The Vampire Prince and His Slave Princess

Chapter Seven

Carly's POV

The next couple of days were pretty much a blur of sleeping, eating, and a whole lot of nothing but being with Jax. Doctor Alice stopped by to check on me a few minutes ago and told us that my shoulder was healing nicely and that my mobility was way better. She cleared me of bedrest as well, much to Jax's disdain, because he knew that I was going to try to move around and make sure everything was clean in the suite, regardless of his own slew of slaves that did it for him every day.

I'd told him the other day that I wasn't going to know what to do with myself if I couldn't clean. Because I had grown up a slave, I really didn't have any specific hobbies that I liked to do and the only thing I knew how to do was clean and do housekeeping chores. I could barely sit still the whole time I had been bedridden and he hated whenever I'd get up to use the restroom or step out onto the balcony for some fresh air without his help.

I was sitting up on the bed watching him as he paced the floor with his phone to his ear. He had just gotten a call from someone and it seemed like it was frustrating him whatever they were saying to him.

I wanted to stand up and go to him to calm him down; I'd noticed that in the short amount of time that we'd known each other that a simple touch from me would calm him down instantly, and vice versa. But I knew that me being able to move around now was still not okay with him, so I kept kneeling on the bed with one of his pillows clutched to my chest and my head resting on it.

His sudden low growl had me tense up for a moment and I watched his pupils dilate as he tried to calm himself down, his emotions were warring inside of him right now and he spoke through clenched teeth, "It shouldn't be this hard to understand, I've just returned from the fights and I'm needed here. I will send my second to oversee everything until I can find the time to come out there myself. Do I need to repeat myself yet again?"

I couldn't hear what the other person was saying on the other line, but I could hear the panicked responses every time Jax used his authoritative Prince voice. It was scary, to be fair, but it was less so since it wasn't directed at me. I don't think I ever wanted it to be directed at me, but I'm sure it would happen at some point. No relationship ever actually went without any sort of fights or disagreements. Or, so I've heard.

Jax is my first everything, and he's going to be my last; it's set in stone, written in the stars' alignments and etched into our hearts forever. There were bound to be some hiccups now and then in our future.

He sighed, "Fine. I'll send him in a day or two and I'll be there in a week's time." He glanced over at me when he said this, seeing that I had perked up and noticing the confused and shocked expression on my face. I saw the apology in his eyes as he ended the call and tossed his phone onto the couch before coming to sit by me.

"Y-you're going back already?" I asked softly. He nodded, pulling the pillow out of my grasp and settling me onto his lap so he could cuddle into my neck. I wrapped my arms around him and scratched my fingertips over his scalp in the way I found out he liked it when we woke up this morning, making him groan in contentment.

"It seems like our enemy is making an advancement with newly acquired weapons and reinforcements and it's cutting through our lines quickly. As the Commander, I am needed there to keep the Generals in line and on task. Apparently, they're having a tough time handling this new adjustment without me and Nathan. The weapons used against us have been altered and infused with Nightshade to kill more of us off more efficiently."

I tightened my hold on him as pictures of him getting struck with anything Nightshade infused ran through my head. I didn't save him just to have him die by the same thing that almost killed me.

"Who are you fighting?" Don't think about him dying, Carly. Think about other things. He's fine. He will be fine. He's not the Commander of the army for no reason. He won't die. He won't leave you already...

He leaned back to look me in the eyes and cupped my cheek, "Lycans, this time. It'll be fine, sweetheart, we know their weaknesses already. It's just a matter of getting the drop on them before they get us. It's a new adjustment, but not one that's never been used before. This is just the first time I haven't been there to help everyone keep their heads about them." I didn't realize that I was trembling at the thought of him getting hurt or killed out there until he wrapped the blanket around us and held me closer to him. I realized that I was beginning to get very protective over him as much as I thought he was with me because of how worked up I was getting over this. "I will be back before you know it. I will always come back to you, I promise." He leaned his forehead against mine and rubbed his hands up and down my arms gently to help calm me down.

I nodded and gripped onto his shirt tightly, "What am I supposed to do without you?"

He chuckled, "Stay in the room at all times, I will arrange for someone to bring you your meals. I should only be gone a few days and then when I come back we can start the process of changing you, if you want?"

I gave him a small smile, "I'd like that. I should be fully healed by then and the Nightshade should also be completely out of my system as well."

He nodded and returned my smile, "I don't want you doing anything too strenuous though. So when I'm gone, you let the slaves assigned to cleaning the room do their jobs. You aren't one of them anymore, so there's no need for you to do it. Take the time to learn what you like to do and do those things, alright?" He leaned down to look in my eyes pointedly and I gave him a small nod in return.

"I'll try, "I said softly, "but I don't really know how to find those things out." I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Who doesn't know what they like and don't like? I felt like I was the only one who didn't actually know anything other than what I grew up doing. Other than the few other slaves that were born like I was, of course.

I heard him chuckling softly before he surprised me by having us fall back onto the bed, leaving me sprawled on top of him and my hair everywhere around us as I looked down at him with wide eyes. "Well...do you know how to read and write?"

I nodded hesitantly, still shocked at the sudden change in position, "Y-yes, but I haven't done it in awhile, so neither are probably very good at the moment."

"Did you like reading?"

I thought about it for a second, "I suppose so, but what I read was mostly recipes or chore lists. Never anything interesting."

"I see...what about drawing? Have you ever drawn something before?"

I squirmed a little in his arms uneasily, "No, not really. I don't think I ever tried unless it was stick figures in the dirt of fireplace ashes." I was so useless...

He pushed my hair behind my ears and gave me a reassuring smile, "Okay. Well, we will find something for you to do. You can always try those things over again and see if you enjoy doing them now that you have the time and the freedom to do so."

I smiled back at him, realizing once again that he is the only reason that I now have the time and the freedom to do anything I wanted instead of doing what someone else wanted me to do. "I'd like that."

"Great. Now, since Alice cleared you...would you like to take a bath with me?"

I sighed wistfully, "I don't remember the last time I even had a bath..." We rarely had the opportunity to bathe ourselves, let alone in a bathtub. There was usually an unenthusiastic vampire that just sprayed a bunch of us down with a hose all at once and called us clean; the water pressure was so rough that it felt like we were getting pelted by rocks when it hit our skin, leaving us bruised more and with red marks all over us. Most of us opted out of doing it until they had no choice but to make us clean up.

He sat up, bringing me upright with him, "Well, I will go get one started for us. I'll be right back." He gave me a quick peck on the lips before sauntering over to the bathroom to start the water. I stood to join him and he turned to me as I approached, reaching out to start untying the ties of my tattered dress slowly.

I should've been nervous, I mean, I was, but I was also intrigued and excited, so I didn't even try to stop him. He was my mate, and I felt safe and secure with him and he was being so gentle in undressing me that it was sending tingles down my spine.

Our eyes were locked the entire time he was undressing me and I reached out to return the favor as well, fumbling only a little bit on his shirt buttons, surprisingly.

His eyes were the only things I saw at that time; it was like the whole room had disappeared and it was just us with our tantalizingly slow movements and gentle caresses and those bright green irises flooding my whole vision.

My dress fell to the floor with a soft plop next to his shirt that he'd shrugged off earlier, leaving me bare while he still had his pants on. My cheeks reddened again, but I ignored the sensation when he leaned down to capture my lips in a sensual kiss. I forgot all about undressing him as I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my tiptoes, pressing our bodies together skin to skin, and surrendered fully to his lips.

We pulled away to catch our breath and stared at each other for a minute, "I'll help you in and then finish undressing before I join you, "he said softly, his voice low and husky, as he extended his hand for me to hold on to as I got in. I grabbed it, still reeling from that kiss to even think about arguing, even though I wanted to help him undress like he did for me.

The water was just the right temperature to soothe my sore muscles that I didn't realize I had and I sighed into it, watching him as he undressed before he climbed into the tub as well.

I couldn't believe that we were both able to fit in here comfortably. I guess I was used to bathing in a small water basin whenever I could; it was usually done in secret so I didn't have to get sprayed like everyone else did, but it was still nothing compared to this. I didn't realize that a bathtub could be this big and fit us both.

I was surprised that I didn't feel an ounce of anxiety or embarrassment because we were naked with each other for the first time, but I didn't really care either; he was a beautiful specimen. His body was perfectly sculpted, like all vampires were, and I could detect a few battle scars from the harshness of war scattered all over his abdomen that must've been very deep since they hadn't disappeared from his skin like most superficial wounds would have. He had a light tan, which was almost rare for most vampires, from being out in the sun for most of his life. Not just because vampires tended to avert themselves from the daylight because the UV rays made them weaker, but because their powers were much stronger during the night, as both the sun and the moon had different properties that could be harmful or helpful to them.

Each of his muscles were perfectly toned as well, and every movement he made I could tell he knew how to make each of them move exactly the way he wanted them to. He had perfect eight pack abs, which I stared at much longer than I intended to because of the jagged scar that ran along his left side all the way to his ribcage.

I barely noticed that he had soaped up a sponge with some lavender soap until the rough texture hit my uninjured shoulder, causing me to jump in surprise.

I raised my eyes to look up at him and saw his amused expression, "I was fighting against another coven when I got that scar; the vampire I got it from was one of the few opponents to ever get close enough to me to actually land a hit," he explained calmly as he slowly washed my body with the sponge, "had we been in a more open space, it wouldn't have been as deep as it was, but because of the close quarters we were in, he got me real good with his sword."

I moved closer to him to run my fingers over it softly, "How long ago was this?" My voice was almost a whisper, I was intrigued that he had been in many fights before and had only been hurt like this so few times. This scar looked like it could've killed him; if he had been human it definitely would have, and it made me very glad that he wasn't, because then I wouldn't have been able to meet him.

He thought about it for a moment, "It happened about a decade ago, and it took me out of commission for a week. Not one of my finest moments, but we were able to win that fight." He looked very proud of his time as the leader of our army and I was proud of him too.

He had finished washing my body and had moved on to washing my hair; I closed my eyes and sighed as his deft fingers worked the kinks out and massaged my head gently before he rinsed the soap out. He didn't need to ask for me to wash him because I was already doing so, slowly going over his skin and looking at all the different scars that adorned his body as I did so.

He watched me silently and I felt him breathe deeply and relax more as I gave him the same treatment he gave me.

He wasn't ashamed of his scares like I was of mine; his were given to him honorably while mine were given as punishments. Some were from being hit so hard that the skin had split open and most of them were from the lashes of whips. But I was covered in them and my pale skin barely covered the evidence. Both of us have had our fair share of hardships and each of our scars is a testament to that fact.

Once I finished rinsing the suds of his skin, he leaned forward and ran his fingers lightly over the raised scars that were visible to him on my shoulder, "What happened here?" He asked softly, I watched his face and noticed he was trying his best to have a neutral face and I wasn't exactly sure how he'd react when I told him that that was one of the latest ones from his sister.

But I told him anyway, knowing he needed to know, watching his face as I did so.

"These are from the last time I was whipped, for spilling tea on Princess Jada's new dress by accident," I saw his pupils dilate as his anger rose up and his jaw clenched. I knew he didn't like hearing that I got hurt because of something like that, but that's what happened and neither of us could change it now. "I tripped on the carpet and lost my hold on the kettle and it went flying towards her. I spent a few weeks down in the dungeon for that, alone."

A low growl rumbled in his chest and I saw him visibly trying to control his anger; after a minute or so of watching him struggle with it and seeing the tension in his body not go away, I moved to sit on his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. His arms immediately went to grab onto me and buried his face in my neck.

"I'm okay," I said softly, "it's been awhile since it happened and I'm all healed now, I'm right here with you."

His arms tightened around my waist and I could hear him breathing deeply of my scent to try to calm himself down further. It was working, but only a little bit, "It shouldn't have happened at all," his voice was tight and gruff with emotion, "I don't understand why my siblings can be so cruel to their humans when our parents have been relatively fair to the humans in their care since they came to rule." He leaned back to look in my eyes, his green eyes flashing in annoyance and his pupils back to their normal size, "I was taught to respect every species unless they did wrong to me," he cupped my cheek gently, "but they have taken their statuses too far, as well as many other vampires that think they deserve better."

I sighed and played with his hair, "It's just the way things are, Jax. It's going to take more than a couple of sweet vampires to change everyone's attitudes towards my race."

He arched an eyebrow, "Sweet? Who else is sweet?" He seemed to avoid the issue we were discussing with my mentioning another vampire besides him who was sweet to me. I let him change the subject since I knew that further discussing it would make him upset again.

I giggled at his confusion, "Alice."

He chuckled in realization, "Oh, right. She's shared my views for awhile, but is afraid to show it around some vampires because of how they would turn on her," he sighed and leaned back against the tub, "I am glad that you two have warmed up to each other though."

"She saved my life," I shrugged and smiled at him, "and gives you grief. She's alright by me."

He laughed full on, making my jaw drop in surprise, as it softened his features significantly, and I couldn't help but stare at the change in awe. I'm even sure I felt my heart pound harder than it usually does. He noticed the look I was giving him and stopped laughing to give me a sheepish smile that made him look boyish, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I-I've never seen you laugh like that before," I stammered out. I've seen him chuckle and smile, but never a full-blown laugh and it made him look even more handsome than usual.

He grabbed onto my upper arms gently and pressed a kiss to my forehead, "I guess I've never felt the to to until you came across my path, "he smiled and cupped my cheeks. "I've been waiting for you for a very long time, Carly, and I'm so glad to have finally met you and to be able to call you mine."

I felt my chest constrict at his sweet words and I put my hand on his cheek too, "I'm glad to have met you too," I said softly, "I've never felt this way about anyone before and I love that I get to call you mine as well." He flashed me a grin before pulling me back against his chest snuggly. I sighed in contentment as I nuzzled against him, the sparks erupting from the skin-to-skin contact between us were pleasant and comforting. We hadn't known each other for very long at all, but I already felt how protective and caring he was over me and I felt the same way over him as well, even though I had no power whatsoever to protect him. I would still try my best anyway, because he was my mate.

He kissed the top of my head, "We should get out and get some sleep." I nodded in agreement, the lavender soap finally doing its job in making me sleepy.

He unplugged the drain and helped me get out before wrapping a big fluffy towel around me and then grabbing one for himself to wrap around his waist. We went back into the bedroom and I sat on the bed while he went into the closet to grab some clothes for us.

He came back out with a bundle of clothes in his hand and wearing pajama bottoms. "I don't have clothes for you just yet and I'm sure you would like to get out of that dress forever, you'll have to wear some of mine for now," he hand the clothes to me and I nodded before putting on the t-shirt and shorts. This would actually be the first time I would wear something else besides that tattered dress and I was even more excited that I was wearing something of his that smelled like him.

Once I was finished, I climbed into bed next to him and cuddled up close, "Thank you for the clothes, I do feel better wearing something else," I said softly.

He wrapped his arm around me as I yawned, "You can have those, but I will still get you more clothes for yourself soon. I will also have that dress burned immediately." I giggled as his disgust towards me having to wear the dress was evident in his voice, glad that we both agreed that it was good for me to be out of it, "For now, sweetheart, sleep."

I kissed his cheek, "Good night, Jax."

He turned to me and kissed my lips, "Goodnight."