The Vampire King's Pet-Chapter 261: Tub
Aira could feel her heart slowly start to thump lightly in her chest even as she watched Zyren undress himself to reveal his pale muscular chest as he slowly moved closer to where she stood.
Her breath hitched in quiet disbelief. The air in the bathroom suddenly felt thicker, as though the heat of the water rising from the tub wasn’t the only thing suffocating her. Every movement he made seemed deliberate, slow, and cruelly measured—as if he was aware of the effect it had on her and enjoyed it.
Instantly without waiting for him to get closer she instantly backed away towards the other side of the tub even as she fixed her eyes on him and opened her mouth to speak. The cold marble floor met her bare feet with a sharp chill that ran up her spine, grounding her even as her pulse sped faster.
"Wha-what are you doing?" wondering how their conversation had suddenly taken an unusual turn even as she watched him slowly take off the black pants he wore, shifting her gaze away and ready to walk out of the bathroom as she heard him undress himself until he was completely naked. The sound of fabric hitting the floor made her throat tighten. It felt far too intimate.
"I need to take my bath. Figured we can take it together!" he told her even as Aira’s eyes widened into wide saucers glaring at him as she watched him slowly get into the wide tub while beckoning for her to do the same. His tone was casual, unbothered, as though his words were the most natural thing in the world, and that calmness made her even more uneasy.
There was no way under heaven that she was willingly getting into the tub with him dressed not to mention naked. But the thought had just occurred to her when she slowly heard him speak just as her gaze shifted towards the door where she was already considering leaving.
"Figured you could tell me all about the ways you intend to rescue your mother. Under the law... he owns her until death!" he said even as Aira, who had been heading for the door, suddenly paused, turning to look squarely at Zyren who met her gaze with the same intensity his red eyes usually had. His words cut like a chain wrapping tight around her chest. The reminder of her mother, trapped and helpless, made her freeze mid-step. Her heart twisted painfully, and she could almost hear her own pulse roaring in her ears as her anger and dread merged into a helpless ache.
"Most importantly. There’s barely any time before dinner. It would look poorly on you if you were late for such a grand event between two grand species!" A hint of teasing in his tone as he spoke even as Aira remained unmoving but Zyren simply continued to speak with confidence in his tone. He always spoke that way—effortlessly commanding, dangerously composed.
"Take it all off before you get in! We’ve been together so many times... with how you’re acting an outsider would think it was your first time being with me!" he told her even as Aira glared at him.
Her hands curled into fists at her sides, the skin of her palms pressing against her nails hard enough to sting. She hated the way he said together, as if it meant something mutual, as if it wasn’t layered with control and her resistance.
Gritting her teeth together especially since she still wanted to head towards the door only to sigh aware that she might as well give up the dream of doing so. Her body tensed from the weight of his presence, her throat dry.
"You’re not going to have sex with me?" she asked him squarely, aware that Zyren didn’t lie since he didn’t see a need to, even as she heard him instantly respond with a hint of a smirk on his lips.
"No Little flame! I’m not going to have sex with you in the tub! I might break it!" he said, looking right into her eyes even as he stretched out a hand which Aira was tempted to ignore but went ahead to accept. The faint humor in his tone made her cheeks flush with irritation rather than embarrassment. Still, she took his hand—reluctantly, cautiously.
Taking off her clothes as she sank into the water on him doing her best not to touch his skin but she might as well have been building castles in the skin. The water enveloped her with deceptive warmth, but it couldn’t ease the tension running through her. She sat as far as she could, avoiding the sharp line of his jaw and the steadiness of his eyes that never once left her.
Zyren instantly began to lather soap on her skin almost like he himself had no reason to bathe. In circles on her back that made Aira gulp as she remained still and waited for him to finish her back. Each slow motion of his hands drew tiny tremors from her shoulders she tried to suppress.
"I can do the rest!" she said, but she might as well have been talking to the wind as Zyren completely ignored her even as his hands continued to slide gently against her skin as he spoke to her.
"So what’s your plan? You are aware that Dangrey has a bloodline power. Something that is rare among nobles! He belongs to House Noctare which means that he can mess with people’s minds." His hands continued to her breasts in a gentle caress that sent her heart thumping and made her breaths uneven as much as she tried not to let it affect her. The casual way he spoke—mixing talk of politics and danger with such intimate touch—made her stomach tighten with unease.
"He had a bloodline power?" she asked, shocked since she knew Lord Noctare and his unique eye ability which she hadn’t noticed in Dangrey.
"His full name is Dangrey Noctare! He was a bastard but apparently fate is on his side!" Zyren continued washing her arms and her belly and her hair so gently that Aira couldn’t help but relax against his touch even as he did nothing else but what he said he would do. The way his fingers moved through her hair was deliberate, the warmth of his skin against her scalp almost soothing in its carefulness. It angered her how easily her body betrayed her—how even the smallest comfort could make her heart falter in its defiance.
"You also can’t kill him in any way! If you do everyone would know that it’s you! If it was me I would have killed him regardless!" Zyren said, and Aira wasn’t surprised since it would have suited his image of how everyone saw him. His voice was steady, cold, confident—just as it always was when speaking of killing, as though it were as natural to him as breathing.
It would have even been expected. But considering the fact that she was one of the messengers of the temple that was just attacked, if Dangrey suddenly attacked or died a terrible death then they would instantly blame her for being cruel. Her mind flickered with the faces of the dead, the scent of blood, the horror that still haunted her every night. She could already imagine the whispers, the way her name would be spoken with contempt.
For a second she considered asking Zyren for help and she even opened her mouth to do so a second before she felt him shift his body ever so slightly in a way that made her feel the raging boner right under her butt in a way that had all her wariness rushing back like a stream. Her blood ran cold. Whatever fleeting thought she had of trust vanished in an instant. The air between them became heavy again—uncomfortable, intimate, and suffocating.
"You should wash yourself! I can take it from here!" she told him even as he chuckled in a low voice seeming a bit more normal than she would have liked to think even as he pulled his hands away from her body just enough to glide his fingers against the already swollen nipples of her chest.
"What are you worried about? I don’t break my promises!" he told her even as Aira said nothing but simply washed herself faster and watched Zyren somehow manage to do it even faster for himself. The faster she moved, the louder her heartbeat grew, pounding in her ears as if urging her to get out—out of the tub, out of his reach, out of that moment entirely.
Ignoring him, she stepped out and rinsed herself off, relieved when Zyren also got up and did the same, her turning her eyes away as she took more time to rinse her hair out waiting for him to head out and dress up before she did. The sound of dripping water filled the silence. For a moment, it was almost peaceful—until she realized he hadn’t moved.
Only to be astounded when instead of doing so, he moved to the side and waited, staring at her with such intensity that she didn’t need to meet his gaze before she could feel his eyes on her. The weight of that gaze burned into her skin, colder and heavier than before. She could feel his attention trace every movement she made, the quiet between them thick and suffocating, the kind that made her pulse quiver.
