I rushed down the hallway, starting to run, but I had no idea where his office was. He said that if help is unnecessary then we should look for a guy named Charles and he showed us the office, but I wasn't really paying attention, and since everything looked similar in this castle, there was no way I could make it in time. I was glad that there was no one around, cause I was running like a lunatic, yet having no idea where I was going. It must be here somewhere, cause the bedrooms were upstairs, so how hard would it be to find one particular room from a hundred. Really hard.

  Then a thought popped in my mind. I'll ask a guard. There was supposed to be a guard at the end of every hallway, but of course I had the 'biggest luck' in the world and there was no one there. I sighed in disbelieve, but when I made my way to the right, I bumped into someone. My whole weight crashed into someone's chest, making me swing backwards, but before I even started falling, I felt a strong grip around my shoulders, keeping me in place. It was all like a huge blur. I didn't even notice that I closed my eyes, but when I opened them, I saw the familiar emerald eyes that only one person had. Dimitri.

  "Are you alright?" He asked, slowly releasing me, yet still careful if I'm standing still. Oh, my god, was he looking for me? I gulped in fear, knowing what's next, but still answered his question.

  I just nodded my head. "My apologies, Master." I mumbled, keeping my gaze down. I heard him sigh. I knew he was mad. 

  "Look at me, Amelia." He commanded, and without any hesitation, I did as I was told. He was a lot taller than me, so I had to look up at him. There was uncertain emotion in his eyes. Something that I never saw in a Vampire. And I couldn't figure it out. "Relax, it's fine." He said after a second, rubbing my arms with his and I instantly felt myself relax under his touch. Maybe it was because he saved my life last night, but whenever he touched me, I felt like I could finally calm down.

  His right hand traveled down my arm until he reached my hand. He intertwined out fingers together, making me gasp in surprise. I cannot explain exactly how confused I was in that moment, but the feel of his warm hand holding mine, send electricity trough my whole body. "Come on." He said, before starting to walk in the direction where I came from. A minute later, as we passed a few doors down the hallway, he stopped, letting go of my hand and taking out a key out of his pocket. He unlocked the door and walked inside as I followed.

  It was a huge white room, mixed with a few pieces of black furniture. Very modern. Similar to his room, but still a lot modern than most of the rooms in this castle. A dark, almost black wooden desk was placed in front of the huge windows that were showing off the perfect royal garden. Dimitri walked behind the desk, sitting on the chair and turning his back on the windows. "Have a seat." He said softly, gesturing to the white furniture in front of his desk. Leather. Everything was made of leather.

  I sat on the big leather chair, putting my hands together and resting them on my lap. "You're late." He said firmly, and I knew that tone. I heard that tone many times before. It was something between a question and a statement with that unbelievably arrogant edge. He didn't have to ask why cause his statement was saying it all.

  "I'm sorry, Master. I lost track of time." I said, not taking my eyes off my hands on my lap. I felt a nervous knot form in my stomach. Even though I was known as the slave that showed no emotion during the punishments, no one knew what I hid inside. I've heard many quotes from older people that you should never keep your feelings, emotions, to yourself, but in the Vampire world, I figured that I would only survive if I do all the opposites from the Human world.

  "We both know that's not a good excuse." He said, leaning forward on the desk, almost like he was preparing for something. And that something is 100% my next punishment. "Listen to me Amelia. You broke one of the main rules. And I know you're smart enough to know that I'm gonna have to punish you for that." He stopped. He didn't finish, but stopped. I slowly lifted my gaze, meeting his. He was watching me intently, almost like he was figuring something out.

  I nodded my head in understanding, but he just closed his eyes and ran his hand trough his dirty blonde hair before he stood up. "But I won't." Dimitri said clearly, but still it felt like I didn't hear correctly. He won't? He must have noticed the confusion in my eyes when he walked closer and leaned on his desk, crossing his arms to his chest. Sitting on a chair in front of him made me feel even more shorter that him than I already was.

  "It's your first mistake and I don't want you to think that I'm going easy on you. I want you to take it as a warning for next time." Dimitri explained and I nodded my head and looked back down.

  "I understand, Master."

  He took in a deep breath. "Good." He said, before walking on the other side of his desk, but he didn't sit down. He put a few papers in his drawer and looked back at me. My heart stopped  for a second from the way he looked at me. Again, something that I couldn't figure out. "I'm finished with work for today." He said, walking around towards me. "Come. I want to show you something." Dimitri offered his hand for me to stand up.

  Once again, he held my hand tightly, like I could escape any minute now. I guess some slaves have tried that before. But this time, it wasn't the usual way down the hall. We walked upstairs and after passing his bedroom, Dimitri opened a door that was at the end of the hallway. It seemed like it was lonely there, separated from the rest. He pushed it open, and I could practically see the dust that flew when he opened it. "Careful, there are stairs." Dimitri mumbled quietly, continuing to lead me up the dark staircase. I was walking without seeing where I was stepping, but Dimitri was holding me still, so even if I tripped, he got me.

  The staircase was circular, making me lose count on how many stairs there were. However, there were a lot. The light was slightly showing and I knew we were almost there. At the top of the stairs there was a room, a circular room and there was glass door in front of us. The glass was old and blurry, so I couldn't quite see what was in there. But after we walked inside, Dimitri slowed down, letting me enjoy the view. I was in awe from what I was looking at. It seemed like there were thousands of different flowers in this room, yet every each one of them was fresh and clear. Not just flowers, but there were a lot of leaves, bushes and a few lilies. It was like a small jungle in here. Above, instead of a ceiling, there was a glass hemisphere, showing off the blue sky and the sun that was blooming from above.

  I could feel my mouth slightly opened. It was so beautiful. The only thing that was missing was Tinkerbell and her friends. Glass windows were also replacing a wall and across from it were another pair of circular stairs, but they weren't leading anywhere. They were probably used for opening the windows that were replacing the ceiling. Dimitri stopped in front of them and sat down. I still wasn't aware of how beautiful this whole thing was, but then I felt him slightly pulling me, making me sit on next to him. In front of us was the full view of the beautiful garden, all shades of green combined with colorful flowers.

  I haven't seen anything like it before. Dimitri noticed my awed look and smiled, not taking his eyes off me. I didn't dare to look at him, so I stared in front of me, still studying the beautiful view from the window. "You know, I was hesitant of showing this to you, but now I know I made the right choice." His words made me look at him, but I kept my silence.

  "I'm sorry you had to look for me, Master. I have nothing in defense." I mumbled, taking my eyes off him and focusing on my hands that were resting on my lap.

  "What did you just call me?" There was seriousness in his voice, but at the same time, he sounded chilled.

  Suddenly, I remembered last night. More than once he reminded me to call him by his name, but my instincts were stronger than me. "Sorry," I said again, feeling my breaths sharpening. ", Dimitri."

  I could feel his gaze on me. "Much better," He said, making me look at him. I was never the shy kind of girl before, but I knew my place. Plus, I had no clue why he wanted me here with him. Why did he show me this place? After a few seconds, his hand moved to a plant that was grown in a small pot next to the stairs and he tore a small yellow flower from it. It was still fresh, having the most beautiful shade of yellow. I've never seen it before.

  Turning to me, he smiled and handed it to me. I felt my heart skip a beat with surprise. I looked at the flower, than back at him. But he just grinned down at me, still holding the flower in his hand. I took in a deep silent breath before taking and spinning it in my fingers. I brought it up to my nose, inhaling, but I didn't expect it to smell so beautiful. So delightful. "Mmm, it smells beautiful." For a second there I forgot my place. The words came out of my mouth on their own, without hesitation.

  But I just earned another dazzling smile from Dimitri. "I know. It reminded me of you. That's why I brought you here." Just like before, his words woken up something in me. I didn't know if he was doing it on purpose, but I've noticed that some of his actions and things that he said to me sounded very nice. Honest in some kind of way. Buy I knew better than to trust a vampire.

  I tried to keep myself calmed, not wanting for him to hear my nervous heart beat. But he didn't leave us in silence for much. "You know, not much people in this castle know about this place." Dimitri started, focusing his gaze in front of him. I looked at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking, but as always, it wasn't easy to figure out a vampire. "This garden used to be abandon, for centuries, until my mother got a little help from a friend. A witch." He said firmly, then looked back at me. I've heard about witches before, but I never got the chance to actually see one. "It's beautiful now, isn't it?"

  I nodded in response. "It is." He clearly wanted to have an open relationship with me, but I didn't know if that was his actual cause. I've had Masters before that only wanted to get under your skin until they get all the information they need from you and then use it against you.

  "This used to be my favorite place to visit when I came home." He said with his usual deep, yet really soft voice. "What was your favorite place to visit?" His words made me look at him, slightly shocked. I never got a question like this from any of my Masters before. They were usually just personal information.

  I silently cleared my throat. "Uh- well," I stopped for a second. "My house was near the woods, so when I was a kid I spent most of my time there. I almost knew every single inch of it." I took in a breath, remembering my old life. My life before I knew about my father, about vampires and the war between them. "I remember sneaking out of my window at night and spending it on this small bench that was in the woods near the river." I noticed myself smiling, but I saw Dimitri do the same. He was staring at me so intently, listening to me and making me feel like he understood every single thing I said. Like he was there with me.

  "Tell me more." He said leaning against one of the metal balusters on the stairs. I looked at him, surprised, but I felt myself like I actually wanted to talk about this with someone. It's been so long since I talked about my real life. My old life.

  "There's really not much to it. I was kind of a loner kid. Liked to keep my distance from people. So I spent my spare time playing in the woods. That's actually how I found the old bench." I explained honestly, trying to escape eye contact with him. For some reason, whenever our eyes met, I felt my cheeks heat up and I knew I was blushing. My voice was quiet and raspy. Just as always. Many people thought that I was calmed because of the way I talked, but I just got used to it when I was with my previous Masters. "No one knew about it." I added, focusing on the yellow flower in my hand.

  Dimitri exhaled. "I love listening to you talk. You should start doing it more often." He chuckled, making me smile too. "Tell you what. Whenever you want to talk to me about something, tell me to meet you at the secret bench, a.k.a this old crap." He tapped the stairs, making me laugh quietly. I was starting to feel freer with him. But I fought all my instincts and tried keeping my distance. "That stands for me too. So don't be surprised, just meet me here. Deal?" He asked, reaching out his hand.

  I was already smiling, so I thought about it for a second and then shook his hand. "Deal." I almost chocked on my words when I felt the electricity his touch sent me. It was weird. But I wasn't the only one getting serious. Dimitri's smile slightly faded, almost like he felt it too. And I was sure it wasn't just a feeling I got. His touch almost burned me, and I never felt it before. I looked down at our hands and then up until out eyes met. Dimitri wasn't surprised, he was just serious now. His emerald eyes were staring at mine, but unlike before, I couldn't look away. I couldn't find anything else to focus on.

  His grip around my hand was loosening up, but I could still feel the warmth of his body close to mine, since the stairs could barely fit us both. We stared at each others eyes for a second, until he moved his gaze up and down my face, studding me carefully. Dimitri now focused on my lips, and I noticed him slightly leaning in. But I wasn't feeling much right now. In fact, I wasn't feeling anything right now. I was just lost in his eyes, his touch, him. He kept moving closer until we were only inches away. I could feel his warm breath against my lips, but he stopped, almost like he was waiting for permission.

  But I shouldn't be the one making decisions. I had the urge to lean in and kiss him, but at the same time, I was very much aware of my place. He was the Prince. A Vampire Prince. Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted from a loud noise. It was muted, but still loud. Dimitri moved away, frowning, but then widen his eyes in surprise. "What's going on?" I managed to mouth out, but before I knew it, he took my hand in his and slightly pulled me so I was standing.

  "Alarm. We have to get out of here." Alarm? He started walking, fast, almost running and I was doing my best to keep up with him. Before walking out the glass door, he turned around, glanced outside the window, but in seconds pushed the door open, dragging me behind with him. The once endless stairs were now gone in seconds as we ran downstairs. We were back in the bright hallway and it took me a few seconds till my eyes adjust to the sudden brightness.

  It seemed like Dimitri was walking towards the stairs that were leading on the first floor of the mansion, but stopped, almost like he remembered something. I could feel myself starting to panic. I had no idea what was going on. Dimitri then pushed the door of his room open, dragging me inside. "Don't leave my room. Wait here. I'll be back." He said in hurry, letting go of my hand and in one swing motion leaving the room.

  I was frighten. I had no idea what to do. And Dimitri seemed also scared. Maybe no scared, but alarmed in all kinds of ways. I stood frozen in the middle of the room, still registering what happened. What happened before the alarm went on. We almost kissed. No, I'm not ready for anything right now. I wasn't even sure what happened with Dylan. He was with someone else, and that 'someone else' was Vanessa. My biggest enemy. But I left without hearing him out. I didn't want to hear him out. I saw enough.

  But I still wasn't sure where I was with him. That doesn't matter. Face it. You're never going back. Maybe I should really face reality. Dimitri had bought me to be his slave. He was my Master. I couldn't let anything happen. Of course if I have a choice. But however, I can't let myself feel anything. Not again. What I felt upstairs, in the 'secret garden' was something unconsciously. I was taken away from his gesture. From the fact that he trusted me enough to show me his secret place. Nothing more.

  I sat down on the bed, glancing at the clock on the nightstand. An hour? We were upstairs for an hour? It felt like only a few minutes. I must have lost track of time. I looked around the room, trying to find something to do, maybe something to clean to keep my mind off stuff. But everything in here was in place. Everything was perfectly clean, not a single dust on the furniture. I glanced at his nightstand, noticing a familiar book. Frowning, I sat up, walking towards it. I took it in my hands and realized it was the same book I started reading today. But it looked a lot newer. It must be a copy.

  Opening it, I noticed that the bottom edges of some pages were bent, marking the page number so he wouldn't be lost after wards. I felt warmth surrounding my heart and I instantly smiled. That's what I do to mark the page number. I sat down with the book in my hands, listing the pages until I found where I stopped earlier. On the schedule it said that I should wait in his room when I'm done with my other chores, so I wasn't exactly breaking any rules.

  A while after, I noticed dark started covering the once blue sky, and it was turning into a beautiful space filled with stars. Dimitri still wasn't back. I wonder what's going on. But my thoughts were almost interrupted as the door opened and Dimitri walked in. I looked up at him, almost in panic and sat up, putting the book back on it's place. "I'm sorry, I just didn't know what else to do while I was waiting." I explained, watching his walk towards me.

  He smiled. "You like it?" He asked, and in one fast motion he pulled his shirt above his head and threw it on the bed. My mouth almost dropped open when I saw his bare muscled body again, but I just nodded my head and looked away. "Please continue. I'll go take a shower." He said and turned around walking towards the door. When he was finally out of sight, I released a breath I didn't know I was holding and covered my cheeks with both my hands. I was burning. But I couldn't read anymore. I had so much spare time today that I almost read 150 pages in a few hours.

  Instead, I just sat back down on the bed, trying to think of my family. The thoughts were rushing in my mind on their own and I couldn't seem to stop them. I was wondering how they were doing. It's been two years since my disappearance, but I knew that my dad was fine with it. He wasn't proud of me. I was never the daughter he wanted me to be. He probably felt sorry for me, but I knew that if he ever lost his only daughter, he wanted it to be on a battle field. And I couldn't give him that. I was weak against the vampire that kidnapped me first and I had no chances of running. So I gave up. I gave up trying.

  And my mom. I knew my mom almost had the same discipline as my dad, but she loved me. I knew she was probably broken when she heard about my 'death'. They buried their daughter two years ago. What would they think if they saw me now? Would they even recognize me? Closing my eyes, I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I knew of discipline better than anyone, from more than one source, but never have I ever thought that I would end up as a royal slave, compelled by the gentleness of this Vampire Prince that bought me only a day ago.

  I thought I was better than that. Stronger than that. But I was obviously just as stupid as Jenna to think that I may actually have a chance with him. I heard the door opening behind my back, and I quickly wiped my tears away, not wanting to turn around. I didn't want him to see my cry. He would think I was weak. And I hated weak. But all the tears that I wiped were replaced by new ones right after. I couldn't seem to stop.

  I heard his footsteps from behind and then the bed moving. After a few seconds, I felt his hand on my shoulder, making me turn around. It wasn't worth trying to hide my tears cause he already saw me now. "Amelia?" Once again, his voice was soft, and it wasn't full with surprise. Almost like he understood why I was crying. "Come here." He put his arms around me, pulling me closer to him, at the same time, in the middle of the bed as he leaned against the headboard along with me. His right hand was around my back and resting on my arm, at the same time gently rubbing with understanding. His other hand moved to my face, wiping a few tears and than pulling me into his chest.

  As soon as I felt his warm embrace around me, I released a few breaths, letting the tears fall uncontrollably. I couldn't stop. A few sobs escaped me, when I felt his grip tightening as he leaned his cheek on top of my head. "Shh," Dimitri whispered and continued his rhythmic moves on my upper arm, until I started calming down. After a few minutes of silence, I stopped crying, still feeling my cheeks cold from the wetness of my tears. He slowly moved me away so he'd look into my eyes. "What happened? You wanna talk about it?" How does he understand so well?

  I just shook my head, knowing that he would never understand eve if I did. "Okay, you can tell me when you feel ready." His voice was barely above a whisper as he pulled me closer again. I inhaled his smell, knowing that I started growing close to him. This. Exactly these kinds of moments were making him different than others. Even yesterday when he saved me, the first thing he did was pull me into his embrace. And I felt safe. I had no idea if that was just something that he did with every one of his slaves, a method, but it seemed to have a huge effect on me. It's like without even telling him, he understood me just from looking in my eyes.

  For the next ten minutes we stayed in each other's arms, in silence, but it was the comfortable kind of silence. He was playing with my hair, but he seemed distracted. I wanted to ask him what happened, what took him so long, but I tried my best to resist asking. I knew that I didn't have any position here to ask questions. "I'm sorry." I whispered, focusing on the door that was far across from the bed.

  "For what?" He mumbled against my hair and I slightly moved away so I'd find his eyes.

  "I'm sorry that You had to see me like this. I don't usually let this happen." I said quietly, but that just cause him to smile at me.

  "Don't be. I'm not gonna push you to tell me why you were crying, but it's better if you let it out of you." Dimitri said, full of understanding as always. I nodded my head in response. "You know, I'm the one that should be sorry. I didn't think it would take that long."

  I felt a nervous turn in my stomach remembering how serious he was before. It was obviously a serious situation. "Is everything alright?" I whispered, not even sure if he heard me. But he did. He smiled at me and nodded his head. I started jerking myself in a better sitting position so I would go in the slave's room downstairs. Last night was an exception because Dimitri thought I wasn't safe.

  "Where are you going?" He asked quietly, taking me by my wrist. It wasn't a strong pull, but it was enough to make me turn around.

  "I'm sorry, I thought I should leave. It's getting late and You're probably tired." My voice filled the silence once again as I was staring at him intently, waiting for his reaction. I knew I shouldn't do anything without being told.

  He studied my face for a few seconds, but then without any hesitation said. "Stay." His voice was husky and quiet, but certain. I knew it wouldn't help if I said that I want to leave, cause it was more of an order than a question. I wanted to stay. I felt safe next to him. But at the same time, I wanted to keep as far away from him as possible. I knew of feelings. And I was maybe even starting to gain feelings for him. He did have an effect on me. A huge one. But I was fighting all my possible senses to refuse what I felt for him. I didn't want to feel anything for him. And just like my father thought me, no feelings, no emotions. Just do what you have to. I can do this.

  I nodded my head, feeling his grip loosing up, but he still pulled me closer to him. He moved on his side of the bed, making place for me and got under the covers, holding them for me. I realized he was wearing a shirt and sweatpants. I didn't even think about it before. He could've been in nothing but a towel just like this morning, but thankfully he wasn't. I got under the covers too, putting my head down on the soft pillow. There was a part of me that was confused from the fact that he wanted me to stay with him tonight, but at the same time, I was more than sure that this could be just another method that Vampires use on their slaves.

  Even though the bed was, of course, king sized, there wasn't much space between us. We were close. Maybe too close to each other, since our bodies were slightly touching. He turned the lights off before, so my eyes were starting to adjust the dark. I could see him clearly staring at me. "Thank you." I whispered. "For everything today." I added, hearing him chuckle.

  "You're welcome." He said. My hand was resting next my pillow, but after a few seconds, I felt him covering it with his hand. I shivered at his touch. Just like before, I felt that same electricity. And that's when I realized we were close again. Really close. Even thought I couldn't see him clearly, I heard him breathing next to me. I looked up, finding his eyes in the dark. Even in the dark, I could see how beautiful they were. He leaned even closer, brushing his lips against mine, and I couldn't resist closing my eyes.

  Just one small move from me was enough for our lips to meet. And I had no clue why, but I leaned in. But he didn't wait this time. He kissed me before I could do anything, but my instincts responded. It was a slow, gentle kiss that made my heart flutter with excitement. Maybe a little guilt too. He moved away making me open my eyes just to meet his. His hand caressed my cheek, down my lips as he ran his thumb down them. "Good night, Amelia." He whispered, moving his hand on my now bare waist.

  "Good night, Dimitri." I managed to mouth out. And even though for a second I thought that it was weird and inappropriate to have this kind of relationship with my new Master, he clearly showed me that it was his own will. So I should never go against my Masters will. But it felt so natural, so calmed and real. Almost like a dream. And with just closing my eyes, I felt warmth to my heart. Like I was satisfied. Like I was where I was supposed to be after all this time. In his arms. And that's where I felt safe.

***
Isn't Dimitri bae? :D Anyways, thanks lots for reading!
Comment what you think about the new feelings that were born this chapter, and please vote if you like it at least a bit :P
In Chapter Seven- explanation why Dimitri was gone, new characters, and of course, more drama <3 Kisses,