The Devil's Cursed Witch

Draven tried to slow the pace, but simply could not as the anger inside him didn't allow him to. He wanted to dominate her, to brand her as his, to make sure this kiss would erase all traces and possibility of her remembering any other lips than his.

His one arm circled around her delicate waist, his hand on the small of her back to press her against him, and his other hand gripped her hair at the back of her head, causing her to whimper in pain, but that sound was buried in that rough and urgent kiss.

His warm mouth devoured hers, making her unable to breathe. Her delicate lips were being sucked and nibbled ferociously, causing her to lose her mind. Her hands inevitably gripped on his shirt tightly, unable to pull or push, causing wrinkles to form on it.

The lack of air made her feel weak, and she was mostly standing with the support of his grip around her waist.

His unruly tongue was tasting her sweet one, making her senses go numb. His scent, his intimate touch, the comforting warmth from his hard body—everything was making her lose herself.

At this rate, she probably wouldn't stop him even if he meant to do something more.

But Draven stopped, and as he did, her harsh breaths echoed around his chamber.

He didn't want to move his face away from hers, but as he needed to let her breathe, he settled to simply resting his forehead against hers. Both of their eyes were shut closed while their hot breaths mingled together.

Draven tried to calm himself. The hand holding the back of her head moved to caress her head, combing his fingers gently along her soft hair.

He opened his eyes to look at her flushed face.

"Mine!" he spoke, staring at her lips that were still slightly parted. While she was still trying to catch her breath, his lips brushed against hers. "You belong to me. You are not allowed to get close to any male but me. You are only mine."

Still gasping, Ember opened her eyes and gazed into the pair of red eyes that were full of possessiveness for her.

"Do you understand?" he asked, staring back into her emerald green eyes.

She nodded lightly, her gaze moving from his eyes towards his lips as if she was tempting him to kiss her again.

Draven wished to do so but—-

"Ahh!"

Suddenly, Ember cried out in pain. Draven hurried to catch her falling body that was spasming for some reason. Her face was abnormally pale, her brows furrowed, and she helplessly buried her face in his chest, trying to not let out any whimper escape her lips.

"Ember? Ember, what's wrong?" he called her as he hugged her in worry.

"It… hurts…" she managed to say in between her soundless cries. Even her hands gripping his shirt tightly had turned white.

Draven carried her in his arms and put her on his bed, only to see her curl into a ball, her hands clutching her own chest. Trails of tears were streaming down her eyes that were shut tightly.

"Ember? Can you hear me? Ember!" he called out as he put pillows under her head. "Where are you hurting? The chest? Are you finding it hard to breathe?"

"Heart… It hurts!"

She clutched the left side of her chest.

This gesture overlapped with another from Draven's memories. It reminded him of that time when she had that nightmare and claimed to see a purple-eyed woman. The way she reacted back then was so vivid, Draven could not forget the image.

Draven didn't know what to do as she was not physically harmed. Chances were high that it was something related to her elemental powers and the seal over it.

"Erlos!" Draven roared, calling for his attendant.

After a few moments, an out-of-breath Erlos could be seen entering the chamber, as if he dropped whatever he was doing at his master's call. "Yes, Sire? What—"

"Call for a healer immediately!"

Erlos caught a glimpse of Ember's body in bed and turned around without question. "Yes, Sire!"

"No…No, I am fine…" Ember spoke in a weak voice. It could be seen she's even sitting up on her own. "The pain is gone… I do not know what that was, but I am fine now."

Erlos paused by the doorway, wondering what this was about. He switched his gaze between Draven and his mate. "So, Sire…am I still…?"

Draven waved at Erlos without looking at him, his gaze not leaving Ember's pale face. "You may leave. No need to call anyone."

Erlos left, closing the door behind him without any sound, while Draven reached out to wipe away the cold beads of sweat from her forehead. "Are you really fine?"

"I am. I don't know why it hurt like that again, but suddenly, it's gone and I feel fine now," she replied as she patted her chest, her breathing turning stable..

His red eyes which hardly seem to show their emotions continued to observe her face. Without him realizing it, his hand moved to fix her messy hair. She looked better—in fact, she looked normal, as if how she looked a while ago, that curled body in agonizing pain, was nothing but an illusion.

"Are you sure you do not want me to call a healer?" he asked, still continuing to caress her hair gently.

Ember stared at him for a moment before answering. She liked the way he was caring for her, and it made her heart flutter. This was the complete opposite to his usual cold and dominating personality.

"Hmm, I am fine," she replied but didn't know what to do or say next. She wondered if she should leave right away or if he expected her to continue staying there. She didn't know why, but suddenly, she felt like staying to be pampered by him sounded like a good choice but…she then remembered what they had done a while ago and her face flushed red.

She cleared her throat awkwardly, "I…I think I shall leave, Your Majesty."

Draven stared at her for a while, not answering her. He didn't want her to go. Ember stared back at him, still not knowing what to say or do, and simply waited for his reply.

Her red face started to heat up at the thought of her mate resuming where they had stopped before. She wanted to put her hand on her chest once more, this time not because of pain, but because wanted to calm it down.

Draven watched the blush on her cheeks spread towards the rest of her face, even to the tips of her ears, and of course, her loud heartbeats didn't go unnoticed by him. If he could, he would not hesitate to keep her with him all the time. But it was dangerous for her and he gave up on his thoughts.

"Three days," he spoke.

"Huh?"

"Let me know in three days what you expect on the night of the full moon," he replied.

As if her mind could not process what he said, she simply gave him a blank stare. Draven left the bed and walked towards the mirror to fix his clothes.

"You can leave," his cold voice reached her ears.

As this was what she wanted to hear, Ember stepped out of the bed and immediately left the King's chamber.

Once she left, Draven wore the rest of his attire by himself, his expression serious. He could not turn a blind eye on his mate's situation. He decided to find out the reason for the pain in her chest.

He called for Erlos once more.

Erlos warily entered the chamber. "Sire, you called?"

"Send a message to the witches. Summon Cornelia to the palace.

If it's related to Ember's seal, then it should be a matter of the soul. In terms of expertise on the soul, no one could be better than the Head of the Witches in this regard. Perhaps she might be able to answer what was happening with Ember.