Engaging

Jaden looked into her eyes as his hand slowly moved toward her neck. Slowly, he traced his finger over the fluttering pulse that beat there, his eyes glowing a bit and want growing within him -- so strong -- stronger than anything he'd ever experienced.

Zuri clenched her fists, out of nervousness as she wondered if she had made a mistake in coming there. He had just thanked her. He would not drink blood from her now, would he? She knew she should not have come. After all, she was food to the Prince, she thought. And what did a person who was stressed do? They ate comfort food. And for a vampire, warm blood would be quite comforting.

As she thought of ways to make her exit in some way, she felt his finger touching her neck and she stiffened. The first touch was electrifying. She thought of the way he had bitten her to get her to sign the blood contract. Would she feel a similar sense of pleasure when he bit her and drank her blood? And why did she feel pleasure for something that was supposed to hurt? Zuri was totally confused.

Jaden smiled at the way she was panicking. He could feel her heart thundering loudly, and he wondered if he should release her worries.

"My little slave. Are you scared that I am going to drink from you?" he asked. His voice sounded surprisingly raspy and seductive at the same time.

Zuri shook her head, but as she looked into his piercing eyes, she could only nod her head slowly before looking down at her clenched hands. Jaden could only shake his head in amusement. This little slave had actually come here, into his lair to comfort him, and now that he had merely touched her, she was terrified like a rabbit. It would be fun to tease her, Jaden thought.

"You are too thin, Zuri. If I drink from you now, there will not be much blood in you to relish later on. Don't worry, I will raise you well for that purpose..."

Jaden watched as her eyes widened like saucers before breaking into low throaty laughter. This woman had stood by his side with a calm heart when they had witnessed the garish scene today, and yet now -- guess, he would have to explain a few things to this rabbit, he thought.

"Zuri, I don't feast on human blood."

"Y-You don't?" Zuri stuttered. She didn't know what to think about what she'd just heard. There was confusion plastered on her face and her bottom lip trembled as she asked that question.

Jaden nodded and spoke, "While blood is a vampire's main source of nourishment, it doesn't have to be human blood. We can survive on animal blood as well. And I prefer animal blood to human blood... well, I trained myself to survive on animal blood. So, you can stop behaving like a little scared hare fearing that you will be used as a source of blood."

"Then you are like a human?" Zuri asked incredulously.

This caused Jaden to chuckle as his sharp and elongated canines glinted against the moonlight that covered the room, reminding Zuri. His eating habits may be like a human, but he was a vampire. She would do well not to forget that.

"Zuri, you are new here and a curious one. Quite brave for a slave." Jaden remarked. "Ask any questions, and I may just answer them for you." He waited for her to ask the questions that she had. It was quite amusing to see her mind go around in circles. She was quite an open book, Jaden thought as he found that somewhat alluring. While Zuri tried to see his expression in the darkness of the room, Jaden could see all the changes on her face due to his clear sight in dark places.

"What is the blood contract that you made me sign today?" she asked him. "You bit into my neck for that."

Jaden's mouth kicked up in a small smile at her question. "The blood contract is for your safety, of course."

He watched as her brows scrunched up in a frown as she failed to understand this, so he decided to explain. "As long as you do not do anything to endanger the people of Transmere, you will not be harmed by this blood contract. But if you do have any malicious thoughts…" he trailed off before he continued;

"On the other hand, the blood contract also warns all other vampires that you belong to me and only I am allowed to drink from you... which you now know that I would not, even though-" he cut off his statement.

"Even though what?" she asked sharply.

'It's so tempting,' Jaden finished his statement and replied to her question in his thoughts.

Her hands moved to her throat as she covered her neck and asked, "You said that you don't drink..."

"Yes. I don't drink, but that does not mean I allow others to drink from my possession. If anyone dares to take blood from you, they can look forward to their doom." He let the statement hang there as he continued to look at her. There was something about her that made him want to taste her. Her blood smelled sweet to him, and every time he was close to her, his canines almost ached to bite into her. She tasted like sweet nectar, as he'd gotten just a taste of her essence when he'd performed the contract.

Jaden paused his wayward thoughts and drew a deep breath in to steady himself. Moving to the fireplace, he added firewood to the place and lit it up. He did not need the heat but his little slave seemed to be shivering.

Once the small fire lit up the room, it seemed to shake Zuri out of her trance. Standing up, she bowed to him. "Thank you, my p-prince. For um... explaining. I will take my leave now if you please."

Jaden raised a hand and stopped her, "Not so soon. Come here."

Zuri's eyes shot up to look at him in dismay before she looked back down and walked to him. Pausing a meter away, she waited for his instructions.

"I wish to go to bed," Jaden spoke.

Zuri nodded, "Then I will leave?"

Jaden shook his head. So innocent, he thought. "No, Zuri. You need to prepare me for bed."

"Prepare you for bed?" she repeated before realization sunk in, and she bowed, "I will call the maid right away."

"No, you! I want you to undress me."

He watched as her eyes rounded in shock, and she stared at him. He could see that she wanted to refuse but dared not.

Impatient over her hesitance to follow his order, he snapped, "Unless you have really long hands, you are going to have to come closer, Zuri."

That woke her up from her shock, and she slowly inched closer to the vampire. Slowly, her fingers raised towards the red cravat around his neck. As she tried to undo the complicated knot, Jaden breathed in her scent deeply and closed his eyes while his hand landed on her waist.