Chapter 6 — Chained

“NATASHA?”

My mind went back to the present when I heard Cain’s voice. Only then did I realize that my face was now wet with tears. He looked surprised but after a few seconds, he slowly lifted his hands to wipe my tears.

Who’d have thought he was real? And now he was here, looking at me as if it was the first time he'd ever witnessed a woman crying. Well, it was his first time to see it after a hundred years. This made me feel more vulnerable. He had not only seen my body, but my heart, too, including all of my pain and weaknesses.

“I don’t mind,” I whispered after a while.

“What are you saying?”

“I said I don’t mind,” I repeated in a broken voice. “You can take everything away from me, Sir Cain. Just please protect my brother and save my father from the Ricafortes and let them live a peaceful life. I’ve lost so much already. If I lose someone important to me again, I don’t think I can live anymore.”

Instead of responding, Cain grabbed my nape and fiercely kissed me on the lips. I was panting when he released my mouth.

“Later, Natasha.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are tired. Once you have enough rest, we will talk about this again later.”

I sobbed. “Thank you, S-sir. Thank you for waking up.”

I knew I was not supposed to be thanking him. Cain said it himself. My wishes came with a high price. Still, without him, I would not be able to help my family.

He seemed stunned. He took another sharp breath before he stood up. I panicked. I was about to get up when he spoke.

“Take a rest for now, Natasha. I’m going to be busy for a while,” Cain said without looking at me. “Have as much rest as you can now because when I come back, I’ll be hungrier, so hungry that even if you beg me to, I will never let you sleep a wink. And before I forget, you can call me by my name.”

“But—”

“I’m giving you permission to do it. After all, it looks like you and I will be seeing each other for quite a while.”

I quickly held Cain’s hand before he could walk away. I had lost count of how many times I had been betrayed. What happened took a large toll on my faith on people. Cain may be the owner of this mansion, but what if he suddenly disappears? Unlike me, there were many places he could go to.

“Will you still be here when I wake up? Now that you’ve fed, what if you leave me, too, just like everyone else? You are a very powerful man. It will be so easy for you to find your next meal.”

“I do understand where your trust issues are coming from, Natasha. It’s our first meeting, and you can’t change that about you overnight. But trust is something that you have to relearn while you are with me. After all, you took a giant leap of faith when you came to me. You were not certain of my existence. Yet, you came here. And you were able to prove that I exist.” Cain held my other hand. “Whenever doubts start to creep in your heart, remember this. Out of all the women who tried, you were the only one who succeeded in waking me. That itself is a feat. That was also the reason why I gave you my word and agreed to help you. We will sign the contract once you wake up.”

“Still—”

Cain bit my shoulder and brought my hand in between his legs. I gasped when I felt his erection. “Do you feel that? If I stay here for a minute longer, I might keep on feeding on you until your body collapse. I want to remain inside you, Natasha. It’s warm inside you. That’s why you need to hurry up and rest so I can be inside you again.”

The corner of his mouth lifted into a smile when I blushed. He released me and gently pushed me on the bed. He gazed at my naked body and shook his head. He quickly pulled the blanket and covered my body.

I wasn’t able to speak anymore until he walked away and closed the door. I fought the urge to follow him. He was right. I had come this far. I took a risk when I went to him and I needed to take another risk again. I needed to trust his words and hoped that he would not abandon me, at least not yet. I need him but considering how he brought up the contract, he probably needed something from me, too.

I yawned. I knew that there were many things I needed to think about. I’d worry about them later when I wake up. Before I fell asleep, my mother’s smiling face popped in my head.

“If you will see me now, I’m sure you will be very disappointed, Mama. I’m so sorry for the kind of woman I’ve become.” My eyes watered. “But I have no regrets since this is for our family.”

***

(Cain)

AS SOON as I left Natasha’s side, I started feeling cold. I thought I would never feel this again. I did not feel this way when I woke up because Natasha was by my side, the only person in the world who seemed to be capable of making me feel warm.

How long had it been since I had last felt this familiar warmth? Four hundred years? Five hundred? Damn, I had lost count. Even if I used magic, the coldness remained. I could feel it in my bones. This was making me want to dive back to the bed, back to Natasha’s side.

That human was beyond my expectations. I thought that just like other women, my hunger would disappear the first time we did it. I thought I would lose interest. But it was the opposite. My hunger was supposed to fade after having a taste of her. After I got what I wanted, I could just order my servants to take care of her. I was supposed to be feeding on someone else by now because one person was never enough to satisfy me. No matter how hungry I was, I could never be satisfied with just one woman. I always needed more.

But it was different with Natasha. It was not just about having my fill or satiating my hunger. With just a kiss, she was able to make me feel an intense satisfaction I had never felt before. She could bring emotions within me, too. And it was strange. When I saw her tears, I suddenly felt enraged towards the people who made her cry. It had been so long since I last felt this way.

How? How could a mere human make me feel this way?

Even now, I wanted to go back to Natasha’s side and ram myself inside her if only she was not physically and mentally tired. I could not remember the last time I cared about what the humans would feel. I never thought that a day would come when I would suppress my carnal desire for one woman. I thought I had lost the ability to feel human emotions centuries ago.

I underestimated her.

I should have known that Natasha Rivera was really supposed to be different since she was able to wake me and unconsciously activate the spell that was casted on me. The second she stepped inside the forest; I already felt her presence.

While my body was asleep, my soul was cursed to drift aimlessly for the past hundred years, unfeeling, like the wind. I witnessed the changes that occurred in people and in places I had been to. I even witnessed the transition of some of my people as well as the language, the culture, and things that I needed to be accustomed to. I had been to everywhere the past years, but my soul could not be in the same place where my body was.

But while my soul was drifting, I had heard Natasha’s footsteps. The moment her warm hands touched me, I felt it. And when she kissed me, in an instant, my soul had been pulled back in my body. That was her own kind of magic, the magic she didn’t know she had.

I rushed downstairs when I felt the presence of my servants. When I opened the door, countless of Vampires immediately kneeled on the ground to greet me.

“Welcome back, Your Highness,” they said in unison.

It had been over a hundred years but they were still here. As expected, the Vampires remember what the humans forget.

“I had a dream about you waking up and so I told my family to migrate to the Philippines and wait for your return. I wanted us to be the first ones to welcome you back into the land of the living,” Silas said. He was my best friend and was the only one who stood among the Vampires.

I had witnessed the changes in his life for the past centuries. That’s why I was aware that he was able to keep a hold of his position in the Council until today. He was also the one who ruled the Vampires during my absence. He walked towards me and embraced me.

“There were signs that you were about to wake up. The Werewolves began howling even without the full moon and all the Rogues suddenly went into hiding.” Silas grinned. “Those rats must have recognized that the Beast was about to come out of its den anytime soon.”

After a while, his gaze went to the mark on my wrist. His smile faded. Concern became visible in his eyes. There was now a chain tattoo on my left wrist, the evidence of Natasha’s magic and the evidence of my curse as well. The chain was thick and it was red that’s why it was impossible not to notice especially by the Vampires.

“Frankly, I’m still conflicted, my friend. I don’t know whether to congratulate you for waking up or to feel bad about it.”

Just like Silas, I was among the first Vampires in the world. Silas was my right-hand man. And I was aware of his loyalty to me. I knew that until now, in honor of me, they still gather at a certain place and celebrate the first day I built the Council and ruled the Vampires.

Both Silas and I were powerful but as a Mage, I was indestructible.

And for five hundred years, I had no weakness… until today, until I had been marked. As of the moment, Natasha was the only person in the world capable of killing me.