Chapter song: Smother by Daughter

Bright, warm light shined on my face the next morning, bringing me out of my peaceful slumber, and for the briefest moment I thought I was back home. I half expected to see my maid walk in carrying a plate of eggs benedict, or hear my mother complaining about the state of my hair, but when I opened my eyes, I was sadly reminded that I was very far from home.

It felt odd to not be forced out of bed by Nebula and I wondered where she was. After I showered and brushed my teeth, I wandered out into the hallway as my stomach began to growl from hunger. I looked over the railing into the courtyard below, and saw Nebula and Ronan discussing something that appeared very serious. Both looked up at the same time as they sensed my presence and immediately stopped talking.

"Um, good morning," I said hesitantly before making my way to the stairs.

"It is well past morning. You slept for a great deal of time," Ronan said as he watched me walk down the impressive stairs. He glanced at Nebula and nodded in her direction, and she quickly strode up the stairs and passed me without a word.

"Where is she going?" I asked as I looked over my shoulder in her direction.

"It does not concern you. Come and eat," he said as he glanced at a table filled with trays of food. When I reached the bottom of the stairs I stopped to look around the courtyard.

"Move quickly. We have much work to do," he said impatiently before turning around. He walked over to one of the couches and began rummaging through a stack of papers.

"What are we doing today?" I asked curiously as I hungrily eyed the food.

"Silvia, eat," he said irritably from across the room.

I rolled my eyes and began picking breads and strange fruits from the trays, until my plate was overflowing with food. When I turned around, I observed the room and saw a metal dining table close to where Ronan was sitting, and began walking towards it. I could feel his eyes watching me as I walked past him and sat down in one of the large dining chairs. They were so tall my feet didn't even touch the floor, so I began absent-mindedly swinging my legs back and forth, like a child would do. As I began eating, I eyed him cautiously and found him unhappily reading a piece of parchment. There were strange markings on it that I couldn't even begin to understand. As I took my last bite, Ronan stood up and was at my side in only a few strides.

"Come along," he said with impatience. In the corner of my eye I saw his hand move and I instinctively flinched in my chair, anticipating a strike. When I didn't feel any pain, I glanced over and saw him holding his hand out for me, and I almost felt guilty.

"Do not do that ever again," he said seriously as I accepted his hand and he helped me up from my chair.

"What do you expect, Ronan? Nine times out of ten you're going to hit me," I said sarcastically. His hand immediately grasped my shoulder and forced me to face him.

"Only because you refuse to obey me," he growled angrily. He paused and inhaled deeply through his nose before continuing, as if he was trying to calm himself down.

"If you would only obey me then I would not be tempted to punish you," he said somberly as his eyes casually scanned my body.

"Do you hear yourself? It's not normal to hurt people just because they don't follow your every order. You seriously need help," I muttered with disgust and began turning away. Ronan angrily grabbed me by my arm, preventing me from walking away from him.

"You purposefully aggravate me on a daily basis, yet you expect me to exercise restraint. I have killed thousands for far less, Silvia," he said quietly, his tone becoming far more dangerous.

"Then why am I not dead? Tell me, Ronan, what the fuck I am still doing here," I said heatedly as I closed the space between us and pushed against his chest. His hands tightly gripped my wrists and pinned them down at my sides.

"Because I want you here, that is why," he furiously hissed into my face, and my lips parted in shock. Did he just admit that he wants me? This was the first time Ronan has even come close to admitting he likes me.

Ronan's eyes widened as if he was surprised by his own words, and he roughly let go of my wrists. In the blink of an eye his expression became cold and unattached.

"It is time to go," he said in an irritated tone. He began walking up the stairs while I continued standing there, still feeling dazed by his confession.

"Do not slow me down," he barked over his shoulder, startling me.

I quickly ran up the stairs and joined him as we made our way to the ship. When we reached the small ship, Ronan once again sat in the pilot's seat, and we were flying through the air in a matter of seconds.

"Where are we going?" I asked impatiently as I peered out my window. Once again I was blown away by the meticulous planning and architecture of the city. Metallic structures and perfectly round, white dome buildings glimmered in the sunlight. It truly was beautiful.

"The government athenaeum," he said without looking at me. I stared at him with a blank look on my face as I tried to figure out what the hell an athenaeum was, hoping he would elaborate more on the subject.

"There are documents there that need to be retrieved and translated," he said with disinterest, and I nodded hesitantly in response. I had no idea what I could possibly translate for him, but there was no point in arguing so I remained quiet for the rest of the trip.

We landed a few minutes later in front of one of the only few square buildings I had seen in the entire city. From the outside I could tell it was only two stories tall, but it was one of the largest buildings I had ever seen. Back home it surely would have taken up an entire block. It's reflective, shiny exterior made the already impressive building appear as if it was emitting sunlight. I could tell this was a building meant to impress and intimidate all who gazed upon it.

There were guards posted every twenty feet along the side of the building, but they paid no attention to us as we entered through the main door. When we walked through the massive lobby, I could see a maze of hallways and rows upon rows of bookshelves. This must be some type of library or something, I thought as we walked through a hallway of shelves. We entered a room which was off in the corner, and Ronan quickly closed the door behind us. Inside the room was a large machine which almost looked like a printer, but the bottom half of it appeared to be a vault.

He pressed the palm of his hand against the front of it, and the door instantly opened at his touch. Inside the vault was a mountain of papers, which reminded me of the stack of research papers waiting for me back home on my desk. Ronan began pulling the papers out of the vault and placed them onto a small table next to the machine.

"Tell me which of these you can read," he said as he continued pulling papers out. I walked over to the table and picked up a paper, instantly recognizing the writing to be English.

"You can't read this? We're speaking it right now," I said with furrowed brows, feeling confused. Ronan stopped and looked over at me, obviously annoyed by my comment.

"I can read over thirty languages, but I am not familiar with Terran symbols, nor have I ever desired to learn. Your species is not exactly known for their bright intellect," he sneered before returning to the pile of papers.

"You could have just said no," I muttered under my breath as I picked up another paper. It was French.

"I can read this too. Ronan, what are you doing with this? How did you even get these up here?" I asked, becoming more curious by the second.

"Stop asking questions. For now, do as I instructed," he said with his back to me. I sighed loudly and continued sorting out the papers.

After about thirty minutes, there were two large stacks of paper in front of me, separated into the ones I could and couldn't read.

"OK, done. These are the ones I can read," I said, pointing to the larger stack. Ronan nodded and began putting the rejected pile back into the vault.

He then began placing the remainder of the papers into two boxes, and stacked them into my arms, but I did not struggle as I surely would have before I was given his blood. However, I couldn't really see where I was going as I began following him out the door and through the hallway. When we reached the lobby, I heard men calling Ronan's name, and we immediately stopped. I looked to my left and saw three men wearing red uniforms, and they were casually approaching us.

"Wait for me by the ship," he ordered before striding over to the men. I watched as the men crossed one arm over their chest with their hand forming a fist, and then back down to their side. What a strange way to greet people, I thought as I walked out the door.

As I was walking to the ship, I would stop and pause every few seconds and turn to the side to see in front of me. I don't know why he had to give me such tall boxes, I thought as I paused for the third time. After seeing that my path was clear, I began walking forward again, only to be roughly slammed into by some unexpected force. I saw a flash of blue before I lost my balance and went stumbling to the ground, sending my boxes down along with me. I hurriedly began gathering the spilled papers at my feet and began throwing them back into the boxes.

"I am so sorry," I blurted out loudly with embarrassment. "These boxes –" I said, stopping when I looked up. It was that woman, Jul-Linn. She was looking down at me with her nose up in the air, as if I was some disgusting creature that needed to be terminated.

"He deserves better than you," she said quietly, her voice laced with venom.

"Excuse me?" I asked uneasily as I stood back up. Her blue skin and the facial expression she was giving me eerily reminded me of Ronan at the moment, but she was only about eight inches taller than me.

"What are you doing with Ronan?" She asked, ignoring my question. She stepped a little closer to me and looked me up and down, as if she was trying to size me up. She wrinkled her nose, obviously not impressed with what she saw.

"I'm his attendant," I mumbled, feeling extremely self-conscious. I quickly glanced behind me to see if Ronan was coming, but unfortunately he was not. I picked up my boxes and began walking again, only to be blocked by Jul-Linn.

"I did not say you could leave," she said in a haughty tone. What an arrogant bitch, I thought. I looked up at her with my eyebrows raised, trying my best to hold back my tongue.

"What do you want?" I asked, unable to hide the irritation in my voice.

"Tell me, do you honestly think you have a chance with Ronan? I'm not talking about sex. Sex is easy - anyone can do it. What I mean is, are you naïve to believe you could have a meaningful relationship with him?" She asked with a mocking smile, her voice becoming colder by the second. I remained silent, feeling suddenly small and immature as I looked up at the beautiful woman.

"He belongs with a woman who is strong, brave, and intelligent. A Kree woman. You have no chance, Terran. You are not even the same species," she sneered as she began circling me. I remained still, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes.

"I saw the way he was staring at you last night. Do not get your hopes up. He will throw you away after he is done using your disgusting, pale body," she said bitterly from behind me. I heard her chuckle to herself as she began striding away.

I took a deep breath to clear my head, but I was unable to ease the knot Jul-Linn had left in my stomach. I began walking uneasily to the ship, trying not to drop the boxes while my mind remained distracted.

Why did she hate me so much? Was it love or hate that drove her to treat me like that? No one has ever talked to me like that before and I hoped to never experience that sort of bullying ever again. It felt as if she had reached into my brain, pulled out every doubt and fear I had about Ronan, and rubbed them in my face. I don't think I've ever met a woman as vile and hateful as her before, and I was so grateful for that. Mac-Varr was right; I did not want to mess with her – not one bit.

As soon as I opened the door to the ship and placed the boxes in the back seat, I heard a male cough behind me and I hesitantly turned around. Mac-Varr was standing there innocently smiling at me, and I instantly rolled my eyes.

"Hello, Silvia," he said, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

"I'm really not in the mood right now, Mac-Varr," I grumbled as I closed the back door. He stepped closer and leaned himself against the passenger door, preventing me from getting in.

"Have I done something to upset you?" He asked with a smile, seemingly amused by my grumpiness.

"Well, for one you are blocking my door. Two, you failed to mention to me that Ronan despises you before I got into your ship last night. And three, you never did tell me what happened," I said, placing my hands on my hips.

"Ronan still hasn't told you? Ahh, he must still be embarrassed. I don't blame the poor man," he said as he casually picked something off his sleeve.

"Do you have plans later tonight?" He said with a cheeky smile. I stared at him impatiently and motioned for him to move out of the way, which he reluctantly did. Of course, his smile never faltered throughout our exchange. Mac-Varr's flirtatiousness could easily be confused with creepiness.

"Yes, I have plans," I lied as I began stepping into the ship. I looked towards the building and saw Ronan angrily walking towards the ship.

"You're a terrible liar, Silvia," he said in a playful tone.

"You need to go now," I said uneasily as I watched Ronan get closer. Mac-Varr looked behind his shoulder and chuckled to himself before reaching into the ship and capturing my hand.

Before I could pull it away, he leaned down and kissed my hand, causing me to furiously blush. This man is so fucking arrogant, I thought as I roughly pulled my hand out of his grasp. I could see Ronan scowling at me from about forty feet away.

"Get out of here," I hissed, now angry at Mac-Varr's forwardness. He smiled mischievously and slightly bowed before walking off, only ten seconds before Ronan arrived.

"I told you –" Ronan began seething as he stepped into the ship, and I immediately interrupted him.

"He approached me! I didn't want to talk to him. Please just drop it! Within the last five minutes I have been bullied and borderline sexually harassed. I need one fucking minute of peace," I fumed, leaning back in my chair and exhaling loudly. Ronan glared at me, but much to my surprise he remained silent.

We were home within ten minutes and I couldn't have been happier. I reached into the back seat and picked up the boxes, and began walking into the house, heading straight for my bedroom. A hot, relaxing bath sounded just about perfect after a morning like this.

"Where are you going?" Ronan asked impatiently from behind me.

"To my room?" I asked, my voice filled with hope. Please, all I want is a bubble bath, I thought as I turned around. I was disappointed to see Ronan frowning at me with disapproval.

"No," he said, walking down the stairs and motioning with his hand. I sighed loudly and reluctantly followed him into the courtyard.

Ronan sat down on a large couch, and I sat down on the one next to him, so our knees were almost touching. I leaned forward and placed the boxes on the low, stone table which was positioned in the middle of the couch formation. Ronan pulled out a small device from one of his pockets and handed it over to me. It was about the size of a pen, and there was a small button on the top.

"What is it?" I asked, turning the object around in my hand.

"It is a recording device. You will speak into this as you read these documents," he said as he handed me a paper, and I instantly recognized it to be from a major news station in the United States.

"You want me to read everything on this page? Some of this isn't even important – like, how apparently drinking more water can lead to weight loss," I said sarcastically as I scanned the paper. When I glanced back up, Ronan did not look amused.

"Everything, Silvia," he said irritably before picking up another document filled with alien symbols.

"Can you please tell me how you got these?" I asked impatiently. I was secretly wondering if there was a way for me to communicate with my family and friends back home.

"We have spies on your planet, many of whom have infiltrated government positions. They periodically send us information through a machine we specifically built for this purpose. I will admit most of the information we receive is trivial and dull, but occasionally we find something of use. Your presence saves me the trouble of having to hire a translator," he smirked as he looked back down at his document.

"Kree spies on Earth," I muttered in disbelief. "Well, I guess if they looked like Mac-Varr it wouldn't be hard to fit in," I said, rolling my eyes. In my head I could see desperate women throwing themselves at him, and I started chuckling to myself. When I looked up from my paper, Ronan was glaring angrily at me and I quickly stopped smiling.

"Why do you hate Mac-Varr?" I asked quietly. Just saying his name caused Ronan's nostrils to flare and his fists to tighten up, as if he desired to strangle something, or someone.

"He is a lying, despicable cretin. Do not speak his name in my home," he snarled before looking back down at his paper. I waited for him to calm down before speaking again.

"But what did he do?" I asked with caution, causing Ronan's body to tense up once again.

He deeply inhaled and turned his head in my direction, locking his eyes onto mine. His rigid body language reflected the anger he felt, but as I looked deeply into his eyes, I could see a trace of sadness hidden underneath those beautiful, purple irises. It was barely detectable, but it was definitely there.

"He betrayed me," he said seriously, and I knew the conversation was over. He continued to stare at me until I looked away, and I suddenly felt sad for him. Whatever Mac-Varr did, it must have been pretty bad, and I instantly disliked the man for hurting Ronan.

I tapped the button on the top of the recording device and began reading aloud, hoping I wouldn't somehow screw this up. Occasionally I would notice Ronan's head turn in my direction, but I remained focused on my task and ignored his stares. Over the next few hours I read about strange science experiments, including lab-grown meat and electrical thinking caps that stimulated your brain. Um, no thanks, I thought.

Shortly after that, his servants walked in and placed trays on the dining table, signaling it was time for lunch. After twenty minutes of eating quietly and watching Ronan drink wine as if it were water, I could feel his eyes on me. I nervously swallowed my food and looked up to find him staring at me with a curious look on his face. I was halfway through my second helping of wine, but the warm liquid could not ease my nerves as Ronan's eyes burned into me. I was pretty certain he was on his seventh or eighth glass of wine, but he didn't appear intoxicated. At least, I couldn't tell.

"Tell me about this university you attended," he said as he brought his goblet up to his lips. My eyes locked onto his mouth, suddenly becoming transfixed with how his blue lips glistened when wet. I subconsciously licked my lips and took a sip from my own goblet before speaking.

"Um, well, it's small compared to other schools because it's privately owned. There were only about 12,000 students, and half of them were graduate students working on their second degrees. I never even got to graduate a first time," I muttered resentfully as I took a large sip of wine.

"And what did you study at this university?" He asked, watching my face closely as I eagerly drank my wine.

"Political science. My parents wanted me to get a government job," I whispered sadly and sighed. "I only had two months left, but then I had to go to that fucking park and get abducted. Four years of hard work – all for nothing," I said, slightly slurring my words. I really wished he would change the subject, because this was definitely not something I wanted to talk about.

I tilted my head back and finished off the remainder of my wine, feeling happily buzzed. Ronan's eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned my face and followed my goblet as I placed it back down on the table. He slowly stood up from his chair and walked over to my side of the table, grabbing my tall, metal cup before I could protest. With his eyes still closely regarding my face, he began pouring more wine into my goblet, and placed it down without a word.

Already feeling tipsy, I began drinking the wine without a second thought as he walked back to his chair. Ronan's eyes gleamed with amusement as he watched me from across the table, and for nearly ten minutes we remained sitting there in silence, only staring at each other as we drank our wine. Ronan finished off his ninth serving of wine and lowered the heavy goblet back onto the table with a loud thud, causing me to look up.

"Why is it that no other man had you before I did?" He asked suddenly in a serious, but curious tone. "I assumed Terrans to be salacious creatures, incapable of controlling their desires," he said as he leaned back in his chair.

"A lot of men tried, but I don't know, I guess it never felt right. I wanted them to deserve it, you know? They were all immature and boring," I mumbled almost incoherently. At this point, I couldn't really decipher what was coming out of my own mouth. It was like someone had taken control of my tongue and they wouldn't shut the hell up. Come on, Silvia. Get ahold of yourself, I thought.

"But you…" I began, propping my head up on the table with my hand. "You are not like the men back home," I slurred drunkenly, feeling my face flush from the alcohol. Shut up, shut up, shut up, I screamed inside my head. The corners of Ronan's mouth curved slightly as if he was pleased.

"I am drunk, Ronan," I muttered, seriously trying my best to pull myself together.

"Yes, I am well aware of this," he said, his smirk deepening as he continued to watch me.

I suddenly stood up from my chair, but I had no idea where I planned on going. My feet moved on their own, leading me towards the staircase, but the whole room appeared to be spinning, so I did not make it far from the table. As I began my slow descent to the floor, I became aware of a low, manly laugh coming from behind me, and I immediately rolled onto my back to see where it was coming from. To my amazement, I could see Ronan sitting in his chair quietly laughing as he looked down at me on the floor. OK, so maybe the wine was affecting him after all, I thought as I watched him from the floor.

"Are you – are you laughing, Ronan?" I asked in astonishment. I didn't think he was capable of laughter. I found myself smiling at his deep, husky voice, and strangely enough I felt butterflies in my stomach. Ronan quickly stood up from his chair, not even bothering to hide the amused grin on his face, and walked over to stand next to me on the floor.

"I must say I have never seen a drunken Terran before, but it is indeed entertaining to watch," he said as his eyes roamed across my body.

The dress I was wearing had risen well past my knees from rolling around on the floor, giving Ronan a good view of my thighs. His eyes stared hungrily at my flesh, turning darker by the second, which caused my heart to start beating wildly with excitement.

Ronan looked into my eyes as he sensed my elevated heart rate, and immediately bent down and scooped me up in his arms, causing me to gasp in surprise. As he carried me up the stairs, I hung limply in his arms, my eyes glazed over as I looked up into his face.

"You're so strong," I mumbled in awe, feeling impossibly tiny in his arms. He only grinned in response and continued to carry me towards my room. As we entered my bedroom and he placed me down on my soft bed, I had to remind myself that he nearly drowned me two days ago.

"We're not having sex," I slurred loudly, crossing my arms over my chest. Ronan slowly sat down next to me and placed his hand on my knee, all the while staring at me with slyness in his eyes.

"I understand," he said as his hand slowly began trailing up my leg and under my dress. I reached down to stop his advance, but his other hand swatted my hand away in annoyance.

"I said we're not having sex," I said more forcefully, causing Ronan to smirk. Again I reached down to stop his hand, but his left hand quickly grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head.

"There are other ways for me to bring you pleasure, Silvia," he said in a deep, sultry voice. His right hand began pulling my panties down, just far enough to where he could access my soft mound, while his eyes remained locked on my face.

"Ronan, stop. I'm on my period," I whispered in embarrassment, trying to scoot away from him. He grabbed my inner thigh, preventing me from moving away.

"Do not deny me this," he said, his voice rough with lust and frustration. "I will not take you with my cock, but I will see you unfold before me until you are begging for it," he hissed darkly into my ear, causing me to shiver with arousal.

"I – but – no, Ronan. There's blood," I muttered nervously, feeling my face grow even hotter. Ronan quietly snickered and smirked down at me as if what I said amused him.

"I bathe in the blood of my enemies, Silvia. I welcome the sight of it; in truth, I yearn for it," he growled passionately as he began pushing a long, thick finger inside of me, causing me to squirm in his grasp. His thumb began stroking my bud and within seconds my body was under his control, bending and folding with every stroke.

"This isn't right," I panted, my eyes heavy with pleasure. Having Ronan's fingers covered in my blood felt forbidden and indecent, but at the same time it was oddly thrilling. When he began pushing a second finger into me, I closed my eyes and began softly moaning as he filled me up.

"Yet you quiver at my touch," he said lustfully, stroking my upper inner walls with his fingers. I cried out loudly with pleasure as a wonderful, tightening sensation filled my core, making me almost erratic with arousal.

"You almost killed me," I whimpered, trying to take control of my body. Ronan growled angrily as he continued skillfully stroking his fingers along a delicious spot inside of me.

"I was never going to kill you. Death is too easy an escape. I would never let you go so easily," he said slowly before nibbling my earlobe, causing my body to involuntarily tremble.

Everything he did to me felt amazing and I did not want him to stop, despite the nagging voice in my head telling me I should. I did not have much of a choice though because a minute later, my stomach began to turn with unease, causing me to furrow my brow in discomfort. At first I thought maybe it was because I was nervous, but the familiar wave of nausea hit me out of nowhere, and panic suddenly set in. Oh no, please, not on Ronan. Hold it, you can do it, I thought frantically. Ronan stopped his movements and looked down at me skeptically as he noticed the drastic change in my physical demeanor.

"Let go. I'm going to be sick," I groaned, sitting up when Ronan immediately released my wrists. Seeing his fingers covered in my bright, red blood caused me to gag loudly, and I quickly staggered into the bathroom with my hand over my mouth.

The second I launched myself over the toilet, all of the wine and food from earlier came spewing from my mouth as I puked. I sounded like a tyrannosaurus rex as I violently threw up, and I desperately hoped Ronan was far away, unable to hear this atrocity. I struggled for air as my stomach kept painfully contracting, making me continuously dry heave above the toilet, and I began crying pathetically. The sensation of someone pulling my hair back filled me with dread, for I knew Ronan was standing behind me, witnessing this disgusting, embarrassing moment.

"Please, I don't want you to watch this," I whined as I felt another urge to vomit. I placed my hands around the brim of the toilet seat, bracing myself as I began gagging again.

"I am not easily repulsed, Silvia," he said in a soft, serious tone as he continued holding my hair out of my face. Once again I vomited, but this time it was not as much. I tiredly reached up with my hand and flushed the toilet, clearing it of my stomach contents.

When I was sure I wasn't going to throw up anymore, I slowly stood up and took a deep breath. Ronan let go of my hair as I began walking over to the sink on shaky legs, slightly wavering towards the end. I felt his hands grab me at the waist from behind, steadying me as I leaned over the sink and began brushing my teeth. After thoroughly washing my mouth and face, Ronan once again scooped me up in his arms and carried me back to bed, making me feel like a fragile, little flower. He was very different from the men back home, and I was especially grateful for that. I only threw up in front of two of my ex-boyfriends and they immediately ran away at the sight, whereas Ronan thoughtfully held my hair and cradled me in his arms.

It felt wonderful to be taken care of by him, even though his hands were just as likely to bruise me as they were to caress me. However, there was something different about him. He was being extraordinarily nice and gentle with me today, making me believe that perhaps he was finally done hurting me. As I looked into his eyes, I noticed there was a softness inside of them that didn't exist before, and it pulled me in wanting more.

"Stay," I whispered softly as he began walking away. He stopped and stood there with his back to me for a few seconds, as if contemplating if he should stay or not, but much to my relief, he started slowly walking back to the bed. He sat down next to me and placed his hand on my thigh, gently stroking it with his thumb in a soothing manner. I was hoping with the wine still in his system, he would be more willing to open up to me.

"Tell me what happened between you and Jul-Linn," I said gently. Ronan grimaced and looked away, his expression clearly annoyed.

"Some things should not be discussed," he said irritably, glaring at me.

"How am I supposed to trust you, if you don't tell me anything?" I asked, feeling myself become impatient.

"We are not discussing this," he said more forcefully as he retracted his hand from my thigh.

"She confronted me, Ronan," I said angrily, causing his head to spin in my direction. He continued staring at me, his expression shocked and uneasy, yet he remained quiet.

"She was so hateful. She said that I – well," I stopped, quickly changing direction. "She was just awful! If I'm going to be tormented by some giant, blue woman I should at least know why," I said, pulling the sheets tighter over me. Just thinking about the things she said to me made me feel self-conscious all over again.

Ronan's hand moved back to my leg as he silently stared at me, his eyes narrowing as he saw me frowning at the memory.

"What did she say to you?" He asked, his voice hinting with anger.

"I don't really want to repeat it," I muttered quietly, avoiding his gaze. I shouldn't have even brought it up, I thought as Ronan's hand tightened around my leg.

"Silvia," he warned, frowning down at me. Judging by his tone, I could tell he was not going to let this go. I sighed in defeat and looked up at the ceiling, trying my best to keep a stoic face as I began repeating the things she said to me.

I was avoiding looking at him because I honestly didn't want to see his reaction. What if everything she said was true and Ronan agreed with her? Being rejected for a second time was not something I wanted to go through, and I wasn't sure how I would handle it, especially not after today. Ronan was showing me a side of him that I had never seen before and I desperately wanted to see more of it. He actually laughed tonight – which I still had a hard time believing – and he seemed genuinely interested in getting to know more about me.

"Well," I sighed. "I'm disgusting and pale. You're going to throw me away after you're done using me for sex. You belong with a Kree woman and I have no chance of a meaningful relationship with you," I said unhappily, staring at the ceiling.

There was a piercing silence that followed afterwards, which only made me believe that my fears were true, and I felt my heart begin to sink with disappointment.

"She is a spiteful, envious woman," he sneered hatefully, causing me to look up in surprise. He was glaring angrily at the wall as if he was thinking about something that angered him.

"Pay her no attention," he said quietly before looking back at me.

Wait, so he didn't agree with her? Did that mean there was hope for something more? My heart fluttered slightly at the thought.

However, there was still the matter of unfaithfulness between Jul-Linn and Ronan that needed to be addressed; after all, I didn't want to be with someone who was only going to do the same thing to me. I knew I was getting ahead of myself, but my curiosity was too strong to let me remain quiet on the subject.

"So…" I began hesitantly. "You…um, cheated on her?" I asked nervously, watching Ronan's face contort with anger.

"You assume I was untrue to her?" He asked loudly as he glared at me. Oh, shit. Way to go, Silvia, I thought.

"I was told someone was unfaithful. I – I didn't –" I blurted out, feeling completely stupid now.

"And who is it that informed you of this?" He asked harshly, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Mac-Varr," I whispered guiltily as my fingers nervously fiddled with the sheets. Ronan heatedly stood up from the bed and leaned over me, placing his hands on either side of my head.

"I suppose he failed to mention he was the one who seduced her," he snarled into my face, causing me to push myself as low as possible into the bed.

"He who called me ally was the same to deceive me and play me for a fool," he said as he began heatedly pacing next to my bed. I anxiously watched him as he continued his angry tirade, waiting for him to calm down.

"Nothing would bring me greater pleasure than to crush his skull with my bare hands. If it weren't for Hal-Dan protecting him, it would have already been done. And her," he growled with such ferocity it made me shiver.

"That insidious, philandering whore is dead to me," he hissed viciously before stopping to face me. He was breathing heavily with rage, but he remained silent as he stared at me. After a few seconds, a look of realization crossed his face, and once again his cold, unemotional mask was back on.

"I'm sorry," I whispered sadly. I was finally beginning to understand why Ronan acted the way he did. He was hurt – although he wasn't going to admit that – and he hides that pain by lashing out and building impossibly high walls for anyone to climb over.

"You will not mention this again," he warned in a chillingly quiet voice. I nodded nervously and watched as he exited through the door without another word.

I actually felt sorry for Ronan and I wanted to somehow help him, but I knew that if I ever mentioned this again I would face his wrath, and that was not something I ever wanted to encounter again. This was a deep emotional wound that only time could heal and I couldn't take his pain away or make him trust me.

Just as the sun began to set, one of Ronan's hooded servants silently walked in and placed a tray on my nightstand. I had a killer headache and I was desperately hoping there was something on that tray that would take it away. When I lifted the lid, there was a thick, green drink which I hesitantly sipped on. Almost immediately, my headache improved and I happily drank the rest of the soothing concoction.

After resting for several hours and nibbling on some bread the servant left for me, my headache and nausea gratefully disappeared. I swear, I will never get drunk off wine ever again, I thought grumpily to myself, although I knew it wasn't true.

I was beginning to feel restless sitting in my bed doing nothing, plus my stomach was beginning to rumble with hunger, so I ventured out into the hall in search for something a little more gratifying. As I looked down into the empty courtyard, moonlight from above and soft, blue light from the wall sconces illuminated the space with a heavenly glow. I noticed there were a few small trays of food sitting on the buffet table down below, so I quickly made my way down the stairs. Since there was no one around and I assumed everyone was sleeping anyways, I shamelessly ate directly from the trays until I was full.

I walked over to the stone table where our papers from earlier remained neatly piled and sat down on one of the large, black couches. My hand absently picked up the recording device as my eyes scanned the pile of papers, and I frowned with dissatisfaction at my progress. I had only gotten one-third of the way through, and my overachieving, impatient mind was urging me to continue working. Perhaps now that Ronan wasn't closely watching me I could focus more on the task at hand and actually get this done. With an exasperated sigh I clicked the button on the recording device and began reading from the articles.

Over the next hour I read about French and German politics, which were actually a lot more complicated than I originally thought. And I thought American politics were messy, I thought as I continued reading about the latest scandals in the European Union. Several of the documents I read had the word 'classified' stamped across the top, which was actually very worrying because it meant Kree spies had access to potentially dangerous information. Now that I thought about it, it was entirely possible that my family and I could have already encountered one of these spies already, and the thought of that made me involuntarily shiver.

The next paper I picked up, I immediately recognized it to be from one of my favorite news stations in the U.S. and I felt relieved to once again read something in English. However, halfway through the article, my articulate, calm voice suddenly become strained as I read a familiar name on the page.

"Meanwhile, the search for Silvia Rosa Alamanni, daughter…" I said, suddenly going quiet with shock.

"Continue," I heard Ronan say behind me, causing me to jump in surprise. I looked down in embarrassment as I felt his eyes burning into the back of my head, and I reluctantly picked up the paper and continued reading.

"….daughter of Governor Anthony Alamanni, continues throughout the Southeast. The twenty-two year old heiress went missing nearly two weeks ago, with her belongings being found in a park near her residential neighborhood. Her father is offering a substantial reward to anyone who can assist in her safe return," I said quietly as my eyes began to fill up with tears. This was an old article, but I knew in my heart that my parents were still looking for me, and that only made my eyes water even more.

"A governor's daughter and an heiress," Ronan mused as he slowly walked over to the couch opposite me and sat down. "It would appear I have captured Terran royalty," he smirked at me, but his eyes were burning with rage.

"And here I thought we were learning to trust one another," he sneered, his smirk turning into a dissatisfied frown.

Damn it.

Author's Note: I hope that wasn't too unexpected? I wanted it to kind of be a surprise, but I tried to hint at it several times that Silvia is a little more 'privileged' than others - also explains why she can be a stubborn brat at times :P

So, I'm really excited about the next two chapters. Something big was supposed to happen in this chapter, but once again I underestimated how long this chapter would be... so that will have to wait until it's ready. I know I promised a few of you but just be patient (please haha).

P.S. - I'm totally imagining Lucy Lawless from Xena Warrior Princess as Jul-Linn (but with blue skin, of course) if you need a visual reference ;)