The Lure of a Vampire

Staring out the window of the bedroom she was forced to occupy, Chastity weighed the choices Max had put before her the night before.

The decision weighing heavily on her as she tried to decide which to pick. She could choose the path of least resistance; a path of luxury and, eventual, freedom or she would be forced to do everything she didn't want to do without regard of her wishes.

Chastity rubbed her eyes, the headache that had set in midday was no doubt from lack of sleep, the pressure forming behind her eyes in a dull ache. After spending what felt like hours curled up on the plush, carpeted floor the night before Chastity had eventually stood and gone to the bathroom to clean the wound on her face.

The bruise that surrounded the cut could only be described as gnarly. The bright purple stood out on her pale cheek like a beacon, letting everyone know it had met with the back of Max’s hand. The cut was small, though it had bled enough to make Chastity to believe otherwise.

She had dabbed it with the edge of a towel before heading back into the bedroom. The sun had risen above the horizon, the pale pinks and blues of the sky beautiful as she had drawn the curtains and crawled into bed.

Though sleep never came. Her mind had raced with possibilities and one always came to mind. She could try to run, to escape her captor and run far away but she kept reminding herself of her one attempt that had failed miserably. To top it all off, she had no clue where she even was, which would make it nearly impossible to plot an escape.

Her next option was to fight Max every step of the way. She could take his abuse, something she had grown so used to with her father, and keep her dignity while forfeiting any hopes of freedom. She knew the cycle would be endless until she was broken down into submission. Or she could become a willing Bride to the vampire prince, not have a hand strike her and eventually have her freedom, once she had given him what he wanted.

With every option she was making a sacrifice and none of it settled well with her. Chastity jumped when the door suddenly opened and she turned quickly from the window, her eyes locking on Max as he stood in the doorway of the bedroom.

“Have you made your choice?” He asked as he entered the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him as he stepped inside. When Chastity didn't immediately answer he went on, “Come now, Bride, I don't have all night so what will it be. The path of my beloved Queen or of my reluctant Bride?”

Chastity pursed her lips as she looked at him. He looked just as suave as he had the night she first saw him. Dressed in a black button up with the sleeves pushed up to reveal firm forearms, the top two buttons undone, showing off the elegant curve of his throat and pale skin of his chest. What caught her attention was the color of his eyes, the green seemed much brighter than before. They seemed to sparkle underneath the light of the bedroom.

Looking at him, standing there and making demands of her immediately had her wishing she could run away like she originally wanted to. Glancing back out the window at the woods that surrounded the mansion-- because it definitely could not be described as a house-- she contemplated her success again.

“Don’t even think about it,” Max warned quietly. “If you manage to escape the coven house, which you wont, we are many, many miles from even a spec of human civilization. The woods are dense, there are ridges and ravines that you would undoubtedly fall into and perish in within the first dozen or so miles. Not to mention the werewolves.”

Immediately, her attention turned back to Max who was frowning at her, “Werewolves?”

“Yes,” he validated, “They detest vampires and are probably out there right now, just waiting for a chance to get their dirty paws all over you. They would eat their own pups to capture the human Bride that will one day become the Queen of all Vampires. I would not advise being alone with one of them."

Chastity cleared her throat, striking the idea of running from the manse off the list of paths she could take before saying, “I have conditions… to my surrender.”

Max’s lip curled with a snarl, “You are in no position to make demands.”

She frowned looking at him pleadingly, “Please.”

The snarl was quickly replaced with a firm scowl, “I will humor you in this but I will not guarantee agreement with your conditions.”

Chastity nodded and began, “You can't hit me again.”

Max looked over her face, as if for the first time he was looking at her-- instead of through her, and taking in detail. He frowned as he looked over the bruise what was spread across her cheek bone, “You are far too delicate for your own good. I cannot promise I won't slap you again when you are out of line but I will try not to strike you so forcefully. Next demand.”

Knowing she had to take the compromise she continued as he had ordered, “No more biting,” she told him, trying to sound stern. Chastity knew she had to put her foot down now about the blood taking because she wouldn't have the resistance to refuse him and she knew the next time Max's fangs pierced her flesh she would be all over him.

Chastity hated that she was attracted to him, hated how she lusted after him now that she knew how good a bite could feel. Max scoffed and shook his head in the negative, “Bride, I do not know if you realize I survive on a steady diet of blood and as my Bride you will be my source of it until you are like me.”

Chastity frowned and twisted her hands in nervousness, wondering just how much she could argue with him before he would hit her, “I… I really don't want to be a food source.”

“You do not have a choice,” Max told her firmly before adding with a smirk, “Besides, if memory serves me, you like it very much.”

Chastity felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment before she said, “Then you can't touch me.”

The droll stare Max pinned her with revealed just how ignorant he knew she was, “It's part of the package, Bride.”

“I mean if I…. Ya know, get all-” Chastity suddenly stopped and continued to look at him, not able to find the words to express herself.

Maximus’s smirk turned into a grin as he teased, “Oh, I see. You are afraid that you will be the one who wishes to touch me. That you will attack me like a bitch in heat.”

“Stop making fun of me!” Chastity yelled at him, tears of embarrassment burning her eyes.

Max just tsked and slowly approached her, closing the distance between them until he was able to crouch down in front of her, meeting her at eye level. “If it upsets you so, then you will have to beg me to show you the pleasure beyond my bite.”

“I won't ever beg you,” she told him in a whisper.

The smirk did not leave his face as he said, “We shall see, Bride. Next demand and you had better make it quick, my patience is wearing thin.”

“I want you to use my name,” Chastity said, tossing out any of her smaller conditions to make this last request. “I don’t like it when you only call me Bride. It’s like if I only called you Vampire. I also don’t like when you use those stupid endearments. My name’s Chastity, that’s it.”

Max sighed and gave a curt nod, “Fine, if it is really that important to you I shall call you only by your given name. Have we finished with all this nonsense now? You must be hungry and I intend to show you where you can find the kitchen and prepare your own food.”