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Roberto bowed briefly, with a smirk on his face, and walked out with a much lighter step.

As the door shut, Amaliya said, “He's a total bitch. ”

Cian nodded and looked at her again.

She was really pretty with her exotic features and long dark hair. He could see with his keen eyesight that her hair was really blond and that she dyed it, but the black hair contrasted nicely with her skin. She had taken off her shoes and stood barefoot on the hardwood floor. She looked unsure of herself and a little afraid.

“I just don't sleep with anyone,” she said at last, but her tone wasn't exactly truthful.

“Unless they are attractive to you,” he added.

“Well, yeah. ” She blushed and sat on the floor. “I got carried away. I'm sorry. ” She curled her legs under her and sat Indian style. “Do you hate me now?”

“I don't know you well enough to hate you or like you,” Cian answered honestly. His body was slowly calming down, but he knew it would not take much to arouse him again. He looked away from her and played idly with a framed picture of Samantha.

“You're not going to throw me out, are you?”

“No. No. Of course not. I invited you here. ”

“You kidnapped me,” she reminded him.

He smiled lightly. “Same thing. Plus, I am the one who offered you my throat. I'm responsible for what happened. ”

“I'm sure I didn't help,” she mumbled.

Glancing toward her, Cian took in her pensive expression. He said softly, “No, but again, I invited you here. ”

Those enormous eyes turned up at him and he once more thought her features were quite intriguing. With blond hair they may have faded to bland, but with black, they were intense and lovely

With a sigh, he realized he had to stop thinking like this and looked over at the picture of Samantha. She had such a cute turned up nose and glorious smile. She was everything good and light in his life. He had to remember that.

“Are you going to tell her?” Amaliya asked after a long beat.

“No. No. She wouldn't understand. She doesn't see this side of me,” Cian admitted.

“But she knows you're a vampire. ”

“Yes, she does. She found out unexpectedly one night, but it didn't phase her. ” He smiled and laughed a little. “She said, 'Oh, wow. So sunscreen doesn't help, huh?' That's Sam for you. ”

Amaliya smiled at that and looked at her hand. “If only sunscreen did work. . . ”

“Sam has a tendency to try to see everything in a positive light. I think that is why I love her. She didn't run screaming from the room. She just stood there, staring at me, and then told me she knew I was a good man. ”

“Are you?” Amaliya asked.

He frowned slightly, then shrugged. “When I'm with Sam I believe I am. ”

“But tonight I fucked that up,” she said with a sigh.

“I fucked it up,” Cian answered.

“You're trying to live a normal life with Sam. You don't me need screwing it up for you. ”

“When I was turned no one helped me,” Cian said in a soft voice. “I floundered. I struggled. I destroyed people I loved. I was mad with the hunger and I barely survived. You're doing much better than I did, but I want to make sure you truly understand what is going on, what you are, before you do something that will get you killed by The Summoner or-” He cut off his sentence and pondered what he was going to say.

“You?”

“Yes. ”