CHAPTER 14

She had resumed eating in the kitchen with Marie and the other staff. It was quite obvious she wasn’t a guest here but a prisoner so she decided to do well to stay within her limits.

She flipped the pages of the book that Marie had lent her to read, she was bored of staying indoors all day alone by herself.

Alessandro walked in with Cecily and another lady. Isabella’s eyes stared fixedly at Alessandro he was nothing like the prim and proper prince that she knew. His dark long hair was let loose and it draped against his shoulders. He was in casual clothing, nothing like his usual royal regalia. He looked almost normal until he flashed his fangs.

“It seems like you’re already adjusting to life here”, he remarked, “Well that’s good since you will be my escort to the ball of a lifetime", he came to sit beside her on the couch, and she moved away slightly in a bid to create room between them, however, that didn’t deter him as he nudged forward leaving no space between them.

“It's nothing like the usual balls you have attended. It’s a vampire ball and it has its own peculiarities that differentiate it from the human ball", he explained, he motioned towards the lady, “Valerie will take your measurements for your dress".

Valerie walked towards her and flashed her a smile, “Stand up please, let me take your measurements”. Valerie fussed about her for a while with a tape, she wrote down a few things, and when she was done she straightened up and packed her items in her bag.

“What colour will you like the dress?”, Valerie asked no one in particular.

“Black", Isabella and Alessandro said in unison.

“Wow”, Valerie exclaimed, “Your minds are working in harmony".

Isabella felt her cheeks redden. Alessandro smiled at her embarrassment, “Valerie you will get her dress ready in a fashion befitting of balls of this nature. I believe you understand?”, Alessandro asked, Isabella could have sworn she saw a glint of mischief in his eyes but it disappeared in a flash.

“Of course, Prince Alessandro. The dress will be to your liking”, Valerie replied and left the room, Cecily trailing behind her.

Isabella went back to the book she was reading, avoiding Alessandro’s gaze.

“The ball is of importance to my family and Isle. It is not exactly a celebration”, Alessandro began, “The five bloodline vampire kings of which my father is one of them would be in attendance. You don’t invite men like this leisurely to party when they all assemble in one place it is to address a common problem”.

She dropped her book and slowly brought her gaze to meet his. His eyes held her and her breath caught in her throat, she looked away and tucked her hair behind her ears. He watched her for a while before he resumed his explanation, “These vampire kings are dominant and thirsty bloodsuckers, you wouldn’t want to get on their wrong side".

“Why do you want me there?”, she asked.

He shrugged, “Every other vampire has a pet”.

“And?”.

He studied her briefly, “It will boost my image if King Frances the IV's very own daughter is my pet".

She sucked in her breath, “Then you wouldn’t care less if any of those ravagers decide they want me for dinner, why else would you want me there?”.

He leaned in further till he was inches away from her face, she gasped in surprise, and he smirked at her. Her eyes wandered across his face and she wondered why this devil had to be so handsome.

“I like to show off and you’re very beautiful”, he replied in his very deep voice.

She tried not to focus on the fact that he had said she was very beautiful but her body like always seemed to be in disagreement with her as she felt herself flush in embarrassment.

She tucked her hair behind her ear, this had become a habit when she was nervous. She watched as his eyes became hooded, and his countenance changed. His palm reached to cup the back of her neck, his other hand reached to tuck the few strands of hair that had managed to pull out from behind her ear and covered her face.

She felt hot at every part of her skin that came in contact with his hand which did not make sense since his skin was cold to the touch. He leaned further and his lips brushed hers, it sent tingles down her toes. It was only then that she was able to muster enough courage to pull away from him.

“You have no right to do that. You cannot force your will on me", she said fiercely.

He smiled, something he had been doing often, she wondered what was making him happy, “I can but I won’t”, he replied gruffly, “When I touch you, I want it to be because you want me to”, he stared intently at her, “When I touch you, I want you at my mercy. I want you to crave my touch so bad it’s the only thing that consumes your every thought day and night".

She visibly shuddered.

He smirked, his signature evil smirk, “And trust me we are going to be doing a whole lot more than kissing".