"You are beyond crazy if you think that I have any intention of turning into one of your brides!" Victoria roared once she saw Dracula enter the bedchamber he had granted her. He closed the door behind him as she yelled loudly; standing from the bed she had sat on the edge of.

Her hands were clenched into small fists and her cheeks were red with anger at the mere sight of him. Her hair was dishevelled around her face whilst her gown slipped down one shoulder. Dracula could sense that Aleera had been in the room. He should have known she would have been the one with the most intrigue to satisfy.

She must have told Victoria of his wish. She should have had an idea. It was not difficult to see his desire for her. He made no motion to hide it.

"It is not your intention which concerns me," the Count promised her, drawing his hands behind her back and sauntering into the room, his head held high as she seemingly shrank as he grew closer to her. "Your intentions are to return to your precious Velkan Valerious. He has already sent out a party to find you. I sense that he is angry with your decision to leave him."

Victoria looked away from his cold gaze then, her eyes watering slightly as she thought of Velkan and what was running through his mind. She could only imagine the worry. She worried for him too. She didn't know if the Count intended to keep his promise. Everything seemed to be a gamble. A gamble which Victoria hoped paid off.

"Velkan is the one I love," Victoria said. "No matter how much you try to manipulate me into your puppet; I will always love him."

Dracula saw red then. He took hold of her by the waist before she even saw him move. He fell on top of her on the bed, pinning her underneath his weight as he spread her legs to accommodate him. He moved them around his waist before Victoria felt his hands entwine with hers. She did her best to push him off of her, wanting nothing more than to rid herself of his weight.

"Do you remember this?" Dracula asked, his voice a mere hiss as he ground his hips against hers and she gasped at the intrusion. "You were so very wanton, Victoria."

"That was before," Victoria complained to him and he grinned and as he noted that her dress had fallen to pool around her hips, her bare thigh open to his touch. "I do not want you now. Why can you not accept that?"

"Because I died for you," he snarled, baring his teeth before he grabbed her upper thighs and removed them from his waist to fall open for him as his hips continued to move against hers and she suddenly groaned. He smirked then and she looked shocked at the noises which fell from her.

His hands trailed up her thighs, keeping them flat on the mattress as he moved his lips against her neck, sucking at the skin he found there.

"You always were loud," he whispered against her skin before his hands cupped her backside to grind her against him. "You claimed you never were a lustful creature, but you always acted like a whore when I was inside of you."

She felt her eyes roll back into her head as lips trailed down her collarbone and his hands continued to push her up from the bed to meet his thrusts.

"Do you not see?" he wondered in a soft voice as his hardness pressed against her most sensitive area and she felt her hands entwine into his hair, pressing him against her chest as his hands worked on the laces of her dress and his lips moved over the top of her breasts. He took a second to peel his eyes from her pale skin to look to her face.

Her cheeks were flushed and her head was moving from side to side as her body writhed underneath him.

Having her under his control was so much easier than listening to her complain.

The Count moved his gaze to her eyes again and he stopped kissing her as she seemingly tried to open her legs further for him to press against her. He looked her in the eye before tenderly moving strands of hair from her face. She gasped for breath and he bent down to kiss her chastely on her lips.

"Do you see?" he wondered from her. "It is much easier when you cooperate with me?"

Internally she was screaming from behind her eyes as he bent down to kiss her again, unable to resist him. She felt powerless against him, but she knew that it was her body reacting to his touch. She knew that, but she could not stop herself from squirming in pleasure.

It was then when the Count heard the noise from outside. His eyes lifted up and he felt his control over Victoria go. She moved with haste, pushing him from her as he willingly stood too, looking to the door and wondering where the noise had come from. It was only when the screech from outside entered his ears did he look at Victoria.

"Stay here," he demanded her.

She stood up and straightened the dress she wore over her body, ignoring his command and rushing over to the doorway. He closed it before she could get to it, locking it on his way. Victoria slammed her fists against the wood, doing her best to discover what the commotion was.

Victoria remained stood still, leaning against the wall by the door and waiting for something to happen. Anger coursed through her veins at what had just happened and she felt herself sicken at the thought of her willingly having the Count with her. She knew that she had been unable to resist him, but the point was not that.

More screams filled her ears and she moved back to the bed, sitting down in the middle of it as the darkness took hold of the room, the only light coming from a solitary candle. Victoria waited for something to happen, wondering whether or not Velkan had come for her. He would be foolish if he had done, but she would love him regardless of it.

"My brides."

Victoria hadn't even heard the door open, nor had she seen him appear. But there he stood at the side of the bed, looking down at her with a sad smile. He slowly sunk down next to Victoria, the back of his hand moving to brush her hair from her face.

"You were worried," he commented, the feel of her pulse on his fingertips enough to tell him that.

"Of course I was worried when I heard screaming," she told him, wondering if he was truly so dense.

"I apologise," he spoke, "I never wished for you to be frightened. My brides were merely...well...concerned about the nature of our relationship. They can be very dramatic when they want to be."

"The nature of our relationship?" she checked with him. "There is no-"

"-Yes, there is," he interrupted her. "And the sooner you learn that then the easier it will be for you."

"I will not," Victoria replied defiantly and he wished that he could go back to the times when it was so much easier for him. The time when she did everything that he said without question and looked at him with loving. But she would learn. He had all of time to teach her of the ways of life. She would remember soon enough.

"As you say," he replied to her. "It would make things easier for you. I recall how you preferred an easy life. I doubt you remember, but I have faith that you soon will. You will soon learn that you will always be mine, Victoria. It is an undoubted fact."

Grinding her teeth together, Victoria hooked her arms around her knees and rested her chin on her kneecaps. She closed her eyes as she felt him move his hand down her back. The motion was so familiar to her as her spine stiffened and he continued the motion.

"You remember this?" he checked with her. "Do you remember the way I used to stroke your back when you were nervous? You had been so nervous about us telling your parents about us that it was the only thing o calm you."

"They were not understanding?" Victoria dared to ask and he smirked, slightly happy that she seemed more intrigued about her past. This was what he wanted. This was what he hoped would bring back her memories and make her love him.

"We told them that night after the library," he recalled. "They demanded you to return to your chamber whilst they spoke with me. You refused and said that your mind had been made up and you would not go back to marry some English gentleman who would not make you happy."

Victoria smirked at that comment. That did sounds like her. It had also been what she had said once her parents had died in her life. She did not want some random man to marry her for money.

"Do you not see, Victoria?" he whispered to her, his voice soft. "It would be easier for you to stop fighting me. I would never hurt you. You need to believe me. I know that I have been forceful with you...only because I lust after you...and love you..."

Victoria turned to look at him, her eyes wide as she recalled the memory of him and her in the library that fateful night. He moved his hand to stroke her cheek and Victoria felt herself move closer to him. Ever so slowly, she pressed her lips against his as though she were testing him and herself somehow. She moved her lips and Dracula continued to push her hair behind her ear and Victoria closed her eyes, the feeling of his lips on hers one that she could not shake.

She did not know what it was, but she knew that she was kissing him on her own free will.

...

A/N: Sorry that it has been a while since I updated! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!