Chapter 22: Anger

Katerina immediately attempted to step backwards but his grip had firmly made its place against her face to where she wasn't able to move at all. She only stared at him, appalled that he still insisted on torturing her in such a way.

It was driving her insane with the way he treated her and she felt such embarrassment that she couldn't escape his grasp earlier in the woods.

"Get. Undressed." He repeated, gritting his teeth. Patience was running out with her, especially when he wanted to devour her with his fangs. He couldn't bring himself to punish her physically so he had to create another tactic which was to punish her mentally.

He wanted to push her further into the abyss of darkness that would ultimately strip her of her innocence and her clothing. The mere thoughts of it made him filled with an enthralled joy that he couldn't help but form a smile on his face in front of her.

"What?" Her sweet, English accent rang in his ears and if only she would speak his name. The excitement he would feel of her calling his name in bed made the punishing much more bearable.

"Obey." He commanded her.

She bit her tongue, unresponsive. She refused to allow this monster have the best of her and steal the very thing she held sacred. Her eyes watched his expressions change as he continued to roll different thoughts in his mind. What horrid things he must be thinking, she thought.

"I will get undressed." She murmured.

To his surprise, he blinked. Releasing her, he stepped back and kept his eyes targeted on her.

After a moment of looking at him, "Why am I to get undressed?" She questioned.

"Because you've ruined the gown I sent to the maids for you." He narrowed his eyes. "You are covered in filth and your own dried blood." The smell of her blood intoxicated him with lust and it was very difficult for him to contain himself ever since he smelled the droplets on the thorn bush. It was driving him wild with hunger, but he couldn't take her blood without her willing to give it to him. That very ability made her species unique and at one point in the past, one of her kind attempted to wipe out the existence of vampires entirely with it.

He sighed, "I cannot have anyone seeing a pet of mine so dirty."

She stiffened her body, unbothered by the filth covering her. She was used to this type of attire because her family were farmers. Her father delivered grown vegetables to the village market everyday to sell and even give away. Her father was always a generous man and never let a person go hungry. Her mother was a baker whom sold her bread across the region. Katerina would travel alongside her mother to help and it always pleased her to see new places. However, this wasn't the type of new place she wanted to visit.

"Snap out of it, pet." He warned as he noticed her doe eyes stare away from him.

She still avoided his gaze, "Where shall I bathe?" Her memory returning to the awful experience with the maidens and how she was forced to stand outside nude made her shudder.

"Here." He walked over to the wall covered in ocean paintings and reached in between two to tug at a heavy door.

It opened up to reveal a deep and spacious bathing room. The walls were lined with red sheer curtains and in the middle laid a square shaped stone tub that reached six feet long on all sides.

Ezra walked in and turned a wheel on the stone pipe to allow warm water flow into the tub. A large crystallized mirror hung directly above it on the ceiling as if the prince wanted to stare at himself while bathing. Most of the time, though, he had maids bathe him and he quite enjoyed it. The pure laziness and powerful feeling of authority gave him much joy.

"You must leave." She stated as she walked into the wash room. She still refused to allow him to see herself.

"I am not a child." He chuckled. "I've seen plenty of women naked before."

Her cheeks flushed a bright red color as if embarrassed at the thought of him staring down a nude woman. He was plural in the sentence. He saw many women, she thought. What a horrid pig.

"Don't be embarrassed, Katerina." He removed the vest and tie covering his white button down shirt which was then removed next to reveal a very nude top half. "I know exactly what a woman sexually desires most."

She quickly turned around, shocked by the almost naked prince standing in front of her. She didn't want to look at him and she definitely did not want him in the bath with her. She closed her eyes then felt fingertips smoothly making their way up her arms.

"I'm sorry, but I am not one of your unholy women." She blurted out. A jolt shot through her body when his fingers reached the back of her neck.

His voice was lowered into almost a whisper, "You most certainly are not." After a moment of lingering near her neck, he noticed the rubbed raw patches from the collar. Finally noticing that it was missing, he gripped her shoulders and forced her to turn around.

"Pet.." his eyes intensified in their red color. "Where is your collar." He was disappointed that he was wrapped up in this girls safety that he hadn't noticed the most precious piece to him had been missing.

She blinked her eyes, taken a back by his sudden force and also embarrassed that he was standing so close to her. Her eyes trailed from his face to his neck line until they reached the pectoral muscles of his torso. He was muscular in many ways and they were flexing at this moment due to his grip.

"Answer me!" His voice echoed the wash room which made her jump in fright.

"It.." she closed her eyes trying to sort through her memories. She remember that Alessandro removed it for her but she didn't enter the castle with it.

"The man has it.."she finally answered.

Gritting his teeth, he reached up and wrapped his fingers around her throat. He ignored every nerve keeping him from physically hurting her. She gasped for air as her hands shakily reached up to try and pull his hand away.

"Man?" He questioned out of anger and curiosity. He was drenched in jealousy that his pet was in the presence of another man without him there. "What man?"

Tears filled her eyes and it almost softened him to release her but his grip only tightened. She coughed loudly, attempting to get her words out.

"He found me from the woods.." she struggled with her breathing, "He said his name was Alessandro.."

Her heart beat pulsed under his grasp as he forcibly carried her to the stone tub. He dropped her into the hot water while she was still clothed. She felt the sudden sting from the water as she gasped for air to come back into her lungs. She clutched her chest and hunched her entirely wet body over in the tub.

He buttoned his shirt back together and before leaving he turned to look at her. His expression was filled with hurt and confusion but his words froze her heart. "I will deal with you later."