“Do you remember the winter balls we used to hold up in the mountains Ebony?” Dante asked staring into the fire. I sat at the far side of the room quietly holding a sleeping Luna. The guards were busy outside the room fixing locks to the bedroom door at Dante’s order. Dante kept telling me it was only a temporary measure until I regained my memory of our former past together, but I didn’t believe we had a former past together. Whoever this girl was, she was not me.

Dante gazed nostalgically into the fire and continued,

“The mountains were your favourite place to visit. Something about the snow and the landscape always entranced your imagination. It was where you learnt to play the violin. I’d listen to you play for hours. I was your greatest fan.”

I couldn’t bear to hear him talk about me like I was his lost girlfriend. Irritably I got up and announced,

“I’m going to bed.”

Dante turned his head and watched me move about the room looking for my night dress. I grabbed the cotton dress that hang over a chair and moved behind the dressing screen to change.The dress that I wearing on me was done up like a straitjacket. Awkardly I twisted and turned like Houdini trying to escape his chains. Eventual I gave up and got into bed fully dressed. A dark humorous voice floated across the room.

“Would you like a hand undressing?” Resting his chin on the back of his hand Dante couldn't hide the amusement creeping across his face.

“No.” I snapped.

“In the mountains we used to-”

“Please keep that information to yourself!"

“Such a stubborn girl,” He commented quietly, “No doubt underneath that dress is six petit coats to hide your modesty.”

“I’m not worried about my modesty but what silly ideas you might get.”

“My head has been full of those ideas for four hundred years. I’ve spent endless nights imagining what I would do when I got you back into my bed.” His eyes swept over me hungrily and I felt the heat of his gaze from across the room. Uncomfortable I shifted in the bed feeling like my clothes were suddenly too tight. Butterflies were fluttering up from my stomach into my chest making my heart wildly flutter. Dante crooked a finger at me and said,

“Come here.”

What had happened to my voice, why wasn’t miss attitude rearing her head and giving him a piece of her mind. Instead I was walking towards him in a trance like state drawn to him like a moth to a flame. The flame burns you idiot, he’ll burn you, my mind kept screaming at me. I stood in front of his chair and Dante indicated to turn round. Obediently I obeyed. Fingers loosened the fastenings of my dress and in one fluid motion Dante stood up and gently pushed the gown off my shoulders. The dress fell to the floor revealing a thin white cotton petit coat that saved me from virtual nudity. He stood back and said,

“Look at me.”

I turned slowly, the glow of the fire burning through my cotton gown creating a silhouette that robbed Dante of his breath. His eyes were dark and smoky and deep within I recognised this consuming desire that was growing inside my chest threating to explode. Was this sensation a distant memory or something far more primitive even instinct. The feeling inside me did not feel like love or romance perhaps this was the carnal nature that existed inside all of us. Dante was deliciously dark brooding man despite all his faults so it is only natural that he should make me feel this way… like I would die any moment if he did not touch me. My breath caught in my throat as Dante circled me like a predator. Lapping up every inch of my body with his eyes he said,

“No dragon will ever take you from my castle again.”

“Dragon?” I repeated hazily.

Dante’s arm curved around my waist pulling me against the hardness of his body. I gasped aloud unable to control the heaviness of my breathing, Dante smiled his fingers curling up a fist full of my hair and bringing to his lips. He forced his eyes shut and inhaled the scent, he looked so unbelievable beautiful. Opening his eyes he said trembling,

“I will not take you, not until you remember me.”

Emptiness burst through my body and for a brief second I was almost tempted to lie. Dante looked like he was clinging onto the edge of control by a thread. I was positive it wouldn’t take that much effort to push him over the edge. Framing my face with his hands he lightly kissed me on the forehead and said softly.

“Go to bed before I loose myself completely.”

He turned away while I slipped into my night dress and got into bed. Looking at my own hand I could see I was shaking too. What the hell had happened back there? Had I completely lost my senses. I nearly gave Dante my virginity on a plate. Heat rose to my cheeks and I buried my face in my pillows. What the hell had gotten into to me?