Damien had pulled out his shoes which were muddy, keeping them aside in the room to pad back in the bath where Penny was in the tub now, without any single piece of cloth on her. After all, she had stepped into it with the intention to take bath and to calm her s.h.i.+vering body which felt absolutely wonderful. 

But who knew that Master Damien was going to step inside back into the bath after she had stripped herself down completely naked and in the tub. 

"Don't be embarra.s.sed. It's nothing new I have not seen," he said calmly without stopping near her and walking towards one of the many cupboards that were built on the other side of the wall.

With his back facing Penny he rummaged through the things in there leaving Penny red in color. Should she step out of the bath? she asked herself in panic. This had never happened before therefore Penny had not considered him stepping in her while she was still naked. With her body previously which had exposed the upper side of her body where the water level reached to the upper bosom, she sunk into the water further as if wanting to hide. But what could clear water hide where the candles were lit. Forgetting for a few seconds that Damien was in the room, she heard him say,  

"I have seen plenty of a number of naked bodies. More than what an average human can see unless he belongs to the higher society. You shouldn't be ashamed of your body," and when he turned his face, Penny panicked!

"Master Damien, please!" Maybe he was used to seeing naked men and women but Penny was not used to showing her naked self to anyone, "You should know that human females like to keep themselves...hidden," she said carefully picking the choice of her words. 

She heard him hum in response, "How interesting. The last few times I met the humans of your own s.e.x they were readily throwing themselves at me."

"Some can be like that but a lot don't like it," she kept her eyes on him where Damien had finally found a box from the cupboard and he closed it.

"You should know that at the end of everything, the body is only made of flesh and bones and the skin covering it. If you take bodies to be like that and see it in that light, you won't feel no embarra.s.sment the way your cheeks have turned red right now by my presence in this room," he turned around making her heart skip a couple of beats and she saw his eyes to be closed, "What a wonderful sound that is," Penny knew he was talking about her heart. 

Gulping softly, she covered her front with both her hands, "Is that how you see everyone, Master Damien?" she took a quick peek at herself by looking down at her chest where her hands covered her b.r.e.a.s.t.s but it wasn't enough to cover the swell at the top and the sides which her small hands couldn't contain. Her legs had pulled up to cover her bottom in the water, leaving her knees up in the water. 

Not having moved from his current position, Damien asked her with his eyes still closed, "Look how?" he questioned her. 

"Flesh and bones," she answered him. While Damien had his eyes closed, Penny didn't look away from his upper half of the body. His taut muscles were defined and firm where the back muscles had flexed while he had bee searching for the box. His pant hung loosely on his 

"Isn't that what makes it easier to kill. Imagine this, little mouse, you have a pretty hen that you look at every day. You feed it but when you are about to cook a chicken and eat. Do you think of it as the same hen you fed? We all look at it as meat and food," was master Damien comparing people to food? It shouldn't have been much of a surprise as he was a pureblooded vampire who needed blood to survive, "People are nothing but bones. After all, that is all that remains in the end. But then..."

There was a but? thought Penny in her mind. He started to take steps away from where he was standing to the exit but Penny was in the way.

"Some of us don't look at it that way. At least not everyone. People whom you care and want to protect, want to take care of, those people cannot be reduced to bones," he answered her. Bending down he finally opened his eyes. The dark red eyes that swirled richly to emphasize his lineage he came from. 

Penny didn't know why but what he said made her feel aware of his presence which was right in front of her. Though he hadn't looked at her body and had kept his eyes on hers, she could feel the heat rising up over her face which was going to steam out if he continued to stay here any longer.

It wasn't his eyes and his presence that distracted Penny at the moment but the words that rang something distant at the back of her head, "I feel you're one of those people who need things to be told without beating the bush but don't worry, little mouse. I have no intention of beating around the bush."

The distant bell in her head got slightly louder while making her feel dizzy as she tried to grasp what he was speaking of. After getting drenched in the river and now finally sitting in the tub of water, which was water again, she felt hazy her mind too relaxed. 

"Master Damien, can you please step out of the bath. Until I am done at least," she requested him politely, her green eyes staring back at his mischevious one which looked amused.

"What if I said no?" he asked her making her frown...