Fifty-Nine

“I wish I had done that for real. The bastard deserved not only that but also ended up with his ass on a stake!” His voice boomed in the room menacingly. Then he saw me getting up. “Sorry about that, Liz! Are you hurt?” Before I answered, he scooped me up, taking us back to the couch.
“I’m fine.” I was laughing out loud. My hands moved to his face and neck on their own accord, touching him. “That was the reason I wanted you to watch to the end, but I didn’t think you would get so carried away.”
“He wanted my head on a stick,” he said, outraged.
“Well, some books say it happened.”
“I don’t see how, I’m here, don’t I? Probably it was someone who resembled me.” He shut his eyes and rested his head back, as if so much excitement tired him. “You know Liz, the only thing truthful in this movie was the talk to the beast.” His eyes were still shut.
“Tell me. What about it?” Being in his lap was so cozy, and the feel of home didn’t pass unnoticed by me.
“I knew what I was doing when I inflicted my death sentences onto my enemies, a lot of innocent lives were lost in the middle, and he was right when he said with the cost of one life, I had saved ten more.” He rephrased the character and sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. “I know, I got damned because of it, but I didn’t know another way back then. Mehmed and his father were so vicious in their manners, my only way to secure my land was to become a monster worse than both of them.”
All the decisions he had to make took a great toll on him. Otherwise, why would I always find him alone and distressed in the chapel’s darkness? Yes, more and more of Alizandra’s memories were assaulting me, merging our minds. We were becoming one and believe me; it was as scary as hell.
“There are lots of blank spots in your history and legends that surround your name these days. Your story fascinates people, but there is a lot of mixed stuff out there, and you have to prepare yourself for that.” I sighed, closing my eyes to open again to his staring ones. “Listen to me, Vlad. It doesn’t matter what you think, you were a tyrant.” When he tried to cut me off, I put my index finger on his lips. “You dispatched people to the next life in unspeakable ways, you terrorized everyone who dared to cross your path and you were horrible at negotiating.”
“No, I wasn’t. My sword used to be my sole negotiator. I didn’t need more than that.” Raking his fingers through his hair, he crossed his arms above his chest, glaring at me.
“Look, what I want to say is I understand you had to work with whatever means you’ve got, but even that was not enough of an excuse for all the shit you did. So stop dwelling on it, it happened six hundred years ago, it’s a done deal. And every time you see something you don’t agree with, you don’t need to explain yourself, no one was in your shoes to judge you.” His silence drove me crazy, and I didn’t have a clue what was going on in his head, but we had to talk. “Say something…” He took a deep, pained breath, closing his eyes and turning away from me.
He was fighting his inner demons at that moment. The tension expanded in the room, and by his heavy breathing and strained muscles, he was furious. He closed himself off from me, and that hurt. I moved, sitting astride him, and he didn’t even flinch. He had never seen himself as a tyrant, even though he had been a good one in his intentions, but voicing it made it real.
“I see what you mean, but everything is too overwhelming. Too much information at once, and I don’t understand why people got obsessed with my story. There were so many others as ruthless as myself throughout history. Why me? It’s unnerving! It’s not easy for you to wake up one day with your name everywhere and people trying to figure out what was going on in your mind. Nothing complicated was going on in my mind. I was a warrior, and I fought. End of speech.” The hiss echoed in the room. He was very much bothered by his infamous self.
“Counting on the fact you weren’t supposed to be alive, I get you. I believe people got this fixation for you, because of the book I told you about. Look, don’t think about it anymore. We’ll be stuck here for quite a few days.” I sneaked my hands under his t-shirt, caressing his muscles and scratching my nails on his warm skin. His eyes widened and his pupils turned into two inky stones, and golden flames burnt deep in those black orbs. When goosebumps crawled all over his skin, and a possessive look showed on his face, I was getting somewhere. “You can be my tyrant ruler,” I said in a whisper, my eyes fixed on his lips as I closed the distance between us.
“I thought I was your bear…” He gave me the evil eye.
I moved closer to his ear. “Sometimes I need a tyrant bear to put me in my place.” That did the trick.
He laced his fingers in my hair and seared his lips on mine, hungry and intense. My skin came to life hot and burning, flames licking along my whole body as the need for him curled between my inner thighs, strong and painful.
“You know if you make a deal with the devil you end up in hell, right?” he asked, still in a brutal and possessive kiss, sending me into a path of no coming back.
“Heaven is boring, anyway…” The room flooded with warmth. Under my palms, his heart drummed, and it was great knowing it beat for me. I ground myself on him, on the hard bulge already pulsing beneath my core. I had him at my mercy. “Grizzly...”
“You don’t know what you’re asking, Liz! I will be with you from sunup to sundown, I will be the air you breathe, the water you drink. I’ll be in your nightmares and dreams, taking over your heart and mind, and I will trap your soul forever in mine. In every decision you make I will be there, and yes, I will rule over you, dragă. Are you sure about that?” He was serious. Both of us were gasping for air, and his eyes had turned molten gold as his demon stared at me, waiting for my answer.
“Yes, I know, and as crazy as it can be, I’m ok with it, Vlad, but on one condition…” His body tensed and vibrated underneath mine, as he gripped me harder to him.
“I don’t negotiate, remember?” He sneered, baring his teeth at me. I was aware of what I was doing and who I was messing with, but I needed to convince this man to let me go ahead with my plans.
“Please, hear me out. Give me a chance to at least share with you my plan. It’s the only thing I’m asking of you.” He didn’t need to know that, independent of his answer, I would carry out my plans.
“Ok, let’s hear it, but no promises,” he spat after minutes of agonizing silence. He was a master of silence, and it was getting on my nerves!
“After a lot of thinking, yes, the agency is in the past.” I delivered the news, holding his gaze to mine, and his only reaction was to tilt his head to the side and observe my semblance like a hawk. “At one point I had to be there to find out what I needed. After all these years of studying, learning, and training, I realised I don’t have to be with them to do what I have to do, since they want my ass.” His scrutiny was heavy on me, trying to pick up something fishy in my sudden change of mind. He had a sharp, cunning mind, and I tried my best not to give myself up. It didn’t matter the outcome.
“But…”
“I have the means to keep my search and find those who wronged me and deliver my justice to them.”
“NO!” It was his only sure answer. His left eyes twitched as he stared at me. Gosh, he was difficult.
“I didn’t finish, Vlad!
“My answer to this nonsense is NO!”
“You’ll like my proposal, so stop being an asshole, and listen to me!” I was about to snap at him. His grip on my hair got stronger to the point of tipping my head up and my neck being exposed to him. His warm breath bathed my throat as he scraped his pointy teeth on my skin, sending little darts of fire through my veins.
“Such a disrespectful woman, I will have to teach you manners.” He nibbled once, twice, kissed, and nipped. He knew what he was doing to me, the same way as I knew what I was doing to him.
“Vlad…” an anguished moan escaped my lips. “I want you to do this with me, and I promise, I’ll follow your lead, no questions asked. Please, give me this chance, I’m not asking much.”
“I will think about it, dragă.” It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but at least it was something more than a no. I felt accomplished for now, so I won’t push my luck.
“Thank you, it means a lot to me.” I lost all my lines of thinking with his scorching mouth on my throat, making my lady’s part throb for him. “Please… unleash your demon…” I moaned in his ear. “Let him out to play…”
“As you wish, my fair lady!” He stood up in one jump with me all tangled in him, taking us straight to our bed.