"Or could it be that you like watching me suffer, my lord?" she asked accusingly. She could feel the hard pounding of her heart on her ears like a drum.She was almost sure that it was because of the blood gushing out of her wound and the pain that came with it. But when Reed squatted in front of her, held the sides of the bed where she sat, and stared at her closely with those brooding turquoise eyes, she doubted if the pain solely caused her heart to go frantic."And what do I get from watching you suffer?" He spoke with heaviness in his voice, yet with frigidness at the same time as if he wanted to freeze her to death for testing his patience. But wasn't he also testing hers?"Trust me, I will be in any place but here. I don't like your stubborn temperament, and your entire presence burdens me, Lady Lewis. Do you understand that?"It was like a slap. A hard one for that matter. He had always made her feel that she was only a burden to him, and it had always hurt her pride, but it f
"Hello, Mr. Leighton," Melrose's polite response, her gaze lingering at Raphael's face.Sure, she had seen him several times in balls and soirees, so it was right that she was familiar with him. But it was the first time she had seen him up close and noticed his brown eyes. Those were different from most brown eyes she had seen. His was way brighter, and the outer lining of his pupil had a different color, like gold. And for some reason, she felt that she had seen it before.Raphael smiled at her. She offered back a small smile, before tearing her gaze from him."I thought you ladies went for a walk, so I brought Raphael here to discuss our business," Benedict said."Actually, we are going to the town's library, so you can have our place and talk all you want," Arianne said with a little hint of sarcasm because it was obvious his brother wanted them to leave the front yard."If the ladies want to have tea a little longer, then we can just go inside, Benedict," Raphael proposed.Though
"I acknowledge my mistake. It was over the line," Reed said that Melrose could not believe her ears. Reed Knight, lowering his pride and apologizing to her? Impossible!"Really, you are sorry? You don't sound sincere enough," she said.Reed threw her a sharp look."And it took you what, three weeks and two days to acknowledge your mistake and apologize?" Melrose shook her head. "I don't think if I didn't drag you here in my room tonight you would even dare come near me."Before he could say anything, she spoke again. "Anyway, I don't care about what happened now. Let me ask you, my lord. How did you know about my father's affair with Rosamund? And if you knew they were in his study, why did you insist on going? Do you want to catch them in the act? What for?"Melrose took a step closer, leaving two steps as their distance. Her room was dim with only some candles lit, but it was enough for her to have a good look at Reed's face. He stared back at her, his eyes darker than usual. Altho
The double doors of De Noir manor creaked as Melrose pushed it open. She took a step forward carefully as if she would fall somewhere if she didn't watch her steps. The marbled floor and high ceiling with old golden chandeliers told her that it was once a beautiful and grand manor. It was abandoned after Princess Celestine's death, and ever since, no one had the courage to enter the manor again until Reed came.Although it looked gloomy, it was clean and the things inside were organized. She assumed Reed had it cleaned since his arrival. It wasn't like those manors she had seen in the town, but she could not say it was that bad. In fact, there was something in those paintings in the walls that mesmerized her.She took more steps. Her shoes were clicking against the floor. She stopped in front of the painting that caught her attention the most. It was a woman standing above a hill while looking at the town filled with floating lanterns. Her long black hair was flowing down her back, sl
"Find another bride."Vincent's head snapped to the door of his chamber where Reed walked into. He was standing near the window, watching the light raindrops while having a good midnight drink. The corners of his lips rose, not taking what he heard seriously."You have a dark humor, Reed."But Vincent knew Reed was the kind who never told jokes. When Reed stood five steps away with a stern look, Vincent's smile disappeared. It was replaced with a mischievous expression."Do you really mean that?""I always mean what I say. You know that, Vincent," replied Reed, his eyes hooded with unfathomable darkness.Vincent smirked. "And you also know that you cannot boss me around like I will do whatever you want. Don't provoke me, Reed. We had agreed on this. Don't fuck up.""The elders won't like your idea sacrificing an innocent life for your damn family tradition-""Sacrificing an innocent life, seriously?" Vincent laughed. "How sure are you that she will die? I only said it's possible. But
Vincent's eyes that were midnight black stared at the man held by the guards looking at him with anger and disgust. Sure he was evil but none dared make a commotion like this. He was having a hard time maintaining his clean name because of idiots like this man. They didn't know when to strike or if they even had a chance of surviving after receiving a blow from him."Go to hell, bastard! You deserve to rot-" Before the man could finish, he received a kick from a guard that made his face twist in pain. Vincent didn't look the least bit concerned. He was annoyed. If only they were far from the public eyes, he would have chopped the man's fingers or broken his limbs one by one to make him see he was messing with the wrong person.Stopping half foot away, Vincent looked down. In a low voice they could only hear, Vincent said, "It is a pity you missed the chance to shoot me. Since you are brave enough to anger me, I assume you are also brave enough to receive the punishment I will give.""
"My mother died when I was eight, since then I don't remember anything. I don't think there was an accident. Father said my mother died due to illness. And this bracelet… he said it was given by her. Why I lost my memory I don't know. Until now I'm still wondering. But sometimes I think maybe I was traumatized." Melrose looked at the bracelet again and continued, "The past years, I've been trying to remember just fragments but I stopped in disappointment. Maybe it was meant for me to forget."Hearing this, Reed thought that the most normal reason for her to lose memories in such a young age was being traumatized. Humans were fragile beings who clung onto attachments and emotions which often broke their hearts.Melrose's biological father was someone who only existed in her mind as her "blood father" as he was never named, nor was there any trace of him kept by Lord Lewis for her to see. According to what she heard, he was from another land who left her mother pregnant with her. Lord L
"I am more than that," Reed said and Melrose couldn't fathom what he meant."What do you mean?""I'm not just a pureblooded vampire.""Why? Are you a hybrid? Like half vampire and werewolf? Or are you perhaps vampire and a witch?" She taunted but she knew that wasn't possible. Based on all she had read, crossbreeding between those three kinds went against the law of nature and their offsprings never made it alive."You also know about werewolves and witches?"She cleared her throat and leaned back on the sofa, composed. "I never encountered one but I knew things about them because as you guessed it right, I have taken a liking in supernatural stuff. Since you are a vampire, have encountered any of them? What do the witches look like? Is it true they are ugly?" Now that she finally encountered a non-human being whom she could talk to, she couldn't put her mind at rest. There were so much she wanted to know."Didn't you read a lot of fairy tales in your childhood? Witches are portrayed
He must be stronger and wiser than I thought. I figured that I'm not very unfortunate. I met a strong and influential vampire like him and he is the perfect person who can help me achieve my goals."What else can you do?" I really wonder."Hmm…"In in instant, he was in front of me, pinning me at the back of the old piano.I gasped when his finger grazed my arm in a slow provocative manner. It ran up to my shoulder, then to my neck."What are you doing?""What do you think, my wife?"My wife.I don't know but it sounds strangely… good. What the hell is happening to me? I don't know what change but I could feel that something did change. Is it because of what happened between us that night?All my thoughts were wiped out my mind when I felt Landon's tender lips. His kiss was shallow at first but soon it became deep and urgent.I don't know what I should do anymore. I felt like a wild flower lost in the middle of the forest. I can't seem to justify all my actions, nor stop my emotions f
"Because there is no point hiding the truth now that what I was scared of already happened.""And you are out of the picture now. You can't change the fact that Eve has a new life. So even if you had presented yourself as her mate and wants to take the responsibility to keep her, do you think you still have the right to do that? You don't, so better back off and let me do the job since I'm his husband," Landon said."You don't love her. You just want to use her against Alec because you know very well that Eve has the face of Elizabeth, Alec's mate."Alec's mate? Did he mean that my grandma Elizabeth was Alec's mate? But how did it happen that she married another man? What happened between them?"How intelligent you are, Carter," Alec butt in with a smirk on his face as if he is enjoying this so much.Carter just clenched his jaw on Alec's remark. His look can almost kill and I could feel that he is only stopping himself because maybe like me, he also knew that if this would escalate i
I don't know why it feels weird. I felt a little bad for turning my back on Carter and leaving, but I also feel a little pleasant for walking back to Landon. So complex, isn't it? I don't even know how feeling two different emotions at the same time is possible.I know Carter doesn't want me to go to Landon because he's afraid I would end yo getting hurt, alright. But he doesn't know what I feel. I trust my instincts and it's saying that I can trust that Landon won't hurt me. And also, I didn't feel right leaving him like that. He is all alone while Carter has his family so I don't think it would be a big deal if I leave Carter for the moment so I can talk with Landon. I really need to have a lot sorting out to do, especially about this feelings I have for Carter and Landon.The moment I was close to Landon, I heard a sound of nearing chopper. I thought it was the one Carter's family used, but it wasn't.The chopper landed near us. Henry went out from it."I apologize if it took a whi
I frowned at him. "Don't say that.""Say what?""Don't say 'I love you more' because I feel like my love for you is smaller than what you have for me. Just say 'I love you' or 'I love you too'. I think it's better."His eyebrow shot up. "I don't see the difference.""Whatever. I'm eager to see my parents now so we should get going.""Glad you reminded me that," he said as if he had dark thoughts earlier that made him forget our main business.It was already late when we set a foot in Seattle, so we went to a hotel and decided to go meet my Mom early in the morning tomorrow."Anyway, you'd show up too? I mean, how am I gonna explain that you are with me? The alibi you've rooted in my parents' mind was that I went on a vacation alone because I got heartbroken with Carter. Wouldn't they be weirded out that I brought a man after my short vacation?" I asked while we were on the car he rented, with Henry driving us to Lynnwood."Why don't you just say the truth, then?""What truth?""That y
Isabella's POVLife has always been unfair to me or maybe I want something against my fate.When I was three my mother died in a car accident. Later my father turned his back on me. He re-married Julia when I was seven. She came with her own baggage; her twin daughter Nicole and Natasha.After this I never felt I had a family .My father's life revolved around his wife, twin daughter and his new born son Jaxon.I was out of the frame of this happy family.My dad had a textile company but with the expansion program, he was rarely home which benefited Julia and her daughter. I was treated like trash and was forced to eat trash i.e. remainings and slept at trash i.e. store.My life was a modern Cinderella story minus the fairy godmother and prince charming.But who needs all this when I was a one-woman army. I learned to fight my own battle and ticket to freedom.I graduated from high school at the age of sixteen and did my bachelors on finance at nineteen.I had enough credit points to pa
His lips parted on the last part of what I said as though he didn't understand any of it."Your… boyfriend," he uttered the words slowly as if he is trying to understand it. "What do you mean, I thought…" he trailed off and just dropped his gaze on me, obviously asking for an explanation."Carter and I broke up couple of months ago, remember? I was heartbroken that's why I went to Arizona for a vacation because I wanted to forget and take a break. It was a coincidence that Landon was also there. We developed something while we were spending time with each other. He helped me coped up, so…" I shrugged and just smiled because I don't know what more I can say."Hello, sir. Landon Arthurs," Landon introduced himself politely."Arthurs? Are you connected to the owner of Arthurs Group in England, perhaps?""I'm the one running it," Landon said with pride as if he wanted to impress Dad."Oh!" Amazement was evident on Dad's eyes. Landon smiled, satisfied."Come, come. I will ask the maids to
"But something is bothering you, am I correct?"I didn't answer because he will just ask me what is it."Is it that Rellis?" he went on in a low and gentle voice."You are thinking twice of marrying me again because you don't want to hurt him. You care for him… you love him.""But I love you more."My eyes widened a fraction, surprised at my own words. Even Landon was taken aback by that."You love me more? Did I hear It right, Eve?"I was at loss for words."Love, please… say it again. Who is it you love more?"I shut my eyes tight. He chuckled and planted a soft kiss on my lips that made me look at him again."Say it again, Eve," he encouraged as he started kissing me on my neck. Now I don't think I can still think straight."Eve," he pleaded and from my waist, his hands crawled and wander around my curves and the parts that he had only touched. I felt low electric bolts when he touched my bare skin under the thin fabric I was wearing."Say it—""Yes, Landon, damn it! I love you mor
Back then, I didn't want Zach to visit there. But when I slowly learned to accept everything, little by little, I accepted Klyde was part of Zach's life. He is, after all, his father. Just like how my mom is still Mommy. I visit her at times, and even if I want to bring Zach, he doesn't want to.Mommy still haven't accepted it all, despite what happened. Even then, not once, he could not visit Ate. I thought he would also accept eventually, the mistake of Ate and her grandson, but to this day I am still waiting for that day to come. I don't know if she regretted the things she had done in her most private moments. All I know is, whatever she did before, I genuinely forgave her.But forgiveness doesn't mean I've forgotten everything he's done. It was still painful to look back until now. But I know holding grudges won't bring any good. You need to move on in order to see the brighter side of life, to taste the light in spite of how you got drowned in darkness in the past."Ma'am, I've
I dropped the book in panic and almost jumped. I turned to him. Why does he tend to appear suddenly?Lucian's eyes were far more intense than last night. I had a nightmare after that short interaction. Won't it make me have a nightmare again tonight?Holding the book and photo, I stood up and faced him, face formal. His cold and suspicious look remained. It was like he just caught me doing something illegal and he's ready to punish me for it."I heard you said Emiliano Bosque. Tell me. How did you know him?" His voice was as cold as ice.I did not say a word. How would I answer, anyway?"Why can't you answer?" he demanded.My grip on the book tightened as he slowly stepped closer. I stepped back until I felt the shelf. I was swallowed. I think I've said everything cheaply in my mind. He's damn scaring the shit out of me!"Answer. Me."And he stopped half a foot away. He looked at me, wondering if he was still standing and as if his patience was about to be tightened."Who really are y