Chapter 34:

I ran down the corridor to the stairs trying to get away from my pursuer. My heart was rising and I felt a drop of sweat running down the side of my temple. My heart rising to the drums of my feet, I snack a peek behind me. My hair whipping behind me and into my face. Turning the corner, I relaxed with the signs of no one. I softly lean against the wall, to catch my breath.

I listened for any signs of footsteps that may be moving my way. Hearing nothing, I smiled to myself, happy with my victory of escaping. Taking a last deep breath of oxygen, I moved further down the hall. I tried to keep my sounds to a minimum, moving slowly on the tips of my toes. I knew it was a matter of seconds before he found me, but I was not going down with a fight.

I bit my lip with a smile as a peeked up the stairs to the third floor, it was all clear. Running up them, I took a quick turn to the wing where I stayed. My dress flowed behind me as I clutched the pen in my hand tightly. Giggling to myself of the thought that my little attempt worked.

Dmitry had to do a few papers apparently and hence was focussed on his task and absent the whole morning. Being bored out of my mind, I came up with a little plan to distract him and selfishly gain his attention. I went to his study and sat on the couch, reading a book for a few minutes before moving to him. He was scribbling hard on the papers with a sold black pen that looked expensive. The next moment I just grabbed the pen and darted out of the study.

As childish as it was, I was enjoying the chance. We have been running around the castle for almost an hour with me using all the secret entrance ways I have learned. It was fun feeling the adrenaline pumping with excitement.

Hearing footsteps near me, I ducked to another hallway and ran as fast I could. Turning a few corners, the sound disappeared and I was able to take another breather. Squishing my lips together not to laugh at my antics, I ticked my body up and down with nerves. Hearing and seeing nothing, I moved on, moving passed the many bedrooms on the floor. It was getting eerily quieter, as I walked further down the hallway.

With the thoughts of him giving up and went to do his work again, irritated me. Softly giving out a sign, I felt hands grab me with force, the one hand placed over my mouth. My mouth tried to leave a scream, but it was only muffled by the huge hand over it. The person spun me around until my back was roughly pushed up against the wall with the person pushed up against me.

"If you wanted my attention so much, (my little queen), then all you had to do was ask." Dmitry's husky voice breathed into my ear, making me shiver in delight. My breathing quickened as I felt the tiny sparks erupt under his touch, his scent engulfing me while his body pushed into me.

Dmitry softly kissed my neck, just below my ear. Peppering them downwards with feverish heat to follow, I was brought to absolute bliss. His hand moved away from my mouth as he kissed the junction of my neck to collar bone which made me give out a soft moan. Both our bodies stiffened with the sudden noise, my embarrassment took over and I prayed or the earth to swallow me whole. Wanting to get out of the situation, I tried to escape Dmitry's deadly grip but failed miserably. He only pushed me harder into the wall with his body, his eyes glazed over with lust as he stared down at me. My lip quiver slightly at the feeling of his body against mine, we were two opposite poles. The magnetic attraction to much to move away from each other.

Dmitry's lips met mine in an all blaze and furry and I swore that the temperature of the room rose to boiling point. Our lips moved in-sync, his tongue lightly pressed against my bottom lip. I have heard of men doing that, Frigg told me it was done when men wanted to French kiss. Scared of that, I was unsure of what to do, so I just continued to kiss him. No way was I stopping, loving the feel of his lips too much. He did it again and before I knew it his hands cupped my bottom before pushing them up, lifting me up so I was encircling my legs around his middle. Dmitry rubbed his hands up my back, they were hard and rough against my soft skin, but they touched with so much gentleness. Little fires erupted everywhere on my skin, shamelessly even at a place a never thought it would. A fire burned its way down to my heated core, making me quiver in delight and rubbing the fire up against him. The small action caused more friction than what was anticipated and a loud moan left my lips while we kissed. With my lips parted to let out the noise, Dmitry delved into my mouth with his tongue.

The new experience was amazing as the kisses became hotter and more urgent for release. His tongue messaged mine, him tasting like the peppermint from what I assumed was his toothpaste. His fingers pushed into my thigh slowly with each kiss while his other hand was cupping the back of my neck, the fingers there, stroking the exposed skin. My mind was a mess, all I could sense was his touches, his warm breath against my cold skin and his lips molding with mine.

"I am all for this, but know if you want to do it in public, some might just join in. I would not mind at all actually, I do wonder what the both of you taste like." A smug voice spoke, breaking the heavy scene between me and Dmitry. I hardly heard the voice of the man, as I was so immersed with Dmitry.

"Otvali, Leviathan! (fuck off, Leviathan.)" Dmitry spoke and broke the connection of our lips. When his lips were a few centimetres away, I was finally able to clear the lustrous fog that has taken over me, coming to my sanity.

"What? I was just saying, I appreciate the show." Leviathan bellowed out loud, as I gazed up to him, I saw his gaze directly on me. "Little goddess, you are quite beautiful. Any man would like to be in Dmitry's place right now." Quickly realising in what position I and Dmitry were in, caused me to unwrap my legs from around Dmitry and slide them down to the floor. Dmitry, however, kept his grip steady on me, thankfully, as my legs felt like jello, ready to give in at any moment.

"Hi, don't bite my head off, Wolfy King." Leviathan commented when Dmitry gave a loud, possessive growl to his previous statement. Laughing to myself as I realised that Leviathan also called them wolfies, both their heads snapped to mine.

"He also says wolfy like me," I explained, which made Leviathan laugh again while Dmitry gave me a stoic look.

"Yep, they are just cute little wolfies, aren't they?" Leviathan mocked further, Dmitry's jaw ticking shut.

"Don't incurious her, we are proud beast." Dmitry comment, his voice thick with annoyance. We had already discussed this, I kept revering to them as wolfies as they were not wolves, but he insisted that I called them something else. It was a blow to their or more his ego, even if he does not admit it.

"Yeah yeah, more like dogs that'll follow their master anywhere." Leviathan childishly hit Dmitry again, trying to get another agitated growl from Dmitry. He reminded me of those guys that like to cause drama, just for the fun of it. They just wanted to stir the pot for their own amusement. "Yours is standing behind you, heh?"

"Don't you have someone else to annoy or better yet, 'entertain'?" Dmitry ignored his latter comment and fired back his own remark, this shut Leviathan's mouth as his mouth clicked shut and his eyes grew darker. It seemed that Dmitry meant something with 'entertainment', which set Leviathan off into a mood.

"No, now little goddess, why don't you give the frustrated, Wolfy King, his pen back and me and you go have some fun?" Forgetting that I was still holding the pen in my hand, I gently placed it back into Dmitry's pants pocket.

"Only, Hope, may call me that." Dmitry puffed out, making my heart swoon, "And no funny business. If he tries anything, come straight to me, okay." Dmitry warned Leviathan and me, he took my hands into his and kissed them both.

"I am not going to flirt with her, well not a lot." Leviathan raised his eyebrow in deviance, once again back to his goofiness. "Kidding?" he questioned himself, not believing his own statement that was meant to ease the tense Dmitry that glared at him deadly.

"I will meet you for dinner, then we can have me without any 'distractions'." Dmitry kissed the top of my head, my cheeks flaming up to the hidden innuendo.

"Okay, so where to first, mmh?" Leviathan asked as Dmitry disappeared around the corner.

"Want some cookies, I can do with a snack?" I questioned as I remembered the fresh choc-chip cookies from this morning.

"I am all in for that." He smiled at me.

"So you and Dmitry are getting along real good, last time I saw you too was..." he stopped himself when he sensed my sudden mood change. The incident was still a sore subject for both me and Dmitry, as he would constantly apologise at any sudden moment. I knew it was still bothering him, the fact that he doubted me, but I have forgiven him a long time ago. I guessed that I was unable to ever be mad at him for long, it drained me. "Sorry."

"No mind, it happened and it is over now. We are stronger together because of it."

"You are really something you know that?"

"Meaning?"

"Well, you are so innocent and forgiving. You seem so pure and perfect, I am quite jealous of Dmitry for having someone like you." He commented sadly.

"Thank you." I blushed, I have always been called innocent, but usually on the naive side. I was pretty naive if I thought about it. "But don't you have a mate?"

"Yes, actually I do, but let's keep it between us okay?" he said, "Me and my... well yeah we don't get along very well." His face was filled with sadness and regret.

"I am so sorry, I bet she'll come around soon." I rubbed his back in comfort, it clearly bothers him.

"Oh no, you don't know her. She is a spitfire and," he paused, thinking of the right words to say, "Hard to catch."

"I think you'd be able to woo her, you seem like a very flirtatious guy and super nice, you helped me and Dmitry." He snorted at my comment.

"Oh, how naive you are my little goddess. Yes, I am very... sensual, but I am not a good guy Hope. Soon you will learn who the good ones are and who the bad ones are. You see, you don't survive in this world by playing to the rules. One day you'll learn who to trust and who not too," his words almost shut me up, shaking me to the core.

"You will learn with time, you are too trustworthy, but you'll learn." His message was cryptic and he still left me unanswered. "Let's change the topic huh? This is getting a bit mellow dramatic don't you think?" Half smiling up to him, we reached the dining hall were fresh cookies were placed on the table.

"Okay, so tell me more about you, who is Leviathan?" I laughed, grabbing a cookie, the sweet goodness melting in my mouth.

"Where to start, I am the most interesting man on this planet Earth. Oh, the things I have done and seen." He bragged with pride, the old cocky Leviathan back from the dead.

"How long have you and Dmitry known each other?" we sat at the dining table, the room empty of anyone, which gave us some privacy.

"For long, damn I cannot even remember how long. We met when he dated my sis... sister." He nervously gazed my way like he said something wrong. I'd lie if I said that did not bother me, it bothered me greatly. The thoughts of Dmitry with someone else made my stomach turn.

"Oh, well how old are you?" I skipped passed his comment of his sister and Dmitry, knowing that if I asked it would upset me more.

"I look twenty-eight, but I am centuries old." Chocking on my cookie, I looked up at him weirdly, wondering to myself if he was pulling my leg. "I am not lying, I have roamed Earth since the beginning." My eyes grew even larger at my new found information, while my mouth falls and opened without any sound.

"There are many things you don't know about me, little goddess." He laughed at my stunned state, I probably looked like a broken record.

"So you are a very old warlock."

Laughing again at my comment, he corrected me, "No, I am not a warlock, but yes, I can do magic and spells. You see I am the ruler of all, the what you call, witches." he smiled mischievously at me, winking for extra effect.

"So you are also a king." My whole life I only knew the royal family from Britain, not even bothering to listen to all the gossip about them. In my eighteen years of life, I would have never thought that I'd meet a royal of any sort, yet there I was, knowing two in a matter of months.

"Of sorts, yes"

"Okay, this place is getting weirder by the day. Withes, wolves, what else?" I laughed to myself, don't get me wrong I knew that witches exist, Dalia explained that to me, but what was next? Fairies?

"Well, what you might call vampires, exist too and they too have a king, but we call them Bloodbounds." He clarified to me.

"Vampires, like sucking blood and sharp teeth Dracula vampires?"

"Yes, but Dracula is long dead, we sorted him out. We as the Kings, make sure humans are protected too, you know. I and Dmitry have worked together for a long time on peace between all creatures, including humans." My thoughts traveled over what he said. He and Dmitry worked on peace, but there was no record of any disturbances with humans and the mystics, none of which I knew.

"You and Dmitry?" I asked, they could have hardly been working long together as he claimed.

"Yeah, hell it was his idea since vampires started to appear, I wanted to kill them all." Leviathan shrugged as if it was nothing, but the fact that he thought indifferent about murdering a species was not my problem at the moment. I was having a mental breakdown due to the fact that he said Dmitry was there when vampires started to exist.

"Seems like you have been long friends?" I fished more, wanting to get to the bottom of what he was implying.

"Yip, centuries of time, makes for some strong bonds and collecting of debts." He shrugged, eating gracefully on his cookie.

"So Dmitry is also old like you?"

"Yeah?" he looked worried at me, tilting his head to the side while gazing questionably at me. "He hasn't told you, has he?" his eyebrows lifted up as he spoke, something I noticed he did when he was uncertain about something.

"His age? No." His eyes grew as he took in a deep breath.

"Well shit, he is going to wring my neck. You should probably ask him these questions on your own.... then me giving you them. He has at least explained the Red Night, right?" I knew the Red Night was a celebration, but I wasn't paying much attention to it, rather I spent all my time painting or with Dmitry. The Red Night never came up, I just remember briefly what Olive has told me about it, a celebration of mates, where on the last night they mourn to their Moon Goddess. "Hope, this is a very important celebration! He should have explained this to you by now."

"He hasn't talked much about his history, we usuallytalk about werewolves or me or fluffs." Shaking my head to a no, Leviathan gaveme pity. What was Dmitry keeping from me?