The Competition

Dinner went by slowly as Rose thought about any way she could get out of the present situation with Caleb. She had finally come to the conclusion that no matter what she said or did, he would not accept her wishes to sleep somewhere else. Besides, if her life was really in danger she would be safer with him. She sighed and finally lifted her head from her plate and set her fork down. She frowned, as she looked around, shocked at the empty seats, realizing she was alone with Caleb.

"Are you back?" Caleb asked, amused as he watched the confused look on her face.

"Where did everyone go?" she asked, confused.

He smiled at her. "Everyone finished a while back."

She frowned and looked over at the empty place where his plate had been before. "You're done?"

He lifted the glass cup in his right hand to his lips and took a sip as he looked at her. "Yes."

Her eyes lingered on his tongue as he licked the blood at the corner of his lips. She gulped and quickly looked away. "Why haven't you left?"

His eyebrows lifted. "Why would I leave when I can spend time with you?"

Her cheeks burned. She really had no answer for that.

Caleb smiled. "You seemed a bit distracted. Do you want to share what you were thinking about?"

She bit her bottom lip. Nope. No way she was going to tell him what she had been thinking.

His eyes instinctively lowered to her lips when he saw movement. He felt the muscles in his stomach tighten as he watched her gnawing on her lower lip, remembering how sweet she tasted. His hand tightened around the glass in his hand as he continued to look at her.

Rose's cheeks turned another shade of red when she caught him staring at her. She couldn't help but remember the way he had kissed her in the study, the softness of his lips against hers, the passion that had made her burn for more. She felt her cheeks burn hotter and the temperature in around her rising.

"You wouldn't happen to be thinking about running away from me tonight, would you?"

Her eyes widened. How did he know? She gulped when she heard him chuckling .She turned away from him and stood up. "I'm done," she said quickly. "I'm going to get ready for bed."

"I'll be right up," Caleb said chuckling as he watched her run away again. As soon as she was out of sight, he turned to look at Ksien who walked in through another door. "We'll leave tomorrow," he said, smile quickly fading.

Ksien nodded. "What would you like to do with him?"

Caleb's jaw tightened. "He's a friend of that man?"

"Yes," answered Ksien. "We've done a background check and it seems they grew up together and he trained together with her ex."

"Send him away. I don't want to see him here again. But, don't kill him," Caleb said as he stood up.

"Yes." Ksien hesitated for a bit as he thought about asking what was on his mind.

"What is it?" Caleb asked as he walked up to him.

"Are you going to do anything about him? You know he's not going to stop."

Caleb casually slipped his hands into the pockets of his pants. "What do you think she would do if I got rid of them all?" he asked. A dangerous aura radiated off of him as his eyes turned a dark shade of red, making the room cold.

Ksien smiled. "I think you know the answer to that."

Caleb nodded and sighed. "I won't kill them… for now. If he dares to try anything else, I'll make sure he never has the courage to even think about it again. Have you found out how many men he has helping him?"

"Yes, we have the report in your study."

"All human?"

"Yes," Ksien answered and started to follow Caleb as he walked out of the dinning room.

"Send the spy away for now. Make sure Jack and his crew know their friend is gone. Let's hope his disappearance will be enough to dissuade him from any further actions."

"And if it isn't?" Ksien asked as they walked towards the study.

The corners of Caleb's lips lifted into an evil grin as he turned to look at his friend. "Is it wrong of me to hope he keeps trying?"

Ksien chuckled. "Remember what's at stake."

Caleb nodded. "Let's just see what happens." They walked into the study and made their way towards the desk. He sat down and picked up the report Ksien had mentioned. He quickly read through everything and set the papers down again.

Ksien who stood quietly by his side felt the hair on his back stand when he heard Caleb chuckle darkly.

"Interesting," Caleb said with laughter.

"What do you think about your competition?" Ksien asked.

Caleb smiled sinisterly. He bent his elbows on the desk and placed his head on top of his clenched fists as he thought about what he had read. "What competition?"

Ksien smiled, pleased by his friend's words. It was one of the reasons why he admired Caleb; the man never let anything or anyone get to him. "What are you going to tell Rose about the move? I don't think she'll like the idea."

Caleb's smile softened as her face flashed through his mind. "She will be fine. I'll make sure of it." He slowly rose and began to walk towards the door. "Do what I said for now. We'll leave first thing in the morning."

Ksien nodded and the corner of his lips lifted as he watched Caleb walk out of the study.