Caspian clenched his fists, telling himself that he had to stay calm. Cindy couldn’t live far from the castle, and he could look for her tomorrow. He’d forgotten about his glamour after they made love, and she noticed his fangs. Catherine was afraid of him in the beginning too, but after some time she came around. He just had to hope that eventually Cindy would let him explain everything.
For the first time he believed that he had finally found a woman who could replace his Catherine.
“All right, just keep looking. I’m taking Storm for a ride,” he announced, not wanting to sound too desperate. The guard nodded and walked away.
He shook his head and then returned to his chamber, knowing that he should be at the ball, taking care of his royal duties. He had invited a few important guests and really needed to at least make an appearance.
The problem was that the king couldn’t focus. Cindy’s scent was all over his bed, and he kept imagining having her in his arms. She wanted him. Maybe she was a little afraid that he was older and much more experienced, but she had given herself away to him fully and completely. He thought that he would go crazy if he stayed in his chamber a moment longer, so after some time he decided to go back to the ball. When he got there, Eric was on the dance floor with Rigga. Most of the ladies looked disappointed, and a few were crying.
Caspian sighed loudly and began walking around, hoping to find someone who could tell him something more about the mysterious Cindy. He even considered going back to the tavern. He was sure that someone was bound to know her there because she was a local. She lived with her stepmother and two stepsisters, and that her father died when she was thirteen.
“It was a waste of time coming here, Susan. The prince didn’t even look at you or your sister once. It’s a complete disgrace that he humiliated everyone here by dancing on his own,” said an older woman, possibly in her late forties or early fifties, dressed in a blue sparkly dress as she passed Caspian. She was fanning herself with a small fan and looked like someone who was born to a good family.
“At least we had fun,” admitted the young ginger girl, most likely her daughter, who then whispered to the other girl that was walking next to her. “And I met a few barons. They’re going to visit me in the fall.”
They both giggled, and the woman gave them a stern look.
“The older baron and I had fun in the back of his carriage. This party was awesome enough, but yeah, the prince is a moron. Did you see the girl that he eventually picked? Yuck,” the blond girl said. Caspian smiled to himself, thinking about the older obese baron he had invited to the ball. He had a double chin and was half his height. At least some of the girls knew how to enjoy themselves.
But the King was frustrated, and that was an understatement. He needed to speak to Cindy right away. He clenched his teeth, staring as the woman and her two daughters were leaving. A few other guests were departing as well.
He knew the moment he saw her at the market that she could replace his Catherine. Right now he was willing to do anything to find her and explain everything. He didn’t care that he was older than her and she was below his social class—Cindy had to be his again. Ideally forever.
Chapter Nine
Somehow Cindy managed to find her magical carriage and get outside the castle gate before the clock struck midnight. She was sitting inside, trying to calm her laboured breathing, thinking about her first time with a man and how it couldn’t have been better. The king made her feel special, and he took care of her needs like a real gentleman. The fire inside her kept burning and she couldn’t stop thinking about his demanding voice.
Vampire. She kept reminding herself that he was a monster, and if she hadn’t run out of there, he could have attacked her, drank her blood or even killed her. She felt stupid that she didn’t put the obvious signs together much sooner, but she was so blinded by her unexpected desire that she chose to ignore them. None of this was acceptable, yet she couldn’t stop thinking about the way he made her feel.
Cindy had wondered about her first time with a man often, but she never thought the sexual act itself could be so incredibly satisfying. Caspian was gentle, yet demanding and intense. She still had goosebumps all over her body remembering what he had whispered in her ear at the ball.
She glanced out the window of her carriage, seeing the bright castle in the distance. Her fingers were trembling and she was ready to tell the coachman to turn around. A few deep breaths later, she sat back in the carriage, shaking her head and trying to reason with herself.
Maybe for a few hours she had lost her head, but she never thought that the king would be so handsome or that he was a vampire. It was a nightmare; there was no way that she could trust him again. She needed to hide, and forget that he ever existed. Her heart rate was picking up again, and her palms were damp with sweat. She arched her head backwards and began breathing steadily, but nothing was helping. Cindy just couldn’t stop thinking about the way Caspian made her feel—alive and in control.
She had no idea what time it was, but Cindy hoped that her stepmother and stepsisters hadn’t returned home before her. The ball would go on for another few hours, but she had no idea how long she had been with the king. He must have used some kind of charm or illusion once she agreed to spend the night in his chamber, but even thinking past that, she still wanted him.
The carriage stopped abruptly and the horses jolted. Cindy had no idea where she was and realised that she was still far away from home, now surrounded by pitch-black darkness. Fear cooled the heat pooling inside of her, reminding her of the ever-growing anxiety of being alone in the dark.
She couldn’t keep sitting in the carriage, so she forced herself to step outside to see what was going on, still wearing her silver heels and the amazing red dress that Martha gifted to her earlier.
“What’s going on? Why have we stopped?” she asked, looking at the handsome coachman that in theory was still only a beggar that the hooker picked up from the street.
The coachman stood up, dropped his whip and all of a sudden his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Seconds later, he started spinning around and then fell to the ground, turning back into a filthy, long-haired beggar. The same thing happened with the two beautiful white horses. Martha’s magic only worked until midnight, and now Cindy found herself standing in front of the old trolley that Martha had used to create her carriage. Her dream burst like a bubble and her worst nightmare was slowly turning into a reality. She was stuck in the middle of the road, alone in the dark.
She glanced down at her beautiful dress and shoes, wondering how she would get home now. The beggars were scratching their heads in confusion, glancing at each other, then back at her. She needed to pinch herself. Maybe the entire night was only a dream, and soon she would wake up.
Moments later, the beggars started running towards the forest, and Cindy assumed they were done standing around and went looking for shelter. Heavy stones of nausea cascaded down to her stomach and she swallowed the lump of fear in her throat, looking around anxiously. She wanted to curl up under a tree and stay there until morning, but deep down she knew she couldn’t. She had to get back to the house, even if that meant that she had to walk back in the dark. Lost and slightly aggravated that Martha’s charms had faded away so suddenly, she lifted her dress and started walking in the direction she thought her house would be.
A fine sheet of cold sweat peppered her forehead and gut-wrenching fear settled low in her stomach. It was so dark, even the moon disappeared behind the heavy clouds. Cindy forced herself to walk one foot in front of the other, knowing well enough that soon her stepmother’s carriage might be passing by.
She had no idea how, but she’d found her way—a couple hours later, she was safe at home. The fear of being caught by Ida forced her to keep on going, and in a way she’d conquered her fear of the darkness. Once she reached the house, she took off her heels; she had blisters all over her feet and was extremely exhausted. There was no way in hell she would do
something like that again. Upstairs in her room, she started to undress. She struggled with the zipper, and after about ten minutes, she finally placed her ball dress on the chair, and when Cindy looked down, she realised that she was missing her lace panties. Heat rushed to her face as she remembered that she had left them in the castle.
“Unbelievable,” she whispered to herself and then giggled, remembering the king’s head between her legs. She shuddered with excitement, knowing that he literally made her come only using his fingers. She was getting wet again just thinking about it.
Then a noise from outside brought her back to reality. She ran to the window and saw her stepmother’s carriage, the same one that used to belong to her papa, arriving back outside the house. Cindy quickly switched off the lamps, knowing that her stepmother wouldn’t hesitate to check on her if she noticed the lights in the windows. She’d hidden the dress in her wardrobe, just in case; she knew that her stepmother never looked in there.
For a moment, she watched how both her stepsisters and stepmother headed over to the house. Teresa was complaining that her shoes were too small and Susan was moaning that she was tired. Cindy put her nightgown on and went to bed after everyone disappeared inside the house. She wanted to forget about the night with the king and the fact that he was a vampire. She knew that their relationship could never work, and she had no idea what had gotten into her a few hours earlier, but her mind was in turmoil.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t fall asleep. She was still turned on and couldn’t stop imagining herself in Caspian’s huge bed. His scent was still all over her body, and her nipples hardened as she remembered him touching her in the most intimate way. She ended up tossing and turning for several hours afterwards.
At some point, probably in the early hours of the morning, she finally managed to drift away, still remembering the king’s electrifying touch on her body. It was bliss, but she knew that she had to forget about it as soon as possible, because she would never marry a vampire, even if he was a king.
But she still had her memories.
“Get up, Cindy, get up. Mommy has been calling you for ages!”
Cindy opened her eyes and saw Teresa standing in her room by her bed. She rubbed her eyes lifting herself up, barely remembering the night before. It was unusual for her to see her stepsister in her attic room. Cindy must have slept in this morning.
“What? What time it is?” she mumbled, feeling tired. She was tossing and turning all night, so she only had a few hours of sleep.
“It’s ten o’clock and you were supposed to be up ages ago. All the animals need feeding and Mommy wants you to run to town to get her dress and groceries. Get a move on,” Teresa ordered and Cindy suddenly remembered everything that went on last night. Her body was pleasantly numb when she thought about the king, and she giggled to herself.
“All right, all right. I’m up now,” she said.
“Hurry up, you lazy cow; otherwise you’ll be in big trouble,” her stepsister snapped and then marched out of the room. Cindy heard her heavy footsteps all the way downstairs—she stomped like a herd of buffalos.
Cindy lay back down, breathing steadily and thinking about her night with the king. Five minutes later, she was putting her clothes on, not wanting to anger her stepmother even more. It looked like no one had noticed that she was gone most of the night. Ida most likely thought that she had been sulking in her room, and Cindy wasn’t planning to say anything about Caspian.
Later on, after her stepmother told her off about sleeping through midmorning, she gave Cindy a list of things that she wanted her to do for the day, then sent her off to town to run some errands. It was late and Cindy knew that she would most likely be working until midnight in order to catch up.
Small beads of sweat were running down her back as she walked down the road toward the market. Last night with the king messed her up, but thankfully he had no idea who she really was—he only knew her first name. Despite her mixed feelings, she was hoping that he would never find her. It was better for her that she stay away from the vampire and his castle.
Half an hour later, she was at the market, doing a bit of grocery shopping. Earlier on, her stepmother had mentioned that she was expecting some guests for dinner tonight and she wanted Cindy to help out in the kitchen. The temperature was rising fast and she wasn’t looking forward to working today.
The bags were heavy and she was still exhausted from night before. Then halfway home one of her bags split and all the groceries fell to the ground. Cindy cursed in anger and then flopped on the ground feeling miserable. She’d had enough and was ready to spend a night away from home. Nothing was going her way today, and on top of everything, she still hadn’t confronted her stepmother about Londis. Ida was going through with her plan, and Cindy couldn’t just wait around and do nothing. She had to act, and fast.
“Hey, are you all right?” asked a voice to her right. Cindy lifted her head, seeing Red Riding Hood standing on the road. She had a basket in her hand and was smiling at Cindy.
“No, everything is falling apart,” Cindy responded, wanting to tell her everything that had happened in the past several days. She knew that it wasn’t a good idea, but Cindy and Red used to be friends; they had drifted apart as the years went by. They had a huge fight and stopped talking altogether. Now, neither of them could remember what that fight was about.
Red was a beautiful girl. She had long, dark curly hair, long legs and very fair skin. Her eyes were the colour of honey and gold, and she always wore a long red cloak. Now Cindy felt even more guilty about Charles. She should have told her about him much sooner.
“It looks like you need a cold drink and a friendly chat. Come on, Cindy, my house is just around the corner,” Red said and reached out her hand.
“I have to go home. I have tonnes of housework to do and my step—”
“Screw your stepmother. She’s the biggest twat I know. You aren’t her slave and you can do what you want,” Red stated and then Cindy took her hand, smiling to herself. She helped her back on her feet, and Red quickly put the ruined shopping bag in her basket.
“Well, she isn’t treating me right that’s for sure,” Cindy admitted more to herself, knowing that she was going to be told off for being late anyway, so she might as well catch a break with Red. They hadn’t spoken for years and Cindy had been ready to hook up with her boyfriend—the forest ranger. Then she remembered that she didn’t care about him anymore, because the vampire king had taken control of her mind and body. She lost her head for him and couldn’t even think about anyone else–her mind was a jumbled mess.
“Come on, spill it out. What’s going on? You look pissed off?” Red asked, once they reached her house. Red gestured for Cindy to sit down by the table and then placed a bottle of whiskey in front of her.
The truth was that Cinderella wasn’t a very big drinker, but it was one of those days. Besides, she needed a bit of liquid courage to tell Red everything that happened last night.
Cindy bit her lip and poured the golden liquid into her glass. She didn’t wait for Red; she just drank it down in one go. The liquid burned her throat.
“I had sex with the vampire king last night, and I ran away when I realised who he was. And my stepmother wants to marry me off to some stupid guy that lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere,” she explained, knowing that there was no point beating around the bush, might as well lay it all out there. She needed to get this off her chest and Red seemed to be trying to rekindle their friendship.
Red’s eyes widened, then she laughed loudly for about fifteen seconds, shaking her mass of curly hair.
“You were never a joker, Cindy, but you’re making up for it now,” Red chuckled.
“I’m not joking. The king, the father of the prince, is a vampire. He seduced me last night at the ball,” Cindy said, raising her voice a little. Her heart made a flip in her chest when she thought what she let the king do to her last night. She was instantly turned on again, rememberin
g how good his hands felt on her body. Even her heart started to beat faster.
Red’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and then she stared at her with her jaw wide open. Five minutes later, Cindy went through everything that had happened since her stepmother introduced her to Londis, the marriage and finally, the ball. Red cursed so badly that it made Cindy ashamed of her own thoughts, and then she started pacing around in her small kitchen.
Red lived in a wooden cottage that she used to share with her grandmother who recently moved out. Cindy didn’t know how much Red’s life changed before the two of them lost touch, but she wanted to be in her shoes—to have a life of her own. Red was living alone and no one ever told her what to do. She had her freedom.
“Fuck, Cindy, this is huge,” Red stated, and then licked her bottom lip. “So the sex was that good, huh?”
Cindy shook her head, she was ready to scream that the sex was the best of her life, but that wasn’t the point. She’d never dreamed sex could be that good. Red needed to understand that the entire kingdom was ruled by a vampire for the past twenty years. It wasn’t fair that the people had no idea that Caspian wasn’t human.
“The vampire, Red, the king is a bloodsucking monster who glamours people!” Cindy shouted and then drank some more of the golden whiskey and felt instantly drunk. She was definitely a lightweight.
Red laughed and waved her hand dismissively and lifted her boobs.
“Girl, if someone made me come like that, I wouldn’t care if he was a troll. Besides, he’s royal, rich and he can get you out of that marriage with the horrible farmer, Londis,” Red stated, popping her hand under her chin and sighing loudly.
“How? I can’t disobey my stepmother’s wishes. She’s going to disinherit me.”
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