Shield of Art

Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

"For all of these things I am not the least bit sorry. I have no conscience so that does not worry me. I don't believe in Man, God nor devil. I hate the whole dammed human race including myself."

- Carl Panzram, burglar, arsonist and Serial Killer.

"I'm so, so sorry Mr Carmicle..." Looking at his stiff form and grief stricken face, Ariya Shield almost felt like she was the bad guy.

"Niklaus. Please. Call me Niklaus." His voice was strained, his words reluctant, as if he was holding in a scream. He no doubt was.

"Of course, sorry." Ariya leant forward and placed her hand on his clenched fist. He looked down at her hand on his and she had the urge to either pull away or stroke his face. Before she could do either, Niklaus turned his hand and caught hers, he intertwined their fingers and squeezed tightly. Ariya squeezed back and they sat in comfortable yet anguished silence for quite some time.

After a while, Niklaus suddenly stood up, tugging her up and out of the chair and out of her thoughts. She was unsure of how he would act, someone grieving is always unpredictable, thinking back to the scene she had walked into at the station was evidence enough of that.

"Right. You have to be hungry, thirsty and tired. Driving back tonight is not an option. You got here late and you've been here for hours so it's not safe for you to leave. Come on I'll make you food and set up the spare room." With that, he dragged her into the kitchen and sat her down at the kitchen bench bar. He then went straight to the fridge and started pulling food out.

"Oh thank you, but I should get going. Ethically I can't and I don't want to intrude, especially not now. I'll grab something to eat when I get to town..." As shield was babbling on, she stood up and looked at him. She watched his back stiffen and his head drop forward.

"No. It's late and you look like you haven't slept or eaten for far too long." She went to tell Niklaus that she was fine, but he turned and looked at her and his emerald green eyes showed a storm of emotions that made her heart ache. His next words were only whispers. "Please. Please stay."

She made a decision then, she would stay. He didn't want to be alone with his thoughts and emotions.

"OK. Can I help?" He looked up and met her eyes, searching for... something. She smiled encouragingly and he returned a ghost of the brilliant smile she'd seen when he opened the door.

"Sure, you can go get the bag of spare clothes you have in your car and then have a nice hot shower to help you relax and freshen up. By then I should have dinner done." He turned back to the fridge and she shook her head and smiled to herself. He knew the way a cop's life was, after all, his father was a cop. He knew she had spare clothes in the car and he thought of her even with the news she brought.

STOP!!! Damn it Ariya! Stop crushing on him! He is a family member of a victim, emotionally unstable and definitely a major hell no! STOP. RIGHT. NOW. Think of his flaws! That'll help you keep your libido in check! He is rich and no doubt used to getting his way. That's a bad thing because...? He is a playboy. You don't know that. It wasn't in the files. He has a really nice ass. That isn't a flaw! Damn it this is hopeless!

She continued to argue with her conscience (who by the way was NOT helping!)

"Do you like the view?" Niklaus's voice pulled her from her thoughts. She realized that she was staring at his delectable backside in... jeans. He was wearing black jeans. Quickly looking up at his face, she saw that he had his smouldering gaze locked firmly on her eyes. Blushing just a lot, Ariya turned and quickly walked into the lounge room where she took her car keys from her jacket pocket before she went outside to the car. The entire time, her mind was trying to decipher exactly what his eyes were trying to tell her.