Nightmare

I fell back onto the bed, nibbling on a Twix candy bar, sighing quite happily at the memory of last night, remembering how amazing it was to be in Zacky’s arms again. I had spent a majority of today sleeping, only woken up an hour ago, immediately jumping in the shower. I had spend about thirty minutes under the water scrubbing myself with the vanilla scented soap, washing away Zacky’s scent from my skin.

After finishing the candy bar, I fell back against the pillows, hugging one to my chest, knowing they smelled like Zacky. I sighed happily, closing my eyes and picturing his gorgeous face.

I was so in love with this guy it wasn’t even funny.

A sudden knock on the door interrupted me from my thoughts, making my sit up immediately. “Yes?” I called out, knowing it was one of the servants.

“Prince Tristan requests for you to join him for dinner,” A feminine voice said, muffled slightly by the wood blocking us.

“Uhm, yeah, I’ll be right there,” I told the person.

I set the pillow back in its proper place, hearing my stomach growl softly, getting up and leaving my room, headed for the dining room. There, I saw Tristan, sitting in his usual spot, with his usual glass of blood, as well as his laptop in front of him. I cleared my throat to make my presence known, making him look up from the computer screen to me.

“Starr,” he stood, walking towards me, taking my hand in his.

I accepted his hand, allowing him to lead me to the table, sitting down as someone brought a plate of food out for me. I thanked them quietly, as usual, immediately starting to eat, and rather quickly at that. There was some kind of chicken with almonds, tasting like it was from the Middle East from the spices, as well as a rice pilaf, and assorted sautéed vegetables. It actually tasted quite good, surprising me at how fast I was devouring the food.

Tristan noticed as well, looking at me a bit surprised. “You’re actually eating,” he pointed out.

I suddenly froze, my eyes meeting his, realizing that I had never eaten this way since I had first been brought here, hoping that he didn’t suspect anything. I slowly swallowed what was in my mouth, trying to control my heartbeat.

“My Lord, I’m sorry I—”

“No, no, don’t be sorry, I didn’t mean it was a bad thing.” He smiled softly at me. “I’m glad that you are eating. I don’t want you to get sick.”

I gave a small smile, continuing to eat, but doing so a bit more slowly this time. Tristan continued with his work, glancing at me ever so often, but only when I had finished eating did he close his laptop, looking directly at me, focusing all his attention on me.

I didn’t know what was coming next so I tried to break the almost awkward silence. “Uhm, the food was really good.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he said.

I stole a few glances at him, and then took a sip from the cup in front of me that contained Cherry Coke, one of my favorite sodas, starting to get nervous. Did Tristan know about last night? Had he found out that Zacky had come to see me? Could he smell him on me?

“How was your visit to your brother, My Lord?” I asked, again breaking the silence.

“It went well,” he told me. “Much better than I imagined it would, actually.”

“I’m happy to hear that.”

I felt Tristan’s gaze fixed on me, once again, my heartbeat speeding up slightly.

“How was your evening while I was out, Starr?” He asked me.

I stared at him for a moment, trying to read him. His face was serious, free of any type of emotions that could give away if he knew about Zacky last night. Tristan just stared back at me, awaiting my answer, looking genuinely interested.

“Well,” I tried to think of an answer quickly. “I just returned to my room and stayed there for the remainder of the evening.”

“Oh really?” He asked. “You… didn’t do anything… special?”

Again, I tried to read him, to see where he was going with this.

“No,” I answered cautiously. “I was a normal evening for me.”

He nodded, but I still felt a bit weary as to what he meant by that. Tristan smiled at me, reaching out and taking my hand in his; I just watched him, waiting to see what he was going to do next.

“Starr, you know mean the world to me, right?” He asked softly.

I gave him a small smile, not really sure what else to do. “Thank you, My Lord.”

He lacked out fingers together before looking at me again. “I would do anything for you, Starr… and I can’t wait until the ceremony, where you and I will be eternally bonded. You will finally be my Queen; you will finally belong only to me.”

I tried to hide the terror that I was feeling. Of all people, Tristan was not the person that I wanted to be eternally bonded to. I hardly knew him, but I did know enough about him to know that he took me away from Zacky. If there was someone I wanted to be with and belong to, that was Zacky, and only Zacky.

Zacky was all that I wanted and ever could want. I loved him.

“Starr?”

Tristan’s voice broke me from my thoughts, making me look up at him. “Yes My Lord?”

He smiled again, laughing lightly. “You’re perfect.”

I just smiled, trying to fight back the sudden urge to puke as he kissed the top of my hand, his lips lingering on my skin. He stood up, bringing me to my feet as well, the entire time, my eyes remained on his, waiting to see what his next move would be.

When his arm circled around my waist, bringing us closer, I glanced down at our touching bodies nervously; I was a little afraid of what he was going to do next.

He laughed lightly. “Do I make you nervous, Starr?”

I lifted my eyes to meet his, not caring if I looked terrified or not—I was. “I-I’m sorry, I just wasn’t expecting you to do that, My Lord,” I stammered.

He smirked, but didn’t look as sexy as Zacky did. “How about we go back to my room, and we can see how many other things I can do that you wouldn’t expect.”

I gulped, not liking the sound of that at all. There was no way in hell that I would ever sleep with Tristan, not willingly, at least; but there was no way I could tell him that, either.

“My Lord, as tempting as that sounds,” I lied. “I don’t truly feel like myself tonight. I’m a bit tired, you see, so I was hoping to just return to my room early for the night.”

I saw his face fall a little, clearly not expecting that answer. “Oh, yes, of course,” he quickly released me, and I quickly took a step back. “Some other time then.”

“Yes, another time,” I agreed, once again lying.

He smiled softly. “I do hope you get some rest, Starr, and feel better tomorrow.”

I nodded. “I hope so too.”

“Goodnight, my darling,” he kissed the top of my hand once more.

“Goodnight, My Lord,” I whispered, not meeting his eyes.