I stared around at the ballroom, the colors and crowds dazzling me as I looked out over the elaborate party. It'd only been a week since my sickness, which thankfully hadn't gotten worse, and I still felt slightly woozy. Despite that, I stared out at the couples swaying around on the dance floor with an aching longing.

There was no way I'd be able to stand long enough to do that, I couldn't even get my foot to twitch on command nonetheless stand for any length of time. Usually I could keep myself from falling into the self pity trap, but just this once I let the ache spread.

As if sensing my melancholy, the crowds parted to let Maximus through. His grey eyes locked on me as he made his way over. He looked amazing in his tux, the pressed fabric tailored specifically to him and thus fitting every muscle as if it were painted on. I could only hope I looked half as nice in my dress.

Usually I kept away from anything like this, my wheels making it difficult to move without getting caught, but with everyone dressed to the nines I couldn't afford to be the only one not in something fancy.

Maximus had liked the dress though, his eyes raking down my form the minute I came into sight with Leila an hour earlier, and his obvious attraction had helped me deal with the discomfort of wearing it. If it were just us I wouldn't have a problem at all, but it felt like the hundreds of people around me were all staring in judgement. Even though I knew they weren't it was still hard to shake the feeling of being watched.

Calloused hands settled on my shoulders, pulling me back to the present as Maximus bent down to be level with me. "Are you alright? You're looking a bit down."

Even when he wasn't right next to me, he knew when I wasn't feeling right. Did he have a radar or something? Shaking off the thought, I tried to force a smile while shaking my head.

"It's nothing that anyone can fix, sorry. I'll try to be more animated."

My answer made his mouth pull further into a scowl. "Why don't you tell me more about what's going on and I'll decide if I can't help."

It felt stupid to say out loud, but I knew that now he wouldn't let it go. Mumbling under my breath, I hoped no one but him heard. "I wish I could dance with you, that's all."

His eyes softened but no trace of pity showed itself as he stroked my shoulders. I was thankful for that, I hated pity more than anything and seeing it from him would hurt more than I'd like to admit.

He surprised me when he spoke again, "You can dance with me, if you want to."

I blinked in shock, glancing down at my lap and the chair I sat in before slowly looking back to him with open confusion.

A slow smile curled his lips before he gestured out to the dance floor, "Look at Vlad and Leila, we can dance just like they are."

I hesitantly looked where he pointed, Leila was perched on Vlad's shoes with her arms around his shoulders and his hand resting against her hip. I still didn't see how I was going to make my legs work long enough to stand on Maximus's feet and I told him that.

He just smiled, "Look closer at her feet. She isn't standing on his shoes."

Again I blinked in surprise before taking a closer look as he asked me to. He was right, there was a sliver of distance between their shoes, but how did-?

It clicked. Vlad was holding her weight off her feet, her shoes were probably killing her ankles by now and no one would notice, or dare to comment if they did. I certainly hadn't until Maximus had pointed it out…

Chewing my lip, I glanced up at him while considering the new option in front of me. I did want to dance with him and while everyone would know what we were doing, I've been in a wheelchair everyday since I came so it would be obvious, did it really matter what they thought?

Coming to a decision, I nodded and Maximus smiled before sweeping in front of me to drop into a dramatic bow. "Would my lady care for a dance?"

The action made me laugh even as nerves tried to choke me. Pushing them to the side, I accepted. "I would indeed my kind knight. If you'd be ever so helpful to get me out of this chair?"

Familiar arms wrapped around my waist in the next instant, bringing me up to be cradled against his chest. The position was comfortable and I instinctively melted into him as his hands shifted to support my back and legs as he moved to the music. For all intents and purposes, it looked as if we were any other couple and for just a moment I decided to relish in it.

My arms tightened around his neck, cuddling closer as the gentle sway of the music nearly rocked me into a light sleep. Ugh, those few days I was sick had really taken a toll, even now I was still tired.

Maximus chuckled, the vibrations rolled through his chest where my cheek rested. "Don't go to sleep yet. The party should only last for a bit longer, then I'll escort you back myself."

The mention of his escort dragged me back to the present with a flare of heat between my thighs. Now that sounded divine. And maybe, just maybe, we could go all the way tonight. Ever since I'd first seen him in his tux I'd wanted nothing more than to strip him back out of it and to my surprise I didn't want to stop at just that. I wanted more.

More than anything we've done so far. The thought that maybe tonight would be the night we completely gave ourselves to each other pushed the rest of my drowsiness out the window. I felt ready and as long as Maximus didn't have anything he had to do afterwards, I could make my move.

What that move would be, I wasn't sure, but I wasn't going to back out now. I'd made my decision and unless I felt a legitimate reason, my nerves not counting as one, to not give everything to Maximus then that was what would be happening tonight.

Besides, if it's too much for me Maximus would back down. He'd already shown he would when it was needed, so nerves weren't necessary on my part.

The song ended, much to my displeasure, and Maximus carefully put me back in my chair as the illusion of us being a normal couple shattered. Seeing my disappointment, he brushed a kiss to my forehead.

"Don't look so downtrodden, I'll happily do that again with you later in private but for now Vlad needs my help with a guest."

The statement snapped me out of my daze, now that my brain wasn't fogged with Maximus I could hear the sound of raised voices not far off. I bit my lip as Maximus turned to address it with Vlad not far behind.

I couldn't understand what was being said but the voice sounded angry. Gripping Maximus's hand, bringing him to a stop momentarily, I managed to squeeze out. "Please be careful."

His surprise faded into a smile that warmed me throughout before he dropped another kiss to my head. "I will be back soon, this shouldn't take long."

I watched as his back disappeared through the crowd, discomfort mounted as he completely vanished from my sight. I tried to shake it off, feeling ridiculous for feeling frightened just because he had to leave my side.

I'm a grown woman, I can handle being in a crowd without Maximus here to hold my hand. Even though I kept repeating that to myself, my nerves kept climbing until the world around me felt like it was spinning and I wasn't getting enough oxygen.

My vision was bleary but I managed to make my way to the nearest balcony, all but gasping for breath when I hit the open air. This was pathetic, I couldn't even handle being in a crowd without Maximus…

The sound of booted strides from behind me made me relax. Of course he'd noticed I'd left the room, he noticed everything with that radar of his. I hope he didn't stop what he was doing to follow me…

Forcing a calm I didn't feel, I turned. "I'm sorry, I had to get some air. You can go back-."

The man in front of me was certainly not Maximus. He was about a half foot shorter than him and most of all, his eyes were icy cold as they stared down at me. Swallowing hard, I tried to back away only to realize there was nowhere to go, the balcony behind me had me trapped and the only exit was on the other side of the man who hadn't looked away from me.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else. If you'll excuse me…" I tried to edge around him, my previous anxiety sky rocketing from the close proximity of a male other than Maximus. Apparently I hadn't gotten any better in that regard either…

Before I could get far, his hand clasped my arm, the iron grip making my skin crawl and dread rise in my chest. Something wasn't right…

His mouth twisted harshly as what looked like guilt and torment swirled in his eyes before his arm lashed out toward me. I barely had time to lurch to the side, his surprise at my sudden move loosening his grip enough for me to tumble out of my chair and away from him.

Not wasting a minute as I watched him whirl to lunge at me, I screamed with everything I had in me. My assailant cursed but instead of running, like I expected him to when we both heard the familiar sound of Maximus and Vlad shouting while making their way toward us, he hefted me over his shoulder and ran.

From my new vantage point, I could only watch as the familiar blond head of hair came bolting out of the balcony doors. I barely got out a cry of his name before my captor swung his fist back to crack against my skull, momentarily dazing me as he ran. The last thing I saw before the forest surrounding Vlad's castle swallowed everything else was Maximus's face scrunched in torment as he raced after us, but I knew he wouldn't make it in time.

My last thought before I lost track of him entirely in the trees was that I wished I had given myself to him before instead of waiting. Now I might never get to feel what it was to make love with someone you loved more than anything. The thought made tears gather in my eyes as a dull pounding started in my head.

What was this man planning to do with me?