Two days have gone by since Ember's last vision of Donovan at the cliff edge.

Brianna's father had come later that evening just as promised with a large basket of fresh food. After the two chatted for a few minutes, Ember had gone about making her first homemade meal she'd had in days.

Since then Ember had had plenty of alone time to gather her thoughts.

During the whole journey back to Bucharest from Sinaia, Ember was trying to come up with a plan to find Donovan, but after having two different visions of him promising to come find her… it seemed that she wasn't going to have to search very hard.

So in the meantime, Ember had gathered some of her weapons to keep close at hand. A small wooden cross with a shaved down tip and a bottle of holy water from a priest she'd met a few years after her parents had died.

Unfortunately, the dagger she always carried on her person was not recovered from the great hall in Donovan's manor after their battle. Ember had meant to take a trip to the blacksmith for a new one, however, today was a gloomy stormy day and Ember relished the idea of staying inside and sitting by the fire. She would make her way to town tomorrow for the dagger. In the meantime, Ember kept the bottle of holy water in her bosom and the cross inside her boot.

After stoking up the fire, Ember made her way into the kitchen to warm up some soup she'd made the night before when a knock on her door made her jump. Hesitating for only a second, she made her way into the living room and towards the door.

"Who is it?" Ember asked, her hands flexing for the dagger that wasn't at her side.

"It's Adrian," a familiar voice answered.

A mixture of emotions flooded through Ember. First relief that it was a friendly face, anger because she still hadn't forgiven him for his hurtful decision, and third a thrill of excitement to see his face again.

Slowly, she opened the door, her eyes landing on the tall and chiseled features of Adrian. His copper eyes sidled up the length of her body as if he hadn't seen her in months and needed to memorize every bit of her.

Trying to ignore the thrumming of her heart and the heat in her belly from his gaze, Ember crossed her arms

"What are you doing here?" she asked quietly.

Adrian smirked slightly at Ember's attitude which annoyed her even further.

"Still mad at me, huh?" he asked, casually putting his hand on the top of the doorframe.

"You have to ask that?" Ember asked with a scoff, then moved to shut the door in his face.

"Ember, wait," Adrian exclaimed, stopping the door with his hand and pushing it open. "I'm sorry. Can we please talk?"

Pale blue eyes watched Copper for a moment as she considered his words. It wasn't helping that he had a piteous look on his face that would cripple any woman's willpower.

"Fine," Ember said with a sigh, "But make it quick. I have plans."

She turned and walked away from the door, making her way back into the kitchen where her soup was simmering.

"Plans?" Adrian asked as he followed her in, shutting the door and locking it behind him. "What plans could you have on such a dreary afternoon?"

Ember poked her head outside the kitchen to look at him. "I plan to stay inside and gaze out the window at the dreary day eating my soup in peace."

With that, she made her way back to the pot of soup and stirred.

"It smells good," Adrian said, coming up behind her and gazing over her shoulder. "Did you make it yourself?"

"Unlike you, most people don't have house servants cooking their every meal," Ember chided, taking the pot from the stove and moving it to the counter where she had a porcelain bowl waiting.

"You wound me," Adrian said in mock pain, holding his hand to his chest.

"Are you hungry?" she asked before she could stop herself.

When he didn't answer, Ember turned towards him and raised an eyebrow. He was standing there watching her quietly with a look of admiration on his face which made her feel self-conscious and bashful.

"What is it?" she asked, trying to hide her emotions with the sound of sternness.

"Nothing," Adrian said, finally taking his eyes off of hers and moving into the living room.

With a sigh, Ember followed him, leaving her soup on the counter.

"What did you want to talk about, Adrian?" Ember asked, making her way to the chaise and sitting down gesturing him to do the same.

"I don't know," Adrian said, exhaling loudly. "That I am sorry. That I want you to forgive me…"

Ember opened her mouth to protest, but he continued.

"That I cannot stand being away from you," he finished, his eyes burning into hers.

A sparkle of shock followed by a tickle of butterflies filled her core as she stared at him.

Without a word, Adrian stood and closed the space between them.

"Woods," he said gruffly, dropping to a knee in front of her and taking her hand in his. "Do you know that I think about you every single day? That I can't stop imagining what it would be like to kiss your lips every single time I look at you?"

Ember's breath escaped her with a rush as she looked into his eyes filled with desire and affection.

"Adrian Thatcher, I swear to God, you had better not propose to me right now," she said breathlessly. "Because I will tell you no."

Without hesitation, Adrian burst out laughing. "You are going to have to fight a lot harder to bag me as your husband. I'm not just going to give this away."

It was Ember's turn to laugh as he grinned at her deviously, then without warning the look in his eyes turned hungry and with a soft tug at her wrist, Adrian pulled her to him.

Another soft gasp left her as he held her to his chest, his eyes burning with longing. The spark of desire that warmed her belly turned into a roar as he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her fiercely.

Adrian tasted as he looked; of warm cider and spices as his mouth moved sweetly over hers. Reaching his hand up, he tilted her chin slightly before cupping the side of her face, delving deeper into her mouth.

Ember did her best to hold back the soft whimper of pleasure as his tongue explored her with gentle and erotic movements, drawing another soft gasp from her lips. Bringing her hands to his shoulders, she let her fingers dance across the hard ropes of his muscles.

At her touch, Adrian growled softly with desire and without warning, he dipped her bodily onto the chaise. Only for an instant did Ember think to stop him, her thoughts betraying her as she thought of Donovan, but those doubts were immediately replaced with a longing for the man on top of her as he started to run kisses down her neck and across her collarbone.

Ember's fingers dug hungrily into his broad shoulders as his hands ran up the expanse of her thighs, lifting her dress above her knees.

"Adrian," she whispered, not sure if she was going to ask him to stop or beg him to continue. "I…"

At her words, Adrian stopped his advances and lifted his face to meet hers. His eyes burned with hunger but softened to one of complacency.

"Ember," he said softly, his hands flexing against her outer thighs as he watched her. "I would never do anything you do not want me to do. You say the word and this stops here and now."

She watched him with tenderness in her heart over his chivalry. He was truly one of the kindest souls she'd ever had the pleasure of knowing. After a moment, Ember smiled playfully.

"I was only going to say… don't think your advances are bringing you any closer to an engagement," she said with a devious gleam in her eyes.

Adrian chuckled again shaking his head. "We will see about that."

Then he was kissing her again, but this time it was fervent and hungry. Ember wrapped her arms around his neck as his tongue tangled with hers. As Adrian's hands slipped higher up her thighs, Ember let out a gasp because she was wearing nothing but a thin shift and cotton knickers under her dress.

Just as she thought Adrian would continue his advancements, he stopped right at her hips and cradled her figure gently, merely pulling her closer to him so that their bodies rubbed together gently. Ember's hips rose to meet his as she moaned softly.

For now, that was enough for both of them. Ember knew Adrian wasn't the type to push his lust onto her and she appreciated him allowing her to call the shots.

At the moment, Ember was happy with taking it slow. So she kissed him deeper, exploring his taste and the feeling of his tongue tangling with hers, wanting to savor whatever this was.

Yet, in the back of her mind, she felt as if two onyx eyes were watching their every move.