Chapter 28: A Dance Saved for You

Confusion riddled Katerina's face, attempting to digest what exactly she witnessed in the study. She didn't know what she was suppose to do about it. Does she tell Ezra? Is any of this even her business?

With a large exhaled sigh, Katerina placed her hands over her face. The powder covering her face and neck were slightly rubbing away from the sweat beading up on her body. She honestly didn't know where she was in the castle and she knew she strayed too far from the ballroom even though the music still bellowed throughout the entire castle. For a moment she thought how angry Ezra will be to find that she isn't there. It scared her for a small moment so she stood up. As she stood up she bumped her back against a frame hanging on the stone wall.

"Hm?" She turned around and narrowed her eyes to clear her vision on the photograph that was placed there.

It looked like a family portrait of an older man and woman. The woman looked exactly like Elisabeta, but she didn't recognize the man. It surely wasn't Alessandro. There were two children in the portrait. It looked like a young boy and girl. It took Katerina a moment to realize that the boy was Ezra. But...he was smiling? It seemed like a genuine smile, but she didn't see Lilith in the photo so maybe she wasn't born yet at the time.

Her eyes wandered from the photo to see another frame and another. A line of photographs trailed down the hallway that she was so unfamiliar with, but she wanted to continue looking at the aging family. It was every four or five pictures or so that the family would look older. She was able to see Ezra grow from a young boy to whom he was now and it pinched her heart a little to see the expressions change so slowly by the years.

It began to make her wonder if something was wrong with him. She remembered seeing him struggle at the beginning of the ball when Demitri offered him a cup of blood. Does he not drink blood? He had threatened her many times about drinking from her and taking her innocence. Was it all a lie?

Katerina met the end of the hallway with a stone wall but it turned to the left of her. As she turned, she jumped backwards from being startled by Ezra standing in front of her.

"What are you doing?" He spoke in a low voice.

She could see the glowing intensity of his crimson eyes and she stuttered her words, "I..I just needed some air and I.." Remembering what she saw. "I found these photos.."

Ezra ignored the photos and noticed the pale color of her skin, "Are you alright?" he asked.

"The gown is just a bit tight." She breathed out, but stepped back away from him.

He reached out to pull her back closer to him by her wrist in the darkened hallway. "Come with me." He whispered.

She reluctantly followed him as he had still held her wrist. She had no idea of where they were going, but she had hoped it was to bed because she was utterly exhausted.

When he reached a nearby wooden door, he turned to look at Katerina. She glanced at him but stared at the large, red wooden door in front of them. She was nervous and still faint so her heart picked up in pace.

Noticing this, he sighed. "Calm down. This is a special place of mine." He pushed up the wooden bar and pushed open the door.

Ezra calmly led her inside which made Katerina's jaw drop at the scenery. There were green, lively plants and colorful exotic flowers growing from the ground up. It was definitely not the outside garden nor the greenhouse located in the west wing of the castle. This was completely different.

As Ezra stepped further into the garden, the atmosphere seemed to wake up. Lit candles flickered with an immediate flame and the sound of a silent night crept throughout the room but they were not outside. Small fireflies roamed around the room as their lights dimmed and reappeared every so often. It seemed so peaceful and it made her heart relax in a rhythmic pattern.

He stopped the two of them in an opened area that was occupied by a small bench made for two people. Katerina couldn't summon the words to say about this place. It seemed so magical.

"I had my sorceress make this for me." He stated as he noticed her look of curiosity. "It's a place I go when.." he thought for a moment. "To relax."

Katerina soon met her gaze on Ezra. "I've never seen such a place. Why did you bring me here?"

Ezra didn't really know why he brought her there either, but he was pleased with her reaction. He wanted to be in a place where he felt himself with her and he thought this was it. He wanted to apologize to her and beg for her forgiveness but he couldn't muster the words.

"Since we will be bonded together, you need to know of my interests." He stated.

Silence grew between the two of them as the music in the ballroom seemed to increase in volume. Ezra thought for a moment before taking Katerina's hand in his to lift it to his lips.

"The music is still playing. Why waste it?" He watched her expressions.

She was confused by what he meant then she realized and shook her head quickly. "I do not know how to dance."

He chuckled softly and immediately cupped her left hand in his right to pull her in a much closer position. His left arm then curled around her waist which made Katerina place her right hand on the side of his left shoulder.

After getting her into the correct stance, his head leaned in to press his lips against her ear. "That's okay." he whispered, "I know how to lead."

Before Katerina could protest, he had twirled them around so effortlessly that her head became dizzy once more but she didn't know if it was from feeling sick. They stepped around the blossoming room as Ezra led her body to sway and follow his footsteps.

It seemed to going on for much longer than she expected because she was so entranced by the way he danced. It was as if she didn't have to put any work into it because by the time she tried to follow one footstep, he had picked up her body to follow the next. The closeness they shared right now made her heart skip beats and that made Ezra smile the entire dance.

When the music level died down, Ezra finished by pushing his hand from her waist up to the middle of her spine and tilting her body backwards in a short dip. As he did so, their faces were just centimeters a part and for a moment, Katerina felt drawn to his charms. Her eyes left his and moved down to look at the lips just inches from hers. He could feel the attraction as well, mostly because the blood coursing through her body echoed in his.

He noticed that she had lost her gaze with him and he slowly pulled her back up to a standing position. Their bodies were still tightly bound together and he felt that the time was right for him to speak.

"Katerina.." He whispered lowly which made her perfectly hazel eyes look up at him. His hand was still placed on her back but the other released her hand and made its way up to her face. He slowly tucked a strand of her ginger locks behind her ear to reveal the bruised markings he had placed on her.

With a disappointing look, he rubbed the wounds with his thumb before staring into her eyes. "I damaged my flower." he said coldly.

She didn't want to look away from him nor did she want to pull away, afraid of what he might do to her but she felt differently this time. He seemed genuinely remorseful for what he had done. Did he truly care? She didn't know who this man was other than the fact that he was a monster, a prince and a sadistic beast. He was probably just toying with her and enjoying it. She didn't know what to believe.

When she didn't answer him, he trailed his thumb from her neck up to her cheek bone. He attempted to gain her trust. "Can you forgive me?" He asked her.