The Vampire King’s Captive

MARIA

She’d barely seen him yesterday.

After he’d woken up from a dream of her memories and after she’d coaxed him back to sleep, she had woken up to an empty bed. She had not even been surprised because it wasn’t the first time she was waking up to find him gone already, but it stung nonetheless.

Why was he so hellbent on not spending time with her?

It had been over a week already and she knew that he was trying to adjust, to fit into the man he now was when he was with her. She, too, was adjusting because, hell, this man had once been her captor.

He’d locked her up in a cell for ages, restricted her from having baths-which should be considered an evil on its own-attempted to cut off her hand-she still bore the mark-spoke to her in a degrading manner and to top it all off, he’d taken her from her home.

Sure, here was a million times better than her home and she’d rather be here than be with Ariti, but she was only making that decision now. He’d taken her from her home without her consent, captured her, and she was still trying to fit her head around the fact that she was developing feelings for such a man.

Yet she was trying.

She talked to him and actually wanted to spend time with him. But all Bran thought about was getting as far away from her as possible-because honestly, there was no other explanation for the man’s absence. It couldn’t just be work.

He was leaving on purpose, and it hurt her to know that she was the cause.

Maybe she should just stop trying?

Maria sighed as she pushed the room door open, feet dragging across the floor as she made her way inside.

She’d woken up to find Bran gone as usual and she’d decided to go for a walk, secretly hoping to find the cat that she’d lost that day and after almost an hour of walking, she’d given up and turned around, walking back to the castle.

Left with no-one to talk to, she’d decided to strike up small conversation with her maid, but the girl had looked too terrified of her to speak and Maria wondered what reason the girl had to be scared of her.

They didn’t know who she was, did they?

They couldn’t; not with the way she looked.

Freeing her hair from its ponytail, she sighed, tossing her head from side-to-side to free the tresses. She hooked her thumbs into her elastic shorts and dragged them down her legs, her shirt and bra following suit immediately.

After such a long walk, the only thing she could think about was soaking in the tub.

It was when she was in the process of taking off her panties, that she realised that she wasn’t alone in the room.

She paused, panties tangled around her ankles as she tried to listen carefully, straining her ears. The shower was running, which meant that someone was having a bath.

Now, because this was the king’s chamber, no one would dare come in here-well, except for the maids-but then again, it couldn’t be him because he was never around by this time so, really, what the hell was going on?

Silently, she stepped out of her panties, tossed them in the direction of her discarded clothes, then crept slowly to the bathroom. When she reached it, she turned the knob slowly and opened the door just as slowly in order not to draw attention to her movements, then poked her head in and…

And the sight she met nearly felled her.

Bran. Naked. In the shower. Body glistening with soap. Water running down the muscle-packed length.

She was seeing the vampire king naked in all his almost-seven-feet glory.

Was there a hotter sight? If there was, then she did not know of it.

Maria’s mouth went dry as she stared at him, her lower muscles drawing tight with want. With need. She was positive that her brain fried for a moment there because suddenly, she couldn’t even remember why she’d taken her clothes off in the first place.

Oh, wait. A bath.

She’d been hoping to use the bath-tub which was not far from the shower but now that Bran was having a bath, why not join him?

She could, right?

Yes. Yes, she could.

As the thought solidified, a plan started to form in her mind.

Ah, her day just took a turn for the better.

She wanted sex. She’d made it obvious quite a number of times, and every single time, he’d backed off, getting her off with his mouth instead.

This was her opportunity to take what she wanted. She trusted her body-and it’s hold over him-well enough to know that he would not be able to resist her. She has not been persuasive enough those other times, but she was going to go in for the kill today.

His head snapped towards her when she closed the bathroom door and her eyes immediately latched onto the metal glinting on his bicep. It was a gold… bracelet? And she’d never seen it before.

It was wide, about two inches, and the way it molded to his hand, the way the metal hugged the muscle like it was tailor made for it-and maybe it was-was nothing short of erotic and had her breaths quickening, the need to have him inside her even worse than it had been before.

“Maria…”

She reluctantly dragged her eyes from the bracelet to his face at the sound of her name and saw that he was now facing her, giving her his full attention and, gods, he was so sexy, so fucking hot, her knees lost strength and she thought they were going to sink into the ground with the weight of her desire.

His thick legs were planted wide, wet torso corded with muscles and ridges so defined that Maria had to fist her hands to fight the urge to touch them. His black hair, made even darker by the water, stuck to his forehead and on one hand, he held a bar of soap and the other sat idly on his chest.

Holding her gaze, he dragged the hand slowly down his body. When he passed the happy trail, her breaths quickened and when he fisted his very very hard and erect length, she thought she was going to pass out.

He stroked it.

From root to tip.

The room lurched.