The Crown's Obsession

Madeline felt Calhoun's finger touch the top button of her dress. She didn't dare to look away from him as Calhoun continued to hold her gaze. Her breath was getting shallower by every second that passed in between them. Just the action of him pulling out the lace from her collar had made her sit still without any movement.

She didn't understand why she didn't resist him—not pushing him away but her eyes anxiously looking at Calhoun. Not that it would work if she tried. Calhoun always got his way around her, and resistance towards him was futile. Her senses were sharp, that tried to take in every single move he made on her. She could feel the pressure of his two fingers that fell on her skin as he made his way towards the button. As if playing and testing her to see if she would stop him but Madeline didn't.

With the kiss and his touch, Calhoun had enticed and intrigued her, making her want things that she had never wanted. But just because she felt them, it didn't mean she would openly speak or ask about it. Things like that were not only shameful but also embarrassing to think! Calhoun observed how Madeline tried to withhold the urge to push him away.

"This is a stunning dress that you have worn," Calhoun complimented Madeline, his finger still playing with the button before pulling it open without being too obvious. With Madeline's concentration on Calhoun's words and faintly on his fingers, she tried to process what he just said as her mind was getting muddled and dizzy at the same time.

"Agnes, got them yesterday," Madeline's words came out as a whisper. There was no need to say it out loud as Calhoun was just a few inches away from her.

"It looks pretty on you. Just like I had imagined it to be," he gave out a boyish smile that only looked harmless by appearance.

His skilful fingers moved to the next button. It was Calhoun who had asked the tailor to design Madeline's clothes, wanting it to stand out compared to the rest of the people in and around Devon. He had got the dresses stitched not only with high-quality fabric which were attractive to look at but also easy to discard when needed. With one arm still around Madeline's waist, he leaned forward to take a deep breath of her scent, and she smelled heavenly. He didn't know if he would ever get to go to heaven, but this was what he believed heaven was like.

In the meantime, Madeline felt the air touch her skin. She was more than nervous now. Wanting to back away as she believed she would faint anytime soon, she turned her face away to say,

"I-I think we should stop here," she said hurriedly, her eyes moved back to look at him.

"Why?" asked Calhoun, his expression returning back to a calmer one as he stared at her.

What did he mean why?! Asked Madeline to herself, "I am not ready."

"For what?" he asked her, and he unbuttoned the next one that was on her dress, "To give your blood to me? Or to handle the overwhelming emotions that you feel right now? Is it too much?" he asked her, his voice deep with words that were gentle as he spoke to her.

Madeline opened her lips, but she was nervous. These emotions that she felt right now, it scared her, "I might pass out," she said, and Calhoun tilted his head to the side.

"Don't faint," he said to her, "I will need to bite you to wake you up," a small grin spread on his lips.

"Don't do that," Madeline quickly said in worry.

Calhoun didn't smell fear from her. Madeline was feeling aroused by his words and actions; he knew that. Calhoun knew where and what to speak, to have her emotions turn into a hurricane. His red eyes took in her facial expressions.

"Do not be scared, my sweet girl," Calhoun coaxed her. Letting go of his hand from the third button, he brought it up to her face, brushing the back of his fingers on her cheek, "What you feel is the most natural and purest form of emotion that most of us go through. I told you before. I won't do something that you won't like but do things that both of us will like. Allow me to make you feel things," and it would be just him who would touch her.

Madeline was the most precious thing he had ever laid his eyes on. The leash around his inner self had slipped out of his fingers and the thirst to have her blood, and the desire to have her was higher than ever before. Until he met her, Calhoun didn't know if it was possible to have such strong emotions towards someone, that one day he would come to possess those feelings for someone.

"I would love to have blood from your neck but," he said, pausing for a second as his hand left the side of her face to go back to play with those buttons that were free at the top, "I would like to have you the way I want to. You will be my wife, and I see no reason to stop from taking what belongs to me. We can get married here," he proposed, to Madeline's surprise.

Here?

"But there's no God in here," she said, looking at him, her words innocent.

"Good to know that you are willing to marry me right now," said Calhoun, and he stood up, making her stand along with him. This had Madeline to look at him startled. Was he planning to marry her right now?

She looked left and right, "Calhoun?" she asked as he stepped to the side of the piano. Calhoun smiled at her. What did that smile mean? Were they getting married here?

"Relax, sweet," said Calhoun, closing the gap between them, "So much anxiousness. Your heart will jump out like a fish."

"Can you blame me for that?" she questioned him, and Calhoun chuckled.

"No. Allow me to fix that." Saying this Calhoun pushed the bench that creaked, moving away from them. He picked her up to make her to sit on keys of the instrument, leading for the pipe organ to create a blaring sound, "What are you scared about?" this time his smile fell down from his lips.

Madeline wondered on Calhoun's question. She knew Calhoun would not do anything bad to her, and he had given his word that he wouldn't do anything she wasn't going to like. That this feeling she felt would go away.

"I don't know…" she whispered, breaking eye contact from his gaze to look at the shirt he wore. Two buttons of his shirt at the top had been left unbuttoned, letting his firm muscles on his chest peek through his shirt.

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She had accepted to marry Calhoun, but there was certain darkness about him that made her wary yet curious about him.

"You don't know," he hummed to her response. Pushing her legs apart to make space, he stepped forward. Calhoun brought his hand forward to hold Madeline's chin, "Then let us not worry about it until you figure out what it is."

Calhoun ran his thumb over her lips. Lips that were soft and supple, just enough to make him want to bite on it but he wasn't going to give her what she wanted. His ear picked the skip in her heartbeat as he continued to run his thumb on her lower bottom that parted itself, a sigh escaping her lips.

What Madeline said and felt were two different things. It seemed like she was still trying to resist what she was feeling. Calhoun wanted to free her thoughts, wanting her to reveal them in front of him. To no one else but him. It thrilled him to see her body reacting to a simple touch like this. With the room that was long and empty, he had locked the room because he didn't want anyone bothering his time with Madeline.

Calhoun didn't care if the castle or the land of Devon was on fire.

Seeing Madeline who stopped adjusting herself on the piano because of her hands that kept pressing on the keys to create a different music, Calhoun finally let go of her chin. Leaning forward, he kissed her neck. Calhoun unbuttoned the next set of buttons that were at the top.

Madeline gripped on the keys when his lips made contact with her neck. The kisses were placed carefully one after another. Her legs that were dangling on either side of Calhoun moved back by the feeling that was produced with every kiss of his.

"I want to treasure you," she heard Calhoun say to her. One of his hands made its way to the back of her hair, tugging it that had her head thrown back and her back arched.

Madeline flinched when he nipped her neck, enough to erupt pain without drawing out blood. In less than a few minutes, her breath turned shakey as if she had finished running. Her chest heaved for air, her breath shuddering as Calhoun's lips moved down to the hollow base of her neck.

Unable to sit still, Madeline's movements only caused the keys to bring out more sounds.

Calhoun didn't mind it. He wanted to have her in a better place where he could have her the way he wanted. With the buttons that were left open at the front, Calhoun's lips traced down from her neck to her chest that was partly accessible as he had not pushed the dress away, whilst he heard the sigh continue to escape from Madeline's sweet lips.