The Baroness Misbehaves
Chapter 142: Try Not To Make A Sound

Chapter 142: Try Not To Make A Sound

Madeline came down the stairs, rubbing off the rest of the sleep from her tired eyes with the back of her palm.

From what she could remember, this is going to be the first time she encountered a dream that didn’t show the plight of her parents flashing before her eyes, or the strange person hiding behind the shadows that night, but Madeline was left perplexed as she was stuck on whether to feel at ease or take her mother’s words as some kind of future warning.

"Choices bring consequences." She kept muttering as she made her way down the stairs, trying to engrave the word in her head so she wouldn’t forget, but upon reaching the middle of the stairs, Madeline caught sight of a familiar silhouette who was sitting on a chaise lounge close to the window sill in the living room.

He had his back resting at the end of the chaise lounge with his right leg stretched forward, while the other was propped up. His glowing red eyes were fixed on his right hand as he stared at it as if he was seeing a hand for the first time, and when he clenched and unclenched his fist, his nails grew in an instant like sharp knives sprouting from their roots.

Madeline heard him sigh dejectedly as he put his hand down, and he closed his eyes to think of how he should commence with his next plan. Madeline didn’t need anyone to tell her that he was still having difficulty accepting what he had become, and so she reached the end of the stairs and approached him quietly.

The sky had darkened outside, and only a one-lit candle was what saved the living room from turning into a complete darkness. To gain his attention, Madeline deliberately cleared her throat, and in no time his eyes snapped open.

She gasped a little when she met his red eyes that were currently staring back at her.

"Maddie?"

Calming her heart since she didn’t prepare herself to be startled, she smiled at him and gestured at the end of the chaise lounge with her brows, indicating she wanted to sit with him, and Cassian immediately adjusted as he created space for her to join him.

Madeline took her seat beside him, she looked at the darkened sky with twinkling eyes before releasing a satisfied sigh and turning her head to Cassian who’s eyes were still a bloody red, and Madeline could see a tinge of sadness, as well as insecurities that seeped through them.

"Let me see your hand." She let out her right hand for him, waiting for him to place his hand on hers, but he refused. "No."

"Cassian."

"It’s not a good sight." He said before looking away, but he was instantly baffled when Madeline reached for his right hand herself. "What did you think?" She questioned. "Let me be the judge of that."

Madeline smiled reassuringly at him before looking at his hand that was firmly grasped in hers. Naturally, Cassian had beautiful hands, and Madeline couldn’t help but feel intrigued by the sight now that she got a chance to observe it.

"Your hands are beautiful." She commented with a smile that stunned Cassian. He looked at his hand, then at Madeline.

"Are you blind?" Not that he intended to sound rude, it was already a part of his nature, but right now he didn’t need any sympathy or false comments regarding what he looked like. The red eyes, the fangs, the nails that were sharp as blades.

One look at himself and he’d know he shared no similarity to humans, that was exactly what Elijah had done to him.

But looking at Madeline, she shook her head slightly, staring at the veins that ran along his finger to the sharpness of his neat nails that had elongated. "For starters, they are graceful, "she said, marveling at their elegant form. "And they’re so pale, like they almost glow. And the way they move - it’s like they’re dancing or something."

Cassian blinked multiple times as he listened to her speak with such fascination in her voice and eyes, and then he chuckled lightly at her appeal when he couldn’t hold it.

"How can you not be scared?" He was really intrigued by this woman. If he ever mentions this mutation to anyone else, even his mother, he might get disowned completely. He hasn’t even told Inna cause he could sense her fear already - but then this woman was brave enough to actually admire him.

"Do you want me to be scared?" She met his gaze. "I can’t be scared even if you want me to. As long as it’s you, I have nothing to be scared off because I know you won’t harm me. I’m trying to trust you with that."

Finally relaxing, Cassian intertwined his fingers with Madeline’s. "You know... these hands may look pretty to you, but they can be quite dangerous too." He stated, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

Madeline tilted her head, intrigued. "Really? How so?"

Cassian flashed his fangs and gave her a wicked grin. "I could use them to sink my teeth into your neck." He teased her with a perceptive look.

A gasp escaped Madeline’s lips, and she playfully slapped his arm. "That’s not very romantic." She scolded.

Cassian laughed at her reaction and pulled her closer, enjoying how he deliberately scared her for a minute. "I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist."

Madeline didn’t push herself away, instead, she leaned into his warm embrace as she rested her back on him, feeling the warmth of his chest against her back, and she took hold of both of his hands, intertwining their fingers again.

"They might be dangerous." She began. "But they are also the hands that saved me and held me close, they protected me and that is the actual beauty of it." She tilted her head up to meet Cassian’s red eyes that now glimmered with warmth.

"That is what I want you to do to the rest of the people out there, use them to protect, not to harm unless necessary. I don’t want you to be like the rest of the creatures out there who kill because they’ve seen it as their fate, I want you to be you."

"Now I wonder, if I hadn’t met you that night, I would have been a dead man today." He smiled before making Madeline turn to look at him. "Try and guess what other powers I might have."

"Oh!" Madeline clapped her hands in excitement like a little girl who had been called to play. "Uhm.....fast reflexes, I read about it but not sure how true it is." She stroked her chin while trying to think of another one. "I remember your senses become hypersensitive after the blind issue, do you still have them?"

"Let’s see.." Cassian met her intrigued gaze as she waited for him to say something. "I can hear your heart beating, it’s beating at a normal rate, but should I make it go faster? And then make it stop?"

"You can do that? Like magic?" Her eyes widened in confused bewilderment, wondering if that could ever be possible, but to her surprise, Cassian didn’t respond and slowly began to bring his face closer, and closer, using an ample amount of time as he had her gaze locked against his, making her anticipate for what he planned on doing.

Madeline grew confused for the first few seconds, but when his handsome face began to inch closer, she could feel her heart pick up speed as he kept coming closer, his movements measured and purposeful.

"It’s pounding faster, isn’t it?" He didn’t smile, but his expression showed more need that sent her heart skyrocketing against her chest.

"T...Too close." Madeline was able to manage a whisper, but it sounded so meek and was definitely not a tone she would use on a regular day.

"You like it, don’t you?" He smirked, making her cheeks go tomato red, and Madeline wasn’t in her right frame of mind to deal with his teasing.

"No I don’t, go away." She tried to push him away in order to keep a safe distance, but he grabbed her by the hand she had intended to use to push him away, pulling her closer till her soft lips landed on his.

The world seized with nothing in movement, although their lips had met, no one took the initiative. Their eyes were still open, but Madeline’s eyes expressed her bashfulness while Cassian’s deadly eyes showed the opposite that she could only describe as shamelessness.

"It’s no longer beating." Cassian’s voice sounded hoarse as he whispered after pulling back a bit. "Breathe."

It took a while before Madeline could grasp his words, and she realized she had been holding her breath, and that led her to release her sharp breath as she tried to catch some air, suddenly feeling hot all over.

How did she stop breathing??

"Ah!" A short cry left her lips when Cassian pulled her leg forward, making her lie down flat while he hovered on top of her, and Madeline finally realized how deep she had fallen into his seducing trap.

"You want to do it here??" Madeline looked around alarmingly, thinking of it as an awful decision. "What if Inna comes down and...."

"Inna’s asleep." He said while unbuttoning his shirt, his hungry gaze never leaving hers.

"But still... let’s go upstairs." Madeline tried to sit up, but he pinned her down as she gasped once more. "Bedrooms can be boring, I thought we’d switch locations."

He finished unbuttoning his shirt, exposing his torso to her gaze as his skin glistened against the one light candle. It made Madeline fall into a quick trance at the sight of his hard muscles, those broad shoulders, the smooth sculpted chest and those titillating abbs. She swallowed when her eyes focused on the V line on his pelvic, and she slowly lifted her head up to meet his stare.

"If you’re worried about Inna, try not to make a sound." He whispered with a smirk before lowering himself to claim her lips, and Madeline’s hands went around his neck as she pulled him down on her.