Katherine let out a gasp when she saw the house that her lover, for lack of a better term, was leading her to. It was a two story house built in the Victorian style and was settled in the middle of a giant property, it must have been at least 20 plus acres but that was just a guess on Katherine's part. She never was very good at guessing things like that but she was pretty sure she was right this time.

"There's a lake out in the back and a horse stable, I know how much you want some horses," he said to her when she snapped out of her amazement. He began to lead her around the back of the house so she could see the back patio along with the pasture where horses could roam free. The stable was also back there and Katherine noted the farm that in the large back yard as well. Katherine couldn't believe how huge the whole place was especially when she knew that he would be leaving her soon. Suddenly the many acres made no sense to her; it was too big unless he wasn't leaving her.

He turned them around to enter the house from the back door which led them straight into the kitchen/dining room. He informed her that there was also a formal dining room for holidays and get-togethers. He told her that there were four bedrooms and 3 baths, the master bedroom had a private stairwell that led to another room that could be converted to a bedroom if needed. Katherine silently mused that she would probably just make that room a library. When they reached the living room Katherine finally broke the silence that had come over them.

"Do you have to leave?" Katherine whispered to him as he led her through the room. The grief she was feeling came back full force at the thought of him leaving.

"I have to, I am needed back—" he trailed off when he realized that he didn't consider where he was going to be home anymore. He couldn't pinpoint the exact moment in the past year when home had become wherever Katherine was. And as much as he wanted to voice that thought, he couldn't unless he wanted to be severely punished. Although he knew he would be punished nonetheless just for having this relationship with Katherine, so many rules had been broken just in this year alone but there was still one rule that he had not broken in their relationship. One rule that he planned to break before he left; one rule that would make his punishment even worse when he broke it.

"Why you though? There are plenty of others that can go," Katherine pleaded while allowing him to gently lead her upstairs to what she knew would be the bedroom. She really didn't want to see that room when she knew she would break down.

"They need me specifically, and you know that I can't disobey them," he said, leading her to the bed that stood in the center of the room. Katherine quietly mused to herself that the room was a little too big for one person. In fact, the whole house was too big for just her.

"If you can't disobey then why are you still here?" Katherine asked. Her answer was him pulling her closer to him, his arms around her waist. "What are you doing?"She looked up at him, eyes wide in confusion. He looked at her with the same intense look he always had before humoring her with an answer.

"I was allowed one more night with you before I have to go," he explained in something that was akin to a whisper for him. He never had really grasped the concept of lowering his voice to an actual whisper. He reached behind her to free her hair from the braid that she had it in, running his hand through her brown hair once it was undone. Katherine had a stray thought that she should be insulted by the very idea of having a pity night, but she would take whatever she could before he left.

Katherine laid back on the bed, pulling him with her, glad that she had decided to forgo the many underskirts that were the fashion. She honestly had no idea what she was doing, but she knew for a fact that he didn't either. She let out a gasp when he focused his attention on the spot at the top of her neck and whispered his name before—

She woke up.