What have I done?

I sat in a hot bath with the bathroom lights dimmed, but I couldn't relax. Every muscle in my body was tense.

I laid my head back against the tub and stared at the bubbles floating across the steaming surface of the water.

I wanted to go home. I was worried about Vega. I had no clue where her father was or where my own father was. I had a headache from turning each problem over and over again in my mind and I still couldn't comprehend it.

My heart ached at the thought of my mom by herself. She was so fragile and dependent on my dad. I don't think she had gone a day without him up until that point. As much as I hated him, she needed him. That was the sole reason I actually cared to wonder where he was.

Then there was Adam.

God, what a man... I had never met anyone like him.

Adam was a living oxymoron. He could be so sweet and gentle one moment, but so bitter and demanding the next. I fought my consciousness over whether to give him a chance to prove himself a worthy, loving mate or to run as far as I could, determined not to be burned by the fire he seemed to carry inside of him.

When I thought of the word mate, all I could see was my parents. I didn't want that for myself and I was scared that would be what I got.

However, I wasn't just fighting my consciousness— I was fighting myself.

I didn't know how much longer I could tell myself I didn't want him before I became delusional. There was absolutely no denying that I found him attractive... extremely attractive.

His tall, muscular frame was everything and more I ever wanted in a man. The way his arms flexed when he moved them even slightly and the way his back tightened when he walked did not escape me, no matter how much I tried to ignore it. That jet-black, wavy hair was so perfectly messy and his sharp, carnal features formed a face I could stare at for the rest of my life. And those eyes... I could stare into their blue depths endlessly.

That was what scared me: It wasn't him... it was who he was.

But how do I change that?

...can I change that?

Part of me was interested to see the change he made in himself—if there was even going to be one—over those next hundred days.

As my mind wondered on about Adam, the bathroom door opened.

I immediately sunk down into the water, peering over the bubbles to see who had intruded into my deep thoughts.

Speak of the devil...

"Are you in here?" He asked.

I hummed in response.

"Why in the bloody hell are the lights off?"

"They're not all the way off," I countered.

"I can't see you," he said.

"That's the point."

He found the light switch on the wall and turned the lights back up.

I squinted at the light.

"Better," he said, walking into the bathroom.

I quickly sat up and pulled my knees to my chest.

Adam chuckled at this. "I know what a naked woman looks like."

My eyebrows furrowed. "That so?"

Adam walked over the vanity and pulled his white t-shirt over his head.

"I'm nearly two-hundred years old, Evie. Would you not be concerned if I didn't?"

I shrugged. It made sense, but there was a pit that formed in my stomach when I heard him say it. I tried to ignore the feeling.

"Can you give me a towel?" I asked.

Adam reached into the cabinet and I stared at his exposed back when he did so. Those muscles.

He handed me the towel and I took it from him, avoiding eye contact.

I cautiously began to dry my hair with the towel, making sure I was covered by strategically floating bubbles.

Adam stood watching me with his back against the vanity and arms crossed.

"Can I help you?" I asked, sighing.

"You're bashful," he observed.

"And?"

"Up until this point I assumed I was at the bottom of a list of men who had seen you naked, but now I'm not sure."

His bluntness shocked me.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

He just smiled and shrugged. "Am I the only one who has ever seen you naked?"

"You haven't seen me naked," I said pointedly.

"Not yet."

I huffed and stood up from the tub, the towel covering my body.

"Fine, I've never had sex. Is that what you wanted to hear?" I huffed.

I swore he was trying to suppress a smile. "It is."

"Why do you care?" I asked, stepping out of the tub and draining the water.

"I'm not sure. I wish I could give you the same satisfaction of knowing I was a virgin, but I'm not."

"I gathered that," I quipped.

I looked up at him to see him smirking.

"What?" I asked. I was starting to get an attitude.

"Nothing," he said, pushing himself away from the vanity and in my direction. "I look forward to the day you give yourself to me."

I held up a finger in his face. "That day is not today, Casanova."

Part of me wishes it was.

I walked away, feeling my face blush at the thought.

I opened the bathroom door and went out into the bedroom to change. I heard the shower turn on and I sighed.

He will be the death of me or my virginity, whichever comes first.

I changed into my pajamas. Every night I still went to bed in the same t-shirt he gave me to sleep in the very first night. The masculine smell of cedar wood stuck to everything he owned and I couldn't complain, especially when smelling it on his shirt seemed to lull me to sleep at night.

Just as I pulled on a pair of underwear, he stepped out of the bathroom in a towel.

"Have you seen my pajama shorts?" I asked him, looking through my allotted drawers in his wardrobe for them. I could've sworn I had put them back in there when I took them off that morning.

Adam shook his head and reached over me to grab a pair of boxer briefs.

The proximity of our bodies made me freeze.

I could feel the heat from his hot shower radiating off his skin as his arm passed over my shoulder and his chest pressed to my back.

Immediately, I got out of the closed space and backed away.

"Nevermind, I don't need them anyways," I stuttered out.

Adam didn't say anything as he dropped the towel and pulled his boxer briefs on. I didn't see anything, but my face was a thousand shades of red as I turned away.

He has no shame.

I walked over to the bed and began to take the pillows off and pull back the sheets.

Adam reentered the bathroom and I sighed, getting under the satin sheets.

I heard Adam walk out of the bathroom and closed my eyes preparing for the lights to go out, but they never did.

Suddenly, the sheer curtain on my side of bed was pulled back and Adam ripped the covers off of me.

"Can I help you?" I asked sitting up.

He grabbed me by the hips and placed me on my knees on the edge of the mattress in front of him.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I pressed my hands against his bare chest, attempting to push myself away.

"Why are you scared of me?" He asked, grabbing my wrists gently. Sparks flew up my arms.

"I-I'm not," I said. I was beginning to get lightheaded from the feeling of his skin under my hands.

Adam's eyes narrowed.

"You're scared of intimacy," he said.

I stammered.

He has me there.

"What happened?" Adam asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Has someone touched you? Was it your dad? Warren?" He asked, getting angry.

"No!" I said quickly. "It's nothing like that, I just—"

I stopped myself.

"What then?" He asked.

"I've never done this," I whispered, "and you're being really forward. It's just a weird change of pace, I guess."

I knew I was blushing. I was so embarrassed.

Why couldn't I be more experienced? I've never even been kissed!

I looked down at my fingers which were still pressed against his chest.

Adam sighed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry. You just kept flinching every time I would get near you and I thought something had happened."

I bit the inside of my cheek.

His voice lowered. "Look at me."

I lifted my eyes and his hand went underneath my chin.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

I felt my breath hitch in the back of my throat as his face inched towards mine. I glanced at his lips before my eyes fluttered shut.

I could almost feel the brush of his lips against mine before the door swung open and slammed against the wall, startling me.

I flew backward on the bed, and looked over to see Jace standing at the door.

"You need to see this," he said quickly, his comment directed towards Adam.

"Someone important better have died or this castle better be on fire," Adam muttered angrily.

Well, the castle wasn't on fire...

...but my house was.

- - -

I stood in a conference room in Adam's sweatshirt and a pair of his sweatpants—which were both notably too large for me— as Jace showed him pictures that had been taken that day of my house as it burned to the ground.

"Oh my God," I whispered as I grabbed one of the photos and observed it. "Was there anyone in the house?"

Jace shook his head. "No, one of our men ran in and couldn't find anyone. The fire department confirmed there was no one inside."

I felt a rush of relief.

"How did it happen?" Adam asked, passing me another picture as he finished looking at it.

"They're doing an arson investigation, but the results could take up to a week to come back," Jace said.

We all stood there in deep thought.

"Did someone see anyone trying to flee the scene?" Adam asked.

Jace shook his head. "No, our men saw the smoke from a few miles away and they were the first on the scene. No one came out of the house after they got there and no one in the fire department saw anyone leave either."

"No one's placed an insurance notice on the house yet?" asked Adam.

"Not that we know of," Jace said.

"Keep an eye on that and let me know if anything changes, they may be trying to collect the insurance claim and leave. In the mean time, keep me updated on everything. I want that arson investigation to be expedited and I want to find out if the neighbors saw anything. Find her mom as well," Adam said, handing the photos to me.

"Do you see anything unusual?" Adam asked me.

I shook my head as I flipped through the photos. I didn't see anything out of place.

I looked at the last one and stopped.

"Wait," I said, pointing at the picture. "This isn't right."

I pointed to a bushel of red tulips that was planted in the mulch beside the front door.

"No one in my family planted flowers. These had to have been put there. Plus, it's not even the right season for them, so it had to have been recent," I said.

Adam took the photo and he and Jace observed it.

"You're right," he said. "Have someone figure out how long they had been there. That's something to pay attention to."

Jace nodded as he took the photos and circled the tulips with a marker. "I'll find out."

"Let me know as soon as you hear anything new," Adam said.

He took my hand, and pulled me out of the room. I followed him blindly, trying not to trip over the sweats which were too long.

I was still in shock.

"Who would set my house on fire?" I whispered, thinking out loud. "My parents haven't done anything to anyone and they have no where else to go."

"We'll find out soon enough," he said, his thumb beginning to trace circles on the back of my hand.

We arrived back at the room and I immediately collapsed onto the bed. Adam helped pull the sweatshirt over my head and I laid down, pulling the sheets up.

He turned the lights off before climbing in bed beside me.

"We'll find out who did it," he assured me.

I sighed in response, rolling over.

I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

- - -

I woke up the next morning to Adam's hand on my shoulder, shaking me lightly.

"What?" I groaned, rolling over.

"You need to wake up."

"You need to go away," I said, peeking up at him from under the sheets.

"My aunt would like to have breakfast with us, and we can't do that if you're still in bed," he explained.

I huffed. "I'm not even hungry."

"You've got an hour to get ready," Adam said, leaving my side.

I sat up and watched him as he walked around the bed, pulling his shirt over his head and setting a water bottle on the side table.

He was sweaty and looked like he'd been for a run.

It was the beginning of his one hundred days, and if he kept his shirt off, it wouldn't take one hundred days for me to take a liking to him.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Eight-thirty."

I groaned loudly and fell back into the bed.

The curtain opened from Adam's side of the bed and he peered in.

"You're more than welcome to shower with me if you think that would wake you up," he said.

I laughed. "You're funny."

"Suit yourself."

After a few moments, I heard the shower turn on and I swung my legs over the side of the bed.

His aunt better be the best person in the entire world and this better be the most delicious food I've ever eaten.

After going through the wardrobe and finding something to wear, I walked into the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

It was taking a lot of willpower not to check Adam out through the glass doors in the reflection of the mirror.

Instead, I combed through my hair and pinned it up. I searched through the drawers to find my makeup.

Adam stepped out of the steaming shower with a towel wrapped around his waist as soon as I began to put on eyeliner.

"You look nice," he said, eyeing the dress I had picked out.

"Thank you," I said quietly, trying to concentrate on my winged liner and not his naked torso.

Adam walked up behind me and stared at my reflection in the mirror as I finished off the look with a few swipes of mascara.

"I never realized how green your eyes were," he commented.

I let out a breathy laugh as I zipped up my makeup pouch. "Makeup tends to do that."

"I think you look great either way."

"Thank you," I said trying not to blush.

I left the bathroom as he changed into a dress shirt and slacks.

"Ready?" He asked walking out of the bathroom.

I slid on my flats and nodded.

"I lied when I said I wasn't hungry before," I said sheepishly.

"I know, you're always hungry."

We walked a few floors downstairs to a huge dining room.

The elongated gold table stretched to fit almost fifty people. Flowers adorned the table as centerpieces and four place mats were set out at the end. White and gold-encrusted chinaware was set out next to crystal glasses and silverware.

Doors at the other end of the room opened and a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair walked in. She had on a long, fitted white gown and ruby earrings. Behind her entered Xavier, who smiled at me.

"Evelyn, this is my aunt, Victoria, and you've already met Xavier," Adam said, introducing us.

"It's a pleasure meeting you," I said, reaching out to shake her hand.

"Truly, I wish I could say the same, darling," she quipped.

Well, this is going to go great. 

- - -