taking control of it once more, leading the frenzied dance. Elation swept through her, passion carrying her higher, until she felt dizzy and desperate, lost in her need to feel the pleasure only Snow could give to her.

She moaned into his mouth and shamelessly worked her body against his, rocking her core along his hard length. It felt wickedly good, luring her into surrendering more control, giving in to the decadent desires racing through her blood.

Snow rolled her onto her back and covered her body with his, slowly grinding his cock against her as he kissed her breathless.

It maddened her, tightening her stomach, leading to a strange concoction of bliss and frustration. It wasn't enough.

She ached to have him use his strength on her, to unleash all of his passion and indulge his desires. She wanted to let go too, yearned to let her wildest fantasies rule her in this moment with Snow.

She had dreamed of him seizing command of her, using his powerful muscles to take control of their lovemaking and surrendering to his base instincts to have her. Just the thought of him doing such a thing had her quivering inside, hot and achy, on the verge of moaning breathlessly and begging him to take her.

She ran her hands down his powerful back, delighting in how his muscles shifted beneath her fingers, bunching and stretching, a symphony that made her tremble. She wanted to touch him like this when he was inside her, driving her wild and over the edge. She wanted to feel all that immense power focused on her, and her pleasure.

She nipped at his lower lip, earning a growl and a harder thrust. He rubbed her most sensitive flesh, spreading delicious tingles through her body, and she couldn't stop herself from raising her hips to meet him, forcing him to fight her back into submission. She refused to go quietly, moaning each time his hard cock rubbed her in just the right place to send another blissful wave of shivers tripping along her nerves.

Aurora mastered his mouth with licks and nips, driving him into submission, and rolled them over again.

They fell off the bed and she landed hard on top of Snow on the wooden floor. It didn't stop him. Before she could utter an apology, he had flipped her onto her back on the floor and was fiercely kissing along her jaw and then down her throat.

She tilted her head to one side, sighing with each lick and suck, and playful nip, and tunnelled her hands into his white hair, twisting the ribbons around her fingers and clutching him to her.