Chapter 7: Sera

    Sera rolled over on the plush bed, and the clock on the nightstand lit up at 12:47. She had only been asleep for a while. Usually, she doesn't wake up like this.

Bang, Bang.

    The noise on her hotel door damn near made her jump out of her skin. Her breathing picked up slightly, and she slid off the bed and tiptoed to the door.

    What if it was Scott? She didn't want to deal with him tonight. Worse, what if her family demanded that she return home to keep their free maid service? She peeked out the peephole and saw a familiar dark-headed man.

    "Damni*t..." She groaned. Reaching for the handle that she now realized she hadn't locked, she swung the door open.

    "What on God's green earth are you doing here?" She said, throwing a hand to her hip and tilting her head. Asher leaned against the door frame and got a hair's breadth from her face.

    "Aren't you going to ask how I found you?" He gave a devious smile as he boldly looked down at her borderline nude body; she quickly threw her arms around herself and bolted into the bathroom, wrapping a robe around herself. "Better yet, aren't you going to ask how I knew the door wasn't locked?" She froze, her face redder than a tomato.

    "Why are you here?" Sera snapped, arms wrapped around her waist. In the bathroom's darkness, she could see Asher leaning against the wall across from her, the lamp she had left on illuminating his handsome features.

    Who was she kidding? This man was downright fine. Every piece of him looked like it had been chiseled from stone.

    "When you're done using the bathroom, why don't you come out here so we can have an adult conversation." Without a further word, he turned and walked toward the bed area.

    Frozen, she stood there, not knowing what to do. She didn't know this man and had no idea why she had let him in.

    Way to go, Sera. You are letting random men into your hotel room.

    "Are you coming?" His voice echoed from the bedroom. Slowly, she stepped out of the bathroom and rounded the corner. He was sitting in a chair, his arms resting on the sides and his legs crossed. He looked like one of those men you'd read about in a book but not in real life. Sure as hell, not in her life.

    "Sit." He instructed, pointing to the bed. As if she had no command over her body, she walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, diagonal from Asher.

    For a couple of moments, they sat in silence. Sera watched him as it seemed he was thinking intensely as he stared at her. His gaze left goosebumps on her neck, slowly traveling down her back. He tilted his head as she started nervously squirming under his intense gaze.

    "I have a proposition to make," he said briefly. One that you have every right to walk away from, but as soon as you agree, I will have a contract written up to make it one hundred percent official." Sera nodded, interested in what this man had to say.

    He tilted his head and smiled, "Use your words, Seraphina." Sera shivered. She visibly shivered; what the hell was wrong with her??

    "I do many things, but taking advantage of women is not one of them." He lifted his arm and rested his head against his hand, this thumb under his chin and his index finger against the side of his face—the look purely meant to be dominating, and damn, he knows it works.

    "I want to know more," she whispered. She had never been in a room with someone like this, someone who demanded her attention this way without raising his voice. This man in front of her was different from the carefree man she had met just hours before. Maybe this was the real him.

    Sera couldn't figure out which thought scared her more: that the powerful man in front of her was the one she had so carelessly gotten into a car with earlier or that the nonchalant man who offered drinks to a woman he didn't know was nowhere to be found. She tried to read his emotions, but his face didn't give anything away, and his eyes were as blank as possible.

    "I propose, that we get married." He stated bluntly, a smirk across his face. 

   "I'm sorry, I must have misheard you." She gasped, her mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish.

   "No, I think you heard me just fine, Seraphina." He leaned forward, the plush chair creaking slightly under his weight. Sera couldn't help it; she instinctively leaned away. The man in front of her intimidated her, and that was putting it nicely. "I propose we have one year of marriage. During that year, you can have whatever you want, fancy clothes, and money to spend as you please—a life of luxury." His smile grows as he leans back, but there's nothing kind in the smile; it's calculating and cold. 

   "And what do you get out of this whole relationship?" She tilted her head, her unbound hair falling over her shoulder. His eyes watched her hair in a predatory gaze; his eyes traveled down to the sash, keeping the much too-small robe from falling off her.  

   "I get to stick it to my father," he said, never removing his eyes from her body once. She nervously readjusted her position, placed her hands in her lap, and began fidgeting with her fingers. "He wants to set me up with this money obsessed woman, I would rather slit my own throat than marry her."

    "You're propositioning me with money." Sera blatantly stated, his eyes snapped back up to hers. "Isn't that the same exact thing?" He chuckled and leaned forward again, but this time, he was much closer.  

   "Wrong, Seraphina." He whispered, staring at her; her heart picked up, and butterflies kicked off in her stomach. "She's no where near as beautiful as you are." Sera's lips parted, and a small gasp escaped her when he stood and leaned over her. Startled, she fell back on her elbows as he stood over her. He placed his hands on the bed next to her hips. Sera stared into his eyes, the golden flecks illuminated by the lamp behind her. 

    "What do you say, bella anima?" His eyes slid down to her lips, and the butterflies in her lower stomach exploded. Will you marry me?"