I Would Have

Leah pushed open the door, which made a small creaking sound. She peeked out into the hallway, but saw no one in sight, so she stepped fully out of her room. Leah was dressed in black jean trousers with a little tear on both knees and a black top. It was already midday, and she was starving. However, the maid who usually brought her meals had not shown up that morning for some odd reason.

Leah padded down the hallway as quietly as she could, not wanting to alert Lucius to her presence. She wasn't sure if Lucius was in his room or study, but she didn't want to risk being seen by him. As she descended the stairs, she took care to step carefully, so as not to make any noise. At that moment, she looked like a thief.

When she reached the kitchen, she saw four workers chatting as they prepared the ingredients for the next meal. Leah paused at the door when she overheard what the women were talking about.

"Master Lucius seems to really like this human girl," one of the female cooks commented as she washed pumpkins in a large bowl.

From the way she spoke, it was clear that she was not human.

"I highly doubt that," a dark-haired woman wearing a maid uniform replied, tipping her chin up as she spoke. "I'm sure he only brought her here to make that silly Grace girl jealous. It's not like that girl is prettier than me."

"What makes you think you're so pretty, Dawn?" an older woman asked, clearly displeased with Dawn's earlier comment.

Dawn tipped her chin even higher. "You all know how Master Lucius adores me," she said. "If I looked like you old hags," she pointed at the two older women who didn't even look older than thirty-five, "or you," pointing at the other younger maid in the kitchen, "I wouldn't have been able to warm his bed for three months straight."

Dawn's words were filled with so much pride, as if she considered her actions to be a great accomplishment. Leah raised an eyebrow from where she stood, taken aback by Dawn's attitude.

Another maid shot Dawn a deadly glare. "We all know what a whore you are, so you don't need to ring it out loud," she said sharply. "Stupid brat," she added under her breath.

Dawn's face flushed with anger, and she dropped the towel she was holding. "What did you just call me?" she snapped at the girl, who simply rolled her eyes in response.

Seeing that the two girls were about to engage in an altercation, Leah finally entered the kitchen, causing the room to fall silent. All of the women in the kitchen wore expressions of slight terror upon seeing her, and Dawn appeared even more frightened because she had been the one speaking ill of Leah.

"Good day, miss," one of the older women greeted, bowing slightly in respect. "How may we assist you?"

"Where do you keep your potatoes?" Leah asked, her eyes scanning the large and spacious kitchen.

The women appeared terrified, perhaps fearing that Leah had overheard their conversation and would report them to Lucius, as Grace often did. However, to their surprise, Leah simply requested that they show her where certain ingredients were located.

The women exchanged confused glances, wondering what Leah intended to do with all of the raw ingredients, but none of them mustered up the courage to question her. Despite Leah's soft and friendly appearance, the women remained afraid of her.

'Is she planning on cooking?' they wondered inwardly.

Dawn, after mustering enough courage, finally spoke up. "You don't have to do that, miss," she moved closer to Leah as she spoke. "I can prepare whatever you need," she said with a sweet, convincing smile.

"It's fine. I can do this by myself. You can continue with what you were doing before," Leah replied calmly, her eyes fixed on the potatoes in her hands.

In less than twenty minutes, Leah had finished preparing the potato hash and was now sitting alone in the dining room, enjoying her meal.

The house was surprisingly quiet, quieter than usual, which made Leah wonder if everyone was in their rooms or if they had all gone out. She had also noticed that the house had felt empty when she had come down to the kitchen for water the previous night.

After finishing her meal, she decided to return to her room. However, on her way, she ran into Lucius, who was just stepping out of his room. Leah averted her gaze, ignoring him completely, but he stepped in front of her, blocking her path. Leah shot him a warning glare and spun around to leave, but Lucius caught her wrist, making her face him. "What are you doing?" Leah asked, glaring at him as she freed her hand from his grip.

Lucius raised an eyebrow at her. "It would be nice if you tried smiling or at least kept a neutral face when you see me instead of always glaring," he commented.

"I don't see any reason why I should be smiling at the devil," Leah retorted with an annoyed frown.

Lucius stared at her for a moment, a slight frown between his brows, before sighing softly. "Let me see your wrist," he requested.

Leah gave him a sarcastic look. "Why? So you can bite me again or put me under another spell?" she asked.

"I didn't bite you, nor did I put you under a spell," Lucius replied calmly.

Leah held up her right hand to his face. "So you're saying that the mark Anna removed from this wrist wasn't even there, right?"

Another sigh escaped Lucius's lips as he glanced behind Leah. "It's complicated," he said in a low voice.

"Complicated for you, but not for me." Leah chuckled softly. "It's clear that you have this insane obsession with me."

Lucius's eyes snapped back to her the moment those words escaped her lips. He grabbed her by the arms and pressed her against the wall.

Leah gasped, her eyes widening in shock, as she hadn't anticipated him suddenly pinning her like that.

Lucius leaned in closer, his hands slamming against the wall. "If I were obsessed with you, I wouldn't have just pinned you against this wall,"

The intensity in his eyes felt like boiling leva causing Leah to gulp softly as he inched even closer to her, his eyes falling on her pink lips. "I would have been ravishing those lips of yours."

Words seemed to have left Leah's mouth, it was as if her brain had ceased functioning. Whatever anger she had felt just a few seconds ago was already gone like it had never even been there.

Lucius continued. "God, do you know how badly I want to kiss those lips of yours every time you talk back at me. "I want to slowly bite them, I want to punish them and then reward them," he confessed, his nails slowly grazing the wall as he spoke, as if he was trying to restrain himself from carrying out his words.

His words left her dazed, and the feeling of his breath gently brushing against her face made her feel flushed and warm. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips, a small innocent action that seemed to further stoke the flames within him, causing his eyes to immediately turn crimson red.

"Fuck, you're really in the mood to challenge me, aren't you?" Lucius asked as he began to slowly run the back of his warm fingers along her cheek.

Leah's lips slightly parted as she gazed into the depths of his crimson eyes, which were like beautiful red pearls that would burn if recklessly touched. Her eyes widened when she noticed that Lucius' lips were only a few inches away from her own, and he was slowly closing that distance.