Suddenly, Rohan tightened his hold around her and flapped his wings and went flying back down. He caught her so off guard she let out a little scream and closed her eyes, wrapping her arms back around his neck.
He transitioned her in his arms and carried her in a bridal style and then told her to open her eyes as he slowed down his descent to the ground.
Belle hesitated for only a moment and looked around as he flew around above the Grimvale forest with her. The wind blew at her face and hair, tickling her into smiling and enjoying it, and just for a moment she forgot about everything that had happened and that she would have died tonight, or that she had seen people get killed in this same dense forest that looked so dark she wondered just now how she had braved it and went into it.
Her resolve and determination had propelled her into it, but she doubted there would be another reason for her to step into it ever again as it looked even more scary from up here as she watched it.
She let herself look around and even giggled when he went over a flowing river just beyond a part in the forest. His wings splashed water on her as he twisted in a way it hit the water surface.
"Rohan!" she squealed when water hit her on the face.
When he finally brought her down in the castle grounds, Belle was half-drenched and a little bit cold and pale. She almost lost her balance when he put her back down on her feet, but his arm was quick to come around her waist and pull her forward to his chest.
Using his other hand, Rohan pulled the hood of her cloak back on her head and then looked down to ask, "You good?"
She could only nod her head, and by the time she raised her head, his wings had disappeared from his back, causing her to move her head to the side to look properly where they had gone to.
"Where are the wings?" she asked him, feeling stupid only after asking the question when he chuckled.
"Put to rest," he said curtly.
Belle had never heard of any vampire with wings before and certainly she’d not seen any human with one. Rohan was not only different in so many ways, he made her doubt if he was actually a night creature now. It was obvious he wasn’t a human and it was much more even clear that he didn’t look like a vampire, he only seemed to have all their traits but not the looks. With his black wings up earlier and his somewhat tanned skin, one would think he indeed came from hell and had gotten his skin to that bronze gold color because of the heat. And those wings...
She’d never seen anything like them before. They were massive and strong enough to fly him up to the sky. What was he, truly? It seemed the more she thought she was figuring him out the more puzzles he added to her chase and made it even more harder to figure out the pieces of the puzzle.
She found herself asking, "How come you have wings?"
He looked down at her and calmly replied, "Was born with it." Before she could open her mouth to ask another question, he pressed his gloved finger against her lips.
"It should be our little secret. No one must know about it or—"
"You will kill me?" she cut him off, her lips brushing against his finger as she spoke, looking up at his shadowed face. But instead of answering directly, he smiled his usual slow, wicked smile and leaned down, replacing his finger with his lips against hers.
Belle froze and held her breath when his mouth moved languidly over hers, soft and deliberate, while his arm slipped around her waist to draw her closer. To her slight disappointment, he didn’t deepen the kiss or invade her mouth with the warmth of his tongue; instead, he merely spoke against her lips, his breath hot and tantalizing.
"You are mine, and mine you shall remain forever. That’s why I let you see my wings," he whispered, every word sending a tremble through her. His hand was gripping her hips in a possessive way that made her skin tingle and burn for his touches, and subconsciously she moved her body closer to his only for him to smile against her kiss-deprived lips.
"Wh-who else knew you have wings?" She forced the question out of her hazed mind because his closeness always unnerved her and made her unable to think or act properly.
He removed one hand from her hip and brought it up to show her his three fingers. "Three people, including my wife. A vampire having wings is a bad omen, and it is said to bring bad luck to every single one of his bloodline, and it rarely happens that one is born with wings. The last person that was born with it was many years ago, and she was killed for it even before she grew up."
Belle took in his words and frowned. "Isn’t it too cruel to kill someone for a myth about the wings being a bad omen?" she asked, feeling his hand return to her hip to grip and pull her even closer into him.
Rohan smiled at her words. "And who said it was a myth?" He tilted his head to the side and clicked his tongue.
When they entered the castle, Rav was pacing the foyer with a worried look and hearing them open the door, he turned to it and let out a sigh of relief as his light red eyes fell on Belle. He almost couldn’t remember the last time he had been this worried, but it seemed worrying was becoming part of his life now ever since his master had married the human.
He had gone out to run an errand only to return to see Rohan cursing savagely after speaking to one of the servants who told him his wife had run away and came to show him the letter as an evidence. For some unknown reasons, his master had been going out frequently and returning late in the night, and whenever he returned he would go straight to his wife’s chamber and sit on the chair he would pull next to the bed to watch her sleep.
As strange as that might have seemed, Rav had decided to pretend he didn’t see it, but when Rohan had left the castle this evening after being told that his wife had betrayed him and was running away with another man, Rav had decided the lady had touched the spot she shouldn’t have. His master doesn’t take betrayal lightly, and whoever he considered as a betrayer shall not live to see the light of the day.
He had looked serenely calm as he left the castle and told Rav to tell the kitchen servants to prepare dinner, but Rav had sensed under that calm facade was a boiling rage that if let loose could cause the life of all the people in the castle at that very moment. Thus he had not dared question the master and let him go, even if it could cause the life of his wife.
Now seeing them return holding hands, he let out a sigh of relief. Killing his wife wasn’t going to be good for any of them, especially Rohan who was under constant watch by the king and just waiting for the opportunity for him to act out of place and harm his wife.
"My Lord," Rav greeted with a bow as Rohan came to a stop and moved his hands for Rav to take off his coat. As he stepped forward to help, Rav caught the scent of blood on the black fabric, but upon sensing it belonged to a vampire and not a human, he relaxed.
He silently took the black coat and then turned to help the lady with her red cloak, but before he could touch her, Rohan moved swiftly. He reached out himself and removed the cloak for her, as if he did not want another person laying a hand on her.
Rohan handed the cloak to Rav, who quietly took it, bowed to the lady, and stepped back — realizing that his lordship did not trust even him to touch his wife.
The possessiveness Rohan was beginning to show toward his wife was becoming almost uncomfortable for Rav, who wasn’t used to seeing him behave that way toward anyone, especially to a woman who had attempted to run away with another man.
"Have you set out dinner?" came Rohan’s question as he looked just beyond Rav where he saw a shadow of a woman peeking from behind a pillar and looking at his wife.
"Yes, my Lord. The dinner is served."
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