Vampire Prince II

The Vampire Prince's cheeks turned crimson. 

Reluctant, he emerged from his hiding spot. How he wished the ground would open and swallow him. He did many things he should be ashamed of in the past, but by far this was his worst nightmare.

As though his feet had minds of their own, it strode to the lake, to where his water nymph was waiting.

"I didn't intend to watch." He said.

She fought his unblinking gaze. "Why didn't you leave?" She asked.

Guilty as hell, he couldn't speak. 

Slowly, he crossed the distance between them. His body submerged into the lake, enveloping his cold skin with warmth.

"You could have just walked away if you wanted." She gently added just when he thought she would lash at him.

"I tried, but I couldn't." 

His honest confession startled her.

Cheeks turning tomato red, she opened her peach lips, but no words emerged from them.

With the distance gone between them, Chaos saw her eyes give birth to fear as it landed on the sharp sword in his hand. Her eyebrows shot to the sky while her jaw dropped to the bottom of the lake. Dread then filled her large phoenix eyes. "You have a weapon." 

The Princess retreated with a few quick steps without tearing her eyes off his sword.

He feared she would flee if he did something like lift a hand to touch her so he did not move.

"Have you— have you— come to kill me?" Tears threaten to spill on her rosy cheeks.

He dropped the sword from his hand, letting it sink to the bottom of the lake. 

"No, I'm not here to kill you."

She refused to believe him. Her expressive eyes told so. She he looked at him as though he was a predator buying time to kill his prey. Damn. He'd been with a dozen princesses before, but none of which taught him how to deal with a situation like this one.

Chaos sighed wearily, fiercely aware of her uncertainty and fear shining in her enchanting silvery-gray eyes. He longed to take her into his arms and pamper her like a child. Then assure her that everything's going to be fine, and he wasn't there to hurt her. The urge to protect the princess was so strong, that he himself was surprised he felt that way. 

He let his hand drop to his side and resisted the urge to comfort her with touch.

"You're lying." 

Her accusations dug a hole in his heart.

"I'm not here to hurt you, princess."

She eyed him warily, unable to believe a word he said. "Vampires are bad. They kill my kind."

"Not all, Princesses. There are rare good ones." 

"Are you one of the bad ones?

Her eyes never once left his face. 

"I've made a good deal of mistakes in my life, but I'm not that evil. I fought to protect the ones I love."

Silence lapsed between the two.

When she lifted her gaze toward him, fear was gone in them.

"Why are you here then?" She asked.

"I came here to see you." He answered, a faint smile edged their way on his lips.

Her elegant eyebrows knitted to a frown. 

"B-but why?"

"To see your beauty."

"I—I looked horrible! I looked like a monster!" She blurted in sheer panic, casting her eyes down to the lake to avoid his gaze.

"Who the hell told you that?" He inquired in a dangerously calm tone.

"The white witches! The servants! They told me I'm a monster."

Chaos clenched his jaw. He resisted the urge to haunt those witches and punish them for lying.

"Have you seen yourself in a mirror?" 

"No. Whatever that is, we don't have them here." The princess replied rather unwillingly, fearing he would make fun of her.

She pushed him away when he tried to comfort her, but he was stronger than her. He caught her slender body and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. 

He gently pushed aside a stray hair covering her temples. "It doesn't matter what they tell you because it's all a lie." He whispered against her ears, making her eyes pop open in disbelief. "You're beautiful — too beautiful to even express in words." He added. 

Admiration swelled his heart like a balloon.

Tears flooded her eyes, she bit her lower lip to suppress them. "I—I know you're just saying them to make me feel better but thank you. You're the first one to say such kind words to me, and I'm forever grateful for that."

She was so innocent that he'd almost burst laughing. How can she believe she's not beautiful? The word beautiful even understated her beauty. Thousands of words existed in their world, but none of which gave justice in describing her beauty. 

He pressed his mouth close firmly to a thin line. He didn't want to wound her feelings, he thought to himself, sobering up.

"You don't have to thank me."

"I have to."

"You don't really have to." Chaos responded.

"Why?"

"Because I should be the one doing that."

"Thank me for what?"

"For helping me find what I've been looking for my whole life."

"What are you looking for?" She asked. Her bright eyes filled with wonder. 

"My future." He whispered. He watched in delight as her large eyes widened even more. He realized she was prettier up close, despite the glimmer of confusion that marred her ethereal beauty. 

"Have you bumped your head?"

Chaos smile. "No, I did not."

"Then have you sniffed on a forbidden flower?" She asked, lowering her voice as she feared someone might have overheard.

His smile turned into a grin, brightening his handsome features. "Definitely not."

The mirth in his eyes died down almost immediately when his gaze dropped to her parted lips. It was replaced with passion as the urge to touch her lips strengthened. 

Her lips were red like roses in bloom, teasing him to brush his mouth across her.

Would they taste like berries? Or Perhaps sweeter than cherries?

Shaking his head, he crushed the desire to kiss her.

The innocent Princess will flee if he dared to kiss her. He couldn't let that happen.