Mine

The Vampire King's simple gesture stirred unfamiliar sensations within her, making Mineah's heart race in a way she had never experienced before.

She flinched when he then suddenly held her hand and slowly drew it up to his mouth, kissing her knuckles where the blood ruby ring was with his soft lips. 

"This ring is very special to me so you must not remove it from your hand," he hummed as something glistened in his eyes. 

Mineah gulped as she tried to wet her dry throat. She tried her best to not falter and keep her composure as she ignored the fluttering feelings inside her. 

"Is that so, my lord?" she naively murmured.

Nikolai moved to sit beside her, wearing that same stoic expression he usually had aside from when he was talking to his friend, King Darius, a while ago. 

"Calling me 'my lord' sounds too formal. We're husband and wife now, tied by the red knot of fate," the King pointed out with a shrug. 

"If I recall correctly, humans prefer calling their spouses casually or sweetly, right? Using terms of endearment or calling each other by nicknames? Knowing that, how about we try and get comfortable with each other by calling each other as such?"

Get comfortable? Right, the time was ticking so she should start focussing by now. 

"Then enlighten me, my lord," Mineah replied with her timid smile. "What would you want me to call you?" 

"Hmm, whatever you want to call me…" Nikolai hummed.

"Lai?" she nonchalantly huffed.

"Sounds good," the King answered. "Why that name?" 

"Nikolai sounds too long," Mineah shrugged. "Niko is a common name in our kingdom, so I think Lai is good enough to suit our purposes."

"Well then, I'll call you Mine then since you belong to me now…" Nikolai declared, justifying it through the way he pronounced her name. "You're already mine and mine alone, which fits it even more." 

Mineah kept her opinion to herself. It wasn't that she was bothered by it, but it did sound a bit off in her ears, it sounded a bit eerie to her. 

Then again, it would be in her best interest that someone showed actual interest in owning her despite her reputation of being cursed. No one wanted someone like her. Except for her family, of course.

Mineah watched as Nikolai propped up his chin, his eyes keenly staring at her from head to toe. "Hmm… Can you tell me how exactly you are cursed, Mine? And what is the curse you're harboring?" 

Mineah turned to Nikolai, and mused, 'he looks so interested in me.' 

It was a good thing that he was interested, she intended to keep him as curious as possible about her for as long as she could. 

However, anything involving her curses was the last thing she wanted to talk about. She would rather not disclose to him any details about it. Also, it was still too early for her to share anything personal with someone she just met, even if that new acquaintance was her lawful husband.

"They simply assumed that I am the cursed one among my siblings because my eyes are of different colors," she casually shrugged, not directly answering his question. "That, and the unusual events that happened alongside the time of my birth," she added with a faint smile.

Narrowing his eyes at her like a predator stalking his prey, he commented, "I find that your eyes are your most alluring feature though. It's as if fire and ice decided to dance in the window to your soul." 

He hummed as he added, "I guess I'm yet to figure out what exactly is your curse then?" 

Mineah kept her expression blank, simply nodding while staring into his eyes. However, she still failed to read his thoughts despite all her efforts. She tried her best to read Nikolai's facial expressions instead, but nothing came from it as well. 

Unfortunately for her, he shared the same stoic disposition she did, making it hard for her to get a glimpse of what he was really thinking.

'This is annoying,' she inwardly hissed. It was the first time she failed in reading someone else's mind. It had worked perfectly on any other being she tried it on, including other vampires and werewolves. So why won't it work on him?!

She raised a questioning brow at him, not minding how close their faces were to each other at the moment as she challenged him, "Are you scared of whatever my curse is? I thought nothing scares a powerful vampire like you…"

His gaze lowered, settling on her neck as he asked back, "How about you? Aren't you scared?" 

Mineah gulped as she unknowingly tilted her head sideways, his hand now caressing the side of her neck as if wanting to grab her.

'Is he going to feed on me? But he doesn't drink human blood or at least that's what we've been told?' she warily mused as she tried to control the erratic beating of her heart. 

Was that why he looked interested in her from the start? Why did he claim ownership over her? Because he wanted to have a taste of her blood?!

She frowned as she firmly answered, "Why should I be scared?" She was disappointed at her own judgment of him when she wondered if he was only interested in her because he wanted to taste her blood.

"Well, most humans are scared of our kind. Humans are the easiest prey and the best meal for most vampires," he hummed the ugly reality. "And I don't need to elaborate as to why, do I?" 

********

A/N: So Nikolai pronounces Mine as 'mayn'.