His lips hovered near her ear, his voice a dark whisper against her skin. "You may fear me, little bride, but I will teach your body to crave me… to need me, until I am all you ever want."
---
Belle was never meant to be the bride. But when her parents cried to her about how her beautiful sister could not be married to such a man, she was forced to take her sister’s place. To prevent war between the two worlds of humans and vampires, the kings decided to sign a peace treaty with a marriage, but the only man they could offer for this marriage was a vampire said to be mad and completely heartless. When they said heartless, they meant really heartless, but Belle, being a naive girl her whole life, had no idea what she was stepping into by agreeing to this marriage.

At first, he appeared innocent, a man completely opposite to all the rumors around him, until she slowly began to realize every single thing said about the mad vampire was true, or perhaps even worse! He was a man who walked in the path of darkness. He knew no light and showed no mercy, even to those who were not his enemies. He had no heart to love, no emotions but dark ones to feel for anything or anyone. But all of a sudden, when he set his eyes on her, he decided he wanted to keep her, and Belle's naive world began to take a different turn because the mad vampire was hellbent on tainting her innocent soul.

Expect

"Now, can we forget this happened and enjoy the night?" He arched an amused brow at her, making Belle's heart drop to her stomach as she recalled the so-called wedding night.

She hurriedly pulled away from him, her face flaming with embarrassment. From everything she had heard about this night, she was not ready to experience it with this man. The women whispering about it in Mr. Marchant's shop had said one would hate their husband's presence after it and be disgusted by the act. It was not an act meant for pleasure for any woman but torture.

Now that she realized her husband would do the same with her, she swallowed hard and nervously clutched her dress. "I...I am not feeling well, My Lord, I—"

"Rohan," he cut her off with a tone of amusement. "Use my name when you address me, sweetheart. You looked quite energetic when you tried to go after the ring for someone who isn't feeling well, but," he sighed softly, "I've always been a generous man. I won't let you stress yourself tonight."

Belle began to sigh in relief and smile in her mind that he wouldn't push her for the wedding night ceremony. She was even about to part her lips and agree that he was indeed generous and even offer him a thank you when he continued to speak, causing the momentary relief to be replaced by dread.

"I will pamper you tonight, and you won’t have to lift a hand. I will give you all the pleasure since you are feeling unwell. Take it as the first lesson in my plan to make you forget love and welcome lust."

"...!"

"Lie on the bed for me, Isa."

Belle felt her throat go dry at that strict command. 

"I...I..." She began but could not find any words to say to make him spare her tonight. What had she got herself into? Belle thought as a pit seemed to form in her stomach, a deep, gnawing dread.

"Do you need me to carry you to the bed, or would you rather walk there yourself?" Rohan questioned with dark mirth in his voice and eyes as he watched her like a hawk. He could tell she was nervous, but what to do? She had brought herself into his world.

Belle began to walk slowly to the bed at a snail’s pace, as if delaying it would help prevent the dreadful act from happening tonight. She could feel him following closely behind her. When she reached the bed, she used her shaky hands to move the drapes aside and carefully sat at the edge of it, her hands folded nervously on her lap. She felt his piercing gaze on her, but she dared not look up at him.

"Lie down," he ordered softly.

MATURE CONTENT, NO RAPE!!

The castle was too large; Belle doubted they would be able to finish walking around it today. On one side of the castle was a forest with dense trees that stretched out at the far end, and one could hear the chattering of strange birds from it. As they walked toward it, she stole a glance at the vampiress, as she did not think they needed to walk the forest path. She had only come out here to look for her chamber's window, but from the way the building was built, she could not recognize her window. It had been dark last night when she looked out from it while she took in the breeze to clear her mind of the many things that had been bothering her.


Chapter 35 - The Dead Garden