Must I Be Your Bride? - Chapter Twenty Two

If you wanted like... huge detail on everything... sorry! I just don't write stuff like that. But I did try my best with this chapter so hope you enjoy!

And thank you for the nice comments about my friend's mom. It means a lot.

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The wave sounds and my reverie of floating woke me up. My hands spread across the mattress and pull themselves from under my pillow. I reach before me, expecting to feel his soft warm skin under my fingers, but all I felt was the thin silk blanket.

With a sleepy sigh, I open my eyes. The room was the lightest blue, making it clear that the sun was already up. When I don't see William by my sides, I realize why my hands couldn't find him. I sit up in alarm, clutching the blanket over my bare-skin.

I hear a door open and close, and seconds later, William walks in. He gives me the warmest smile before leaning his hands on each side of me and leaning in for a kiss. His forehead stays against mine for a long moment, and it only takes his touch on my shoulder for me to feel an amazing giddy feeling, as I remembered last night - his hands all over me, my hands all over him, connecting closer to him a whole lot more than I could have ever hoped for.

My hold on the blanket loosens and I wrap my arms around his neck, throwing myself a little too hard into the kiss. I feel him smile, and he plays along, but only for a few seconds. He takes a hold of the silk and wraps it around me until I was fully hidden. He sighs an inch away from my face.

"We're here," he says.

I don't move. I don't want to. "Where?"

"At our destination."

"Can't it wait?"

He chuckles softly, giving me another brush with his lips.

I sit up, not backing away from him, and kiss him again. Of course, he has to kindly refuse.

"I don't want to stop," he admits.

"Then don't." I lean in again but he gently places his hands on my shoulders to keep me down.

"I already made reservations."

"You're a prince, William."

"Not here."

When he says that I have no choice but to open my eyes. I reluctantly back away and look into those mesmerizing blues.

"Where exactly is 'here'?" I ask hesitantly.

His smile slowly fades and he gets to his feet. He walks over to a large oval mirror that had a gilt frame. That mirror wasn't there yesterday.

I get to my feet, keeping myself covered, and walk over to William. He turns halfway towards me, but he only looks at me from the corner of his eye.

"What is it?" I demand.

One glance into the mirror makes me stop still. Any excitement I had, any exhilaration, was gasped out of me. I clutch the silk around me as I take steps toward the mirror, tears stinging my eyes. My speech is momentarily muted, that I can't even find the right words to say to William.

I was human.

My hair - back to its short length - and my dark eyes; they didn't glimmer like they did with a vampire appearance. And my perfect bright skin was back to being slightly tanned without having a slight resemblance to the healthy vampire glow I was just starting to love.

I immediately think last night over, trying to remember one moment I felt pain, or a change. Well, of course I did feel something, but the pleasure was abundantly higher for me to even take a notice.

My eyes find a way to avert from my reflection and look over to William; he did not move. He was waiting for me to speak, but I didn't know what to say to make him understand how I felt.

I look away flustered, and take a sharp turn so that my back was facing the mirror; and William. Not even pretending that I hadn't seen what I just saw helped with my disappointment and confusion.

Without a clear mind, I walked over to the door that I only guessed led to a bathroom. Once I opened it, I realized I was right. But one gush of wind later, William has his hand on my quivering one.

"Talk to me, Serene," he says.

I let out a sound of disbelief. "I don't know what to say," I croak.

I turn to look at him, but his melancholy bluish eyes gave me no choice but to look away again. "How did you do it?" I force myself to say.

"You were a fledgling. If you don't drink any human blood by the first full moon, which was yesterday, then you turn back into a human," he replies somberly.

I carefully pull away from him to take steps into the bathroom until I can see myself in its mirror. "I was supposed to stay a vampire, remember?"

He walks behind me, and I meet his gaze in the mirror.

"No," he says, "That was never my intention."

I turn around to meet him face to face in frustration. "William," I take a step closer to him, "I thought we settled this. We're married now. We can't keep defying the sovereign's laws without suffering any heart-breaking consequences." I take in a deep breath, my eyes stinging once again. "Change me back, William."

He cups my chin and gives me a slow kiss. "No," he whispers.

I just look at him in disbelief for a moment before I back away and head back into the room. I fall onto the bed, finally having one tear slip.

"What's the plan then?" I ask, defeated.

All I've been trying to do from the moment I fell in love with William was tried to comply him to turn me into a vampire, and if I haven't been able to succeed by now, then there's no convincing him.

I feel him take a seat beside me. "You go back to your family."

"Stop it," I snap weakly.

"They're only a plane ticket away." He sounded as weak as I felt.

"Why are you doing this to me?" I look at him. "I already chose to be with you. Why must you keep testing me? I'm not going to change my mind; not even if my family is only a plane ticket away."

"You shouldn't have ever left them."

"I'm not going," I say sharply, making sure he got the point.

"Will you hear me out?" He takes one of my hands in his. "I'll be back, I promise. This is only temporary. I just want you to finish what your human life started."

"I need you now. I can't just go back and act as if nothing happened. And what about the sovereign? He'll come looking for me, and he'll... he might hurt you. I'm not risking anything."

William hesitated. "He's going to be taken care of."

My eyes widened. "No," I say. "I'm not letting you do anything reckless."

"It's not reckless, Serene. He will be taken care of, I will rule my kingdom as you finish your high school, and when college comes around I'll give you a choice on whether to rule with me or keep going."

"But that's more than a year away," I say, finding it very hard to keep myself together.

"It's not like you don't have time to catch up to my age," he says, forcing a smile. I don't smile back.

"Last night..." I hesitate. Didn't it mean anything? Wouldn't that have changed his mind?

"Last night, was the best night of my existence. And you have no idea how the detailed memories keep haunting me to this moment." He takes in a deep breath and looks away. "But you need to understand that I'm only putting things on hold here. I'm begging you to go back to your family, to assure them that you're alright, and when you're ready, we'll be able to live without those past recollections haunting you."

As much as it pained me to think about the contingencies that would come without William, I couldn't help but think what my parents would suggest if they were present. They would beg me to do this; to see me again. William was only giving me a chance to do something I never had the courage to ask.

I turn to him, and when I meet his gaze, I get to my knees and wrap my arms around his neck, not giving a care that the silk was making its way back onto the mattress.

"A year is so long," I whisper, leaning in to kiss him. His lips are rough at first - hesitant - but soon he's kissing me the same exact way he kissed me last night; holding me the same exact way he held me. He carefully sets me down, and I'm soon fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

Knocks. That's what had to ruin such an amazing, heart-racing, moment. I was too distracted to even care, but William stopped. His eyes narrowed as he gave me one more kiss, and then he got to his feet, tidying up his shirt as he walked out the door.

I hear him have a conversation with some man but I can't discern their words or topic. When I hear the door closes, William walks in and leans against the wall near the doorway.

"We need to leave," he says. I could just feel the pain in his voice.

I sit there frozen for a moment, my heart slowly shattering itself into pieces. A sniff escapes from me as I nod.

"Okay," I say. I sounded as hurtful as he did.