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“Well, that’s fine,
because I didn’t invite you here to have sex with me.”
    “Oh.” I felt the color drain from my
face as I almost died of embarrassment.
    “I’m allowing you to go home for a few
weeks, unless you would rather stay here and have sex with me.” His playful
tone was disarming and unnerving, at once.
    “What?”  Excited and relieved, I did the
unthinkable. I started to consider his offer. 
    With a chuckle, he glanced at the glass
in his hand. Slowly, in small movements, he swirled the water, the way my dad
did a fine wine, and for some strange reason I focused on it. The urge to flee
subsided, and I relaxed, as the tension in my shoulders seemed to evaporate.
Gradually, my heart rate slowed, my ears no longer rang, and my mouth was no
longer dry. I imagined brushing my fingers through his soft, sandy blond hair.
Allowing the warmth of his breath to tickle the curve of my neck as he pressed
his full lips to my skin. Feel his strong arms wrapped around me as my body
melted into his. When Dimas set the glass on a nearby table, I snapped to
attention.
    What the heck just happened?
    How did I let my mind go there? I
couldn’t possibly have the hot’s for the guy. Yet, I was crushing on him, I
knew it, and I hated myself for it.
    “You are scheduled to depart Nidas on
Sunday afternoon.” He smiled, and my stomach flip-flopped. “I’m sure your
family will be happy to see you. Besides, I think you need a little break.”
    Through some invisible haze his words
came to me, and I blinked a few times to make sure I was still in his living
room. Then my mind processed what he had said, and though I should have
panicked, I remained eerily calm. Was the warden really offering me a prison
break?
    Crap. Did he know about my plans for
escape?
    Was it some sort of trap? Were there
conditions tied to his surprise?
    “That’s—um, great. Thanks. When can I
leave?” I tried my best to act cool. I started to stand, but he stayed me with
an upraised hand, so I sat on the couch, clutching the edge.
    “You will return to your quarters in a
few minutes, but I want to set a few ground rules,” he said, as he rose from
his chair.
    Although I tried not to study him, I
couldn’t stop admiring the ripples of muscles beneath his tight fitting shirt,
not to mention the spandex-type pants that outlined every curve from the waist
down. And I mean every curve. When he paused before an unlit fireplace, I
glanced at my glass of water and noticed silver speckles floating on the
surface.
    Had he given me something?
    Had I been drugged?
    Because no matter how hard I tried, I
couldn’t fight an uncontrollable desire to watch him. The lights dimmed and the
fire ignited behind him, bathing the room in a fiery orange glow, but the air
remained bitterly cold. A frightening chill shivered over my arms and legs.
    Was I hallucinating?
    “Okay, sure.” I set the glass on the
coffee table and rested my arms on my knees. Clasping my hands, I prayed for
strength.
    “First of all, I want you to know that
we will be watching you closely, monitoring your every move. You are not to
travel farther than sixty miles from your home, and your curfew is
twenty-three-hundred hours every night, without exception.”
    “What?” I slapped my thighs. “You can’t
do that. I’m not a criminal.”
    “I guess going home is not that
important to you?”  He arched a brow. “I thought you would prefer to spend your
birthday with your family, but I see you would rather spend it here, at Nidus.”
    “No!” Trembling, I checked my attitude
and bit my tongue. “I really want to go home, but I don’t understand your
stupid rules. What’s with the spying?”
    For a few minutes, Dimas simply stared
at me.  I shifted on the couch and pretended to smooth a wrinkle on my shirt. 
At last, he smiled, and again I fought the urge to go to him.
    “We need to make sure you don’t
experience any delayed complications from the last egg extraction.”