Things progressed slowly. Emily didn't seem to be able to control any of her abilities and hadn't been able to use it on Steven since the first day. Hours turned into days and those blurred into weeks. Chevalier 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, 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 ulterior motives for calling a day off. He needed to head back 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 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 his minions with him. He would take Emily away. Chevalier had no doubt that after that, he wouldn't ever 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 mountain and counted himself lucky, a suburban full of California tourists were wandering around, 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 around 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, unsure of what just happened to her.
He'd been gone for just over 4 hours when he pulled the snowcat back 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 the 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 and found 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 and could feel the mugginess in the air and hear the jets from the tub.
He hesitated for a moment. Part of him desired 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 lie 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 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 as she jerked awake, “Chevalier!” she gasped, grabbing a towel from beside the tub and pulling 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 were 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, 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