Married To The Mad Vampire Lord-Chapter 45: A soothing kiss_ Part 1

Belle, who was followed into her chamber by her husband, decided not to show her sudden nervousness at having him in an enclosed room after knowing that he wanted to bed her. It had been quite easy to talk and to walk around the garden with him without having to remember things and what he could do to her body, but it was another to have him in her room, where she wanted to get rid of her wet dress and get into a hot bath as she could feel the cold setting into her body slowly.

She knew he had every right to be in her chamber whenever he wanted, but she had not thought he would follow her and then lock the door when it was still day.

She’d seen how her parents’ marriage was; they never went into each other’s chamber when it was day, and even at night, she never knew that her mother went to meet her father until the day she saw her coming out early in the morning. She had expected that sort of marriage or even worse, where she wouldn’t have to see him for months like all contract marriages, but last night had proved this wrong—and him being here now at this time of the day.

Belle watched him as he made his way into the room, walked to the wingback chair close to the burning fireplace, and sat down, crossing his left ankle over his right knee. Then he stared up at her from where he sat like a king would his lowly subject.

They stared at each other without a word passing between them, only the sounds of the light rain hitting the roof as her chamber was at the top of the castle. The room was dim and was only illuminated by the burning fireplace the maid must have set, giving the space a cozy glow and casting the man sitting before it into a silhouette. Unable to hold the silence and his gaze, she parted her lips and said,

"I need to change..." She let her words trail off so he would understand that he should excuse her and let her change. But if her husband understood her meaning, he did not act like he cared; he merely tilted his head and replied, "So? Go ahead. I am not holding your hands, am I?" He smirked devilishly in the dimness as he saw the blush that crept up those cheeks of hers and made them glow against the golden light of the fireplace, where the logs sparked and cracked behind him.

He wasn’t holding her hands, but he was sitting in her chamber and staring at her like he expected her to remove her drenched clothes before him and strip naked so he could watch!

That was another way of holding her from changing. She could not imagine herself going naked in front of any man, not even him, regardless of whether he was her husband or not. The thought of last night, where she hadn’t been naked but had been touched all over, mortified her alone.

Apart from the fact that she wanted him to leave so she could change, she still had the plan to hurry out and get the ring and hide it where he wouldn’t see it.

Belle decided to stand in her drenched clothes and see if he wouldn’t get tired and leave if she did not entertain him or indulge him in anything he was planning by staying back.

"What are you waiting for, sweetheart? Go on and change, or do you want me to help you?" came his amused voice, making her jerk her head to him at once. But before she could say anything, he was out of his seat and in front of her, causing her stomach to twist and her heart to throb against her rib as he suddenly towered over her.

"I... I can do it myself!" she quickly exclaimed when he reached out his hand to remove the hood from her head. His hands paused on the lace of the cloak around her neck, and then he looked down at her.

"Then why were you hesitating?" he asked in a deep, husky voice that made the hair on her neck and arms stand up like he had caressed her skin. She flinched slightly when his gloved hand came to cup her right cheek, his warm thumb stroking her skin.

"I... I..." She gulped and then dug her fingers into her dress to hold herself up straight in front of him and not stupidly sway to the floor. "You were staring at me. It’s not proper to change in your presence. I need to bathe..."

She held her breath when his hand on her cheek went up to move her wet hair away from her face and behind her ear. His fingers trailed to the side of her neck, and then her cloak was gone before she knew it, falling in a heap behind her, leaving her in her drenched dress that clutched to her body from the top while the layers underneath kept the bottom safe. She thought she saw his eyes trail to her chest and linger there before he parted his lips and spoke in that quiet, husky voice.

"I am your husband, Isa. I can watch you strip in front of me. You don’t have to be shy anymore. I touched you last night, remember?" he said softly as if just because he had touched her in that sinful way last night, he could anytime he wanted. He moved his hand to her shoulder, then down her arms, maneuvered to her waist, and pulled her into him in one strong tug that made her gasp and flatten her palms against his heartless chest.

"You are shivering," he pointed out with a smile on his handsome face that unnerved her and made her slightly imbalanced on her feet. She wasn’t only shivering because of the cold but because of his closeness and how his hand, despite the glove, seemed to set her stomach fluttering with an unknown feeling that alarmed and scared her—it was similar to what she felt the night before.

"Tell me something, Isa. Why do you have a stake in your trunk?" he questioned all of a sudden, the smile still playing on his face as his hands worked on the back of her dress to remove her dress lace.

Belle went pale immediately at that question. She had completely forgotten that she had narrowly escaped answering it this morning because of her rumbling stomach, and because he hadn’t seemed like he saw anything unusual in her trunk, she had assumed he had burned it without seeing the things her mother and father had packed for her for experimental purposes.

For many years, no human had come face to face with a vampire to test the theories that vampires could be killed with a stake in the heart or holy water and garlic to their skin. The Aragonia king had gotten people to make these things in hopes that after she tested them, they would work, and they would use them to their advantage in a war. Her mother had even suggested she try it on her husband if she got the chance, as he was said to be lacking in sense because of his madness. She now doubted if that was true, this man was anything but senseless!

She had not intended to kill anyone or try those things on Rohan, but she had not removed them from her trunks, and now the one they had advised her to test them on had seen them. What was she going to say? That she wanted to stab him in the chest to test if he would die?

He seemed like a man with trust issues, if she told him what she meant to use those things for, he might as well kill her altogether for the plant and for being a threat of stabbing him in his sleep!