Chapter Two

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a strangely luxurious bed chamber. Floor to ceiling glass windows adorned one wall, letting the rather harsh sunlight stream into the room and making the white marble floors shine excessively. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes with the back of my hand before squinting and blinking a few times to adjust to the sudden brightness.

I propped myself onto my elbows carefully, expecting the pain from last night’s injuries to kick in even with the slightest movement, but was pleasantly surprised instead upon feeling nothing apart from the slight headache pounding against my temples.

“What the hell,” I muttered to myself in disbelief and immediately jumped out of the bed. It was the softest bed I’ve ever laid on that it was difficult to fight the urge to go back to sleep. I hopped a couple times more, and true enough, my ankles felt alright. 

I looked down to inspect my body, and that’s when I realized that I was naked—weirdly unscathed, but naked. I racked my brain to recall last night’s events that led up to this moment but to no avail.

“Barely remembering anything and waking up to a stranger’s bed? Doesn’t sound like something I would do,” I fiddled with my fingers while darting my eyes around the room, hoping for any clue of some sort. “I swore I was going to die last night. What the hell happened?”

Thinking that my eyes were probably deceiving me, I patted my stomach and my left forearm, but they felt normal. Too normal. As if my body didn’t go through sh*t last night.

I gasped. “Was I in a coma?”

Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing a man with pale skin and dark hair tied back into a ponytail. His eyes were uniquely a bright shade of red that matched the color of his lips. He walked gracefully into the room, closing the door behind him. There was this particular confidence in the way he held himself that made it obvious that he was the head of the household.

I was frozen on my spot, not knowing how to react. But then, upon noticing that his eyes travelled down my exposed body, awareness sunk in. An embarrassingly deep blush formed on my cheeks, and with a tiny shriek, I immediately grabbed the blanket to cover myself. The pillows fell and landed by my feet with a soft thud.

A man just saw me…naked.

I was panicking and confused and ashamed all at the same time. My heart pounded dangerously loud against my chest. But just when I thought he was going to read the atmosphere and leave the room, I heard him spoke.

“Will you be a dear and close the curtains for me?” he asked, though it sounded more like a command rather than a request. Amusement was evident in his deep voice, most likely caused by my frantic façade. “The sunlight does no good to me.”

Perhaps, it was because of how awkward I was feeling, but I immediately jogged across the room to drag the heavy curtains over the glass windows, which proved to be difficult if done with one hand. I found it strange how this man had his complaints about sunlight and yet chose to live in a mansion full of windows.

Once the room was dark, I heard his footsteps approach me. The heels of his leather shoes click-clacked against the marble and resonated throughout the room. I buried my face deeper into the blanket with every step. The last thing I wanted was to look at the stranger.

“Avery,” he called out. I felt a hand on my shoulder, wordlessly urging me to turn around and face him.

My eyes widened, but I refused to look at him. “How did you know my name?”

“I just assumed…” then I heard the familiar clinking of a metal chain. “…since it was written here.”

At last, I gave in and turned around to find the man smirking at me whilst holding up my necklace. My free hand instinctively flew to my bare neck. “How did you…”

My question trailed off when images of last night’s events invaded my head. The headache worsened, and I pinched the bridge of my nose in an attempt to alleviate it.

“Your blood…It smells much sweeter than most.”

“Vampire…”

“Yes, indeed I am.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

“You are going to let me feed on you. As much as my body needs. For the rest of your life.”

I looked up and stared back at him, realization dawning on me and sending a shiver up my spine. But surprisingly, I felt no fear. The vampire was seemingly keen on keeping me alive to feed on my blood, and although I was against that, there was at least the assurance that he wasn’t going to kill me. Or at least not anytime soon.

I thought I had long prepared myself to die, but turns out, I would cower in the face of death.

I dropped my right hand and patted my hip. But instead of the leathered hilt of my knife, my palm came in contact with my skin, reminding me yet again that I was naked, stripped off of any means to defend myself.

“My name is Calum Reed, if you were wondering,” the vampire broke the silence and slung the necklace over my head, his fingers slightly grazing against my cheek. “You have no need to be so guarded. I have no thoughts about hurting you.”

“But I remember you saying you wanted my blood.”

“Ah, yes. Of course,” he chuckled. I thought he was going to retract his hand, but he decided to run his fingers down my neck instead. His touch left sparks in its wake and sent goosebumps down my arm. “If you worry about pain, let me assure you that it would not last long. A brief moment later, you will be begging for more.”

I brushed his hand away. “I refuse.”

“I reckon you are mistaken, Avery dear,” Calum leaned in closer to whisper in my ear, his warm breath tickling my lobe. The myths say that vampires are cold-blooded creatures, but I guess that one’s debunked. “I am not giving you a choice. The moment I saved you, you were already bound to me.”

Bound?

I was admittedly starting to get nervous, but I tried to look unfazed. With a scoff, I took a step back and glared at him. “I am not bound to anything nor anyone, Calum Reed.”

Without another word, he grabbed the blanket and pulled it out of my grasp. It slid off my body and its fabric pooled by my feet. My instinct told me to cover up, but he was quicker. Before I could even move, he held my wrists with one hand and pinned them above my head, leaning against me to trap me in between the windows and his body. I squirmed under him to escape, but despite his slim frame, he was surprisingly stronger than I was.

“Let me go, you pervert!”

His smile widened, revealing his unnaturally sharp canines. “But you are bound to me, Avery. I hope you can recall agreeing to my proposal last night.”

“I did no such thing.”

“Oh, but you did. I would not go out of my way to save someone if they would not benefit me,” he chuckled yet again. Then, with his other hand, he traced the curve of my waist until he reached to a spot on the small of my back where my Black Rose tattoo was. I felt his finger draw something over my tattoo. “Right here. I covered your guild symbol with mine.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means that I take precedence over Black Rose Guild,” he replied. The room was dark, but his red eyes seemed to glint brighter. “It also protects you from other vampires. My mark is a message that you are mine alone.”

I clenched my jaw at the thought of how he could heartlessly ruin my tattoo—while I was unconscious, at that. That guild tattoo was something I worked hard for, a symbol of how I had somewhere I belonged to. It was probably too late at this point, but the last thing I wanted was to show him any sign of vulnerability. And yet I couldn’t help but want to cry. My throat tightened and tears welled in the corners of my eyes.

For the second time that morning, I was at loss for words and didn’t know how to react. So, I let my body do the talking—I raised a leg and kicked, harder than I ever did before.

Because of how fast things were happening, I didn’t even have the luxury to be shocked about how vampires were real after all. And yet, I now have one more mind-blowing information to process—it’s about how I managed to kick a mythical creature’s nuts so hard that I sent him rolling on the floor in pain.