The Blind Mistress & Her Mates

Uncanny Arousal

The guests stared at the blind woman being pulled out of the room as she kicked and struggled, calling out her sister's name in vain. By the time the doors slid shut, Logan spoke again, urging the guests to not let the scene that had just unfolded ruin their night.

Everyone gradually returned to what they'd been doing like Laura was never in the room. A handful of guests approached Logan to speak with him.

"His Royal Highness, Nicholas Rothschild!" A voice announced.

Heads turned the moment that name was mentioned. Nicholas was the prince of the Dragonkin and also the youngest of the three Rothschild representatives present. He was a handsome young man with long brown hair, lined with silver accents. He had piercing green eyes and thick silver lashes which made him seem a bit feminine. Many had called the young lad beautiful but his main flaw was his shyness.

He was the type to walk with his eyes down and let others speak over him. His parents had pampered him in such a way that he'd learnt to keep to himself, he also bore the title of the least problematic Rothschild. The dragonkin were one to avoid war and conflict, so their teachings were mainly of peace and co-existence. Even though they were the ones most likely to level a city in their true form.

Nicholas nodded slightly, smiling sweetly as he approached Logan. "Hello, uncle." He greeted Logan politely, lowering his head respectfully as he stood in front of him. They were not related by blood but by name. His father had fought alongside Logan in the war three hundred years ago, and so had Leonardo's father. At the time, Logan was the youngest of the three commanders but even after so many years, he had no offspring.

Yet, Logan had settled for being the Duke instead of king of the werewolf empire.

Logan greeted Nicholas with a warm smile, teasing him for being fashionably late. "Nicholas, you always know how to make an entrance," he chuckled, tapping a hand on the young prince's shoulder. "I trust your journey here was uneventful?"

Nicholas returned the smile, eyeing Logan's hand which was still resting on his shoulder. He disliked physical contact but had learned to endure it. "Yes, sir, thank you. The journey was rather smooth."

Logan turned to Gracefeel, who was standing beside him and gestured towards Nicholas. "Nicholas, this is my wife, Gracefeel. Gracefeel, this is Nicholas Rothschild."

She extended her hand gracefully, a warm smile on her face. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Nicholas. I've heard stories about your accomplishments."

Nicholas took her hand gently, kissing the air above her gloved fingertips. "The pleasure is mine, milady." He smiled, trying to hide the awkwardness from showing in his tone. This might have been her first time meeting him, but it wasn't his first time seeing her. He knew her a little too well for comfort—he knew her perfumer and had watched most of her performances in person, he knew her hobbies, her habits, her mannerisms...even some things she didn't even know herself. He knew about her sister, about her affair with Leonardo—he could tell from the glances they exchanged on previous occasions.

And worst of all, he knew just how obsessed Logan was with her.

Nicholas was no fool at least not the type people thought he was. "Is Leonardo present?" He queried, wanting to slip away from the lovebirds.

Gracefeel looked back towards the pillar where Leonardo had been standing earlier. However, he was no longer there. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously wondering where he’d gone off to.

Logan chuckled, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Ah, that rascal Leonardo has a habit of disappearing. Perhaps he found some other entertainment for the evening." He wasn't a fan of the vampire prince and tended to keep his distance as their personalities and ideals didn't mix. Nicholas was the polar opposite of Leonardo, having a habit of standing up for the weak. He was empathetic, so much so that it worried his parents.

Fortunately, he'd come a little too late to speak up for Laura. He had a habit of stepping on toes for the minority.

Logan was stern and strict like a father, he had a grand sense of justice—the perfect mix of Leonardo and Nicholas, his only flaw was his wife whom he trusted completely.

Nicholas smiled, though there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "I see. Well, I hope to catch up with him later." There was an accompanying silence that made the air tense before Logan cleared his throat.

"My wife is tired, we'll be retiring for the night."

Gracefeel nodded in agreement, feigning exhaustion.

The moment they excused themselves, Nicholas took a deep breath, working up a smile as women flocked around him.

***

"Get in there! Filthy wench!" The guards tossed her into the dungeon, spitting on her as they walked away.

The dungeon was a cold, dark place, with the only source of light filtering in through a small barred window high above. The walls were made of rough stone, damp and covered in moss, the ground beneath her bare feet hard and crusty. The air was musty and filled with the scent of decay, the sound of dripping water echoing through the darkness from the furthest edge of the cell.

She pressed herself into a corner, the rough stone wall offering some small comfort, she was all too stunned to shed tears. "Why...why would she do this to me?" Laura whispered, her voice cracking with emotion. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Your only mistake was being naive and gullible." A deep, throaty voice answered her from the shadows.

Startled, Laura turned towards the voice, trying to pinpoint its source in the darkness. The figure of Leonardo emerged, his features obscured by the dim light. "Who’s there?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Your only mistake was assuming the world would play out exactly as you expected it to." He continued, ignoring her question. "You truly are a copy of her, the less intelligent version to say the least". He commented.

Laura's heart pounded in her chest as she scrambled to her feet and rushed towards the sound of his voice, gripping the cold metal bars of her cell in frustration. She knew he was right about one thing, her obsession with her sister had led her to trust blindly, but she wasn’t merely going to stand around while insults were thrown her way.

A smirk tugged at his lips, he hadn't expected her to get agitated so easily, especially with the face of Gracefeel who was like ice. Leonardo's breath was hot on her face as he leaned in close, his cold aura causing the hairs up her arms to rise in warning.

This man was dangerous, she could sense it.

She could smell a faint metallic tang of blood in the air, his nearness making her skin prickle with unease. She could take a wild guess that he’d been sipping blood just a while ago.

"I was tricked...I would never try to seduce the Duke. She said she wanted a child!" She took a deep breath, wanting to calm her nerves. "My sister asked—"

"I couldn't care less," he said, continuing his former rambles without needing an explanation from her. "You were simply a pawn in her game and now, you'll die."

Laura's heart sank at his words, he was right. She had been foolish and shortsighted. Gracefeel might have done what she did to maintain her spot as the duchess. If Laura, her sister who bore an uncanny resemblance with her coincidentally crossed paths with the Duke, it could have threatened her position as the duchess. But now it was of no importance after being pinned as some sort of slut.

Leonardo's touch on her cheek was almost tender, but there was a predatory gleam in his eyes as he stroked her chin teasingly. "But you don't want to die, do you?" He gazed into her blind eyes, his features contorting into something monstrous as his teeth elongated and his skin paled.

He placed his index finger less than an inch away from her left eye, his nail gradually elongating towards her iris, the sharp tip hovering dangerously close. Laura’s gaze was still fixed off in a distance, she didn’t flinch and remained eerily still, her expression betraying no hint of the terror he had expected to see. His eyes had turned deep crimson, wanting to frighten her with his most intimidating appearance. He looked every bit the monster he was pretending not to be, but still, she did not flinch.

"A pity. You truly are blind," Leonardo mused, his expression lightening up to something more humane, he carefully let go of her face. He took a step back to examine the bruise on her leg, the scent of blood oozing from her smelled divine.

He had a mutual agreement with Gracefeel in exchange for her exquisite blood, he allowed her access to some parts of the castle under the guise of ‘taking her medicine’ and kept her little secret. It was her frequent donation of blood to him that kept the poor woman looking extra sickly.

But here before him was a healthier version of Gracefeel with less sickly blood. Oh, this woman was a whole meal. “Shall I save you?” he tilted his head, forgetting that his audience was visually impaired and not inclined to make out gestures.

“Why would you?” She’d learnt the hard way not to trust kind gestures without searching for hidden motives.

A mischievous grin formed on Leonardo’s lips. In the short period he’d known her, she seemed to have gotten quite brazen—it made his blood stir. All the things he could do to her, he could drink her dry or cut off a limb and leave her to bleed out, screaming and pleading for mercy, but her delectable blood was just too rare to waste.

“Just because…”

She spun around in her cell to meet the voice that had appeared behind her. He pushed her back against the metal bars, his body pressing firmly against hers.

Laura gasped, feeling his bulge pressing against her stomach, she couldn’t fathom what in hell could have made him aroused and not in a million years would she have guessed that it was the fantasy of her suffering that had moved this man.

“I want you,” he leaned down to whisper into her ear, biting her earlobe gently. A single drop of blood prickled against his tongue, proof that his assumptions were well in line. “And I must have you.”

Clenching her fists, Laura twisted her face away from him. She couldn’t trust a word he uttered but was short of options. “Wouldn’t you get in trouble?” She played the part of the gullible little pawn quite well.

He only chuckled, stepping away from the woman below him. “Tomorrow...” So far, he’d only answered one of her many questions, he didn’t want her calling out his name the following day, hence giving away his name was irrelevant.

She spun around to face the bars once more, hearing his voice directly outside the cell. He’d moved once again

“I will save you, but you must first die during the execution.” At those words, the prison fell silent and Laura returned to being alone, conflicted by his last words that she needed to die first. Could she truly depend on a man who wouldn’t even state his name or ask for hers?

Yet, her fate was in his hands.