Somehow, she wasn’t quite sure how, she managed to fall asleep for a little bit. It was dark when she woke again to Lauren’s prodding. “Get up you filthy, lazy creature.”
Aria bit hard on her bottom lip, drawing blood as she held back her pain. Lauren pulled hard on the strings, finally releasing the tight binds pinching her rib painfully. Aria sagged in relief, gasping in as much air as her wounded ribs would allow. Lauren released her and left the room, leaving Aria to try and figure out how she was going to get the dress over her head, and the nightgown back on.
It took more strength and energy than she wanted to admit to wiggle her way free of the dress. Tomorrow morning she was going to throw the damn thing out, it was the piece of clothing she hated most now. Even more so than she hated the heels. She sat on the edge of the bed, trying to gather her strength to slip the nightgown over her head. She could just leave it off, Lauren had not bothered to help her out of the silly undergarments she had to wear here, but she could not sleep in such a vulnerable state. It was bad enough having to wear the silly nightgown to sleep when she was used to so much more, but to wear even less would be far worse. She was in constant danger here; she needed to be as clothed as possible if she was going to be at least a little prepared for that danger.
Drawing in as deep a breath as she could, she knotted the nightgown before her and slowly began to slip her arms in. She winced as pain shot through her battered rib cage. She struggled not to cry out, biting her tongue as agony tore through her side. “Arian…”
Aria froze, her hands trapped within the sleeves of the nightgown. She had not heard him coming. In the forest, she could hear a field mouse from a mile away. But here, in this strange and deadly place, when she needed her senses the most they were failing her. Badly. She did not turn to face him; she could not bring herself to do so. Instead, she remained unmoving. For the first time she was grateful for the silly, uncomfortable undergarments that at least shielded some of her nudity from his view.
She kept her head turned away from him, her breath held, as she waited for him to take his fill of the damage done to her body before he left again. She did not know what had brought him here tonight, not when he’d left her alone for so long, nor did she care. She simply wanted him to absorb whatever he could of her and leave; she had no fight in her tonight.
“What the hell happened?” he asked softly.
Arianna clenched her jaw as she pulled the nightgown further up her arms, grinding her teeth against the pain. She refused to answer him, refused to let him see that she was at all disturbed by his presence. He was before her suddenly, his hand seizing hold of the nightgown as he tried to pull it away. Aria clung to it, trying to keep herself sheltered from his gaze. However, he was far stronger than her, and in far better shape. In the end, she lost.
Tilting her chin up, she glared defiantly back at him, refusing to be intimidated by his show of strength and control. “What happened?” he demanded gruffly.
“Like you don’t know,” she snapped.
His eyebrows drew sharply together over his glasses, his mouth compressed in a hard line. “I wouldn’t be asking if I knew. What happened?”
Aria refused to back down from him, refused to cower beneath the weight of his heavy stare. “Your bitch happened,” she retorted fiercely.
Shock registered on his face, his mouth parted slightly as she felt his eyes wander slowly over her again. Though it was far more of her body than any man had ever seen before, she did not shrink from his gaze, did not turn away from him or try to shield herself from him. He already thought her far weaker than him; she would not support his theory by being afraid of his weighty stare. She merely straightened her shoulders. “Are you talking about that girl that was here earlier?”
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.
He quirked an eyebrow at her, but refrained from commenting on her reaction to his touch. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
She tilted her head, staring questioningly at him. “Why would I?”
Frustration hardened his face, his jaw clenched. “You are to tell me whenever someone mistreats you.”
“Don’t like it when the property gets bruised?” she retorted angrily.
She did not know why she was baiting him, didn’t know why she was being so rude when he had been nothing but nice to her tonight, but she couldn’t stop herself. There was something about him, and this whole situation, that caused a volatile and swift reaction from her. Apparently he hadn’t known what Lauren was doing to her, and he had not condoned the girl’s violent actions. He had been rude to her when his brother had been here, but she could not expect him to be nice to her in public, could she? Aria shook her head; she was too tired and too wounded to try and wander through the conundrum that was him.
“No, I don’t,” he replied coldly.
She bit her bottom lip as she studied him from beneath her lashes. Her question had truly aggravated him. “I didn’t mean…” her voice trailed off, she didn’t know what she wanted to say to him.
“Didn’t you?” Aria shook her head, but there were no more words within her. Mainly because she was certain that she owed him an apology, and she hated to be wrong, and hated to say she was sorry. Especially to someone that was her enemy, wasn’t he? “Come on, you need to rest.”
She lay stiffly upon the bed, her hands digging into the blanket as he laid it gently over top of her. He did not lie down beside her but stood up, pulled off his coat, and disappeared into the bathroom that she had used upon first arriving. She listened to the water as he washed himself before returning.
“You will have to eat tomorrow.”
Though it was a command, his voice was nowhere near as gruff as it had been before. She didn’t take offense to the command; in fact she sensed a hint of worry in his tone and demeanor. It warmed her further. Maybe she was far more wounded, and beaten than she had realized she thought dimly. Especially if she was already feeling as if she could trust him again, when she had so firmly decided that it was the last thing she ever wanted to do. “I will.”
She closed her eyes, settling in beneath the thick comforter. She had never been in someone else’s bed before, let alone a man’s, but for some reason this did not feel wrong. The mattress sank beneath his weight, but Aria did not open her eyes again, despite the pain she was already falling asleep.