e was to

metropolis glittered in the growing darkness, but within Lucien's own boundaries, there was nothing living except by his

he same for her. Lucien's words continued to haunt her mind, e

ll yiel

din in the foreground of her thought. She was un

secretly through the halls of the mansion, trying to discover some means of regaining control of her own life. But the walls

e door startled he

the other side, low and a

lexively. There was no misinterpreting

as she reached for the handle, her heart pounding inside of her che

her right away, his eyes fixed somewhere beyond her, but the force of his presence was unmistakable.

mmanded, his

moment he crossed the doorway, the atmosphere changed. I

didn't understand him. The man who had destroyed her life and yet, strangely, she could still feel his pu

is finger motioning to the

folding neatly in her lap, but her eyes never left him. The silence stre

smooth like silk, but with an edge that

o respond to him. What could she say? She had nothing

it vanished before she could glimpse it. "Tell me," he barked,

never was prepared for him. His unpredictability, the manner in which he co

m her lips before she could catch them. It was the truth, the o

soft smile. It was something else, something darker, something more sinist

n heart thrummed within her chest, and she could not decide whether it was

d she reply? How could she inform him of the growing discomfort, of th

de her blood run hot and cold all at once. His fingers gently cupped her chin, lifting her

aid, his voice low and insistent. "Yo

st," she said to him, the words tumbli

already have. The second you walked through the door into t

her to face him, to sense the weight of his

were like a knife, slicing through her guard, denuding her of all pretense and leaving her naked to her most exposed self. It was

ough she didn't know why she was pleading. Was

he weight of a thousand unspoken promises. "I know you're afraid," he murmu

sing her skin with the gentleness of a lover but th

way, to run, but there was nowhere to go. Lucien had already caugh

you feel it?" he whispered. "The power I have over yo

r, and she couldn't help but fight against the warped, addictive grip he had on her. It wa

for this," s

t you'll learn to desire it. You'll learn to hunger for it, Elena. Be

ome implacable force. "And when you finally ac

omise. But either one made her shiver. She was standing on the edge of somethin

g off the empty space. "Rest," he said without look

nce still pressing upon her. Her heart was racing, her head a whirlpool of thoughts and emotions. She did n

y and soul. And no matter how hard she struggled,