Vampire King's Hidden Bride

+CHAPTER 6+ Forbidden Adventures

The Vampire Castle and the Ballroom had waited for eons for a pure and worthy heart to beat a new rhythm between its walls, the walls that had been mourning for decades.

The ballroom had been cold until Esmeray had stepped into it dressed like a hell flame.

The magnificent ballroom had felt lacking until a true royalty Esmeray had arrived even if all the people around her including Esmeray herself was unaware of her 'Royal Bloodline'. But the obliviousness of her roots did nothing to stop Esmeray from outshining every person present in the ballroom without an effort.

"Maybe you should have worn something else if you had wanted to blend in the crowd." A deep voice whispered near her ear, the hair on the back of her neck raised in alarm. Turning around her gaze collided with lively green eyes and the word left her lips on their own accord that seemed to leave an echo in the silent ballroom.

"f**k. . ."

Vladimir frowned down at the tiny female who barely reached his chin. The female who had dared to curse in the King's presence. An action that should have landed her in serious trouble yet it only spiked Vladimir's curiosity.

"Who are you? And why are they all staring?" The woman asked in a soft whisper as her eyes nervously darted to the crowd gathered around them.

Vladimir's lips twitched at her question. He should be the one to ask her about her identity, not the other way around. But the way she had whispered to him, he couldn't find it himself to interrogate her.

He had always found it stupid to whisper something in a silent room full of supernatural beings. Because despite how low the whisper might be everyone would hear it, thanks to their supernatural hearing. And currently, the orchestra had stopped playing so everyone could even hear them breathe. But the way this female had whispered, Vladimir found it oddly cute.

Leaning down he mimicked her and whispered. "It seems like you have gotten yourself a dance partner, my lady."

Every person present in the Ballroom tried their best to suppress their surprised gasps at the King's show of emotions that wasn't anger or annoyance.

Vladimir's playfulness spooked the crowd. But Vladimir couldn't help himself. He had been bored out of his mind until this tiny female had stepped into the room, breathing excitement in his cold heart.

Eyeing his offered hand the woman grumbled. "Why do I have to dance with you?" Vladimir dropped his hand at his side.

A flicker of amusement twinkled in Vladimir's green eyes at the female's genuine annoyance as if Vladimir was a random guy at a human bar trying to flirt with her, not a King everyone present in the Ballroom had every reason to fear.

Vladimir was having a hard time trying to put her in a box. There was something unusual about her that he couldn't pin.

The woman's eyes scanned the room until they stopped on the empty throne. Looking back at him the woman whispered again. "The King didn't come to his own ball? "

At her question throwing his head back, Vladimir laughed, leaving their spectators in shock.

This time their spectators were not as successful in restraining their surprised gasps. . .

The Vampire King never laughed except the polite smiles and occasional smirks he gave to his enemies before he slaughtered them.

"Why are you laughing?” The woman narrowed eyes her hazel eyes at him. For some bizarre reason, Vladimir felt as if hazel wasn't a color that was meant for those striking eyes.

"Are you positive you are at the right place, my lady?” Controlling his laugh, Vladimir asked in an amused tone. First, she didn't want to dance with him, and now, she didn't even recognize him.

This was all new and enthralling to Vladimir.

A mysterious woman who was completely oblivious of the fact that she was standing in the King's presence.

"I'm still not sure. This is the last place I want to be at." The woman sighed as she stared at the empty throne again.

Vladimir was tempted to remove the thick veil of thin gold chains that concealed her face below her eyes. Earlier from a distance, her hair had looked like she had stepped out of water but now from this close Vladimir could see that her hair was indeed damp as if she had stepped out of the shower, wrapped herself in this forbidden red dress, and headed straight for the ball.

Her face was bare of any makeup. She had put a little to zero effort to get ready for this ball which intrigued Vladimir even more.

He found this woman to be a mysterious little creature hiding behind layers of secrets and stripping her of her secrets and clothes was all Vladimir desired at the moment.

"If you didn't want to be here then why did you come?" Vladimir inquired with genuine interest.

"Because I want to hand a bastard over to someone.” She spat the words as her gaze flickered to the throne for the third time before it focused back on Vladimir.

This was the second time she had cursed in his presence and Vladimir got a feeling as if she was talking about him but he shook that thought away because if she had been here for him then at least she would have known what the Vampire King looked like.

"Utter the name my lady and I'll be more than happy to hand the bastard to you." Vladimir said in his most charming tone. It was funny how he was completely oblivious of the fact that he just regarded himself as a bastard.

"I'm more than capable of fulfilling my own tasks gentleman. Don't bother yourself with my trivial matters." Esmeray gave him a tight smile.

"I don't think that anything related to you can be trivial, my lady. Keeping a specific bastard aside, would you grant me the honor of dancing with you?" Vladimir held his hand out for the mysterious female again.

Esmeray gazed at his outstretched hand with a frown. "Why would I do that? And why are you so keen to dance with me?" This time she demanded with a scoff.

Vladimir's lips twitched. His gaze traced her eyes with a hint of curiosity. He felt like he had seen those eyes before but where? "For starters, you are the first female the spotlight stopped on. So by the rules of the Royal Ball, you have to dance first. Now you won't want to anger the King by going against the rules."

He watched as she looked around with open annoyance, making it clear that she wasn't very delighted to dance with him. "Angering the King seems appealing. . ." She mumbled under her breath before placing her hand in Vladimir's.

The moment their skin touched a wave of sparks zipped through every muscle in his body and his chest constricted in a sharp exhale.

His eyes snapped to Esmeray's and she had an identical look on her face.

She had felt it too. . .?

Or had Vladimir imagined it?

'Maybe he had imagined it. . .' Vladimir thought to himself.

The moment the conductor of the Orchestra saw Esmeray placing her hand in the King's hand, he instructed the Orchestra and a calming mesmerizing melody started playing.

"You seem to hold a grudge against the King." Vladimir inquired as he guided Esmeray's hands around his neck, eliminating the distance between them, making her move along with him. In this position, it will be hard for the preying ears around them to pick on their conversation over the music.

It's wasn't every day Vladimir found someone who made him feel alive, it wasn't every day he encountered a witty female who didn't recognize him. It wasn't every day he got interested in a female. He wanted to know what this tiny creature thought about him or what new rumors were circulating in his castle.

"The King must be a dumb bastard for letting his subjects question his authority or he must be a weak d**k who can't keep his subjects in check. If he didn't pull his s**t together then his subjects might end up throwing him off his damn throne." Vladimir's ego took a bruising hit at the woman's remark.

Dumb bastard?

Weak d**k?

How dare this ignorant little girl call him names!

"So you are calling the King a p***y? You are lucky the others can't hear you over the music or you might have booked yourself a beheading." Vladimir arched a challenging brow, daring her to utter another insult.

"p*****s are strong. I'm calling the King what he is, a weak d**k. And as much as the beheading is concerned they can try. I find thrill in forbidden adventures that might lead one to a beheading." The female winked up at him and Vladimir's heart skipped a beat.

Vladimir barely kept himself from snatching the golden chains and revealing her face.

Who was she?

"You seem like you know a lot about what goes around in this Kingdom." Vladimir remarked.

"I know nothing about this Kingdom. I just came here tonight for the first time and even for an outsider like me it was not hard to catch on the rumors that the leader of the Vampire Council might be the next King." Esmeray said with a roll of her eyes and Vladimir's hands twitched, someone was badly in need of a good s******g. Vladimir made a mental note to deliver it before the night ends.

Usually, Vladimir didn't care what others thought of him or his ways of ruling. He was used to his subjects kissing his arse and his allies getting on his nerves.

Vladimir wasn't one of those who praised themselves but for some odd reason, he wanted to boost his image in front of this female. He wanted to tell her that he wasn't an i***t as she thought.

Her thinking of him as an unworthy and ignorant King didn't sit well with Vladimir. . .

"Maybe the King had his reasons to be lenient with the Vampire Council." Vladimir mumbled as he stared at the Council members who were watching their every move like starved vultures.

"Or maybe he really is a weak dick."

Vladimir gritted his teeth at the insult.

Over his long lifetime, Vladimir's skin had gotten thick. Insults and jabs rarely got any reaction out of him yet the way this female was calling him names he was getting pretty offended yet not to a point to throttle her.

"Maybe you are just ignorant for judging a King on a few baseless rumors." Vladimir snapped.

"Baseless rumors?" Esmeray let out a very unladylike snort before she continued. "Do you know this castle is a marvelous piece of architecture? I can sense deep down that this castle had been a place to discuss what mattered for the community yet now these strong walls had become the house of gossips and conspiracies just because the King had allowed it. And you still think it's me who's the ignorant one?" Esmeray challenged Vladimir, staring into his lively green orbs, daring him to oppose her.

The Vampire King was taken aback at the fierceness and possessiveness in the mysterious woman's tone.

Possessiveness for a Castle that didn't belong to her.

*

The elders of the Vampire Council watched the King and the mysterious woman like hawks. "Find out who she is and why is she wearing my daughter's dress!” Eyes burning with rage, the leader of the council snapped at someone beside him making the person sprint as if his life depended on it.

Who would have thought that a mysterious woman who will make the King laugh for the first time in decades will create such chaos in the council?

The leader of the council's fists clenched as he gazed at the mysterious woman with loathe. The woman was standing where the leader's daughter should have stood wearing the dress that had cost him a fortune.

He had planned everything with precision. He had told his daughter to come late to the ball and instructed one of his men who were in the charge of the spotlight to stop it on the female who will come through the Ballroom's doors late but what he didn't expect was some random female stealing his daughter's dress and attending the ball in her place.

The Council leader swore silently that he was going to have his share of pleasure in killing this mysterious female.

The b***h had ruined his plans. . . And she was going to pay for it.

*

Esmeray gazed into the deep lively green eyes of the Vampire she was swaying in the arms of. Her heartbeat accelerated as his hand on her waist traced her bareback, thanks to her backless silk dress.

If she wasn't on a mission to abduct a certain King, Esmeray might have enjoyed herself with this Vampire.

The man was charming yet there was a hint of something dark in his eyes even though his expressions were warm.

Even if the man was dressed as a charming Disney prince, he had an aura of authority and sin that would have scared away any woman but not Esmeray because sins and doom ran in her veins.

Esmeray felt a weird pull towards this stranger she had met just a few moments ago. There was something about him that was drawing her towards him like a moth to a flame.

Vladimir watched keenly as a trace of complicated emotions flashed in the mysterious female's eyes as she seemed to be deep in thoughts.

He held his breath as she laid her palm over the center of his chest, over his heart. Then she stiffened and drew it away with a frown as if she was confused by her own action.

Vladimir drew small circles on her bareback with his thumbs. A ghost of a smile played on his lips as she shivered at his touch.

Leaning down he placed a soft kiss at the crook of her neck, over her rapidly beating pulse. He sucked gently the spot he had just kissed then sucked harder and Esmeray let out a small moan at the sensation. A delicious chill shot all the way from her spine to her core. . . Her core tightened at the delicious sensation.

Her breath caught in her throat. . .

"Stop." She barely let out the words in a breathy whimper because all she wanted at the moment was for the Vampire to continue.

Esmeray was messing every freaking thing up.

She was mixing pleasure with work and that might get her killed. When the man pulled back to look at her, his eyes were hooded and he smiled sheepishly and knowingly. Esmeray knew that he could smell her desire.

God! That was not good. . .

His cold breath tickled her now sensitive neck as he whispered near her ear. "Do you really want me to stop, my lady?" Leaning back he gazed into her eyes as he asked in a dark throaty tone. "Or do you want me to touch you?"

'God! Why does he have to sound so tempting!' Esmeray groaned inwardly as she swallowed the lump formed in her throat.

When the little female didn't reply, leaning down Vladimir buried his nose in the crook of her neck again and inhaled deeply. He couldn't help himself. Something within him wanted this woman close.

Such strong emotions. . . If Vladimir didn't know better he might have mistaken her as his bride.

But he knew she wasn't his bride. . .

Vladimir was marked by his bride and he often had dreams, dreams of spellbinding violet eyes. And female he was currently holding in his arms had ordinary hazel eyes. Nothing like the eyes that haunt him in his dreams.

His dreams gave him a glimpse of something he can't have, something he had lost because of his greed and stupidity to trust an Oracle.

'This female wasn't his bride.' Vladimir told himself more firmly.

But the question was that if she wasn't his bride then why did he felt this strange pull towards her? Who was this female and more importantly what was she?

Vladimir could detect different lingering scents on her yet he could not catch the mysterious female's scent. "Pardon my rudeness but why can't I catch your scent, my lady." As soon as the words left his lips he felt her stiffen in his arms.

Before she could answer or Vladimir could ask her anything else he saw Mercy approaching them with a worried expression on her face. Lady Olivia dressed in a bathrobe with an angry red bump on her head was trailing behind Mercy accompanied by a couple of royal guards.

When the mysterious female followed his gaze she stiffened even more in his arms. "I think it's time for me to leave." She mumbled awkwardly at the same time Mercy warned in a booming voice.

"My king, please step away from that which!"

"You are the King?" The woman blurted as her wide eyes regarded him with alarm.

When she tried to step away from him Vladimir tightened his hold around her waist. "I'm for as long as I have been alive but my lady you forgot to mention that you are a witch."

The scent of burned forest ashes mixed with wet mud was the scent of a witch that Vladimir could recognize even from a distance of miles yet this female was scentless.

She must be wearing a cloak to conceal her scent. . .

"Forgetting is my thing. And besides that, you never asked." She winked but when she tried to step away from him again Vladimir tightened his hold around her waist even more.

He couldn't let her go. . .

He despised witches, he had hunted witches for the past two decades yet even after knowing that she was a witch Vladimir couldn't find in himself to step away from her. Something in Vladimir told him to hold her close and never let go.

"My King, step away from her she's a threat." Mercy cautioned again.

Vladimir barely kept himself from asking Mercy that if this witch was a threat that way does his conscience craved to be close to her?

While Vladimir was busy pounding on his troubled thoughts Esmeray took that moment to step onto his toes, making him lose his hold around her waist. Stepping out of his hold, standing beside him instead of running for her life she gripped his arm, taking a fighting stance in front of Mercy.

"Sweety sorry for the inconvenience but I might need to borrow your King for a couple of days."

"You do?" Vladimir was completely flabbergasted for a moment before his lips curved in a smile as he asked. "Am I being kidnapped from my own ball?"

"Follow my lead and you won't get in any trouble cupcake." The wicked witch smiled sweetly up at him as if she wasn't standing in the middle of a ballroom full of deadly Vampire warriors who could rip her to shreds at Vladimir's single command.

When Mercy leaped to attack her the witch pulled her glowing fist back and threw a punch at Mercy's face. A sickening c***k echoed in the now silent Ballroom. The witch had knocked Mercy out with a single blow. Vladimir winced as he gazed at Mercy's unconscious form with a crooked bleeding nose.

That was a pretty ugly hit!

Maybe he had been taking the situation too lightly. But before he could do something he saw a fist with a bright blue flame burning around it coming towards him that pushed him into blissed darkness.

Esmeray had had no choice left to support Vladimir's body in a standing position as he fell forward. It was a miracle that she hadn't lost her footing. Even in his unconscious state, the bastard had his face buried in her neck which made her heart beat a little faster.

"Bastard! You should have told me earlier that you were the Vampire King. It would have saved me so much time." Esmeray grunted as she opened a portal in front of her while trying to push the unconscious heavy body of the Vampire King that was slumped against her into the portal.

“Witch do you know what this means?” A man dressed in a black tuxedo stepped out of the crowd addressing her. He barely looked above twenty years old yet Esmeray knew that he was a way older than that. He seemed to hold authority among the crowd.

“Do you think I bloody care?” Esmeray grumbled after successfully pushing the Vampire King into the portal.

"Father she stole my dress and look what she did to my face." Lady Olivia let out an annoying whine while pointing at her forehead that had an angry red bump on it. But the man paid her no heed. His black gaze was focused on Esmeray.

Esmeray's gaze bounced between the man and Lady Olivia. And it dawned on her that the man was the Council Leader. She grimaced. The council leader and Lady Olivia looked like age fellows. They seemed more like siblings than father and daughter. Esmeray was never going to get used to the youthful ancient immortals.

"Do you want to wage a war between witches and the Vampires"? The Council Leader proclaimed in a booming tone with a twisted gleam in his eyes that gave even Esmeray creeps.

"A war? Why are you taking this so seriously? Your King is just a package I need to deliver somewhere on time and besides that, if he is capable enough he will find his way back and if he is a good-for-nothing loser then you all are better off a King like that." She shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Do you think this is a joke?" The man sneered as he took a fighting stance and Esmeray knew that any moment he was going to strike.

"Does it matter what I think?" Esmeray asked with a sadistic smile before she stepped into the portal, sealing it behind her, not giving the Council Leader a chance to attack her.

Esmeray had left the whole crowd present in the Ballroom in shock with a single question running through everyone's mind.

'Did the Vampire King got kidnapped by a woman again? And this time right from the middle of a crowd filled with his deadliest Vampire warriors?'