Hours later Ethan stepped out of his shower, he had spent the last few hours sparring with Luke, his Guard Captain. Wrapping a towel around his waist he stepped in front of the mirror, he ran a brush through his long hair now almost down to his shoulders. He contemplated cutting it short, the myth that vampires where dead and therefore their hair didn't grow was unfathomable. He had many different styles over his 400 years of life, he always kept coming back to this one.

He knew he was gorgeous, he was even willing to admit that he used it to his advantage more often than not; Merritt however had never been one to fall for his charms but that was one of the things he loved about her. Wait, love? Ethan shook his head, he wouldn't think about that now.

A knock on the door, he inhaled, it was her, his Sentinel; finally back from her grandfather's. "Enter!" he yelled. He opened his bedroom door, standing in the door way to his sitting room he watched as she took him in naked sans a black towel around his waist.

He could see how his body affected her, the smell of arousal permeated the air around them. "I'll come back when you're dressed...more appropriately." Her tone clipped even though her body gave her away.

"Make yourself comfortable Sentinel I'll be with you shortly." he turned around shutting the door behind him, moments later he emerged in black dress pants and a navy blue pullover.

"I delivered your message to my grandfather if there is nothing more I'd like to enjoy what is left of my night." Weariness edged her voice, he wondered if she was as tired of the games as he was.

"Merritt", his let the sadness show through in his voice and his eyes, he let her see just how much he was hurting, how much he regretted telling her he couldn't be with her. "I...I'm sorry." he bit back the tears he felt. "I miss you, I'm an idiot, I know I hurt you and I hate that I put that look of sadness on that beautiful face of yours.

She sat there stunned for a moment, shaking her head of whatever thoughts where going through it. "No. No! You don't get to apologize to me and think that it makes things better, I told you if you walked away from me that I wouldn't be here if you changed your mind." She stood and started for the door.

Before she could blink he was standing in front of her, blocking her exit out of his room. "Merritt, please. Let me finish, if you're feelings are the same then I will not mention this again, I'm asking for 5 minutes of your time."

"Fine, 5 minutes." She sat back down on the black love seat, Ethan taking the seat across from her wanting tho give her the space he knew she would want.

"I will spend the rest of my life regretting the things I said to you that night, there isn't anything that will excuse my behavior. That being said, Merritt I have never in 400 years felt for anyone the way I feel about you."

"What about Lacy Sheridan?" She bit back.

Ethan sighed before he went on. "Lacy was," he paused making sure he got the words right, "she was important to me, I'm not going to lie to you. But I never loved her and I must certainly did not feel for her what I feel for you. The night of the dinner when I stepped in between you and the shifter, I realized that I could never allow another man out his hands on you again. At that moment Pack be damned I would have risked my life to insure your safety, I almost cost us everything we had been working for, what you had built in your time in our house." He got up moving to sit next to her, when she didn't move away or flinch he relaxed slightly.

"I can't live without you, I won't live without you; even if I have to spend the next 400 years proving it to you and I will do so with pride." He said said and he meant it, he took the cowards way out before and now he would not in any way give her less than she deserved.

"Ethan those are pretty words and all and I'm not about to lie to you and tell you that I'm not affected by them. Part of me wants what you have offered in the past, what you are offering right now, whatever it may be but I'm also not about to fall for pretty words from a pretty face only to get hurt when you freak out again." Her voice held what he assumed was false bravado but he could tell she was hiding her painbut he knew how to read his Sentinel.

"They are not just words Merritt, I want to show you exactly what you mean to me and how I will never fail you again." He inched closer taking her hands in his, she flinched but she didn't pull away, he wiped a loose stand of hair away from her face.

"How, how do you plan on showing me Ethan, how do you think you can prove any of this to me?" Her voice was soft, barely a whisper; he could see the tears along the rims of her eyes, barely contained on their perch.

"There is a way, a way I can show you everything." He knew what he was about to offer her was something that was so sacred, so pure that he hadn't heard it done in over a hundred years but he loved her and he knew she was the one.

"What do you mean everything?" She arched an eyebrow and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"You have to do me a favor though, I need you to listen to everything I have to say before you interject. Can you promise me that?" He waited, watching her think about what he asked of her, with a nod he went on.

"There is a way for a vampire to share his or her essence with another, they essentially give a part of their soul to their partner. It allows them to see and feel every memory, feeling, thought and so on that that vampire had ever felt since turning. It's a sacred deed and very few chose to do it as the power it gives to the other person is uninhibited, and as you know vampires are very protective of their power. By doing this Merritt I would be giving you a piece of my very life, you would know every second of my life in its entirety." He put a hand up to stop her, he could see the questions in her eyes.

"I don't do this lightly Merritt, this is something I want to share with you because.."He paused willing his strength,"because I love you and I want to prove to you I am yours forever."

She sat shocked, an unreadable expression on her face. He waited patiently for her to process the information he had given her.

"I...I don't know Ethan, I need to think about this." She got up pulling the warmth of her hands from his.

"Of course, take as much time as you need. If you have questions please ask but for my sake could you..." He trailed off unsure of how to finish the sentence.

"Discretion Ethan, you can say it." She gave him a half smile, not quite reaching her eyes as if she knew what he was thinking.

"Yes, please use discretion when speaking of it."He finished.

And with that she turned and walked out the door.

The rest of the evening was uneventful, meetings with in house vamps, budget reports, emails from the GP. Phone calls, always phone calls; reporters wanting interviews, new suppliers trying to gain house business, sometimes he just wanted to throw the phone across the room.

With dawn approaching he made his way to his room, undressing and crawling into bed he wondered if Merritt had out any thought into his proposal. He bet she would ask Lindsay, they were close and she would no doubt explain exactly how momentous his offer was. He kept several details about the exchange to himself for fear of her response, this was a gift that you could only give to one vampire and after that he would be connected to her for life, if she was too die he would as well; although the same would not occur if he was to die. He was willing to give her his essence because he knew he was well and truly hers.

His last thought where of her as he drifted to sleep, the sun finally pulling him under.