The Vampire King’s Captive

MARIA

Maria lowered into the water, sighing in relief at the same time she heard him hiss in a breath. She looked up quickly, catching the look on his face before he could turn around.

Was he… hurt?

That she hadn’t responded to his kiss?

“I’ll be outside in case you need me.” He announced, already walking out of the bathroom.

“Stay.”

He froze.

Literally froze.

His right leg hung mid-air, his hand was unmoving on the bathroom door and not a single part of his body shook.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Slowly, he turned to her. “You’re asking me to stay?”

“Yes.”

His eyes trailed from her face to her neck, then to her knees which were visible through the water, and her bare feet propped up at the end. His throat worked on a swallow as his eyes trailed back to her face, lighting up a fire inside her. “Maria, I don’t think that’s a good idea-”

“Sit, Bran.” She sighed, frustration lacing her words.

His eyes flashed blue and she didn’t know whether it was because she’d used his name or because she’d ordered him, but that had him turning and walking towards her. He parked his ass on the edge of the tub and stared at her expectantly, his eyes dipping into the water once in a while as if he could see through it.

Maria wanted to make a decision, but before she did, she needed to know that it was the right one and that she was not actually making a mistake.

“Why did you come for me?”

He blinked, obviously thrown by her question. “It was getting late and-”

She shook her head. “No, not that.” When she saw his frown, she clarified. “Before, in the realm of Sorceri. Why did you come for me?”

His eyes widened and he looked away sharply. “It’s nothing.”

“Tell me the truth, Bran,” she begged. She didn’t even have the strength to yell at him. She was exhausted and she needed to make her decision and accept it. “I need to know. I can’t keep feeding off these little crumbs you give to me, so just please tell me why you came for me.”

Bran’s shoulders went tight as tension stole through his body and his hand on the tub tightened until Maria was certain that he would leave cracks behind on the marble.

“I dreamt your memories.”

It took her a second to process the words and when she did, she jumped into action.

“What the hell?” She lurched to her feet so fast, she almost slipped in the slippery water and fell. But Bran was quick, his arms latching around her as he caught her.

“Hey, it’s okay, Maria.” He tried to calm her but she slapped his hands away, slinking away from him and reaching for one of the towels on the pole, wrapping it around her body.

“No, it’s not,” she snapped, tightening the towel around her body and knotting it under her armpit. “But of course you’ll say it is because you’re so unbelievably selfish. It’s not your memories that are at stake, it’s not your secrets, your whole life, your-”

“Will you just fucking listen to me?” He snapped.

“No, I am done listening to you. I do not care for anything you have to-”

He shot up from the tub and reached out to touch her, but she shifted away from his touch and his hand hung, his eyes flashing with hurt. He ended up shoving his hand into his hair and pulling hard.

She fought a wince because she knew that it must hurt like hell. Then she mentally kicked herself because she still fucking cared about him even after everything.

“I came for you because I saw your fucking memories, Maria.” He yelled, losing control of his emotions for the first time in a very long time. “I came for you because I finally understood that your father is a disgusting old man who’s obsessed with ruining people’s lives. I came for you because I saw you for what you were-an innocent, selfless person, doing anything she can to help her mother.” She thought she would melt when he added, “I came for you because I fucking missed you, goddamnit.”

He was breathing hard with his word vomit, his fingers tugging hard at his hair. They stared at each other, Maria shocked with everything she’d just heard and Bran, probably regretting his admissions.

His cheeks flushed and his lips parted. He swallowed and took a half step back. He shook his head. “I… I don-”

Maria was almost too scared to ask. “So you saw everything? From when I was young and the things he… he made me do?”

Gods, the things he must have seen in her memories. Her father had made her do a lot of horrible things. Things that still made Maria throw up when she thought about them and Bran had seen everything.

He knew everything…

“No. Not everything.” He stretched his arm out as if to… what? Touch her? She felt like she could really use some support right now-both physical and mental. “I only saw a few things, but I was able to piece everything together.”

He might be lying but she didn’t care. At least he wasn’t going to make her talk about them.

So he’d seen her memories and decided to take her out of her father’s house. Why would he do that?

Why did he care what happened to her?

Only one way to know.

“Do you care about me?”

Her body thrummed, filling with awareness of the man standing in front of her. Of this big, beautiful, confused man that knew what he wanted, but was too scared to admit it.

Too scared to give in to what he was feeling.

His eyes flew up to hers, surprise filling them at her sudden question, and he shook his head even as his eyes dropped to her lips and he licked his own lips.

“Do you care about me, Bran?” She asked again.

She wanted nothing more than to jump this man right now. Bloody hell, she wanted to kiss him so bad, she was almost restless with the urge.

She wanted to touch him. To put her hands on him-

“Yes.” The word was gruff, filled with longing. “Fuck, yes, I care about you a fuck of a lot more than I’d like to.”

Without letting another second slip by, she ran towards him, jumped on him, pulled his head down on hers and kissed the hell out of him.