The Crown's Seduction

Chapter 31: Vampiric Urge

"I won't be able to sleep at this rate…" 

Mineah tossed and turned in her bed as she murmured to herself. It was well past her usual time to sleep, and yet her exhaustion has yet to catch up to her.

In the end, she ended up sitting up on her bed to look around the spacious Queen's quarter. She was too occupied a while ago to even bother with how luxurious her quarters were. It was almost like of Nikolai's own room just beside her.

But what truly caught her attention was that she had the same open balcony as Nikolai's. Getting up, Mineah didn't bother to grab a shawl to cover her nightgown as she went out of the balcony. 

Although her body was weak, she was surprisingly tolerant of the cold, and she honestly loved it which was why winter was her favorite season.

"I knew it," she hummed to herself as soon as she walked out her balcony. "Our room was connected the whole time…"

Walking up to the rails, Mineah held onto them as she stared out at the calm sea for a moment. It was her first time sailing on a sea like this, and she was glad she hadn't experienced any form of seasickness so far.

Letting out a sigh, she turned her gaze to the other side of the balcony as she contemplated on whether or not to walk towards Nikolai's quarters. 

She was honestly worried about him, even though Taro had already reassured her that it was normal for her husband to be in that kind of state.  @@novelbin@@

But after careful consideration, she dropped her thought in favor of letting things as they are. It might be for the best for Nikolai to seek her out on his own first if it was truly her blood that triggered the sudden activation of his vampiric cravings.

Having had enough of the sea, she hastily turned to go back to her room, but to her surprise, her feet simply wouldn't move. Instead, despite her best judgment, she turned in the direction of Nikolai's quarters. Taking a deep breath, Mineah walked straight ahead.

Silently, she entered Nikolai's room. Unsurprisingly, it was dark inside with the moonlight as the only light coming through the balcony windows.

Making her way further inside, her body suddenly stiffened when she felt a familiar presence behind her back. For some reason, a cold shiver surged through her body, making her shudder.

"Lai…" she gulped. 

"Yes," he whispered. 

Mineah held her breath when she felt his warm breath brush against the skin between her neck and shoulder blade.

"Don't bite me," she weakly murmured, worried that Nikolai was still not his controlled self. 

Nikolai's weak chuckles echoed from behind her, and she was about to turn around when she felt his firm hands land on her shoulders, holding her still.

"Your blood smells so sweet and creamy… So rich and syrupy..." he murmured onto her skin, kissing and licking at her sensitive flesh. "It smells like none other, Mine… It's driving me insane. What should I do?" 

Mineah closed her eyes as she suppressed another shiver. Alarmed, she was about to chant a spell when she suddenly felt her body being pushed down before bouncing on something soft. Before she knew it, her eyes widened as Nikolai hovered on top of her. He had moved her to the bed in a flash without her even knowing it.

"There's no need for you to use your inner energy to chant a spell against me, Mine," Nikolai whispered in reassurance. "Don't worry, I can control myself."

She gave him a scrutinizing look. She could no longer sense any danger from the amber eyes with the specks of gold staring at her. "What happened then?" she inquired. 

"Your blood… I…"

"You're craving for my blood?" she curiously asked. "Alexa told me that you have vampiric urges for human blood every full moon and that Rosela is the only one who can quench your thirst. But if that's the case, then why did you vomit a while ago while drinking her blood?" 

"I had a withdrawal reaction, I think. I believe it's because the blood I am craving for now is yours," Nikolai explained. "A while ago, I could barely contain myself, Mine. I'm not confident I'll be able to hold myself back if something like this happened again."

"You can feed on me if you want then," Mineah unknowingly voiced out. She then seriously added, "It's just that… I don't know if my blood is harmful to you or not. After all, I'm cursed…"

Nikolai chuckled and whispered, "What a discouraging way to offer your blood to me, Mine."

But it was true. She was unsure about the side effects that the blood of a cursed princess like her could do to a vampire. Assuming there were any in the first place.

Biting her lower lip, she directly asked, "Are you still going to seek out Rosela to feed during the full moon?" 

There was no response, and Mineah's face crumpled. Silence could only mean yes…

"Are you scared of the side effects my blood could have on you?" 

"No… I'm scared that I will end up draining you to death, and I don't want to repeat the same mistake again, Mine," Nikolai murmured.

Mineah's eyes narrowed in thought. Was he referring to Dahlia? She could only wonder if that was actually the cause of Dahlia's death. Did he suck her dry by mistake? She wanted to ask him a lot of questions, but the timing just wasn't right.

A brief second passed until Mineah felt Nikolai's weight on top of her once again, his face buried into the crook of her neck as if to smell all that she had to offer.

"Lai…" she called out.

"Hmm," he hummed.

Mineah frowned as she gently pushed Nikolai to the side. His eyes were closed, and his breathing seemed erratic. 

Touching his skin, Mineah gasped, "You're so cold!"

"Relax, Mine. It's just the withdrawal symptoms," Nikolai breathed out. "I just need some more time to rest." 

"What do you need me to do?" she sincerely asked. 

Moving to get up from bed, Mineah was about to call for help when Nikolai pulled her closer to him. Cuddling her into his arms, she melted into his embrace.

"Just stay with me like this, Mine," he weakly asked. "Honestly, despite how your alluring scent is to my vampiric urge, I find it surprisingly comforting at the same time…"

Mineah kept her silence. Instead, she just quietly observed how Nikolai's breathing slowly normalized. Maybe her warm body was helping him relax, so she snuggled more into his embrace. Surprisingly, she also found comfort in his tight grasp, allowing her to sigh as she savored the moment.