Winter Fire [ Book 1 ] ✔

Chapter Eighteen

Following Alek up the wide marble staircase towards the second floor, Claire found it difficult not to stare in awe. Everything from the rose wood paneling to the cream colored wallpaper bespoke of elegance, refined tastes, and wealth.

Even the sound of their footsteps dare not break the gentle silence and were muffled against plush navy blue carpets that ran the length of a long, narrow hall.

Hanging from the walls were large, elaborate frames of varying sizes and design and bore in their centers portraits of what Claire presumed to be Alek's family. They all looked so polished and sophisticated in their fine clothes and their perfect postures. Even the children looked serene as they stared down them from their lodgings. Claire knew it was silly, but she couldn't help but feel like they were watching them and wondering why such a ragtag band of travelers was doing tromping through their domain.

"Draz, you'll stay here," Alek said, grasping the brass knob of the first door they came across. He twisted it and pushed the heavy oak door open to reveal a simple but elegant room. Draz offered him a smirk and sauntered in.

"This room was much more impressive when I was younger," he mused, mostly to himself it seemed. Alek didn't offer any sort of response and instead motioned Claire to follow him.

"Here we are," Alek said. "It's the master suite, complete with its own adjacent bathroom."

Alek pushed the door inward and Claire gasped. The room was quite large and comprised not only of a large four poster bed but a small sitting area as well. A hearth, cold and dark in the absence of any residents, took up one wall and large, floor to ceiling windows covered by heavy drapes a deep wine red took up another.

"Isn't this where you sleep?" she asked, her eyes flickering towards his. He offered her a mischievous grin. He extended his arm outward, pressing his palm against the polished wood of the door frame, bracing himself as he leaned in close.

"What would you do if I said yes?" he asked, his eyes fixed on her own in a manner that made Claire's heart fluttered in her chest. Her mouth went dry and her hands suddenly felt clammy. She couldn't tell if he was being serious, and she couldn't decide if it would bother her, or relieve her, to find out he was teasing. Silence stretched between them as Claire struggled for words.

Finally Alek laughed and pushed himself away. Claire felt air rushing back into her lungs, oblivious of the fact that she had been holding her breath.

"I'm not much of a sleeper, haven't been for a long time," he admitted at last. "Because of that, I feel bad if I make a needless mess that Ms. Avery will insist on cleaning up. I have a study in the attic," he motioned towards a door at the very end of the hall, "the stairs are right through that door. If I get tired there is a couch."

Claire wanted to ask him why he didn't sleep, but something inside her held her back. Alek was an enigma, a mystery she was desperate to solve, but at the same time she found herself unwilling to do anything that might drive him away from her.

"I'll get a fire started for you, and you can take a bath if you like. The water takes a minute to heat but you should have no trouble figuring it all out, I think my mother has some things in the wardrobe. She's taller than you, and not as slim, but it should do until we can get you something proper to wear," Alek offered.

"Anything you can provide will be perfect, Alek, really," Claire replied. He'd done so much already there was no way she could offer any complaints. Alek nodded and brushed past her into the room. He headed straight towards the hearth and began to set logs from a nearby rack neatly into the andiron resting within fireplace. He added some smaller bits of kindling and struck a long match. Within minutes the warm glow filled the room, curling tongues of flame licking greedily at the dry wood.