The Vampire King’s Captive

BRAN

Bran wasn’t going to lie. When he’d walked into that crowd, he’d gone in with a plan B because he knew that he had wronged Maria terribly and the chances of her forgiving him-or even listening to him-were very slim.

With his heart in his throat, he’d poured out his feelings, baring the contents of his soul in the words he’d spoken to her. He’d gone against everything he’d learnt and knew, using his words instead of his actions to show her how he felt.

He had put everything on the line, professing his love out in the open for his people to hear, knowing fully well the risks behind it-knowing that she could refuse him and that the shame would have destroyed him, along with the pain.

The news of what he’d done would no doubt travel far and wide across all realms, but he’d been prepared for it. As he had been prepared for the disappointment he would feel if she’d refused him. His plan B, had she refused him, was for him to tuck his tail between his legs and return back to his castle even more wounded than before.

But now, he’d returned with her.

The mated vampire inside him roared in satisfaction. At last, it was united with its mate again.

Over the past few days that Iris had suggested he wait, the mating instinct combined with his feelings for her, had damn near driven him to insanity. He’d locked himself in his room and refused to drink or see anyone.

During the time he’d spent in his room, alone and far from the reach of anyone, he had contemplated suicide several times, the ache in his heart too much for him to bear. But thoughts of Maria and Iris always won out, reminding him that if he died, then that would mean leaving them in this world without protection.

That was the only reason he had continued living. Even though it had been the equivalent of hell for him.

“I missed this castle,” Maria breathed against his lips, kissing him in between the words as though she was reluctant to let him go even for a second.

An exact mirror of Bran’s feelings.

“I missed you.” He admitted, the words alien on his tongue and somehow right at the same time. Clasping her shoulders firmly, he rose, taking the both of them off the ground.

He was almost scared to touch her and that was why he had done so at a safe area-her shoulders. That he hadn’t seen her in four days, combined with the raging desire of the mated vampire inside him-along with his own-his need for her was violent and it was almost impossible to speak to her.

He didn’t want to talk; he wanted to feel.

She pulled away enough for him to see that fresh tears had sprouted into her eyes. “I missed you too.”

Bran’s chest felt tight. He opened his mouth to speak but he couldn’t produce words. Even though she was standing before him, he couldn’t believe that she was actually there. Some part of him still believed her to be a figment of his imagination as he had conjured her up several times in the past few days, seeking her presence so much that he’d had to resort to memories of them.

“You haven’t been feeding properly,” she observed quietly. There were two lines of worry between her brows as she cupped his cheeks, her fingers brushing both his jaws and cheekbones.

Before he even knew that he was doing it, he sank into her touch, pushing his face into her small palm so that she would keep touching him. He’d missed her touch so much. It soothed his soul, calmed the storm inside him.

“Eating has been the last thing on my mind with you gone.” Before, it would have taken a war, a witch, and maybe an oracle to get those words out of him, but now he gave them freely.

They poured out of him from a place deep down he hadn’t known existed.

A place only Maria had been able to reach.

Maria’s eyes were brimming with unshed tears. “When was the last time you fed?”

Bran squinted as he thought. “Iris forced blood down my throat two days ago.”

“Oh, Bran,” she murmured and hid her face in his chest.

Did she not understand what she meant to him?

With her gone, Bran had lost the desire for anything that wasn’t her. She was the only thing he’d thought about morning, afternoon, evening and night.

He hadn’t slept since she’d left him. Hadn’t been able to.

“You are everything to me.” He held onto her hands and tugged her deeper into him, wrapping his arms around her. He buried his face in her hair and inhaled her scent, sighing as the familar feeling of calm that he had missed so much washed over him.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

“You are everything to me too. I thought I would never see you again,” Maria confessed, pulling back to meet his eyes. “I thought that was it. That you wouldn’t come after me, and even if you did, I wasn’t sure how I would react.”

Unable to hear her downplay his feelings for her anymore, Bran hurriedly spoke. “I wanted to come to you that same day.” Had his sister been wrong about him not going after her immediately? “I was going to search for you that same day but it was Iris’ idea to give you a few days. I didn’t want to, but-”

“It’s okay,” she shushed him. “She was right. Had you come to me that day, I think I would have slammed the door in your face.”

Bran’s face fell. “Oh.”

That hurt. A lot. But then again, he had hurt her. There was no way she would have just welcomed him with open arms without some grovelling on his side.

When Iris had suggested that he tender a publicy apology to Maria, Bran had refused, telling that doing it in private was hard enough. Her logic had been that since Bran had put his people before her feelings and had made her feel insignificant, telling her how sorry he was in front of his people would be grand. Still, Bran had refused.

Well, for three hours.

He’d knocked on his sister’s room door around 2am and told her that he was ready to do whatever it took to get her back.

Maria smacked his chest, bringing him back to the present. “Now, I may have forgiven you but I won’t if you hurt me like that again.” She warned, her grey eyes that had been emotional just a few seconds ago, now filled with fire. “Always talk to me, Bran. Let me into your head.”

Fuck, he had missed her fire so damn much.