ALLURING

CHAPTER TEN

“Luxury lives in the finer details. It is a cloth napkin at a dinner table. It is a mint on your pillow before bed”

IGGY AZALEA

GUINEVERE

We arrived at the house of my papa with the duke and I not talking to one another. His eyes were closed just as it had been when he had taken me from my papa's house and his hands fisted by his side. At that time I had wondered at why he kept his eyes closed but now I could imagine it was because he did not want to be involved in a conversation with me which was for the better because it gave me ample time to think about what I shall do immediately I become his wife and how I could avoid whatever experiments he had planned for me.

I was deep in thought when the carriage came to a stop in front of my papa's manor, the duke opened his eyes and turned to me.

"You should go inside first, I have something I need to take care of first."

"I shall wait here for you and then we shall go in together." I told him.

I did not want to go into the house alone to face the stares of my parents and the questions I was sure they were going to ask.

"You are scared of them." He stated simply.

I stilled

How had he seen that... could he read minds now? I asked myself.

"Of my papa, yes. I do not want the questions I am sure they have readied to ask me so you are going to be my shield throughout the evening." I told him, calming my racing heart

"Interesting... what pray tell are these questions you are hoping to avoid."

My cheeks flushed.

Was he joking!... he should know that my parents would want to know if he had touched me already in that way.

"Well, they would want to know if you have...if we have... you know." I blushed, swallowing painfully

"Made love?" He completed watching me with great interest.

I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat, he was making this difficult for me, sitting there and pretending he did not know what I was talking about.

"Well yes and I don't think I want to answer that."

"Why not? You can simply tell them we haven't, or do you want us to before the wedding?” he asked slowly

"No!" I snapped

"I am quite sure you will enjoy it." He countered, smiling.

How did I know he was smiling when I wasn't even looking in his direction. I could feel him, all the nerves in my body hyper aware of his presence.

"Please just do whatever it is you want to do and meet me back here." I ground out; he was not going to get a reaction out of me.

"Very well, I shall tell Arthur to guard you. I wouldn't want anything to happen while I'm gone or anyone asking you questions about sex."

Breath whooshed out of my mouth as the word "sex" rolled out his tongue, my cheeks grew hot and before I knew it I had raised my hand and began fanning my cheeks. His eyebrow quirked up in a questioning manner.

"Are you hot, milady?" he drawled

"No... I mean yes, the carriage is hot." I squirmed in my seat

"Hmmmpphh" he said and got out.

I rested my back properly, waiting for his return. It wasn't that I could not go in without him, it was that I did not want to. He was right, I was scared of the way I was sure my parents were going to look at me with their eyes of pity.

They had given me to him and they were probably waiting with candles for the day they were going to hear about my death.

I did not know for how long I waited but suddenly it seemed like I was not alone in the carriage anymore. I opened my eyes and almost screamed.

Sitting beside me and wiping his mouth was the duke!

"You are back" I said, eyes wide eyeing him.

He turned to me with red eyes and smiled, I could see his fangs glistening with red and that red could only mean one thing… blood.

I flinched which had him staring at me strangely before he looked the other way closing his eyes. I took a deep breath and touched his hand.

"Let me see you." I told him softly

He turned and gazed at me, his eyes still bloodshot and his fangs still protruding. I touched my hand to his cheek and left it there gazing also into his eyes till they began turning back to warm brown and till his fangs disappeared completely into his mouth.

"You were scared of me." He noted still looking at me.

"I was but not anymore, you do not need to hide from me." I told him trying to smile although I was still shaken.

"Liar" he said

I gulped, I was sure he knew I was scared.

"I am trying so help me out here." I snapped at him

He threw his head back and laughed rocking the carriage. I warmed up immediately and closed my eyes letting his laughter wash through me, i wasn't afraid of him anymore.

"I shall ask you about your trip later but for now, let's go in" I told him.

He held my hand and helped me out of the carriage, I gripped his hand tightly and walked steadily to the door. The door opened and my papa welcomed us inside, shaking the duke's hand and darting his eyes in my direction signaling me to go to my mother.

I ignored him and held on to the duke's hand, we were ushered into the dining room where the food had already been set and I was made to sit in front of the duke and beside my mother and sister. They seemed like strangers to me at the moment and so I kept looking at the duke, drawing strength from him.

He did not look in my direction but I could tell that he knew I was staring at him because at one point in between the meal, he had smiled at his plate in a reassuring manner.

We all ate in silence, everyone no doubt waiting for the food to be over so we could finally talk. My father interrupted the silence by clearing his throat and turning to the duke.

"I am concerned about something, your grace." He began.

I groaned in my seat, here it comes.

The duke did not respond but merely raised an eyebrow, a signal that my father could continue talking.

"Well you see, I have been told by my wife here that my daughter is no longer a virgin."

The knife I was using to cut into my meat clattered to the floor as I stared at my papa, what was he saying?

I looked over at my mama who shrugged helplessly, they had planned this!

"What do you mean?" The duke asked suddenly interested.

"According to the rules of the ton, a lady who has lost her virginity is not liable for marriage." My papa said smirking.

"Papa" I began but was silenced by the look he gave me... he was trying to offer me a way out of marriage with the duke and I should have been grateful but instead I was enraged. How dare they try to control my life with such lies, did they think I did not want to marry the duke?

"It's alright, I will marry your daughter either way and no one needs to know about her er... loss of a maidenhead." The duke interrupted.

My cheeks grew hot for the second time that evening and I swallowed watching two grown men stare themselves down.

My papa was looking for words to say to counter the duke who was still eating his meal with such relish.

"Before you say what I think you are about to say, if I should hear about this lie outside of this house, I shall kill you. Now if you would excuse me, my fiancée and I will return." The duke said simply and got up holding a hand out to me.

I raised my eyes to meet his and could see laughter in them, he was laughing! I got up and put my hand in his much to the amazement of my mama and the distaste of my papa. We walked hand in hand back to the carriage with the duke holding onto me tightly.

He beckoned on Arthur to go ahead with the carriage and asked that we walked. I bit my lips to keep my mouth because what I wanted to tell him was thank you.

"You asked me if Vampires did teleport." He said to me.

"Yes" I responded wondering why he had brought that up.

He grabbed my hand and dragged me to me, pressing my body against him.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my eyes wide with fear.

"Close your eyes." He whispered in my ear.

My eyes fell closed and then I heard him say again.

"You can open them now."

I opened them and we were standing in my room, in his house.

My eyes widened in amazement, we had teleported!

"You... we..." i sputtered, unable to find words

"Yes Guinevere and your father is not a very good liar." He said

"How did you know?"

"Know what? That he was lying?"

"Yes"

"That's simple, you talked earlier about sex and you were blushing. Only virgins blush when they talk of sex." He announced

"Well" i blushed, my voice trailing away

"Do you want me to confirm your status?" He asked, his voice lowering dangerously.

I glanced up at his face to see if he was joking but his eyes were dead serious. My heart leaped in my chest

"Kidding, dear Guinevere; I was only kidding." He kissed my hand and murmured something about "exquisite" although I couldn't be sure and left me tingling all over.