20 A Proper Kiss

After a few moments, Mineah was interrupted when Alexa casually addressed her. "You're such a bookworm, Mineah."

Mineah let out a chuckle as she closed the second book that she just finished.

"If you don't mind me asking. How old are you by now Aunt Alexa?" she couldn't help but ask as she stared deep into Alexa's blue eyes. She was fascinated by how anyone with exordium blood could retain the original color of their eyes.

Now that they were on speaking terms, she was curious to find out about the woman in front of her, especially since there was no mention of the specific ages of the vampires in the book she just finished. But then she could tell that an Exordium like her had been roaming around for more than a millennium at most.

[Heavens! Of all the questions, why my age?! I hate being reminded of how old I am! Being a thousand-year old vampire… 1,010 right? Or 1,009? Ah, I can't believe I'm this old…]

Mineah fought the urge to laugh upon reading Alexa's thoughts. It would seem that some things never change even throughout the ages and between different races.

"Except for my age, ask me any question, and I will gladly answer them." Alexa snorted.

"Alright then, Aunt Alexa. How about Nikolai instead?" she took up the offer with a smile. "How old is he?"

"Promise me that you won't tell him that I told you about it first. You see, while other vampires may be proud of how long they've been among the living…. Nikolai and I are quite different," Alexa explained.

"We hate it whenever we are asked about our age. You see, whenever he's asked about his age, he will always say thirty-one. He stuck himself to that number for some reason."

"I promise," Mineah replied as the corners of her lips perked up. "Now, how old is he really?"

Alexa held a pause before she replied. "Well, Nikolai should be a hundred and fifty years old by now. Again, he will kill me if he ever finds out that I told you his age," she stressed out. "Actually, isn't he old enough to be your great-grandfather?"

Mineah was twenty years old now so that last statement of Alexa did make sense to her kind.

A brief second of silence lingered before they both burst into laughter. There was just something about the fact that was amusing to both women.

They were too busy laughing in fact, that both of them didn't notice that Nikolai had suddenly appeared in their carriage.

"Did I miss something?" he casually asked. "You two seem to be having an enjoyable conversation together."

As if sensing the mood in the room, Alexa coughed and then mumbled, "Since you're back, I think I should take my leave…"

"Thank you for the assistance, Aunty," Mineah hummed with a smile which was then followed by an exchange of curt nods with the Exordium before Alexa vanished. Her eyes on the closed door of their carriage, she hummed, "It must be nice to vanish and appear like that into thin air."

"Not all vampires have those abilities, Mine," Nikolai remarked. "And besides, it comes at a cost, it's not like our energy isn't being drained whenever we use such powers."

He then added, "Looks like you and Aunt Alexa are getting along well. That's good. You will need allies inside Valcrez."

"You all are giving me too much of an upper hand for this," she snorted. "Is becoming your Queen really that hard?"

Instead of answering immediately, Nikolai leaned forward, his hand moving to hold her chin so that her gaze would focus on him. "Nothing is easy in this world, Mine," he plainly answered.

Mineah held her breath. There it was again, the turning in her stomach whenever he stared deep into her eyes.

"What?" she murmured, a shiver suddenly running through her spine.

"You… Strip your clothes before me."

Her body froze, her face paling at the command. He was compelling her. How could he compel her to do that when he promised her that he wouldn't do it again?!

For a brief second, Mineah didn't move. Then a corner of his mouth quirked upward into a half smile as he whispered, "You sly little swan…"

Mineah's eyes widened, and immediately realizing what had just happened she tried to pull back from him, but he continued to hold her chin.

"So hypnosis and compulsion don't work on you," Nikolai noted with a raised brow. "How long did you intend to deceive me?"

Mineah felt a large lump in her throat. "How…" she muttered, more to herself than to him.

"You are demanding love… How about we start building our trust in each other first, my dear wife?" he uttered, his diction heavily lilted as he addressed her. "Don't you think that's more important?"

Mineah wanted to look away from him, but he was still holding her by the chin, forcing her gaze to remain.

"I… I mean, what did you expect? We only met yesterday," she reasoned after a breath.

"A lot of things have happened, and I feel it's still rather too early for me to tell you about confidential matters such as this. Also, I just thought it would be advantageous for me if no one knew about this skill of mine. How did you find out?"

"Let's just say I'm powerful enough to find out," Nikolai simply answered.

Mineah unknowingly pressed her lips. She had a feeling that he was hiding something.

She frowned as she scoffed, "Isn't it better that you just play along?"

"Why would I? I want you to know that I know. And with that, you can no longer defend yourself by telling me I hypnotized or compelled you into submission…" Nikolai coaxed.

This time he was now smiling at her as his hand softly dragged its way to her nape, pulling her closer to him.

"You…" she weakly murmured, her breath almost touching his lips.

"I'm glad that no other vampire can hypnotize or compel you, Mine," he whispered as his eyes lingered on her lips.

"That's such a relief. Ah, we haven't even had a proper kiss during our wedding ceremony. It's such a shame…" Nikolai murmured, his warm and refreshing breath kissing her now parted lips.

He hummed to her seductively, his warm and refreshing breath kissing her now parted lips as she stared dumbfounded.

She was speechless, not to mention how her heart fluttered quickly at his actions. Every rational thought left her mind for a moment as she unknowingly closed her eyes.

And just as Mineah expected, the world suddenly stopped the moment she felt Nikolai's soft lips brush softly against hers.