Protect You

"W-what are you talking about?" Rose asked, playing dumb, remembering Joce's words about how horrible she was at lying.

Caleb smiled as he looked down at her. He knew how nervous she was. This was exactly how he wanted her to feel. He wanted to see her squirm. He wanted to know if she felt guilty about her actions earlier today.

Rose felt more and more nervous as he continued to stare at her without saying anything. She chuckled dryly and looked away. "Why are looking at me like that?" she asked nervously.

"You're beautiful," he said with a smile as he watched her intently.

Her cheeks turned red and she turned away from him. "I need to go change my clothes."

"You haven't answered my question," he said. He sat down next to her on the bed, one leg bent and the other hanging off the bed touching the floor.

She gulped. "Which one?" she asked.

He chuckled. "I'm sure your memory is better than that sweetheart." He raised a hand to her face and forced her to turn to look at him.

She bit her bottom lip and frowned. "I'm not sure what you want to hear."

"The truth," he said. "Why can't I sleep with my fiancée but other men can touch her?"

She swallowed hard as she watched the coldness in his eyes that didn't show on his smile. "I really don't know what you're talking about."

He smiled. He thought about making her more nervous, about watching her squirm a little bit more, but he changed his mind when he saw how scared she was. "So you never did anything with that man?"

She frowned. He was talking about the past? So, he didn't know about today? She wanted to sigh loudly with relief, but she tried to stay calm as he continued to stare at her. She shook her head. "We didn't really do anything," she confessed.

His smile widened. "Is that so?" he chuckled. "You have no idea how happy that makes me."

She narrowed her eyes at him. So, he was happy about the constant misery she had endured? She suddenly felt irritated by his reaction. "It doesn't mean we didn't do anything," she said with a grin. She smiled up at him triumphantly as she saw his smile fall and his eyes narrow, but her smile didn't last long as the temperature around them turned cold.

"Are you trying to make me mad?" he asked as he tried to read her emotions. He knew they hadn't slept together. If they had gotten close to it, he would have stopped it without thinking twice. But, he also didn't know how far they had gone, which was driving him crazy.

She swallowed and shook her head, realizing this wasn't the time to be challenging him. "Sorry, it just came out."

"What exactly did you do then?" He asked. "Since you're so willing to share everything with me, why don't you give me the details."

She chuckled nervously and shook her head. "We didn't do anything. Really." She stood up suddenly and started walking towards the door. "I really need to get dressed," she muttered, trying to run away from the awkward situation.

Caleb's eyes narrowed as he stared at her back. He got up and walked quickly towards her.

Rose cried out in surprise when he picked her up and lifted her in his arms. "What are you doing Caleb?" she screamed. "I have to change!"

He chuckled at her attempt to get away from him and walked back towards the bed with her. "You're going to bed. You don't need to wear clothes to bed."

Her eyes widened. "Are you insane?!" She tried struggling in his arms, trying to get away from him. "Let me go Caleb!"

He laughed harder as she continued to struggle in his arms, trying to get away. "Are you really trying to get away from the king of all vampires?" he asked with a smug smile as he looked down at her.

She huffed and crossed her arms on her chest. He was right, it was useless to try and fight off a vampire. "You can't just force me to stay with you Caleb. How do you expect me to fall in love with you when you force me to do things I don't want?"

"Would you prefer I let you die?" he asked as he looked down at her. He set her down on the bed gently and watched with a smile as she scurried away from him.

"Aren't you the mighty king of all vampires? Shouldn't your place be an impenetrable fortress or something like that?"

He smiled. "I'm glad you feel safe with me." He grabbed his shirt and slowly slipped it up and over his head before he threw it on the floor and jumped into bed. "I'd rather not take any chances. If I'm around you, I'll be able to protect you."

She gulped, watching as he slowly got into bed half naked and started moving closer to her. She couldn't look away as his huge muscles strained with his movements. She hated to admit he was bigger than Jack. But, it wasn't fair, Caleb was a vampire, Jack was only human so of course there would be a difference in their anatomy. She finally looked away and leaned back against the pillows.

Caleb smiled as he watched her stubbornly refuse to lie down next to him. "What are you going to do, sit all night?"

She huffed. "I can't sleep without clothes on."

He sighed and reluctantly jumped off the bed. "Alright," he muttered. He walked towards his closet and grabbed a clean white shirt before walking back towards the bed. "Here, put this on," he said as he gave her the shirt.

"Caleb! My room is right next door!" She said as she pointed in the direction of her room. "I can go and come back in five minutes!"

He looked at her and pointed at it. "Put it on," he said with a smile before getting into bed again. He lay down and turned towards her.

She sighed, frustrated. She looked over at him and watched as he closed his eyes calmly. Dammit! She grabbed the shirt and angrily slipped it over her head and down her body. He was a big guy so his shirt almost reached her knees, something she was grateful for. She kept her eyes on him, watching him closely to make sure he wasn't peeking as she slipped off the towel under the t-shirt.

Caleb smiled, watching through half-closed eyes, as she slowly got comfortable. It was a small step, but they were moving forward, and he was more than happy about it.

Rose threw the towel on the floor and looked over at him one last time before lying down comfortably. She made sure to pull the blanket all the way up to her chin and then made a barrier between them with the same blanket. "Don't even think about crossing this line or touching me."

Caleb sighed. "Sweetheart I'm already asleep. Why don't you try getting some rest too?"

She frowned as she watched his eyes struggling to open and finally relaxed. Maybe he really wasn't going to try anything. She finally turned away from him and closed her eyes to sleep.