The Devil's Cursed Witch

"Get back to your senses," he said in a voice so cold and detached, it was the exact opposite of his earlier actions. "You promised me you will remember what you felt, so I believe you will keep your word."  He then stepped back after taking her hands off of his shirt and fixing his own tailcoat.

Ember was flabbergasted. Once again, she felt overwhelmed and puzzled and lost. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what she did. It ended so abruptly, that she didn't even understand what just happened. Draven turned away and took several strides towards the other side of his study, giving her a brief moment of respite to get her bearings back and have a grasp of their situation.

'She should have understood that, right?' he thought, convinced that this 'hands-on' lesson would be effective in showing her what the third stage of the mating bond meant. However, because he had his back on her, he didn't see her facial expression.

Ember looked at him with a blank gaze and then looked down at herself.

'Once again, I am lost.'

Her dress was still a loose mess, and she remembered how his hands moved inside her dress and what she felt when he…She sighed in embarrassment. She then realized that her legs were still parted away and she felt discomfort between them. Not being able to understand, she closed her legs immediately and her hands fixed the wrinkles on her dress, more specifically her skirt.

All of a sudden, she felt an overwhelming sense of frustration. She buried her face in her palms and felt like crying.

'What was it? Why can I not control myself?'

She continued to sit on his desk, feeling all embarrassed while Draven returned to her. "Have this."

Strictly speaking, Draven was more affected by their body contact than her, but he knew when to stop and how to control himself, unlike her who was naively ignorant of her own body's desires. Compared to her who had no idea why she needed to resist the effect of the bond, Draven was clear of his goal; he's determined on not to let the effect of the bond rule over his rationality for that would only end up hurting his naive mate. He didn't want her to blame him in the future for taking advantage of the innocence of her youth.

Ember looked at him and he continued to speak in a civil tone, as if his words were things that didn't personally involve him, "Take it. You will feel better."

With her trembling hands, she accepted the glass of water he was offering her and had a few sips. Once she looked calmer, Draven who was standing a few steps away from her, spoke once more.

"Are you fine now?"

She could not find her voice to respond, so she simply nodded before lowering her head to stare at her hands that were busy gripping the glass of water. As he distanced himself enough for Ember not to smell his scent, her mind was slowly regaining its rationality, and a growing sense of shame and embarrassment was taking over her body.

"Now as I said before, other than resisting my scent, you have to do one more thing for me," he spoke in an unnervingly calm manner, which showed clear contrast to her blushing face. "Do you remember?"

She nodded weakly as her brain was still trying to process what happened between her and Draven.

"Look at me," he said with a commanding tone that allowed no refusal.

Ember didn't want to, but in the end, she had to slowly raise her head and look at his emotionless self. The mixture of frustration and embarrassment welling inside her found the sight angering.

'Why does he look unaffected?' she wanted to complain. 'What did he do to me? What is this feeling? What—'

"You have to find the answers to the question that I would ask you now," he continued to speak, unaware of the barrage of concerns causing chaos in her mind. Hesitation could be seen in her eyes.

"I-I will try, Your Majesty," she spoke in response despite not knowing what he would ask and if she would be able to find the answers to them.

"When I was touching your body, which place did you like it the most and where did you want me to keep touching you? In addition, you must tell me why" he said without any hesitation. His manly voice was no longer emotionless, but firm and authoritative as if nothing mattered to him more than getting this task done by her.

"I…" she paused as her mind spun, trying to recall everything that happened. Unknown to her, her small face that was blushing a beautiful shade of pink now turned to a very bright crimson colour as memories flitted through her mind

Draven understood her situation. "We are not in a hurry. You can go back to your chamber to think carefully and then answer me when you are more confident. If you find the answer to the 'Where' and 'Why', then we will consummate the bond. I will also say what you want to hear from me."

Ember looked at him, feeling puzzled, as once again she could not understand what was the relation between him biting her and fulfilling the bond and him asking her all these strange questions.

"You can go now," he instructed with finality. Ember curled her hands into fists as her frustration grew within her heart. Why was it that the King looked normal as if nothing could affect him while she was affected to her core? She didn't understand why, but she felt wronged.

When she stepped down from his large desk, she felt her legs giving up but then controlled herself well.

She hurried to bow to him so she could leave his presence, but even before she could take a step towards the door, she heard him drop a command.

"Stop!"

Ember tried to calm herself, as if to show him that she too could show she was unaffected, but when she looked at him with a deliberate puzzled expression, the human girl found the King coming towards her. She took a step back but was stopped by the desk behind her and it scared her.

'What does he want now?!'

The next moment, she got her answer. Draven came closer to her and then as if he wanted to embrace her, his hands moved to wrap around her body…but she was mistaken. He wasn't there to hug her. He simply tied the lace belt of her dress on her back that he had loosened earlier.

Ember held her breath to not smell his scent, not wanting to lose her mind once again. She had enough of that embarrassment, and by now, she understood his scent was the culprit all those times.

As he fixed the knot of her lace belt at the back of her dress, she heard him say in a low voice, "It's not only you who felt strange. I was the same. I just know how to control myself. Don't feel embarrassed and think about what I have asked you."

His voice sounded as if he was trying to be gentle, and she felt like he was coaxing her. She nodded lightly to what he said and found him moving away from her.  He took a look at her dress to see if it was fine now.

Ember finally breathed and could not wait to go away, no, run away, from his study. She had a lot on her mind and needed to think about it without his presence clouding her mind.

The confused human bowed to the red-eyed man in a hurry and dashed out of his study as fast as she could.

Once his little mate left his study, the strong resolve Draven maintained till now broke the very next second. His seemingly emotionless face showed frustration that mirrored hers. He moved his hand through his hair as he exhaled deeply through his mouth to release the pent-up emotions within him. Though Ember had left, her true scent had already filled his entire study and that delicious fragrance was still affecting him the same.

It was good that she left as soon as she could. He had no patience left in him to continue seeing her in front of him after being intimate and not doing anything more.

----

Ember almost tripped as she hurried back to her chamber, her steps easily missing a few steps of the grand staircase leading to the top floor of her part of the palace. However, she didn't realize any of these with her mind chaotic.

There was only a sense of horror and embarrassment on her face.

Though she didn't understand why things happened the way they did, her mind was internally screaming in shame the more she recalled how she reacted. By extension, she didn't want to recall what the King had asked. Questions she should answer? Should she think about those?

All she wanted to do now was to find a place away from everyone and hide herself there.

When she reached the top floor, the southwest wing, her servants Reya and Clio saw her running along the hallway in a great hurry as if something was trying to chase her down.

"Miss Ember…?"

"I want to be alone!"

Before they could respond, she opened the door on her own and closed it immediately, leaving the two servants shocked, wondering what had happened to their master.