CONCERNED OR RELIEVED?

CHAPTER EIGHT

“There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but I have the feeling that if I did, the joy would be gone as well”

NICHOLAS SPARKS

GUINEVERE

He was right, I was not his wife and would never be, so why was my heart beating in such painful ways and why was I blinded with tears as I fled his presence.

Did I want him to love me?

I shook my head at the thought, I barely knew him and while I found the Duke attractive, he was a vampire and he only wanted to kill me.

Words my mama had told me flew into my heart as I fled, she had been right. I was nothing to the duke but food and he was going to marry me out of pity for my parents so I did not die without the name tag "marriage"

I walked into my room and flopped on the bed before pulling the blanket over my head. I must have dozed off for a bit as I did not notice the maid enter my room, I only heard her moving about singing under her breath.

"What pray tell are you muttering about?" I asked her raising my head

"Apologies my lady, I did not mean to wake you from your slumber. I am merely here on the duke's insistence to check up on you."

"You can tell him I am quite alright and I do not need him to bestow me his sympathy." I snapped

The maid looked at me like I had lost my head and then scurried out, no doubt to inform the duke of my condescending manner and tone

I sighed dramatically and laid down again, covering my head, how dare he ask a maid to check up on me, he should know how I was feeling as he had spoken to me in such a rude manner earlier.

"Arrogant fool" I screamed into my pillow

"Whom pray tell do you speak of, Guinevere"

His voice washed over me pricking all hairs on my body, he was here and I had just called him a fool! I pretended not to hear trying desperately to still my racing heart

"I know you are awake, I can hear your beating heart. It is quite fast for someone who is asleep." He said again

"Pardon me, your grace but I do not wish for anyone's company at the moment." I squeaked from where I was hiding.

"If that is your wish, I shall wait here until you are ready to accept someone's company" he responded

I groaned in frustration, my ears pricked up trying to discern where he was at the moment and if he actually was in the room with me. Not knowing any of these details and already frustrated, I raised my head from under the blanket and met his stare from across the room.

"You are up" he said simply, his eyes boring into mine

"Yes my lord"

"You are being so formal." He said again

"I shall address you as you should be addressed, a lord and nothing more." I muttered, glaring at him from across the room

"Is that the conclusion you drew up while asleep?"

"No, it was quite foolish of me to believe that there was anything more than being food to you. Forgive my naivety."

"You are more than food" he whispered and then cleared his throat like he had made a mistake. His voice washed over me again, there was something about the way he spoke. It was alluring and I was drawn to it, like a mouse to a trap filled with cheese.

"Of course I am more than food, you want to find out my relationship to your dead wife before you kill me."

"I am not going to kill you, whoever gave you that idea." He smirked

My eyes closed as I groaned and when I opened them, I gasped; he was standing in front of me.

"I did not hear you move." I stuttered

"I am a vampire, Guinevere. I do not move”

"What do you do?" I whispered suddenly aware of his cold presence, my nipples stood pushing against the fabric of my dress.

He bent to my eye level and gazed into my eyes, I was entranced. My hand moved of their own accord to his face, he was warm to touch and that startled me.

"You are warm" I said simply

"Yes" he whispered, his eyes darkening

"Aren't vampires supposed to be cold blooded." I breathed

"What books have you been reading, dear Guinevere."

"Well I needed to know what kind of person you are." I muttered indignantly

"You could always ask"

"Can I?" I said, my hand moving to touch his hair

He caught my hand in his and kissed it, his eyes closing. When he opened them again, they were red just as before at the dining and at my family's manor.

"Your eyes... they are red, again"

"Yes" he drawled dropping my hand.

I opened my mouth to say something else but couldn't as his hand reached my face, tracing the contours of my jaw

"No difference" he mumbled

I knew he was talking about his dead wife, Katherine but made no move to counter him. I just sat as he traced the lines of my face, running his fingers back and forth over my lips.

"Katherine" he muttered in anguish and my eyes filled with tears.

It would never be Guinevere eliciting this emotion from him, it would always be Katherine. I would always be a shadow of his dead lover, he was never going to see me.

The tear dropped and rolled down my cheek before I could stop it. He caught it in his hand and brushed it away.

"Why do you cry?" he asked, a frown appearing on his forehead

"Nothing, the wind I guess.”

There was no wind obviously but none of us pointed that out. The moment was broken as he straightened his back and stood, letting go of my hand.

"I am sorry you heard what you heard."

"Of course, your grace."

"Drogo"

"Pardon?" I asked clearly confused.

"My name is Drogo, you can call me that." he said again

"I would never think to call you your name, your grace." I said, although my heart was beating ten times faster

"I did not take you to be so submissive." He smirked, staring down at me

"I am not!" I glared

"There, that is the girl I met nine years ago." He said, the corner of his lips turning up in a smile

"You remember" I breathed

"I never quite forgot you, little Guinevere. Your scent is one of a kind… now if you will excuse me." He said and left my room.

I stared at his retreating back, he glided with a grace that I had never seen. He was dangerous and I was enthralled, I was going to do everything within my power to make him see me and not his dead wife but first, what did he mean by my scent was one of a kind