Page 51 of Blood and Roses

"That's not all, I hope. Did you really mean what you said about going to Eli...about us?" Rosa asked, nerves forcing to put down her half-chewed croissant. She couldn't imagine what the great Unseelie prince would say.

"I meant it. I don't think I could pretend any longer than I have to," he said as he leaned back in the chair. "I can't remember the last time I wanted something this badly. Eli might grumble, but once he knows my feelings towards you are sincere, I don't believe he will have any objection with me courting you."

"Feelings you say... What feelings might they be?" she mocked.

"The simple ones: that I love you, that you are the first person not to make me feel alone in two hundred years, that I would slay the world and defy Eli if he tried to stand in my way of having you, that you could destroy me with a word." He made a small shrug. "I'm a feared man, Rosa. My reputation is vicious and absolute. I am the Unseelie hybrid the Gwaed Gam fear. You arrived back at Gwaed Lyn, and I cracked."

"The simple feelings," Rosa whispered. Unable to think of anything else articulate, she kissed him tenderly. "As much as itscares me to admit it this early, I'm in love with you too. I won't pretend that I'm going to like keeping my distance from you in the next few weeks, but I trust your judgment on this. I should warn you, I'm a jealous lover, and if I see some Gwaed Gam hussy wenching up to you, I might try to drive a stake into her."

Balthasar smiled before kissing the top of her head. "Oh, my darling, you have never seen a jealous lover like an Unseelie lover. I almost broke my brother's neck twice over passing comments about your charms. The next few days are going to be dangerous for you, and the most horrible thing is you won't even know it. Keep that necklace of yours on and hidden. I don't even trust my own family with you."

"I promise," she said as she fiddled with the silver pendant. "Do you think it'll work on the Seelie?"

"Let's hope so because their magic is much stronger than any of ours."

"I don't know about that. There are parts of you that are pretty damn magical." He burst out laughing as she hoped he would. It was so rare that she savored it, tucking it away to keep her company in the next few days.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

By the afternoon, Rosa was in the kitchen, preparing for the arrival of the guests who would start to arrive that evening. She had already seen three entourages of sleek cars drive in, sending the servants into a nervous flurry of activity. Cecily and Goode had arrived from Penrith in time to ensure that their guests were settled in, keeping note of who was put where for Eli.

The Vane helicopter landed at six pm, and Rosa watched Balthasar instantly exchange a notebook with Eli. Balthasar was wearing a charcoal gray suit with a black tie and pocket handkerchief, and she had to look away from him before her face betrayed what she was really feeling.

Look at you, one morning of sex, and suddenly you are insatiable. Rosa knew that wasn't all she was feeling. While she had been with Balthasar, she had been confident and unconcerned that she'd admitted that she loved him, as if being near him reinforced every flickering heartbeat. As soon as she had been a few hours without him, her self-doubt crashed in around her ears.

What the hell were you thinking?He could have been telling her whatever she wanted to hear, and she had spilled her messy human heart out to him.

"Watch that sauce!" Vera cautioned, snapping Rosa back to the present.

"Sorry, sorry," she quickly stirred her spoon around the thickening cranberry sauce. "I zoned out there."

"Well, you had better cut it out because we are going to be run off our feet for the next week. Are you not sleeping or something?"

"No. I'm sleeping. Don't worry. Did you see that girl who turned up before? Sheesh! I thought Pearl was gaunt." Rosa changed the subject quickly.

Her sleep or lack of it was best not to consider if she was going to concentrate over the next few days. It didn't help that she could smell Balthasar's shampoo in her hair or that her body ached pleasantly with the memory of his.

"Speaking of Pearl, she's looking particularly smug, which can't bode well for anyone. I tell you that girl gives me the heebie jeebies," Vera muttered as she rolled out fresh pastry.

"Rich people are creepy. It's what gives them distinction amongst their peers."

"Those friends of theirs aren't any better. Take my advice, Rosa. Stay down here with me this week."

"Ha! I have no intention of mingling with the upstairs crowd. It's not like I'll be needed anyway. Most of them have brought their own people to serve and fetch for them."

"Good. Cecily doesn't need the pressure of attending to their every whim."

"We have an additional party of eight about to arrive," Belinda announced as she glided into the kitchen. "You should see this lady upstairs—absolutely dripping with diamonds."

"Half her luck, I'd be too afraid that I'd lose them," said Rosa, who had misplaced nearly every piece of jewelry she owned.

"She's giving Mr. Balthasar theeyeif you catch my meaning. He'd better watch out because she looks like she's going to start grinding against his leg," Belinda said conspiratorially and jumped as Rosa started banging the spoon loudly on the side of the pot.

"Vera, this filling looks ready. How's that pastry going?" Rosa asked loudly over the top of their giggling speculation.

Rosa was heading back upstairslate in the afternoon with new towels when she almost fell over Belinda slumped on the ground in the servants' passage.

"Bel! Are you okay? Wake up!" Rosa said urgently, propping her up against the wall. She was gray and clammy, and as Rosa pushed her hair back, she saw the blood that had seeped into the collar of her dress.

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