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Khloe's POV:

I stared at myself intently through the bathroom mirror.

The mirror that stretched across the entire wall save for where the sink and cabinets were.

I guess something like this would be expected in a bathroom with a shower that could easily hold 8 people and a completely separate room to a private bathhouse.

The life living among royalty was not yet one that I was used to, nor did I think I was going to be any time soon.

I took a step closer to the mirror, lifting up my shirt to above my stomach

Ever since my conversation with Lily a couple days ago, I guess I began to focus more on what my body looked like.

My eyes skimmed over the bandages that still covered part of my torso.

I remembered back before that whole incident,  had just gotten to the point where you could no longer see any indentation from my ribs when I stood normally.

Although according to that comment from Lily, I was still a bit too skinny.

I turned my body, now looking at myself from the side.

I guess she was right. I still had a ways to go to fully recover what had happened to my body all those years in the pet shop.

I knew that I had definitely come a long way already ever since Nico purchased me.

Proportionately, I could tell that I had gained some weight all over my body. My skin and my hair had become brighter and softer. Those dark marks under my eyes were completely gone.

I could even tell that my height had increased since that day.

I remember looking at myself in the mirror the day Nico took me home and being absolutely stunned at what I looked like.

That mixed with the blood and dirt covering basically my whole body, the tender skin on my neck from that wretched collar.

All of which just seems like a blur of a memory now.

A sigh escaped me as I dropped my hold on my shirt.

I had come a long way, that's for sure, but I still now couldn't understand how Nico was attracted to me.

Let alone how he was apparently attracted to me before he actually admitted it.

I looked myself from head to toe, a small frown settling on my face.

Compared to the vampiric, human, and the fictional woman and girls I've seen or read about in the castle library... compared to all of them, I wasn't inherently... sexy.

Breasts, butt, thighs, and hips. Those were the four components that guys find sexual attraction to according to the books I've read.

I turned my body to different angles, trying to get the best view of my body.

My shoulders slumped.

Despite everything that's happened since my purchase, I didn't really have any of those things.

My breasts only barely qualified for a B cup, and my thighs and butt weren't anything spectacular.

My hips added a small curve from my waist, but that's about all I had going for me.

It felt weird looking at myself like this. I had never really focused on something like this before.

I wondered what Nico thought about me in this aspect.

I mean, I knew he found me attractive, but maybe not in this way...

After all, he never really made any move to show me that he was attracted to me in this way.

Whenever we were close his hands never explored anywhere that would be considered explicitly sexual.

Just my waist, hips, the bottom half of my thighs and nothing more.

Never even just a small signal that he wanted me that way.

I swallowed hard.

Why was I even dwelling on this?

A couple days ago this wasn't even an issue and now it was the only thing clouding my mind.

My face began to redden and I clapped my hands against my cheeks, shaking my head.

I shouldn't even be thinking about something like this.

Our relationship- or whatever we're calling it was still new, there was no focusing on this now.

The time will come when it comes right? And even if it doesn't... I guess that's fine too.

At least that's what I told myself.

My fingers clenched and unclenched as a sudden sadness washed over me.

I wanted Nico to want me in that way.

Did that make me a slut?

These kinds of thoughts had literally never come into my mind, but now it felt like it was the only thing that mattered.

I wanted to be everything that I could for him since he was already everything for me and more.

A shrill squeal left my body without warning as I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"May I come in?" Nico's voice rang out from the other side.

I took a moment to regain my breath from that little scare.

The door was unlocked, he didn't really have to ask.

"Of course," I replied, taking a step backward before he opened the door.

The edges on my mouth instinctively lifted a the sight of him, my heart fluttering as he approached me.

He glanced around, probably trying to see if he could figure out what I was doing before he stopped directly behind me.

He glanced in the mirror at us, his smile growing as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

I practically melted against him, the still-healing wounds on my back stinging but not enough to make me stop.

My worries vanished for this short moment, just being held in his arms.

One of his hands started to trace itself up my neck to my chin, pushing me to lift my head up.

As soon as I did, Nico leaned down to place a soft and slow kiss on my lips.

The blush on my face grew deeper in color at that unexpected action, my eyes growing wide.

Nico laughed quietly, his hands now rubbing my arms.

He always enjoyed catching me off-guard.

"I just wanted to  do that before I headed out for a bit." He said.

My brows furrowed as I continued to look up at him.

"Head out? But the sun already set," I retorted, really just wanting to stay in his hold for a lot longer.

"True, but even though we domesticated ourselves, vampires still thrive in the night."

Oh... right.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

He hesitated for a moment, before taking a step back.

He held a look on his face that told me he was hoping that I wasn't going to ask.

"Hunting."

"Hunting?" I turned to face him.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah. I still haven't gotten used to the whole 'enhanced blood thirst' thing yet and the feeling hasn't gone away all day no matter how much blood I've had so I think my body is telling me that I need to drink from something alive," he explained, "it'll probably be a couple more days before it really becomes a problem, but I figured I should just go out and get it over with."

My silence apparently unnerved him because he kept talking.

"I'm not sure how long I'll be gone since its been a while since I've had to hunt in these forests, but I'll try to make it a very quick trip," He spoke with nervousness in his voice, like he thought I wasn't going to like what he was saying.

I mean I didn't.

A small knot formed in my stomach at the thought of him sinking his teeth into one of the innocent wild animals hidden in the forest behind this castle and draining their blood.

I wasn't quite sure what kind of animals were in that forest, but the majority of them had to be small creatures... Creatures with not nearly enough blood to safely satisfy a vampire's hunger.

I didn't want another creature to die for something that I could easily give him.

Plus, offering him myself was the least I could do for him after all hes provided me with.

My next words passed my lips without much thought.

"How much blood do you need?"

"Khloe," he spoke, already knowing where I was going with this, "No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say!" I responded, raising my voice only slightly.

"I knew exactly what you were going to say and my answer still stays. I'm not going to feed from you." He kept his voice calm yet stern.

"Come on Nico, let me do this for y-"

Another squeal exited my lips as a knock on Nico's door sounded through the room.

Geez, why was I so jumpy?

Nico's eyes were now fixed on the door through the bathroom door, his brows pointed down in an annoyed glare.

Apparently, this guest wasn't planned.

His expression softened as he glanced at me before going to answer the door.

I just stood there for a moment, more disappointed than anything that we weren't able to have that conversation.

We'll just have to have it later.

I quickly made my way to the doorway of the bathroom, peeking my head through to see what was going on.

Both Nico and I were surprised to see Marcus on the other side of the door.

He gave a bow before Nico could greet him.

"Prince Nico," He began formally, "Lord Vanderwood has requested your presence at once."

I could see the muscles in Nico's back tighten as he spoke.

He tried to relax himself with a sigh, but it didn't exactly work.

"Of course he does," Nico mumbled under his breath.

I'd be lying if I wasn't a bit nervous myself.

This was the first time the Lord had requested a private meeting with Nico and since none of their previous interactions ever went smoothly... I don't even know if I wanted to know how this was going to play out.

"Just me?" Nico asked, and I swore I saw his gaze flicker to me.

"He didn't specify," Marcus responded.

Nico thought this over for a moment.

"Ok. I'll leave as soon as I can. How are your injuries?"

Marcus seemed surprised by Nico's question.

"Um, they're fine. Everything is healing nicely thanks to the meds you gave me, so thank you." He said.

Nico nodded.

"Of course, let me know if you need anything else."

Marcus gave another bow.

"I will, Thank you, Nico."

With that, Nico closed the door, his calm demeanor suddenly changing into one more stiff and rigid.

What on earth could the Lord possibly want from him now?