Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 539: Odd questions

After those words, Atticus’ hand gravitated dangerously closer to her throat before slowly wrapping around it.

Arabella’s breathing quickened and grew shallower as he forced her head to lean onto his chest without applying any pressure. Well, at least not the painful or suffocating kind.

For her own sake, she made no effort to fight it and simply shut her eyes in the hopes another realm would sweep her out of that reality.

"Were you given a choice to enter that relationship with him?"

Despite her previous answer to him about choosing Silas, it seemed the General refused to take her word for it.

"I was," she murmured, refusing to reopen her eyes lest they’d connect with their interlaced reflection on the bathroom wall.

From then on, he leaped onto a different thread in the same topic, "I assume you were gifted a brooch upon tying the knot. There was none on your person when you first arrived at the castle,"

"I was given a wedding brooch indeed, but I decided to leave it behind before crossing the border," her voice refused to remain steady, constantly breaking between breaths.

"You went that far to protect it. You care that much for him...," he trailed off, one arm tightening around her middle while the second pressed a tad harder on her collared throat.

Sensing the threat, her body reacted on its own but not to free itself from his hold. That would have been futile.

It shook more aggressively as the cries she fought her best to swallow intensified.

That was it! It was sure to be her end, considering the way he gradually increased pressure around her frail frame.

Blood coursed her veins faster to compliment the increasing lack of air supply he caused. In the face of such defeat, her feet found nothing better to do than kick at the water.

But when all seemed lost, Atticus’ grip softened, his face leaning closer to hers until his lips grazed her ear.

"Calm down. I did say I wouldn’t hurt you," his warm breath brushed against her skin, earning a new jolt from the young woman.

His hands went back to roaming her body freely while she winced and tried to regain a more natural breathing pace.

"Did you ever sit in a bathtub with him like so?"

The odd questions resumed as he forced her legs apart under the water before his fingers found her clit and started playing with it.

"Yes, I did," she cried, her back arching against him in a ridiculous attempt at evading his hand.

But the man did not relent, rubbing himself against her and moving his fingers quicker while watching her reaction closely.

"Did he ever force himself on you?" his tone did not shift from the breathy, low type he had been using all along.

"No! No, he never did that!" her responses became more frantic as he kept on fondling her most sensitive parts.

"I do see what he found in you, but I can’t fathom what you found in him," he grunted, "Don’t try to close your legs. Keep them apart," his lips closed in on her helix and took little nibbles and licks of it.

Against her bum, his member grew harder as he grinded his groin on her.

But even as every fiber of her being screamed at her to crumple and coil on herself, doing it would have brought a graver sentence around.

All there was left to do was obey and be patient. Hopefully, Morgana and the others had infiltrated the castle. The next step was finding a way to establish contact in order to warn them about the invasion in the works.

Then again, if Edgar and Cynric joined the army, it wouldn’t be kept a secret for that long. Fingers crossed that was the case.

"Did he care to pleasure you like this?"

Truth be told, Atticus inflicted more pain than pleasure, rubbing at the tender spot so carelessly after the punishments Zarah and the prince’s girls forced on her.

But of course, Arabella only bit down on her lips and swallowed all of her complaints, with the only thing she couldn’t choke being her tears.

"He did," the words came out with a lot of strain.

Her entire body shook uncontrollably as he refused to let it rest.

"Are you enjoying this?" he whispered.

After many attempts at forming a response that would appease him, Arabella blurted the exact thing she tried so hard to keep from spilling.

"It just hurts!" she cried.

Atticus stopped immediately and to her surprise did not strike, try to choke her or push her head under water as penance. He just sat behind and allowed her to cry. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

When he stood up so suddenly, the young woman curled onto herself, bringing her face to her knees and squeezing her eyes shut.

It only took him a second to wrap a towel around his middle before tending to Arabella and removing her from the bath.

He leaned her against the tub just long enough to put a towel around her as well.

His next destination was the bedroom again where he laid her back on the mattress and just stared at her for a good moment.

A moment that seemed to stretch the fabric of time as her poor heart pounded her chest in anticipation for his next motion.

The General merely settled down by her side to play with her hair, burying his hands deep within the raven curls then gently rubbing her scalp.

"Did he tend to your hair like so?" he asked.

What was with those oddly specific questions? It was as though the man wished to don Silas’ skin. It only succeeded in making her own skin crawl.

"He did," she breathed.

"Yesterday, in the meeting room, when you undressed, you had no bruises or cuts on your body," he started as his fingers still massaged her scalp, "Was the vampire ever rough with you?"

"No. Never," she shook her head.

Even if he did, why would it matter? What would it change?

His hands forsook her hair to go for the collar around her neck only to unclasp and pull it away from her.