A Dangerous Gamble

Chapter Five

Sebastian Samuels met the eyes of the girl in his library, so vibrantly green they almost glowed. He took in her appearance quickly, trying to decide if he recognized her. Her hair was dark and shoulder length, and one nearly black chunk had fallen across her eyes. Her features were sharp. Beautiful. No, he was sure he had never seen her before. He would have remembered that face. Those eyes.

Just now they were wide with surprise. He had startled her. He expected fear to follow quickly. He knew he cut an intimidating figure, towering over her as he did. But the fear never came. She didn't cower or grovel, or anything else that he had come to expect.

"Uh, hi." she said, brightly, if a bit uncertainly. "Hello." he said carefully. "May I ask what you're doing in my private rooms?" he asked. He was prepared for whatever wild story she would fabricate to explain her presence. He knew that many were curious about the infamous Samuels, who never left his rooms.

 "I'm looking for my sister." she answered. "And you though she was up here?" he asked skeptically. Alex, his head bodyguard who was stationed at the foot of the stairs, never let anyone up here, except apparently this astounding girl. "Not exactly. You have the best view." she said candidly. That was true. You could see the entire casino, floor and bar, from the look out. "But was it strictly necessary to come inside the rooms?" he asked, curious to hear her explanation for that.

"Well, I thought your guard dog was gonna chase me down, so I hid in here. I was then distracted by your very impressive collection of books." she said. He laughed out loud. She was unknowingly accurate in referring to Alex as a guard dog, though he doubted Alex would appreciate being referred to as a dog.

"Why were you so urgently looking for your sister? Wouldn't it have been much easier to just wait for her? Or did you just want to play spy?" he asked bemusedly.

"Granted, it probably wasn't a very well thought out plan, going all Mission Impossible." she seemed to concede, though he didn't get the reference." "But my sister is the type of girl who can get herself in trouble by just being nice. I have to find her before that happens. Or at least in time to bash some heads." she explained. He wasn't sure those heads she was planning on "bashing" here, considering she barely came to his shoulder, but he found her confidence entertaining. She truly believed that she could protect her sister, even here, in a casino full of vampires.

A sickening though flashed across his mind. Perhaps she didn't know that this casino was owned and run by vampires, that the hotel in which she slept was run completely by werewolves (Alex's pack).

But she had to know. That was part of Chanelle's job, to inform the patrons of what exactly they were risking here. Sebastian had hired Chanelle for the sole purpose of running everything in his absence. He had handled it himself for almost forty years after his father had died. He had watched men knowingly gamble away everything they owned, their very lives even. Some had even attempted to gamble the lives of their families, though he had never allowed it. He had watched in disgust and horror, but had been unable to escape the place that his father had so dearly loved. The place where Sebastian had lost his humanity. Eventually, it had become too much. He had found Chanelle, trained her to take care of it all. And then he had retreated into these private rooms, only venturing out when it was absolutely necessary. He had not spoken more than a few words to a patron in over thirty years. Until this intriguing girl had wandered through his door.

 He found this girl fascinating, from her violently green eyes, which gave away her every thought and feeling, to her complete and total ease, even after being caught breaking and entering. It had been a very, very long time since anyone had been at ease around Sebastian, had treated him with anything but excessive revere and respect. He wasn't known for losing his temper, but the few times he had were legendary.

He knew he must have been staring, he couldn't help himself. She must have noticed, and her confusion showed. She raised one eyebrow, then looked over her shoulder, obviously unsure of what had caught his eye. "Uh, so....I'm sorry about breaking in or whatever. Won't happen again." she said hurriedly. She seemed uncomfortable with the whole situation. Not that he blamed her. It seemed that spending his time locked away up here had robbed him of all social skills.

"Well, bye." she said, making to duck around him and out of the library. Reflexively, he grabbed her arm, stopping her. He didn't understand it, but the idea of this girl leaving didn't sit well with him. It had been ages since anything had made him feel this way. Alive and interested and... human.

He wanted to know this girl, find out why she so frantically searched for her sister, why she had immediately concocted a crazy rescue plan, why she didn't fear him. He wanted to know everything about her.

"Wait. Let me help you find your sister." he said quickly, trying to get her to stay. Her gaze traveled to were he clutched her arm, and his attention followed. Her skin was warm and soft. For just a moment, he wondered if all of her skin was that soft.

That thought made him pull away. He had been alone for much to long, and it was causing him to lose hold of reality. Because in reality, he was a vampire, and could prove to be a serious threat to the girl, should he lose control. He just wanted to talk to her.

"Okay..." she said warily. "I'm Kat." holding out a hand for him to shake. He picked up her hand, pressing his lips against it. Her heart sped up slightly, and he smirked. "Sebastian."