THE VAMPIRE KING'S YOUNG MATE

WHERE (10)

AMELIA

I was somewhat cross towards William for shouting at me for no apparent reason but all that anger had subdued due to the sublime reading session I had with him in the royal library. I remembered his oddly soothing voice reading to me and then it all went blank as I slipped into a dreamless slumber. Upon my remembrance I looked around, expecting to find myself laid on the library sofa on which William had perched me up on his lap but I was surprised when I looked around to see the all too familiar bedroom lit up with a soft glow of floor lamp that stood dauntingly at the right corner of the room.

Throwing the silk sheets that covered my body at the end of the bed I got up; I was pleased to see myself in the same floral ankle-length dress I had donned on when awake as I didn't feel comfortable at the thought of William changing me.

As soon as that thought crept into my head a subsequent image conjured up, William's face held his notorious smirk that obscurely sent my heart into overdrive whilst the lithe fingers on his right hand were hooked into the top buttons of my dress whereas his left hand held the base of my neck in a firm hold. I could almost feel the slightly cold touch of his skin on mine ...

"Damn!" I cursed as soon as I realized what exactly it was that I was doing. Dismissing the absurd image, I began walking towards the light switch and turned it own, instantly regretting the decision when the harsh, bright lights attacked my sensitive eyes.

My gaze moved towards the window and I was bewildered to find out that it was still night! The moon hung in the midst of the dark cerulean sky whilst millions of stars were scattered around the shimmering moon. I sighed tiredly, where was William? I thought confusedly when his disappearance registered into my mind.

He had said he was going to have a discussion with a man named Dimitri so I presumed that he was busy doing so. I decided it was best to change out of the dress into something more comfortable if I was planning to get some more sleep. Rummaging through the clothes provided to me in the collosol closet, I found a pair of silk pajama shorts and a loose camisole. Happy with my find I stripped before throwing on a fresh pair of undergarments and then the night suit I chose.

Subsequently, I made my way over to the bed and tried to fall asleep but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't! It was like something was missing and somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew exactly what was missing, William. Now I was completely frustrated with my pathetic pining over the man I had planned to leave; after a few more minutes of sleeplessness I began to feel hungry and as I wasn't getting sleep anytime soon I decided it would be best to grab a bite.

Throwing off the sheets once again, I began trudging out of the bed towards the exit. I twisted the door knob and strolled out to the kitchen, which I thankfully remembered the path too.

I was going through the refrigerator for something to snack on when a gruff throat clearing caused me to jump up in surprise and bump my head atop the metal hinges of the fridge. "Crap!" I murmured when the harsh throbbing began settling over my head.

I turned back to give hell to the person who caused me this much pain! But as soon as I looked back I was astonished to see a gorgeous blond standing with a rigid posture whilst his muscular arms were crossed over his sculpted chest and his indigo eyes shone with curiosity. Upon closer inspection, I realized he was tall, very tall. Almost everyone was tall compared to me but this guy could give the people considered ' towering' a run for their money yet as I continued to stare shamelessly I registered that he was a couple inch shorter than my William.

My William! What the hell? I reprimanded myself when the deranged notion of William being mine came to my mind. Shaking my head clear I looked back up towards the mysterious blonde who was staring at me with a peculiar expression in his eyes.

"You must be one of the guards?" I asked as I was very sure that no one else could enter the castle at this time. In an instant, an amused expression took over his face and he nodded in agreement. I gave him a questioning look before proceeding to look for food.

"Would you like something to eat?" I asked out of common courtesy when I spotted a loaf of bread and a stack of different cheeses located in the back of the fridge, smiling at the thought of a scrumptious grilled cheese sandwich I looked back at the mysterious guard for an answer.

His eyes seemed to be glazed over and he looked far off as if reliving a past memory, it seemed to be a happy one as a small grin tugged at the corners of his lips. "So?" I asked once again to gain his attention, that seemed to snap him out of his dazed state because his gaze moved to me and he gave me a small smile.

"You do know that I'm a vampire right?" he questioned, the amusement in his eyes growing by the second and that's when the prior conversation I had with William echoed in my head. How can one person be this incompetent? The Subconscious voice in my head taunted.

"I'm sorry, I completely forgot!" I exclaimed ashamed of my forgetful nature.

"It's fine... Are you making grilled cheese sandwiches ?" he asked with a hopeful tone.

I smiled and nodded in agreement, "Someone close to me made those for me a while back..." he spoke with distraction evident in his voice.

"Then I'm guessing you wouldn't mind if I made you one?" I smiled before preparing two sandwiches, grabbing the plates and placing them on the dining table. "Come on!" I patted the chair next to mine. He chuckled a little albeit made his way next to me before gingerly tucking into the food.

We continued to eat in silence, however, once in a while, I could feel his curious gaze on me. I assumed it was because most of William's men had not seen me in person before yet somehow they all knew about me but it seemed as if this man did not recognize me at all which was considerably unusual, I decided to let it go though and focus on my food instead. I took my last bite and looked up to see him staring at me yet again but this time his eyes held a sort of sorrowful expression.

I was just about to question him if he was okay when a gentle voice interrupted my thoughts, "Amelia! I finally found you!". I looked back to see Sandra, the maid who had accompanied me to the royal garden once before. Her face showed signs of relief with a mixture of fear.

"Is everything okay Sandra?" my voice cut through the pregnant pause that had formed after she had spoken.

"It will be now," she muttered before continuing, "I think you should head back to the royal bedroom. His highness seems to be getting more anxious by the minute," she finished with a terrified shudder. I nodded in agreement and turned back to wish the mysterious guard a goodnight but he wasn't there, he had vanished!

I shook my head with a sigh before following Sandra back up to the room; Sandra patted me on the back encouragingly once we reached the door. She whispered a good luck and scurried out as fast as she could. Tentatively, I reached out for the doorknob, I had no clue what William had done to make Sandra act this way but whatever it was, it had to be a quite the show to scare the poor woman like so.

I was about to twist the handle when all of a sudden the door burst open and a fuming William stomped out. "Where have you been young one?" He questioned menacingly.

I gulped before answering, "I was a little hungry so I decided to make myself some food,"

"Speak up!" he ordered.

"I j-just went downstairs to get some f-food!" I stuttered out with the slight force I could muster.

"You do not go anywhere without informing me! Understood?" he roared out before slamming me into a wall, I shut my eyes tightly waiting for the pain to come because of the harsh impact but it never came. Hesitantly, I looked back avoiding looking into his eyes albeit as soon as my eyes came into contact with the wall I realized why I hadn't felt the pain, it was because William's large hand had cushioned my head from the rough collision with the wall.

I moved my gaze back to look at him questioningly; he seemed as if he despised my presence but he continued to protect me, why? I was thoroughly confused but all those doubts and questions left my head once I looked into William's utterly enthralling, deep gray eyes which were swarming with an odd expression of pain.

My hand raised up, having a mind of its own and placed itself on his rough yet perfectly sculpted cheeks. "Are you okay?" I whispered out. In an instant, he let me go and moved back, he then proceeded to rack the thick lock of hair on his head leaving it disheveled before striding to the bed.

I took a deep breath and composed myself before following behind William and laying down on the bed, an awkward silence settled over us. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and turned over, facing away from William. He had honestly scared me today, the erratic beating of my heart was the evident proof!

A lump formed in my throat and I took a deep breath trying to push it down but it didn't seem to work, instead, a strangled sob made its way out my throat. The depressing sound echoes across the silent room and soon after two large arms snaked across my torso and pulled my body into a hard, muscular chest. I couldn't help but turn my face back and snuggle deeper into the monster's embrace however shortly, tears began streaming down my face; the emotion I had supposedly locked down came rushing up and I couldn't help but let the cries that had begun to surface inside break free.

He began caressing the back of my head and whispering sweet nothings into the eerily quiet of the collosol room. "I've told you before love, I don't apologize but I hope you know that I deeply regret the way I handled the situation. It's just that..." he left the sentence hanging.

"It's just what?" I sniffled out, needing a proper explanation for his unforeseeable behavior.

"It's just that I thought that you might leave me and it angered me to no extent!" he answered with a clenched jaw, "you wouldn't do that, would you?" he continued with an expectant tone.

I trembled and let out a shaky sigh. His callous fingers grabbed my chin before delicately tugging it upwards so that I was once again staring into his anticipating eyes. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine.

"I'd never do that," I lied.

An overwhelming surge of emotion filled my heart at the thought of our separation; I bent down in hopes of reassuring William of my deceptive statement but before I could even comprehend what was happening his large hands clutched the base of my neck and slammed his lips onto mine. A shudder went down my spine, his tongue grazed my bottom, an act so erotic that it lead my traitorous body to react with an inevitable moan. I could feel a smirk forming on his lips as soon as the embarrassing sound that escaped my throat.

He pulled away and looked into my eyes with an intense emotion, "good because if you do leave... I would kill you and then I would kill myself."

My eyes widened at his bold statement now the question was that, was I willing to risk it all for my reassurance of the fact that the only family I knew was gone and my freedom as a human?