A/N: Hello to all of my readers! I am glad to see people reviewing my fic! I hope that the last chapter wasn't terribly offensive, and as of yet I haven't gotten any negative comments, so I'm assuming it wasn't all that bad.
Anyway, this is the morning after. Of course, Christine must be smuggled out of Velkan's room…..hehehehehehe….they don't want anyone to know about the marriage yet. And of course if Christopher found out that his little niece was deflowered by Velkan….oh my god would the crap hit the fan! Well, I don't wanna give away the whole chapter now, so please read on and let me know what you guys think!
Chapter 5
I fell asleep in his arms, the gentle beating of his heart my lullaby as I rested. For hours we had spoken afterwards, of nonsense things and of our futures, though at the back of our mind Dracula stilled lurked. He was like a malignant cancer on our sides, something that we could never escape. But, we still tried. And so we tried our best to forget thoughts of the Count, until our eyes began to grow heavy with sleep. By then we had dressed in our sleeping clothes, Velkan giving me a shirt of his to sleep in. I had taken it gratefully, sliding it over my bare skin, watching it fall loosely upon my frame.
"Christine…" I heard him murmur seductively into my ear as we climbed underneath the covers. I felt the heat of his breath upon my neck as he sung a quiet song to me. I could feel the burning heat of his skin against my own as we lay there, underneath the covers.
Gently, his hands had reached out to touch my bare skin, traveling along the length of my thighs until finally coming to rest at my hips. I followed the trail his hands followed, until my hands covered his own. He murmured incoherently into my ear, kissing the back of my neck playfully. His other hand he slowly slid underneath my pillow. And in that position we fell asleep.
Never before had I ever slept as soundly as I did that night, his arms wrapped about me for warmth, the heavy covers of his blankets covering our bodies as we rested. We held each other as though we were the only two beings alive on this earth, as though the only comfort we could find was in each other's arms.
Opening my eyes, I found the sun rising, small little rays of light barely breaking through the tiny slits on the heavy curtains. Velkan was still asleep beside me, his arm still draped protectively about me.
"Velkan!" I yelled in a hushed whisper. He moaned beside me, opening his eyes lazily to look into mine. I saw his quiet smile of satisfaction as he found me lying beside him. "I have to go back to my room, before my Uncle begins to wonder where I have gone."
"What time is it?" he asked lazily, blinking rapidly to wake himself up.
"I have not an idea." I answered. "All that I know is that the sun is coming up." He laughed quietly at my nervous answer. Slowly, he shifted in his position until he was above me, a playful smirk on his face.
"Well, we play and then disappear?" he asked, leaning down to kiss me. I laughed as I felt him pull away from me to trail his kisses to my neck. I could feel the familiar urge begin to build within me again, and I felt him instinctually harden against the soft flesh of my leg. I pushed him away, my heart beginning to pound in worry. What if Christopher had knocked on my door during the night? What if he had not found me where he expected?
"Where are my clothes?" I asked as he pulled away to lie beside me. I could tell from the look on his face that he longed to love me again. But, he knew better. I kissed him gently upon his cheek before I quickly rose from the bed and began to gather my clothes. My hair I piled high upon my head. All the while I felt Velkan's eyes upon my back, penetrating and insisting.
"We must get you to your room soon." He said, rising from his bed as well. I could hear him dressing behind me, sliding his boots on and throwing his shirt on as well. After dressing, he gathered my chemise and corset, handing it over to me. I turned away from him as I slid his garment off my shoulders, allowing it to fall carelessly to the ground.
"Let me help you…" he murmured quietly from behind me as he reached round to take my chemise. He slid it carefully over my head, as I pulled my arms through the sleeves. It fell limply about my body. Taking my corset, I quickly put it on my, allowing Velkan to tighten the lacing for me.
"My gown?" I asked him. He shrugged his shoulders in confusion, not knowing where we had thrown the garment in our frenzy the night before. Looking around, I found it lying on the floor, a crimson mass shining in the light of the rising sun.
"There." I said, hurrying to put it on. A knock was suddenly heard at the door, and my head shot immediately to Velkan, a bewildered look on my face.
"Velkan?" I heard someone call. I immediately recognized the voice as Christopher's. My heart stopped. Velkan hurriedly gestured for me to take a seat at his desk, quickly throwing a book upon my lap for me to read. "Have you seen Christine? She isn't to be found in her room."
Velkan walked briskly to the door, and opened it. Christopher was on the other side, his hand slightly raised to knock once again.
"She is right here." Velkan answered, gesturing in my direction. "She has been here for quite some time reading." Christopher furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he looked at me, wondering at how I should be in the room of an unmarried man at this time of the morning.
"Hello Uncle." I said, watching his eyes slowly come to rest upon me. "Velkan was just showing me a book I think would be of some interest to you. It is the history of Dracula." I said, looking down at the cover. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Velkan standing between the both of us, hoping against hope that we had not been found out….
It took some moments before Christopher replied to my comment. And when he did, it was with a hint of disapproval in his voice. "Boris Valerious has been awake for some time, he says that he would like to speak to you, Velkan." He said, looking in Velkan's direction. "He says it is of some importance, though he refuses to tell me what it is. I suggest you go and see what it is." Christopher ordered. Velkan glared at him for a moment before walking briskly past my uncle, his loud steps the only thing I could hear until they finally faded into the building. We were alone. Almost immediately, Christopher began to speak.
"Christine," Christopher said after a moment, looking at me. "We have to make arrangements to leave Romania as soon as possible." I felt my heart sink at the sudden idea.
"What are you talking about?" I asked him, rising from where I had been sitting. In my hand, I gripped tightly the book Velkan had given me. "What has happened?" Christopher hesitated for a moment, his eyes glazed over in fear.
"What is wrong?" I asked him, approaching slowly. "Did something happen last night?"
"Marishka…." He murmured quietly in my direction, his eyes cast guiltily to the ground. "She came to me last night…" I felt my heart drop, hearing the name of one of the three brides.
"What happened?" Christopher hesitated for a moment.
"We have to leave here." He said again. "I know that we haven't been able to save William, but we must leave here before he sets the ball to roll…." I cast my eyes downward to notice Christopher's fists white with apprehension.
"We cannot just leave William at the mercy of these demons!" I said angrily when I began to slowly realize that my Uncle was not going to respond.
"They are going to kill us all." I heard him say between bated breaths. "Marishka has made this much known to me…" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, not understanding what he was trying to say. When weren't the vampires trying to kill us?
"You are making no sense!" I said to him, finally dropping the book with a loud thud upon the ground. I reached up and shook him violently by the shoulders. "Tell me what she did!" I quickly release his shoulders as his eyes rose slowly to meet my own. It was then that I noticed the slightly glazed look in his eyes. Why had I not noticed this when he had first set eyes upon me? He shook his head firmly until I found him slowly regaining his awareness.
"Marishka has warned me against the Count. She is jealous." I heard Christopher say. "She is jealous because she has told me that he intends to make you his bride as well." My heart sank immediately. He had not given up on me? He still longed to make me his?
"But that is not possible…." I said quietly. "He told me himself that he wished never to see me again." Christopher looked up at me in confusion.
"The Count?" he asked me. I slowly nodded my head yes.
"He told me two nights ago that he wished me gone. I refused him…" I answered quietly. "I would not trust the word of a vampires…." Christopher shook his head firmly.
"She knew you would say this." He answered. "Which is why she arranged to speak with us tonight. That is why we must leave as soon as possible."
