DEVIOUS LOVE

Chapter 11 - Dreadful Ball

[ Neither the picture nor the content belongs to me. All the rights belong to the respective author. It is only used for entertainment purposes not to offend anyone.]

***

Jennie slowly cracked the book open. Lately, Aunt Eleanor had forbidden her to read in bed, since she needed her "beauty sleep." However, no amount of rest could change Jennie's somber stare.

"Let's see... where did I leave off?" Jennie had randomly selected a book from the shelves. It would have been a lot smarter if she had used the flashlight first, before picking from her enormous selection.

"Too late to regret that now," she mumbled.

Jennie double-checked the front cover. "The Rise of Xueyue," she muttered.

Blinking furiously, she recalled it was a historical bibliography from centuries upon centuries ago. Judging from the thickness of the novel, it was not the abridged version.

"Oh, found it!" Jennie's page-flipping had finally come to a halt. Her bookmark was stuck through the center of the pages, the thin metal outlines depicting a soaring phoenix with a long, feathery tail.

"Little fawn..." Jennie squinted at the familiar nickname. In the novel, it was exchanged from a Commander to the heroine.

"Hah, so much for originality," Jennie scoffed to herself. Here she was, thinking the mysterious stranger had given her a unique, yet interesting nickname.

With a shrug of her shoulder, Jennie continued to read. Eventually, time sped by. She was fully immersed in the detailed pages of the bibliography, completely unaware of the eyes outside of her window.

- - - - -

Lisa continued watching her. She was unmoving on the bed and absorbed in whatever fancied her attention. Did her pretty little neck not hurt? It had been bent down for a while now. Perhaps she did not care about the ache, or she had a stronger body than she expected.

Lisa observed her silhouette. Her figure was of mediocre height, the shape wisely hidden with a long, flowy nightgown. She had seen her naked body before. She knew the dips of her waist as it flared out into ample hips for him to grab onto.

Unknowingly, her Adam's apple shifted up and down. She brought out a primal instinct from within her. It was absolutely uncalled for, considering Jennie was only reading. But her knees were bent upwards and her loose nightgown was slipping down, revealing a round shoulder and her delectable collarbones

Unsurprisingly, the marks had faded. Lisa truly enjoyed her soft skin and how quickly it adapted to her love bites or instantly illustrated a deep flush across her chest.

"I look like a fuċkɨnġ creep," Lisa cursed herself.

She was a lot more self-aware than people expected. It was a great quality to possess, especially as the leader of an enormous nation. She needed to be aware of her flaws, as little as they were.

"Now would be a great time to disturb her."

The woman's lips spread into a slow, sensual smile. She was still distracted with reading, but Lisa worried about her neck. It was long and delicate. With a flick of her wrist, she could wring it. Her hands itched to grab her by the throat and pull her closer to her.

"I'm behaving like a pubescent girl in heat," she muttered with an irritable shake of her head.

She shifted her attention back towards Jennie. She bit her bottom lip, her brows knitted together in concentration. There could be a tornado outside and she would not be aware of its destruction.

The woman checked her watch. It was well into the night and morning was fastly approaching. She had been observing her for at least an hour or two. The twins must have been raising hell in the palace in search of her.

She couldn't care less.

Now that her presence was shown to the high society of Vampires, there would be people targeting her. She was not worried about the humans, especially with that hideous bastard hovering over her. It was the Vampires that the queen cared about.

By now, they should know she was off-limits.

Just as Lisa's gaze shifted to her, she stiffened. Staring directly at her were a pair of shining emerald eyes.

- - - - -

As a child, she would always have strange dreams of a dark hallway, her bare feet echoing upon the marble. There were enormous windows on the left and not a single soul in sight. Despite how daunting the hallway was, little Jennie was not scared.

Her parents, however, were worried. Thus, they would read her to sleep.

"Dad would've scoffed at this type of book," Jennie contemplated. Her father, Kaline was not a fan of historical novels. However, her mother, Addison, would have loved it. She enjoyed this genre the most and was the reason Jennie had fallen in love with books.

Jennie shined the flashlight to the hanging clock on the other side of the room. Soon, the sun would be rising and the moon would be going to sleep.

"There's another dreadful ball tomorrow," she pensively sighed.

Jennie closed the book with one hand. She was prepared to turn the flashlight off. That is until something caught her attention in her peripheral vision. She shifted her chin in time to catch glowing red eyes.

Her heart dropped to her stomach. Was that... was that a Vampire?

The breath was knocked out of her chest. She fumbled to turn the flashlight off, her fingers shaking in fear. She blindly searched for the panic button located beside her bed. Holding it for three seconds would be enough to notify Asher.

"W-who..." she stumbled out, her nerves skyrocketing.

Judging from the tall silhouette and sturdy build, it was indeed a Vampire.

She was looking at her.

She was certain of it. Their eyes had met.

And before she could blink, the woman was beside her balcony window.

Jennie continued to search for the button. Her legs were numb with distress. Her adrenaline kicked in, but instead of fight or flight, her body simply froze. Whoever said there were only two options was a liar.

Thankfully, the windows were always locked.

Knock. Knock.

Jennie let out a horrifying shriek, hoping it would at least alert the patrolling guard outside her room. The Mardens were not that wealthy, therefore could only afford one protector to stroll the hallways.

"Jennie?"

Jennie's entire body tensed. Lisa's voice was slightly muffled, but Jennie recognized the humor. That, and the way her name effortlessly rolled off her tongue.

"Be a darling and let me in, Jennie," she coaxed.

Jennie was uncertain of what to do. Her finger had finally found the panic button. To invite the familiar stranger in, or to call for Asher... which should she choose?