Their room was homely, smaller than what the both of them were used to but still relatively decent compared to other lowly inns. There room encompassed a single bed with drawers that were big enough to hold trunks of clothes. The window was open but it was a long way down from their view. And unless someone wished to break their back, the window looked like a terrible idea as a possible exit route.

"Don't think about running," Jonathan said, as if to read Charlotte's mind immediately.

"I can't even if I wanted to," she said bitterly.

He said nothing in response, only sighing and shifting away from her glance.

There was one bed and Charlotte wanted to vomit at the thought of having to share it with him, her nemesis, her captor, her daemon.

"Just sleep, I won't do anything."

"I don't trust you."

Jonathan got up and pulled some fabric from the bed and onto the floor. He didn't say anything but he positioned himself to sleep there, ignoring Charlotte's existence altogether. The keys that locked the room were in his hand. Even though she said she wouldn't run, she intended to. She prayed to God hard that evening. She hadn't been a devout Christian but in that moment, Jesus Christ was looking like a mighty fine savior, she desperately needed a miracle to rescue herself from this predicament.

Convinced that he was asleep in three hours, she used the tips of toes to move besides him. The sound of the floorboard creaked with her every step but she chanted under her breath that he wouldn't awake. Her fingers had clasped onto the keys and she rejoiced, she was free.

But perhaps it had been too soon for her to celebrate her victories.

Jonathan was a light sleeper and his eyes immediately darted open as he was met with Charlotte's face. She had the keys in her hands and he grew angry. Angry that she couldn't put up with him even a little bit. He swiped them from her and stood up, his towering figure loomed in the darkness was outlined by the starlight drifting through the window.

"Is it so hard for you to comply on this trip?" He was exhausted and tired but he refused toallow anger or impatience overwhelm him.

"I don't want to be near you."

He looked at her again, an expression of defeat outlined on his face.

"You can hate me Charlotte, you can hate me with every fibre of your being. But what matters at hand right now is that I'm responsible for you. I can let you go and destroy your family's reputation but I won't let you. Not on the behalf of your brother's friendship or your grandmother's sake."

Charlotte was frozen in the darkness as his voice huskily murmured the words he did.

She felt his hand cup her cheek as he stared at her with a sadness, an apologetic vulnerability that was genuine in regret. "Please," he was begging again. "I will work to make every single day of the rest of my life up to you. I will strive at all costs for your forgiveness. I can not erase my past but I can change the future. Hate me if you will but I beg, tolerate the rest of this trip a little more. If after this you wish to wed and leave my side forever, then that can be arranged." He ended it with a bitterness that she had never heard before.

A pang of guilt was hitting in her heart but Charlotte refused to be soft. Not for him. She watched as his looming figure entered the bed now, keys clasped in his grasp. She watched his sleeping form, rising and falling as he breathed, his lashes shut close. He looked as angelic as he did that time when he saved her in the rain. A small glimmer of a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she reminisced it. She shouldn't admire him in his sleep, she shouldn't find him attractive but she did. And the conflicts of interest in her heart was making it terribly irritating.

Perhaps he did love her but she held the women against him. She didn't want to be abandoned, tossed aside like many of the women in the elite class who were fully aware of their husband's sordid affairs.

Charlotte didn't even realize her tiredness and fell asleep in the crook of his neck, absorbing the scent of his skin as her eyes fluttered close and she dreamt.

Relatively short chapter but there will be a longer update next time. Anyways, vote, comment, etc etc! On a real life note, charcoal sucks and it gets everywhere, beware guys. That stuff can get stuck up your nose lol. Anyways, hope everyone's having a good week and until next time!