Chapter 5
The way her shoulders shifted slightly in the bath, and she let out a sweet moan as she sank into the water.
How she leaned her beautiful head back against the edge of the tub, her throat exposed to me in the flickering candlelight.
Her pulse was there… the sound of it was hypnotic to me.
I could hear it. I could feel it. It was like every thrum of her blood running inside her veins was meant for me.
I swallowed hard as I kept watching her.
Her alluring scent stirring instincts inside me—instincts I had buried so long ago in the depths of my soul.
Even when she was brushing away a strand of wet hair behind her ear, my eyes seemed to follow every one of her movements.
Somehow, I was afraid that if I left, I’d miss something sacred of her which solely belonged to my eyes.
Gwendolyn didn’t know how close I was to losing control.
She had no idea what red eyes meant in my nature.
I watched her in silence, the smirk on my lips barely concealing the tension coiled inside me from seeing her bare, dewy skin still flushed from the bath steam.
Skin I couldn’t wait to mark with my own hands.
Every droplet of water that slid down her collarbone was some cruel act of divine temptation.
This sweet little treasure didn’t even know how fucked up I was, how she was offering herself to my undoing in the quietest of ways.
My gaze traced her movements, how she adjusted her posture, the slight shift of her hips beneath the water.
While her mind was almost absent in the water, all I could think about was how my fingertips would brush along her thighs.
The worst part of it all, was that she didn’t even try to tease me.
This wasn’t some calculated seduction. She was just existing. And it almost destroyed me.
The hunger flared up inside me. Hunger I’ve never felt in my existence. A slow, burning feeling curling like smoke through my chest.
I felt it before I saw it.
The pulse behind my eyes, the heat inside my veins that surged like bloodlust because that’s what it was.
Lust.
But not the kind she’d recognize. Not yet.
The moment my vision blurred crimson red. I knew I was about to lose myself in her. She would see what I was.
“Your eyes…” The sweetness of her voice brought my mind to focus again. I noticed how her chest tightened, her breaths were getting heavier. She was afraid, afraid of me.
“Why are your eyes red?” she asked again.
I had to stay calm… because if I let a part of my vampire nature slip through, if she saw me not just watching her, but also wanting her in that dark, fucking unholy way, she would run away from me.
And I’d devour the chase.
I should’ve looked away. Should’ve left her alone in that damn bath and walked the hell out of there.
But no, I needed to bring her right into my arms, inhale her scent and feel her soft skin against mine.
The towel barely covered her thighs, and all I wanted was to stroke them and feel her sensitive flesh.
Fuck.
I turned away for a heartbeat, trying to swallow down my lust, to stop from awakening the beast rattling beneath my skin. My fists clenched, my nails biting into my palms. My body was tense.
I needed to stop the craving, and I had no idea how… because I had never drunk from another in that way… never felt the urge to claim someone else with my teeth. This wasn’t just a thirst for blood… it was a thirst for her.
I wanted her so much.
Not the way humans wanted each other. No, it went deeper.
I longed to mark her with my hunger, possess her in ways that shouldn’t be allowed, carve myself into her existence so deeply that the thought of another would feel like sin.
I wanted to own her slowly, to let my hunger seep into her veins until she could no longer remember the world she knew before me… a world that was never worthy of her.
But she was too innocent to know what red eyes meant. Too soft to understand the darkness pacing behind my ribs.
For a moment, I couldn’t move. The compulsion of bending her over the bench and spanking her sweet ass in the middle of the bathroom was too inviting.
The thought by itself brought me to the edges of madness.
She was so close to me, her heartbeat a steady rhythm against the silence and darkness of my own, the scent of her blood filling my lungs with every breath she took.
Control. I needed to control it.
However, all I was thinking about was her.
Her eyes widened, lips parting to speak, probably to question me again, and all I could do was imagine how good they would feel around my cock.
No. I should stop thinking about such things.
With a sharp inhale, I tried to force my hunger back down, wrestling it into submission despite being anything but submissive myself. I exhaled slowly, forcing my body to obey. I felt how the red slowly bled away, the green of my eyes returning…
Her pretty brown eyes blinked several times at me, possibly wondering if she was imagining the whole thing or drowning in madness herself.
I didn’t want her to be scared. And although I could get off to pain and fear, they weren’t the emotions I aimed to stir in her delicate body.
I wanted to touch her, to stroke the softness of her skin.
Gwendolyn still looked unsure, as if something in her gut told her to run.
Not that I would ever allow her to run away from here.
She belonged to me, and I did intend to keep her.
“If I tell you what I am Gwendolyn… there is no going back… I’m not sure you’re even ready for it.”
My fingertips reached out to graze over the skin of her wrist. Just a touch, just enough to ground her, to pull her away from the questions in her head. I was almost afraid she would pull back her hand, but she didn’t.
“Are you afraid of me?” I murmured, tilting her chin slightly to look into my eyes.
Gwendolyn was blessed with the most stunning brown eyes I’d ever seen, like they were carved by sin itself just waiting to ruin me.
Fuck. It already started to happen. She could ask me anything with those eyes, and I’d give it to her.
It was impossible to look away from them.
I brushed my thumb over her lips, so soft and soon to be touched by my own.
“Are you afraid?” I asked again, her gaze capturing mine just to undo me in this very moment.
“No,” she whispered so softly, and yet I knew she was lying. She wanted to believe it. And for now, that was enough for me. As I watched her, I was still fighting the hunger burning beneath my skin, praying to my cock it wouldn’t do anything I would regret.
“Why could I hear your voice in my head when I saw the raven?”
I gazed at her, taking every inch of her tempting beauty in.
Her eyes followed every one of my strokes against her skin.
She had spent enough time hiding away in a place that judged her, in a world where people followed the norm to not speak out.
But I’d never allow her to feel judged, not here, not with me.
Instead of giving her a reply, I carried her through the doorway, the warmth of the bath steam fading behind us. The fresh air cooled my skin as I tried to ground myself.
“Where… where are we going?”
“I think you should dress… before we discuss anything further.”
Every resident of this castle would be wise to keep their distance tonight. No one would lay eyes on Gwendolyn in that little towel. I wouldn’t allow it. That sight was reserved for my eyes only.
Before the chaos of my thoughts exploded, I placed her on my bed, picking out a piece of clothing for her.
A beautiful black dress with a flowing silhouette that fell a little above her knees and was made out of a rich, dark silk fabric.
The bodice was fitted and embroidered with shimmering lace in midnight-blues and greens and came with the fitting cape.
The perfect way of hiding this sweet treasure for as long as possible.
Because no one was as curious as the people who lived here.
Her skin was still damp, wrapped in nothing but a towel.
I noticed how she clutched the piece of fabric against her body, the towel pressing against the dress.
I stepped forward, crouching in front of her. I’d never bowed to anyone before, but for her I’d be on my damn knees and crawl like a little pet.
“Lift your arms.”
She tilted her head upward, wondering what I had in mind until I pointed to the dress. There was a flicker of hesitation in her gaze, but something seemed to soften in her like she put enough trust into me to realize I wasn’t going to take advantage of her.
And part of me hoped I wouldn’t too. Nothing was as unreliable as someone from my kind.
We were the best liars in the world, and not only that, but we even benefited from lying.
It was part of our dual nature. The animal who only followed its primal instincts and the manipulator who used its charms to gain blood or secrets.
Looking at her, I wanted both and so much more. I’d never been greedier than right now.
I slid the dress over her arms, my knuckles grazing her soft skin, the gentle curve of her back, the warmth of her ribs. Every inch of her was a temptation wrapped in heat and heartbeat. She wasn’t ready yet. Not yet.
My eyes were focused on adjusting her dress carefully.
Not because I saw her as weak. But because I was dangerous.
And when she looked at me, it was like she tried searching for the redness in my eyes again.
She was so close to me. All I could breathe in was her intoxicating scent.
It made me question why my eyes hadn’t been red the entire time.
I closed my eyes, pushing back the beast to the depths of my soul, where it belonged.
She had no idea what she was doing to me.
May the ancient gods and goddesses help me if she ever found out.