Chapter 191 Hunting- Part 1
Any and every thought that she was formulating in her mind washed away when Calhoun kissed her. It wasn't a peck as he pulled her by her waist, almost having her where he wanted by pulling her to his front and stepping forward. Both his hands moved to hold the sides of her face, kissing her as he pressed his lips on hers.
When Calhoun pulled away from kissing her, Madeline's clouded eyes came to meet his where he stared at her,
"You are mine, right?" it wasn't a question, but the words of confirmation and Madeline's lips moved to reply,
"I am my own person," the grip of his hands tightened on her face and Calhoun's eyes looked at her fiercely. He wanted to hear she was his and no one else', not even her own. His fingertips moved to the side of her face, feeling her skin heat up at his touch and the rate of her heart beat increased.
"Are you sure about that?" he asked. His hand moved towards her neck and then slowly down her chest. Madeline's breath hitched when Calhoun's hand didn't move away but continued to trace down to her chest as if brushing the edge with the back of his fingers where her tips were, "Why do you make it difficult for yourself?" he whispered on her lips.
Madeline stared back into his red eyes, not backing away from the intimidating gaze that was dark because of the time in the night, "What do you want me to say?" she asked him.
"Tell me that you are mine," a smile stretched on his lips, wickedness coating it and Calhoun then moved to pat her head, "It isn't that hard."
Calhoun was a smart man who knew exactly what he wanted. Without waiting for the time, he made sure the time turned in his favour. A King who was handsome, smart and pushy but Madeline hadn't given him her heart. Feelings were to be earned and not forced. It wasn't that Madeline was not aware of his tricks. She often found out about it when time had passed, and she had fallen into his traps.
He had tried seducing her, his words and touch was nothing less when it came to intoxicate her like the liquor she had drank in one of the soirees.
The worst part was that Madeline remembered every second she had spent with him. The movements of his hands and his lips on her, somewhere it bothered her and her legs squeezed themselves at the thought of it.
"You might have got me to accept the marriage, milord, but the feelings are something that will take time," she answered truthfully.
"I am fine with that. We have all the time you need in this world. Take all your time to catch those feelings. In the meantime we can work with your needs," Calhoun said, his hand pulled Madeline to have her front pressed on his, "I cannot tell you how pleased I am that you are not fighting yourself with what you have," if she hadn't listened to him by now, Calhoun would have picked up another path to get her to agree, and it wouldn't be pretty. Thankfully for Madeline's own sake, she had stopped resisting, and she was accepting what he was giving her.
It was only a matter of time that the intoxicating poison of Calhoun would spread in her body and mind until she would have nothing but him to belong to, to depend on. He leaned towards her shoulder, bending down while one of his hands that was on her shoulder pushed the fabric of her dress so that he could kiss her. Madeline's body froze for a second, breath escaping from her lips. His nose moved up to the column of her neck.
"I cannot help but wonder why you smell this sweet to me," Calhoun said this in the shell of her ear. Madeline closed her eyes, feeling his soft breath on her ear and the cold air hitting the skin on her shoulder which he had exposed for him to take. Taking a whiff from her, Calhoun finally pulled away from her.
Madeline went to pull the sleeve off her shoulder back to the position when Calhoun caught her wrist in his hand, "Was there something you wanted to say?" his calculative eyes looked at her.
The current situation only made her aware of how powerless she would be if Calhoun were to decide that he wanted to see more of her. Touch her more, and Madeline would not be in the position to refuse it. But he wasn't doing it so. Instead, the man was moving slow and steadily, subtly getting her used to things while heading towards the goal of what he wanted.
"I am feeling cold," she said, and she wasn't lying. Goosebumps started to raise on her skin because of the night wind. Calhoun's eyes moved to look at her slender shoulder, which was exposed to his eyes.
"Shall I warm you up?" he suggested, his words were more than suggestive that didn't hold back in what he wanted from her, "Let me bite you."
"You took blood from me a few days ago," she reminded him. At this rate, she would have no more blood and would die in his hands.
"Do you know how many hours and minutes and seconds are present in those few days?" asked Calhoun. He smiled when Madeline tried to get her hand out of his grip, but he didn't let it go. He enjoyed seeing her struggle; maybe that is what kept him excited, the chase. Madeline had not made another run until now, not since the time when he had asked her to step into the maze. Like a predator, he was waiting for her to make a run.
"I don't have unlimited blood like the water in the sea," said Madeline to hear him chuckle. His chest reverberated with the laugh as he looked at her before the smile died down from his face.
"We won't know until we try to find out." Pushing her hand down and out of the way, Calhoun's lips made its way to her shoulder. Kissing the top again and he heard the sharp intake of breath when he bit her playfully without drawing any blood out, "Are you going to say you don't feel anything?" as his leg moved to press closer to her, Madeline quickly said,
"S-stop!"
"Why? Are you scared?"
Yes, she was scared! Madeline yelled in her mind without telling it out vocally to Calhoun. The feeling that returned from that day somewhere made her queasy, and she felt somewhere frustrated with it.
"Please keep it for the wedding night," she whispered.
Calhoun's lips twisted into a villainous smile, "What do you think I was going to do right now?" he asked, one of his eyebrows raised in question, "Hm?"
Was he expecting her to explain what he was doing? She quietly glared at him before schooling down her expression. Her glare only spurred his desire to torture her more. What kind of man did she get stuck with? Asked Madeline to herself. There were only a few moments where he had been gentle with her, but the other times, he took the payment of him being kind to her in worse ways which she wasn't able to repay back to him.
"You have got me intrigued, Maddie," chimed Calhoun, "We are not having sex. So what else are you speaking about?"
Madeline let her body relax, "I want to sleep," she said to him.
"All in good time when you tell what you meant. I wouldn't want to leave things hanging in between when we have unresolved work between us," Calhoun cocked his head to the side, his smile still there with his teeth visible, "Tell me quickly. I have other things to do."
Her eyes darted away from him. She didn't know what she felt, it was an unexplainable feeling, and she had experienced it the last time he had kissed her. The feeling scared her, and it made her toes curl just by the thought of it, the pit of her stomach feeling like it hadn't before.
"I...I don't," she answered. It was the best answer when one didn't want to address a topic, "I don't know."
"You don't know?" he asked her as if he was confirming her words, "Is it because you are not able to describe it or you have forgotten it?"
Would there ever be a day of peace in the future where Calhoun was not going invading her space to tease and torture her? Calhoun was the opposite of what she had hoped and tried to see in a man. Before she met and knew the existence of Calhoun Hawthrone, Madeline wished for a decent, a good and humble man. But the King was shameless when it came to his questions and demands, being forceful. She felt bad for what happened to him in the past, and somewhere she tried to understand that it was the reason why he was the way he was right now. But at the same time, it didn't justify his actions towards her. Her emotions were all over the place.
She wanted to help the King to see a different path filled with light than the darkness he enjoyed. Instead, what was happening was that she was being drawn into the world of darkness from light.
"Can I ask you something instead?" asked Madeline and Calhoun looked at her curiously.
"Ask."
Coming back to something that was weighing in her mind, Madeline asked, "Until now, what you told me so far...Has there been something you have hidden or lied to me?"
She tried to find something or anything on his face. Even if it was a subtle change, but there was none. His eyes continued to look back at her, "No," came his answer, "I have told you the truth, haven't I?" his words came much softer to fall on her ears, "Why did you get that question?"
Madeline shook her head, "It was just something I had on my mind." She was mastering how to keep her heart still, without letting Calhoun pick on the possible fluctuation. She didn't know the dynamics between him and his other family members properly, knowing Calhoun didn't have a family and maybe the only family he considered was Lady Lucy.
She noticed how Calhoun gauged her expression and then asked, "Do you not believe me?"
"I never said that I didn't," she frowned. Calhoun had joked and lied, but he had been truthful about it later, regarding the rabbits in the forest and about his parent's death, "I didn't say you lied to me."
He pulled away from her, letting her hand go and put the sleeve back in place. Was Calhoun upset? Asked Madeline to herself. She hadn't meant to upset him.
Calhoun then said, "You should go get some sleep," he offered her a smile, waiting to see her get inside her room.
Madeline bowed her head and then slowly made her way towards the room and before she could get inside, she heard him say,
"You will always be on my side, right?"
Hearing those words, Madeline turned around to meet his eyes. Calhoun stood with his hands in his pocket with a blank expression on his face. She nodded her head, and a small smile appeared on his face before he finally left the front of her room.
Calhoun started to walk away from the corridor where Madeline's room was located. His footsteps slowed down, and the expression on his face changed. The smile that was there before was wiped out, and his red eyes looked ahead of him intensely. When he reached the courtroom, he noticed Theodore, who was helping the minister to carry the parchments that had been stacked and tied.
Theodore noticed Calhoun walk towards the throne, and he bowed his head.
"Have Heckles handle the duties in here tomorrow morning," said Calhoun to Theodore, "You can come with us to hunt."
Theodore pushed the old glasses that kept sliding down his nose which he hadn't bothered to fix, "I thought it was only the Wilmots, Gerville and you with the lady."
"I will need more ears than just mine for tomorrow," this caught Theodore's attention, "Madeline asked an interesting question today. It makes me wonder who placed doubt in her mind that made her question today."
"I will ask the stableman to get an extra horse readied for tomorrow," obliged Theodore before he asked, "Was it something bad?"
Calhoun's eyes had narrowed, "It would be bad if Madeline found out."