On their way to the carriage, Madeline felt her head starting to feel dizzy as she had never felt before. She tried to make sure to keep her footsteps firm, and she cursed herself. To spite Calhoun, she had drunk everything from the glass but who would have thought that the alcohol would be this strong?
Calhoun who was walking behind Madeline couldn’t stop the grin on his lips. He noticed how Madeline tried to walk straight, but somewhere after they stepped out of the castle, she had started to sway. The King was a sadist when it came to seeing the person who he loved struggle, wanting her to submit to him even if it was in the form of asking his help. He had his twisted ways and wanted her to want him.
Not to forget, it wasn’t him who had told her to drink. Madeline had chosen to drink despite his warning.
Even though he had left the open room to talk to Mr. Jennyings about needing his assistance on some work, his eyes and consciousness was still where Madeline was. A King never had friends, but only foes who would be waiting to strike him or steal what was precious to him, and Calhoun was not the man to leave his treasure unprotected. Out of all the people, his eyes were only concentrated on Madeline because she was the only person who mattered to him.
His blood had boiled when he found her with that human who was trying to catch her attention. To Calhoun it would be easy to have the man dead in less than a second but he knew how Madeline would react to it. Though Madeline was still resisting him, he could see how delicate their relationship was. She was finally coming around even though it was subtle which she herself had not noticed. It was possible that even though Madeline would grow feelings for him, she would be scared and try to shut it out, and it was something Calhoun was not looking forward to.
Claiming her openly in front of everyone was to show her that he was serious about her and he wouldn’t let a pest come between them.
“Do you need help?” Calhoun asked looking at Madeline who was walking while her body swayed. If she were to fall, he would be there to catch her, unlike last time where she had fallen while he was still enjoying the sight of blood in front of him.
He raised his hand to weave his fingers through his hair.
“What for?” came Madeline’s voice, her breath breezy.
“You’re having trouble while walking,” stated Calhoun, “I wouldn’t want another bump on your head.”
Madeline, who was walking in front of Calhoun, didn’t turn to look at him as she was trying to focus on her walking. What kind of berries were those that were making her head go round? She closed her eyes for a second and then opened after squinting.
“I will be fine,” she murmured under her breath.
When they reached the carriage, the coachman pulled open the door of the carriage so that they could get in. Madeline pulled up her dress so that she could step on the pedestal of the carriage to get in, she almost missed her step, she felt Calhoun’s hand around her waist.
“I got you,” he whispered to her, helping her get in and Madeline’s cheeks that were already flushed because of the wine turned pink. She sat down, moving to the corner end. Calhoun followed into the carriage to sit next to her. She held her hands on her lap, holding them close while staring at the wood that was in front of her.
The carriage started to move, and Madeline was quiet, her eyes once in a while moving to look at Calhoun who was strangely not looking at her. Was he giving her space to breath? Especially after what he did back in the mansion!
“I-Is it true?” came the small voice from Madeline, which was the opposite in her mind.
Calhoun turned his head to look at her, “What is true?” he asked.
“Have you planned for the marriage? That it’s going to be in a month?” she asked him. Calhoun noticed how her brown eyes looked more black, and mellow where her cheeks had been splashed with the colour of pink and red.
He took note of her parted lips that were tinted with pink, and he had the urge to lean forward, to see how it would feel against his lips.
“Yes,” he answered, “We will be getting married someday, why wait when it can be done right away. Your family will be invited to come stay in the castle so that you feel they are near with you while they can be involved with the ceremony.”
Madeline turned her body from where she was sitting on the seat, “But I am not ready for it…I haven’t prepared myself for that.”
And Calhoun turned too, “I am not an indecisive man, sweet. I know what I want, and I won’t shy away from it. Is it too hard to digest?”
Madeline, who was staring at him, whispered, “Yes.”
Calhoun moved closer to her, to see how she didn’t move back but continued to sit still, her eyes focussed on him, “Tell me what is hard and I will make it easy,” he spoke to her gently.
“You are mean,” came the first answer from her, and he had to agree to that. But he did it only to see her different expression especially the one where she glared at him. He liked it the most, but then there was the time when she faintly smiled, and he had seen her near to tears.
“I will try to tone it down.”
“Did you hurt him?” On her question, Calhoun’s eyes hardened that she was still thinking about James, but he wanted to be patient with her.
“No, I didn’t. Didn’t misplace a single hair on top of his head,” replied Calhoun, “You saw him,” and it was the truth. All Calhoun had done was push James against the wall by holding his neck and letting him know how it would feel if he were to be hanged.
On Calhoun’s words, Madeline had a look of relief on her face, and she felt her heavy heart lighten, “Thank you,” she said, not realising she had moved closer to him. Madeline continued to stare into those dark red eyes which she felt like she was drowning in.
Then she frowned, lowering her gaze to say, “My head hurts.”
Calhoun pursed his lips with a grim expression on his face, “Is this your first time?” he inquired to see her shake her head. Alcohols that were made for vampires consumption were not suitable for humans as it would hit the human system with thrice the force, “Why did you drink when I told you not to?” he asked.
Madeline lifted her gaze to look back at him. Calhoun used the back of his hand to caress her cheek.
“You are being nice to me. Why?” Madeline asked, a shiver running down her spine at the tenderness he had in his eyes for her. Was it the wine that was making her look at him differently? “You were being mean to me earlier.”
“I have always been nice to you. You didn’t look past through my intentions,” Calhoun replied.
Madeline furrowed her brows before saying, “You lied about your parent’s death.”
“You were sad after hearing it.”
“Does that mean it was true?” she asked because the way Calhoun had told it to her, she felt terrible for him.
“It is far worse than what I told you. Bloodier. Gorier. Cold. I will tell you one day, but that is not today,” Calhoun leaned forward towards her to ask, “Can you wait until then?” Madeline’s curiosity piqued and she nodded. She couldn’t help but wonder what Calhoun’s story was and somewhere she wanted to know more about him.
Calhoun then asked, “Are you sad? Lady Catherine is a beautiful girl.”
“You should get married to her then,” the instant reply from her made him chuckle.
“It sounds like you are jealous. Catherine doesn’t hold my heart, she holds James’ heart,” Calhoun said and Madeline pulled away from where she had been sitting leaning her upper body.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you,” she asked, peering up at him.
“I am trying, but it’s hard not to,” came his sincere reply that was hidden with sarcasm. Madeline took her hand away from the empty place of the seat to place it back on her lap.
Madeline felt hot, and she opened the window for air, but the dress had many layers that made her want to pull them out of her body so that she could breath. The corset was tight and uncomfortable.
Calhoun noticed the heat getting to her as she kept shifting from one position to the next, “Drink some water,” he advised, picking up the water bag and passing it to her.
Murmuring thanks, Madeline tried to turn the top, but for some reason, her hands kept slipping, and she heard Calhoun sigh.
He took the bottle from her hand to open it for her, but that wasn’t all he did for her.
While Madeline was waiting for the water bag to be passed back to her, she turned her face in time to see Calhoun raised it to drink the water from it. He then dropped the bag down, and his hand went around her waist, bringing her to him. Just as her lips parted to speak, his face descended to hers.
Madeline’s eyes went wide when Calhouns’ lips touched hers, pushing the water into her mouth, for her to drink directly from his mouth without the need for a bottle.
