Intended

A/N: I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to post the second chapter. Life has been rather hectic lately so please forgive me! Thank you for the reviews and the support hopefully this chapter lives up. =]
Intended
Chapter 2

When she was a little girl Katherine used to have dreams or nightmares, she could never quite tell the difference. What they were composed of was nothing similar to what a child dreams about, but in them she had not the decency to be frightened.

The line was often blurred and she could not decide if she wanted to dream it again, or have it be as fleeting as most tend to be.

It always began the same, her small feet walking quietly along a stone corridor. The cold would seep past the skin, burning the heels and toes with a stinging bite. It was dimly lit, torches that illuminated just far enough in to the blinding darkness for her to take four or five steps before another torch lit itself without hand, as if by magic.

The silence is only broken by the crackling of the fire, her sweet heart beating rhythmically; calm and undaunted by what any normal person should find themselves suffering from anxiety. Katherine would carry on into the dark.

It felt as though she was being pushed forward gently, nudged into guidance though she had no inkling of what was waiting for her—no, it was more of a pulling sensation she would tell herself, as though the invisible hands were tugging the hem of her nightgown forcing her feet to keep the fabric from tightening against the back of her body.

If she blinked she couldn’t remember, but it was no trance. She always recalled feeling lucid, conscious of what was happening but being unable to define it or explain its peculiarity.

The corridor would twist and it would descend and rise as though hills were the foundation of this hall that carried on and on. Katherine however, never felt tired, her legs never exhausted, nor her mind muddled by confusion or curiosity, merely clear.

The beginning was no different the end, an the middle felt much like the beginning, but somewhere inside of her mind she thought she could taste the finish, the whole reason she was walking forward. Not once did she find it strange, perhaps a part of her new it to be a dream, but it felt too real, too vivid to not mean something.

As a child she was unique in the matter of fear. It could not be courage, because courage required a person to acknowledge they were afraid, so upon growing up she wondered if it was apathy. Did she feel so little as to believe that fear were a more pleasing emotion than despair?

The long and narrow hall ended. A torch did not light upon her stepping near the black ink awaiting her. Her feet feeling the edge, hearing the crumbling of stone as it parts and falls.

There was a breeze gentle weaving through her hair, kissing the apples of her cheeks, and rustling the thin gown. What did she not know? What was waiting in the fall of something dark and bating?

“Keep going,” a voice whispered. Katherine brows would scrunch together and her voice immature and childish would spilled with the confidence only a child owns.

“I’ll fall.”

“Yes, but I’ll catch you, so you needn’t be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid!” She snapped back, chest puffing out in bravado, having been ruffled.

“Prove it, trust me, and walk off the edge.” The voice was amused and taunting gently. Katherine stared down, but could see nothing, no end, no ground, and certainly no one to catch her. Whether it was a desire to prove to the voice her fearlessness, or to herself that indeed she was dreaming, she couldn’t say.

“I’m not afraid,” she whispered into the darkness and stepped off the ledge feeling her gravity snag her body like an anchor in the ocean pulling down without reprieve into vastness she never named.

Katherine immediately felt her entire body jolt itself into consciousness. Her exotic eyes snapping wide open and her breath swallowed deep inside her lungs bursting forth in a scream that died in her throat and game out as though she were gasping for oxygen.

The upper half of her body was brought upright as her fingers dug into her chest to quell the heart that slammed against her ribcage in rude demand. Slowly, she calmed herself, hand resting upon her forehead to cool the throbbing at her temples, as her mind wrapped around the world she knew to be solid, knew to be temporary, but not unusual.

“Quite the dream you must’ve had.”

Katherine reared her body into the direction of the man resting against the wall, the moonlight playing upon his face as he stared out the window. One arm rested against the window seal, while the other rested comfortably within the pocket of his trousers.

Katherine took notice that it was not the same man that had kissed her, that had roughly slammed her against a trunk. Only then did she realize that she was no longer outside, she was inside in fact, inside a lavishly built room.

She was lying in a canopy bed carved from mahogany, the drapes made of fine pearl silk, and the sheets were lush against her tempered skin. Her eyes moved from side to side, taking in the small nightstand, the dresser and the large windows complimenting the night.

“Where am I?” she asked softly, eyes narrowed at the figure. He turned to her. He was not so handsome but neither was unpleasing.

He had blonde locks that fell right above his pale blue eyes, and a rather stubborn nose that took precedence on an otherwise soft face. He still had boyish cheeks that were complimented by the gentle smile of thin lips and white teeth.

He was about average height and of medium build. In the dark she could tell no more of him, but was wary when he moved towards her.

“I’m afraid Ms. Penn that information is confidential and to be withheld from your knowledge,” he said.

“Well, then, is your name to be withheld as well? Or can I have that in compensation?” The man chuckled softly.

“A feisty one you are. It would be my pleasure to give you my name, it is Bartholomew,” he said.

“Well judging from earlier my name is no secret, so what can you tell me?” Katherine asked. He looked at her, as though he were studying a rare life form, his eyes raking across her face, trying to peer into her thoughts, and she shielded she them well, with cold eyes, and a blank expression. He sighed softly.

“The rules Ms. Penn. I can tell you the rules,”

he began as he moved to sit in the chair resting in the corner of the room, “You are not to leave this room without permission, anything you need will be given to you upon inspection of its necessity, you will be given meals three times a day, and will be escorted everywhere outside this room. Should you choose to leave it without permission or escort, then you will be confined to that bed right there and cared for like three year old.”

Bartholomew smirked upon the twisting of Katherine’s face into a gradually impending fit of fury. He held back his amusement and continued on as though he were talking to a beginning diplomat.

“There are clothes in the dresser and the closet, there is a bath right through that door, rest assured that if you tried to escape through these windows there are guards at the very bottom waiting to catch you. I should not think you the kind to do any bodily harm, but trust me someone will be knocking on that door or entering at intervals of time to make sure you are in the same condition which you were left.”

“So I’m a prisoner then?” she asked through clenched teeth, her voiced clipped and sharp. Bartholomew shook his head and rose up from the chair to rest his hand against the door handle leading out of the room.

“Quite the contrary Ms. Penn, think of yourself as a rare jewel that is being protected with the upmost care. If you would be so kind, Mary shall be in soon to help you dress for dinner, you are to dine with the master,” Bartholomew made to exit the room but Katherine called out.

“Is he the one who caught me, this master of yours?” She asked. He smiled at her the way one does a curious child.

“Yes, that would be him.”

“What is his name?”

“All in good time Ms. Penn, I shouldn’t think to steal his introduction to you,” he said mischievously. Katherine glared as he left the room. Her hands tangling in the blankets and then releasing as she rose from the bed. She walked quietly to the edge of the window to look down, seeing the top of three guards outside each window she peered out of. Annoyed she made to walk into the bathroom when a young woman, elderly and stout walked in. ‘That must be Mary,’ Katherine thought.

“Ms. Penn I am to help you dress for this evening,” she said softly. Katherine walked towards the window looking out she spoke clearly to Mary.

“You may tell you Master that I have no inclination to dine with delinquent such as himself,” she said harshly. Mary’s eyes widened before bowing her head immediately.

“Ms. Penn, please I really must protest, Master will be very upset with me should I not take you to him in the next hour.” Katherine turned with softening eyes as she heard the elder woman’s voice trembling.

“Does he have temper?” Katherine asked softly. Mary hesitated, before shaking her head.

“No Ma’am, a temper is predictable, what he does is to calculated, I ask that you please let me do as I am commanded.”

Katherine contemplated her predicament. She felt no obligation to the man who had kissed her against her will, had taken her from her carriage and she certainly did not want to oblige him and his damn rules that made her feel infant.

Still, the streak of sympathy she always felt inside herself came welling up and she could not bear the idea of this woman bearing a punishment that would’ve been easily avoided if she had sacrificed her pride. Swallowing the part of her that rebelled against the idea she nodded her head.

“Very well, help me dress then,” She said. The woman nodded and went to grab the gown from the hanger. It took no longer than thirty minutes to get ready.

The dress was indeed complimentary of her figure, the sleeves sliding off her shoulders like drapery that exposed the smooth slopes of her neck to her shoulder and the prominent collarbone. The waist of the dress was cinched tightly, as it bloomed out at her hips.

The fabric was light, unlike the heavy fabric of the dress she had been previously wearing. It was the same color as her green eyes. Her black locks were left untouched falling in dark curls that framed her face. While the dress was incredibly simplistic, it was beautiful in the way it moved with her body, the way it hugged curves and brought out her ivory skin pale and tempting against the dim light.

When Mary had finished she gently opened the door and together they walked out.

The house, Katherine assumed, held decorum that must have been meticulously selected. Many of the pieces were easily more expensive than anything she had ever owned.

A vase from Rome, a Tapestry from Japan, a carpet from India, and Gold from Egypt embedded in works of art hanging on the walls. The walk was silent, Katherine could not think of what to say, of if anything could be said. She wondered why she had been taken, her fingers crossing deftly across her lips in remembrance of his rather brutal kiss.

‘That was my first,’ she thought bitterly.

They turned down a long hallway passing a number of doors; Katherine was sure without Mary she would’ve gotten hopelessly lost. ‘Just how big is this place?’ She wondered and then scoffing mentally thought, ‘As if I could run, I’d sooner walk into a room that led to China than finding the front door of this place.’

“Right in there Ms. Penn,” Mary said as they stopped at two impossibly large double doors. Katherine walked through into a room that could’ve been a home of it’s own making.

In the center of the room stood a long dining room table a large fire place that reached the high dome ceiling, and more artifacts, all tastefully chosen. It seemed to fit that the what décor was chosen was just a little less than pretentious.

Her eyes were drawn to the figure standing in front of the fire place, hands clasped behind his back. His stance was structured with arrogance, with a deserved confidence that seemed to exude from the smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

He walked to towards Katherine, who found herself wanting to step back, only to catch herself and stand resolutely. He walked with a certain charm that seemed befitting of royalty, but it was the way his shoulders rigidly were straightened that made her think there was something worldly about him.

“Ah Katherine, so glad you could join me for dinner.” It was those imperceptible eyes stealing away her thoughts, observing her with curious but calculated intelligence. The feeling was infuriating, as though he were a riddle she could not solve or untangle in a matter of seconds. His voice nothing as it was night before, instead it was jovial, inviting even.

“Rest assured, it was not for you,” she said pointedly wanting to remain distant; perturbed by his behavior. His eyes narrowed as he stepped forward.

Katherine breathed in deeply and raising her chin in defiance as his hand came to grip her cheeks between his thumb and index before leaning in, invading all personal space and whispering into her ear like a lover, but not unlike a predator.

“You must be hungry,” he said before releasing her and stepping aside and motioning for her to sit. Katherine moved slowly, but not without and air of elegance that dared the man before her to make a fool out of her.

“You haven’t even given me the courtesy of your name,” she said condescendingly. The man smirked, as he sat down as well.

“You’re right, how impossibly rude of me. My name is Cade Coleman,” his voice slipping out soft and dark. Katherine felt his name must have defined him; it rang with a personality of heir and superiority that held together his persona of leadership, of indisputable control. He was intimidating in the way an ocean can be on nights where it is still, where not a ripple moves the surface.

“What is it you want with me Mr. Coleman?” Katherine asked.

“I trust Bartholomew enlightened you to how you should conduct yourself while you are here?” Cade began, ignoring her question all together. He paced past her, looking up at her waiting for a response.

“Yes, he did, and I should think that you holding me against my will is description of captivity.”

“You’re not a prisoner Katherine, you may go where you please with supervision of course—“

“Do I appear as though I need a babysitter?” She asked snidely.

Cade chuckled as he moved towards her, twirling a lock of her hair around his finger, before leaning in closely his lips nearly grazing her own. Katherine remained still, not wanting to rise to the taunt he was flinging towards her so blatantly.

Her eyes drowning the pool of his own, feeling the need to be belligerent, to tear the smug smirk from his full lips, and cause some imperfection to his handsome face. The bone structure was enviable by even women. He was playing with her, bating her to sharpen her claws but she refused to be treated so.

“I assure Katherine, not an ounce of you screams child, but make no mistake I am giving you boundaries cross them and there are consequences which you may find don’t include just you.” The threat beneath was subtle enough to send a chill down her spine and sear heat in her fingertips.

“What is it that you want?” She asked again, harsher, clearly done with his ambiguity.

“Right now? I want you to eat something, since you’ve been depraved since yesterday I imagine if you took a moment you’d realize your stomach is probably feeing abused.”

Katherine didn’t want to admit that her stomach had been clenching painfully, and she had been desperately trying to suppress the gurgling sound trying to disrupt her. She ate the food before her, it was well cooked and by the time she finished she was full, stomach sated.

It was strange the fire, how it flickered and danced to her side. She wanted to trace her fingers along the tip, hold it in her hands. Fire was so deceptively beautiful, so dangerously alluring. Katherine turned her head towards Cade who sat watching her with those cool eyes.

“Well you tell me now why you have brought me here?” She asked, her tongue feeling thick against the roof of her mouth, as though she had lost the vigor of her interrogation.

“I’ve brought you for a very specific reason Katherine, but now is not the time to tell you,” he said as he began to rise and walk towards her. Katherine pushed her chair backwards, feeling her limbs working against her as she made to rise from her chair. Her knees felt strangely like string and she collapsed against Cade’s strong chest.

“You did something,” She whispered against his chest as he gently cradled her against him, her face resting in the crook of his neck and shoulder. Katherine felt the gentle kiss to the crown of her head. ‘Mother used to do that when I was little.’ He smelled of fresh rain.

“I told you I’d catch you,” Cade whispered gently into her hair.

She felt as though she were gliding, his strides immaculately smooth as he carried on, disregarding her empty plate, and his that had been left completely untouched.

Her ears could pick up the soft murmuring of voices, too gentle, too quiet to decipher, and they only served to lull her deeper into the lethargic state she was slipping into.

Some part of her knew, that upon waking up from this moment of comfort, she would be insanely mad, that she might just lose what patience she had, but it was beginning to become too distant, and her body was too exhausted to fight. It was warm; she was warm which she rarely felt.

Katherine felt herself slipping into a dream, beginning with a long corridor lit by only torches, and that inevitable tugging began, only this time she felt a hand holding her own. A tangible hand she could see, grasp and cling too in the darkness.

“Where are you taking me?” She asked, inexplicably trusting, unafraid as usual.

“Home.”

AN: So I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I will desperately try to make sure the next chapter does not take near as long. =]]