It was decidedly odd to be baring her darkest secrets to someone, the vulnerability decidedly out of character for the guarded leopard. She had grown so proficient in providing the appearance of being open while carefully maintaining that distance which gave her the façade she needed. Yet out of anyone she could have chosen to expose herself too it made sense to her that it would be the suave vampire opposite her. Even in her most vulnerable state she had no concern being in Sebastian's presence, her trust in him somehow explicit even though the pair knew decidedly little about one another. He had never made a move to harm her though she did not doubt his capability, he had never forced her to do anything despite the sway he could so easily hold over her, on the contrary he some how empowered her with every choice and offer he had ever lain at her feet. Even the night she had returned to Sacrosanct, bruised, battered, and broken in too many ways to count she had felt instantly safe in his presence.

A feeling which is mirrored now as he draws her into the shelter of his embrace and she clings to him like a lifeline, her fists bunching in the starched material of his shirt and no doubt wrinkling it horribly. Her heart thundered in her chest as if trying to make up for the lack of one in his own, but its beat gradually slows as the comfort of his presence takes hold and begins to quell the terror. She hated that Alaric still held such sway over her, that his reach extended far past the physical hold he had on her but some wounds ran deep. She understood the underlying meaning of Sebastian's query regarding the fae's current location, having dreamed of retribution herself for some time, but she was at a loss crippled by her own fear once more. Carolina could not risk drawing that devil back down upon her and winding up in his clutches once more, she would rather die first.

As Sebastian accepted her response she allowed her attention to be diverted to the wet stain she had placed upon his formerly pristine shirt, her slender fingers rubbing across his chest gently in the process. Her attempt at lightening the mood falling rather flat even to her own ears, and she was unsurprised when the royal shrugged it off so effortlessly. The young girl noting the shift his voice had taken from its normal cheerfulness, not that she was surprised in the aftermath of the veritable bomb she had just dropped in the SUV. It already had her attention drawing towards his handsome face even as he murmured her name so gently. Readily her gaze meets the crystalline depths of his own, finding a myriad of things lying in their depths until he continued.

Her own dark brows furrowed slightly at what he proposed, the term foreign to her ears until he illuminated entirely what such a thing would entail. So many questions lingering in her hazel eyes as he finished speaking and that proposition lingered heavy in the air. Her mouth opened slightly, sweetheart lips parted as some part of her instinctively yearned to agree to his offer instantly and yet she paused. Her aquamarine eyes studying his face as the other part of her reared up fearing what being bound to a vampire might demand of her, would she ever be happy wearing such a chain? Finally the real question surfaces, a question which had often plagued her when she was around the charming prince and even more so after spending time with him. "Why me, Sebastian?" She holds his gaze for a moment before it drops back to her hand on his chest, that familiar pattern being traced on the soft material of his button down. "I can hardly be worth it..." How battered and broken she felt especially in the wake of her confession. He barely knew her for all intents and purposes, despite the intimate moments the pair had shared, and she could not fathom why someone of his position and power would choose to expend any amount of time and effort on someone such as herself. She didn't doubt that he felt the same gravity as she did when they were together, and yet that hardly accounted for him be willing to extend protection, safety... to bind himself to her in any way. She could not believe she was worth the trouble for him.

Yet the other part of her yearned for that to be the case. The were was in no way disillusioned as to just how unobtainable he was, his relationship with his husband was advertised freely everywhere from the nightly news to tabloids, and yet... How she yearned to hold a part of him and to have him desire the same. Nestled in Sebastian's lap and pressed against the familiar, hard planes of his chest Carolina was not sure if there is a price she would not pay for just that.