Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 69: Veins Of Desire

Chapter 69: Veins Of Desire

"Lord.....Lord Ivan?" Uttering his name through trembling lips, Samantha couldn’t bring herself to look away from his glowing red orbs. His dark irises had taken a different shape, contracting ovally that they didn’t appear as the type of eyes any vampire would bear. As terrifying as they may appear to her, they burned with an intensity that matched the flickering flames on the candles, but strangely, she wasn’t as frightened by the sight as she had imagined herself to be

Her heart drummed at the thought of what he might do to her, a feeling of incertitude taking over, but she heaved a deep breath and pushed all her negative conclusions aside, knowing this was her chance to win some of Ivan’s trust.

"Are you.... Does it still hurt?" She carefully leaned forward, placing her palm to his solid chest yet feigning ignorance to his glaring eyes. "I don’t see any visible wounds. Is it internal? Do I need to call the Physician’s attention?"

Keeping mute, Ivan’s gaze lowered to the soft delicate palm that rested on his chest, close enough to feel his raging heartbeat, and when he lifted his gaze to look at the woman he assumed would be terrified to her wits, she hardly cowered in front of him, rather, he saw the concern in her green eyes as she continued to stare intently at his bare chest, searching for any scars or wound.

She was still afraid, he could sense it, but why wasn’t she running away from him? When he revealed this side of himself to her in the orb room, she had passed out on the spot, but somehow this side of him had been triggered, and the concern in her eyes disturbed him.

His heart, although dormant for many years, began to stir with an unfamiliar emotion whilst he struggled to control the sudden turbulence within himself.

"There are no scars." She managed to say after taking note of his flawless skin, "no visible wounds–" her breath immediately ceased in her throat when he unceremoniously grabbed her wrist, and she was forced to meet his glowing red eyes. Gently, he pulled her hand away from his chest, but he didn’t let go of her wrist.

"Are you still in pain, My Lord? Is there anything I can do to help you?" She asked, staying dutiful to her role as his servant, but then, she noticed the way a subtle glimmer of crimson red began to emerge from the darkness of his irises. His grip on her wrist tightened in his attempt to suppress the unsettling feeling in his chest.

"You know not what you speak of." He whispered icily. "And your concern is terribly misplaced, it will be better not to hide your fears from me or it might send the wrong message." Ivan was by far intrigued and infuriated when she kept staring at him in the face, although not sympathetically, but her green eyes made him feel she could see the man behind his vampire facade.

It bothered him, no one has ever looked at him in that manner before.

"My Lord, my fears have nothing to do with taking care of your health." She freed her dainty wrist from his grip. "I am your servant, and no servant would flee when they see their master/mistress in pain. The more you hide it, the more severe the consequences will become for you, and it can be fatal." She advised conscientiously, and she could see Ivan fight through the pain as he whispered.

"The similarity between the pain I am going through and your opinion is that I asked for none." The crimson hue in his eyes visibly darkened, reflecting his inner turmoil. "Your words are nothing but empty platitude to me."

Unable to keep up with the mask that shielded his pain, Ivan clutched his chest when the searing ache intensified, and his head fell forward so that Samantha could no longer see or make out his expression.

The veins in his forehead throbbed, and he gritted his teeth in agony, wondering when the pain would stop. It felt like his flesh was being torn on the inside.

After what his brothers had done, this pain in his chest had been a natural occurrence for him since the little piece of the orb was still fixed permanently to his heart. Even as a child, he had to bear the excruciating pain in silence, but the only unbelievable thing he noticed after that day was that he survived it. A sharp piece of the orb was thrusted deep into his heart, yet he woke up alive.

That explained the reason he never died when his little lamb stabbed him with the dagger on their first meeting. Vampires had the power of immortality, they could live for years, and centuries to come, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t die once harmed viciously.

Over the years, the pain had heightened immensely, and he had been drinking a special kind of poison to subside the pain. He had requested it from the physician, but not every treatment comes with an advantage.

The poison had its own negative effect, but he didn’t mind taking it.

"What if....What if I give you my blood instead?" Samantha, who was still clueless about what was going on with him, had suggested out of blue, making Ivan’s eyes snap as he met her gaze. She gulped nervously as she tried to explain her reason, "Actually, vampires consume blood for faster healing, isn’t that why you drink that blood wine every morning? What if all you need is the taste of human blood?"

Samantha had thought deeply about it, maybe not too deep, but if the vampire brothers see he’s marked her overnight, it might give them the impression that she is fulfilling part of her promise to them. With a valid proof like that, she’ll get the parchment faster when she meets with them tomorrow.

Noticing the amused glint in Ivan’s eyes, Samantha was about to state her conditions when in a blur of the moment, she found herself laying flat on Ivan’s bed, her hands trapped at both sides as he hovered on top of her, his crimson eyes boring into her own as he tilted his head.

"Why didn’t I think of that?" Ivan mused to himself as he pondered on her reasoning. It has been a while since he consumed human blood, but he only stopped since his powers were progressing well enough without having to drink blood 24/7. If he gets even a little taste of his little Lamb’s blood, that should do the trick, but then..... he’ll be leaving his mark on her.

"Hold on! I only suggested it, but I haven’t agreed to it." Samantha panicked when that same sadistic smile graced his lips, but the pain he was going through was still evident in his eyes.

"Little Lamb, you wouldn’t have suggested it if you hadn’t agreed to it." Letting his gaze drift to her exposed neck, Ivan couldn’t hide that he had been tempted to taste her life-giving blood; this temptation started five years ago when he had invaded her home.

"But wait! Will...will it hurt?"

"Yes."

"Can’t you lie??"

"I have no reason to do that. Strain your neck and it will hurt more. Keep calm, and you won’t feel a thing." Whispering the last part so softly, his face slanted to her neck, and his warm breath had sent the tiny hairs on her skin standing on edge, leaving them to its wake.

Samantha squeezed her eyes shut when she felt his hair tickle her earlobe, and while he observed the spot where he was going to take a bite, his fangs retracted forward, and he didn’t wait before piercing those impatient fangs of his into her skin, sinking it into her flesh.

A short whimpering sound escaped her lips when the sharp sting sent her nerves shooting up. He didn’t even wait before he started to draw in her blood, and it felt like he had been waiting for her to bring up the topic herself when he could have literally pushed her down to the bed and sucked her dry. A hiss left her parted lips when he continuously sucked against her nape, drawing out her blood, and Samantha could hear her heartbeat drum unsteadily in her ear.

"Argh!" Her eyes snapped wide when his unruly mouth on her neck turned demanding, he kept taking her like a hungry beast that had been starved for years, and since he had their fingers interlaced on both sides of the bed, there was nothing she could do to push him away.

"Lord Ivan! That’s.... that’s enough!" She uttered through a shaky breath, feeling her skin grow hot at the feeling of his mouth taking her blood in the most inappropriate way. When he pulled back to meet her eyes, Samantha kept quiet when she noticed the slight displeasure in his gaze.

"Stop me one more time, and you shall be bitten in places that can never be exposed for the naked eyes to see." Silenced by his provocative threat, his lips returned to her nape, so did the sharp sting. It was her fault for forgetting the kind of man Lord Ivan was, ruthless and utterly demanding to the core.

Pulling back from her neck after minutes that felt like eternity, Ivan’s gaze lingered on the two piercing holes in her neck, and he placed a finger upon it to stop the bleeding. "Refreshing." He licked his lips clean. "Are you really human?"