The Crown's Entrapment

“Let’s go.”

Holding Xenia by the shoulder, Darius led her towards the trees not too far away from her spot.

“Where are we going?” she curiously asked as they continued to walk further, but along the way, she stopped for a while, her leg feeling numb somehow.

“This is a dormant volcano. We just have to cross to the other half of it where you can rest more properly,” Darius commented. Along the way, he probably noticed that she was struggling in wallking so he stopped and turned to her.

“What happened?” he asked with wrinkled brows.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ll be good in a minute,” she said with a reassuring smile. But instead of leaving her alone, she frowned when he bent down in front of her, his back facing hers as if waiting for her. “What are you doing?”_.

“Hop on my back, my love. Come now, while Osman isn’t around to take offense to this,” Darius chuckled. “Take this opportunity to hug my back. Think of this night as a small reward for your hard training. Let me pamper my mate for a while. After all, I’m sure that there’s another day of hard work waiting for you tomorrow. My admiral will surely scold me about this plan of mine, but I guess he can’t do a thing against his king but sulk this time.”

Darius chuckled, and his soothing voice lifted her mood almost instantly. Well, actually, seeing him like this was more than enough for her to not feel all the pains currently running through her body.

Smiling, she quickly jumped on his back, hugging him tightly as she wrapped her legs around his waist. From there, he stood up and began walking. They slowly made their way down the mountain, the path they were taking a lot less steep than what she remembered taking.

“Is it safe to stay here? When was the last time this volcano erupted?” Xenia absently asked as she rested her chin on Darius’s shoulder. He felt so warm in this cold weather. Relaxing her body against his, she found herself closing her eyes as she nuzzled her nose on the crook of his neck. He smelled so good…

“Last time I heard, it was over a hundred years since this volcano erupted. Why? Are you worried it’ll erupt now while I’m pampering you?” Darius asked with a chuckle. He then added. “Don’t worry, it won’t. It would probably take a thousand years more before this thing explodes again…”

Well, that was what Xenia would’ve heard if she hadn’t dozed off. She didn’t know how long it had been since then, but she was tired and hungry enough to not really care.

***

“We’re here, love. You can now open your eyes,” Darius whispered.

Hearing her beloved, Xenia slowly opened her eyes, which immediately widened upon seeing that there was a stone house currently in front of her.

“Surprised? Nikolai and I built this shelter here. Then Osman added in some inventions to provide good water and to make the stay here very convenient despite being at the highest peak of the mountain,” Darius explained. “Come on. Let’s get you clean up and fed.”

Eagerly, Darius brought her inside, and instead of cleaning up first, Xen took a seat to eat the food already prepared on the table. Ah, she felt like she was starving for days when she began to eat.

“Eat slow, my love. You don’t want to get indigestion,” Darius chuckled. “I’ll prepare your bath in the meantime.”

“…Did you prepare all this?” Xenia asked, her mouth still munching on the roasted meat.  Her tongue sang her praises. Finally, some real food to devour instead of just eating fruits all day.

“Aye,” Darius answered. “While I was waiting for you to arrive, I took the liberty of preparing everything you’ll need to feel better after all your hard work.”

Nodding, Xenia continued eating as she sat by watching Darius put more wood into the fireplace to keep her warm. He then began preparing her bath, putting some hot water into a huge tub inside the shelter.

“That’s a huge tub…” she subconsciously took note with rounded eyes. “Do you bathe with Nikolai and Osman in that?”

Darius coughed before he defended himself. “Of course not! We’re bulky, so we prefer to have a huge tub to wash in,” he quickly explained. “How could you even think that I’ll bathe with Nikolai in the same tub at the same time? Also, Osman came here once in order to make this shelter more convenient for use. Again, it’s just me and Nikolai who could even use this shelter.”

Xenia held her laughter upon seeing how red Darius was with his knitted brows. Ah… Now, she was in the mood to tease him a bit more. It would seem that he and the Vampire King were indeed that close.

“Hmm, so you two are like lovers meeting secretly in a place like this, huh?” she asked, putting up a blank face as she took a drink.

“No! What are you even thinking, Xen?” Darius complained. “We just met here that one time after we decided to build this shelter here. Since then, I didn’t even know when the last time he came here. But I bet he visits here more often than I do. That bat hates to stay inside his own castle…” He sighed, “Look, can we change the topic, Xen? You’re making me feel uncomfortable…”

This time, Xenia chuckled as she replied, “And why are you being too defensive and uncomfortable then, huh? It’s just a question out of curiosity…”

“But you sound like you’re making me and Nikolai an item,” Darius faintly pouted. He then took on a serious look as he ordered, “Never mind that. Come here and I’ll show you how straight your mate is.”

Xenia stared at him, her brows raised as she teased, “Are you forgetting that you’re currently under the effects of a celibacy potion?”

Seeing the smirk on Darius’s face, Xenia’s eyes widened. No… She spent the whole night up in the mountains and woke up in the cave the next day, all while not seeing Darius, so…

“Right, love. I skipped it this morning,” Darius smirked, answering her questioning stare with a smug smile. “I didn’t feel like taking it since you didn’t prepare it with my tea as you used to. And I’m not in the mood to do it myself.”

Walking towards her, to her horror, he wounded himself. “Here, get a dose of your booze, my love.”

Shaking her head, Xenia resigned herself before she started sipping on Darius’s blood. It wasn’t like she had the nerve to play hard to get at this rate. Heaven knows how many days she had been tortured enough by this werewolf with his habit of constantly being touchy while they were sleeping.

Just the thought of being in his arms again after so long made every part of her body burn with tremendous desire. It was a desire she still couldn’t fathom at how Darius could keep it awake inside her body.

Darius groaned as she continued to take in his blood. She then heard him whisper, “It’ll be a long night, my love, so take some more… I wouldn’t want you too drain when you face Osman tomorrow.”