MARIAThe vampire stalked through the door, not even bothering to knock.He took one look at Maria standing a few feet away from the bed with her hands behind her, struggling to pull up the zipper of the gown, his eyes falling to her thighs where the dress had ridden up to reveal a bare expanse of skin, then he turned away with a dismissive, “Get ready, we’re leaving in five minutes.”She threw him a glare that he didn’t see because he was already slamming the door shut.As if she was deliberately delaying on purpose.The gown that the maid had given to Maria last night turned out to be even shorter than she’d thought it was, but if that was the only problem with the gown, she wouldn’t have been complaining.Not only did the gown stop at mid-thigh—sure, she wore a lot of gowns that stopped mid-thigh, but then they weren’t flared—it also had a neckline that dipped very low, as low as the tops of her breasts, and to top it all off, the gown was tight. Which made it very hard for her to
BRAN “Does she do that a lot?” “It’s not the first time.” “So she does that to avoid being held accountable for her actions.” “She’s not doing it on purpose,” Bran snapped without really meaning to, then cursed and threw the shot of blood into the back of his throat. Swivelling on his feet, he turned around and faced an equally pissed Corey. Ignoring the confused look the man threw at him, he went on. “She fell ill recently and she’s been blinking out a lot. She’s still not fully healed yet, and all through the journey, she didn’t eat anything. I assume that’s why she passed out.” Corey still watched me with that confused line between his brows, eyes narrowed. “How long was the journey?” “Three days,” Bran stalked over to one of the chairs and dropped down on it, draping his hands on the armrest and steeping his fingers in, fighting the urge to check on the sorceress just to make sure that she was okay. He didn’t have to. The house had countless maids and one of them had been p
BRAN He shouldn't be in here. He really shouldn't be in here. But he didn't want her to die. She was still his only hope of getting to his sister—although with every day that passed, be was beginning to second guess that fact—and if she died, then he might as well kiss any hopes of reuniting with his sister goodbye.And that just couldn't happen. He wasn't going to fail her as he had failed his parents. So he told himself that he was just going to see her for himself and make sure that she was still breathing. Only then would he leave.And that was exactly why he found himself sitting on the chair on the far end of her room. From his spot, he had a direct line of sight to her bed, so even if he didn't really want to look at her, he had no choice but to. Her small form lay curled on the bed under the sheets and he assumed that the maid had tucked her in. She was curled into herself in a defensive pose that he knew very well. It was one that men used when they were defending blows f
MARIA The maid stood frozen with the bed linens in her hands, staring at Maria as though she had spoken a language that Maria didn’t quite understand. With how wide and round her eyes were, one would think that Maria had asked her to behead a man and bring the head to her.When the woman just continued to stand there without saying anything, Maria repeated the question. “Is there any other entrance apart from the one out front?”The woman snapped out of her trance and stood straight, fixing Maria with a susceptive gaze. “Why do you ask?”Maria shrugged nonchalantly. “Just wondering.”To say that the woman didn’t believe her would be an understatement, but she wisely refused from questioning Maria further. “No, the house does not have any other entrance.”The woman’s eyes darted away for a split second when she’d uttered the words and that was enough for Maria to know that the woman was lying to her. She probably thought that Maria was asking so that she would escape and if that was wh
MARIA She hadn't seen him in almost a week. She wasn't sure that she'd ever gone that long without seeing the vampire even when she still used to live in her cell, and she was now starting to believe that the vampire might actually want to kill her. But then why did he keep feeding her? Did he want her to die fresh and well fed? It had to be him ordering the maid to bring her food because it definitely wasn't his friend. The man probably hated her more than the vampire did and if it were up to him, she'd probably be sleeping down in the dungeons—or dead. Since the vampire hadn't told her much about Corey's mate that she'd supposedly killed, she'd asked the maid, Olivia, about her and the woman had willingly filled her in on everything about the late woman, down to her favourite meal. Maria noticed, however, that Olivia didn't speak about the late woman reverently. There had been no emotion or inflection in her voice as she'd talked about the woman and one time, Maria had wondere
BRAN“They remind me of when we used to train back at your castle.”Bran’s eyes found Corey’s who was standing beside him, but the man wasn’t looking at him. He leaned forward to rest on the picket fence as he watched the children training with their swords in the training grounds.“I believe we started earlier than they did, didn’t we?” Without waiting for Bran to reply, Corey turned to him with a curious line in his brows. “Do you still keep in touch with Lancaster?”Bran frowned at the mention of the name, his mind struggling to put a face to it and when he did, he frowned. Lancaster was another kid in their little circle back when they used to train at the palace and they’d all been tight until they weren’t anymore.Everyone had gone about doing their own thing while Lancaster had grown into an insufferable prick. He’d thought himself above everyone else—even Bran who had been the crown prince—and him and Bran had gotten into several fights. Eventually, they’d cut ties.Bran shrugg
BRAN When Corey left the house last night and didn’t return, Bran knew that there was something wrong.He’d held the feeling off for as long as he could but the longer Corey didn’t return, the more intense the feeling got. Bran wouldn’t even have felt as uneasy as he did if the man had simply sent a message telling him that he was going to be back late.It wasn’t like Corey to just disappear without letting him know beforehand.That feeling of uneasiness increased when one of Bran’s men who had left with him that night came into the house, terribly injured and missing an arm, his eyes darting around in fear.“What happened to you?” Bran asked, shooting up from the couch he’d been sitting on.The man’s voice shook as he spoke, “Men… they attacked us… have master.”Confused by the man’s words that didn’t add up, Bran hurried over to him and gripped him by the shoulders, shaking him and his eyes blinked into focus. “What happened?” Bran asked again, forcefully this time.The man’s throa
MARIA"What the fuck?"More accurate words could not have been uttered in that moment, because seriously, what the fuck?Maria wasn't sure what just happened. One moment she'd been running out of the house, her escape plan going surprisingly well without any interruptions, when suddenly, she'd felt arms around her and before she could even process what was happening or found the strength to struggle, she'd found herself being dropped unceremoniously on the floor in the living room. Had one of the guards seen her after all?She'd looked through the window, searched very well before finally making up her mind to make a run for it when she'd found the grounds empty, without a single guard. She hadn't focused on the fact that it was odd that there were no guards; she'd simply taken her chance. Well, if she was going to dwell on odd things, then she would ponder on why Corey had left the house last night, hadn't returned, then only for the vampire to leave the house too, but no, she wasn
I honestly do not know how to react properly to the fact that I just completed this book, but I am going to try my possible best and bring out all the words that are stuck in my heart. The Vampire King's Captive, Bran and Maria's story, has come to an end and I have never been more reluctant to let my characters go. Seriously, I found myself sitting in front of my laptop about to start writing in Maria's POV only for me to remember that I'm already done with the book. 😭I. Was. In. Pain. I have written about three books and this is the only one that I found hard to let go. I guess I'll just have to settle for re-reading their story and seeing bits of them in the next story in this series.Yes, you heard that right. It's going to be a series but whether you're going to keep reading depends on how much you want to get to know the characters(I really hope you read). The next book in the series is Corey and his mate's story, and the last book is Iris' story. I honestly cannot wait. I c
ONE MONTH LATERMARIA"Put the head in.""Bob your head faster.""Squeeze it—yeah, just like that."Flattening her tongue along the underside of Bran's cock, Maria watched his hands clench into fists, lost in the throes of pleasure and pain, his face contorted to match the emotions. In broad daylight when they both had things to be doing, such as Maria learning her new duties as a queen and Bran who was supposed to be having a meeting with his most trusted advisors, they had both snuck off into their room, wanting to take the edge off. One would think that with how hot their passion was, it would burn out quickly, but instead, it was like the more they had each other, the more insatiable they became for one another, seeking each other out during the day to get the most intense parts of their desires off before they would meet at night. But then again, maybe it was because they rarely saw each other during the day lately.Right now, he was leaning against the door shirtless, with je
BRAN Bran wasn't going to lie. When he'd walked into that crowd, he'd gone in with a plan B because he knew that he had wronged Maria terribly and the chances of her forgiving him—or even listening to him—were very slim. With his heart in his throat, he'd poured out his feelings, baring the contents of his soul in the words he'd spoken to her. He'd gone against everything he'd learnt and knew, using his words instead of his actions to show her how he felt. He had put everything on the line, professing his love out in the open for his people to hear, knowing fully well the risks behind it—knowing that she could refuse him and that the shame would have destroyed him, along with the pain.The news of what he'd done would no doubt travel far and wide across all realms, but he'd been prepared for it. As he had been prepared for the disappointment he would feel if she'd refused him. His plan B, had she refused him, was for him to tuck his tail between his legs and return back to his cast
MARIA"Don't go," The object of her suffering called out, his voice low and broken, filled with longing, want and all the things Maria couldn't bear to hear right now but wanted to hear still. "Please."Maria stopped, hyper aware that they were in the middle of a crowd and that everyone was looking at them. She wanted to run away from the onslaught of emotions that she was feeling, but a greater part of her wanted to stay, to go to the one man who could make her feel whole again. "Please," Iris added, weakening Maria's already tenacious grip on resolve. She felt betrayed that Iris had pulled such a move on her but deep down, Maria knew why she had done it and that was the only thing stopping her from feeling real anger towards Iris. Maria stopped but she didn't turn back around for fear of what she would do if she faced Bran again. She couldn't bear seeing him hurt and not go to him. Even with her back to him, she knew that he had walked closer to her. She was just that in tune to
MARIA "Why are you dressed like that?" It was the day for Iris' welcome party, and the host, currently standing on Maria's doorstep, was wearing a simple straight gown that reached her ankles. "What's wrong with my gown?" Iris frowned, pulling the material away from her body to examine it. "There's nothing wrong with it except for that fact that it's too casual to wear for your own party, don't you think?" Maria subtly stepped out of the way, making space for Iris to pass but she kept her feet firmly planted on the mat. "Oh," Realization flicked across her features and she waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about that. I'll change once I get to the castle. There's time."Maria nodded, now understanding why she was wearing that gown. She had probably showed up like this because she didn't want her gown to get rumpled or stained while coming here. Still, Maria hedged. "Do you want to come inside for a few minutes before we go?" Her eyes flicked to the car sitting in the drive
MARIAWe need a cook, Maria thought as she stirred the mixture in the bowl while fetching pans from the rack on the wall at the same time with her powers. Over the past few days, she had taken on the task of hiring a live-in maid, a cleaner that would come every two days and gardener, but she hadn't employed a cook yet. She had not been allowed into the kitchen when she was younger and therefore didn't know how to prepare a decent meal, so for the past three days—because while heartbreak couldn't kill her, she could very well die of hunger—she had taken up the task of cooking. To save her time, all she would have to do was envision the meal she wanted and it would appear in front of her, but she had recently come to see how important a cook was. She wanted to learn how to make at least a few meals and it didn't hurt to learn with a cookbook. That was what she'd been doing for the past three days anyway, and the meals had come out okay—most of the time. The doorbell rang through th
BRAN "If you value what is left of your miserable fucking life, you will tell me where my sister is right now."Bran might as well be talking to himself because there was no sign on the man's face to show that he'd just heard what Bran said. His eyes remained completely shut and his face, blank. Making a fist, Bran reared his hand back and sent his fist flying into the man's face, getting him right in his nose. The asshole jerked from the impact and groaned, his hands flying to his face to cradle his broken bone, confirming Bran's suspicions that the man actually was alive but was just pretending that he wasn't so that Bran would think him dead and abandon him. This was the man that had betrayed him. The man that had given confidential information to Ariti. The man that had indirectly contributed to him losing Maria. At the thought, his heart gave a sharp throb and an ache started at the back of his right eye. Hating the man even more for what he had caused him, Bran sent two mor
MARIA She searched all the rooms in the house, even went down to the dungeons to check but she still couldn't find who she was looking for.Then she came face to face with the door to the room she wasn't sure she wanted to enter. It's huge black mahogany door taunted her, daring her to push it open. To step into the room that she had not entered since she was a child. A room that was no doubt still filled with the presence of her late father. But she shouldn't be scared, should she? She was the Queen of Sorceri, and with every second that passed, the thought started to solidify in her mind. With a wave of her hand, she sent the door flying back and she stormed in, her eyes sweeping the dark walls of the room where a single portrait of Ariti hung. Her powers had the frame crashing to the ground face-down. The man in the picture was dead. It was fitting that the picture should be destroyed too.Her eyes searching the room, she saw a door behind a shelf. The shelf obstructed the door
MARIA"You must have done the calculations already, but just incase, I'll do it for you. Your sister is the female vampire from a royal bloodline and Maria, my clueless daughter here, is the Queen of Sorceri."After those words, Maria heard nothing else. It was like her ability to hear dissapeared and she could only think. Feel. What did her father just say? She was the Queen of Sorceri?How was that even possible? The Queen of Sorceri was basically the most powerful sorceress amongst the Sorceri and if she was that creature, then she was the most powerful sorceress in the worlds. But how could that be? She had never felt weaker than she did right now. And to think that her own father wanted to offer her as a sacrifice just to get his powers back. After using her to do all his evil work, he was going to kill her? Was she so worthless to him?Tears slid down her cheek continuously but no sound came out of her mouth. She was too astonished by everything she'd learnt today. First, fi