Married To The Mad Vampire Lord novel Chapter 21

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Chapter 21: Wedding night_Part 3

"Never say his name again. I don't want to hear it from your beautiful lips anymore. You are mine now, and I hate when anything that belongs to me doesn't completely belong. I want your body, mind, and soul here, not there. Understand?"

No, Belle did not understand. In fact, she did not want to. The only reason she had so quickly agreed to come to Nightbrook wasn't only because she wanted her parents to be proud of her; it was because she believed when she got this mission done and went back, whatever she requested would be granted to her. Her parents would not question her decision to marry Mr. Marchant; they would grant her the honor to support his shop and make it into a bigger dress store with a refreshments room. She had dreamed of this simple life with him and had talked about it just before the day he proposed to her.

Belle swallowed the huge lump that rose in her throat and reached her hand to touch her throat subconsciously, where the ring Jamie had given her on the day he had proposed lay, and Rohan's dark eyes followed the action, narrowing at the ring on the chain. She felt close to Jamie touching the ring and had slid it onto a chain on the wedding day so no one would question why she had the ring on her finger.

Clenching her fingers on the ring, she parted her lips and said, "You might not know how loving someone is, but I want you to know that it can't be easily forgotten. I can—"

"Did he give you this?" Rohan snarled mockingly as his hand reached for the ring around the chain resting against her chest. It was a plain silver ring that looked like something crafted out of a smithy's door handle, cheap, plain, and utterly unsightly. He did not wait for her to reply as he tightened his grip on it.

She gasped as his fingers closed around the chain at her throat. Before she could pull away, he yanked it hard, snapping the fragile links. The sharp sting against her skin barely registered before she lunged for it, but he was faster, holding the ring just out of her reach. Compared to his height, she was dwarfed by him, with the top of her head not even reaching his shoulder. Reaching for the ring he held above his head was quite impossible, and she did not want to touch him to retrieve it. Hence, she stopped trying, clenched her fists, and waited for him to give it back.

"You're truly pitiful," he murmured, turning the plain silver band between his fingers as she stood like a child before her teacher, waiting to be admonished for a mistake she had not made. Why couldn't he be like how she had imagined he would be—someone who would stay far away from her and keep her in his house without seeing her? That would have been better for her.

"Why would you hold on to something like this when it's not even gold, nor an expensive silver?" His brows drew together as if he couldn't see the value in the ring, nor in the fact that she chose to cherish it instead of throwing it into the flames in the hearth to melt into nothing. Tsk, humans. What would he have to do to understand their stupid ways of thinking? He had tried to study many in ways that were unspeakable, but nothing had come out of it except the fact that he had wasted his precious time on useless beings who were never supposed to breathe in the same air with a man like him.

Rohan's dark gaze turned toward his wife, and he arched his brows in mock curiosity. "Did he promise you forever when he gave you this?" He held the ring up to her nose.

"Give it back," she demanded as she reached her hand for it, but he pulled it up again. Her voice was tight with anger and trembling with tears as she felt insulted by his words. The ring might be cheap, but it meant something to her.

He chuckled dryly. "Give it back?" He held the ring up to the dim light, inspecting it with a disbelieving expression and a hint of disdain for the plain, worthless thing. "Why? So you can cling to this piss-poor excuse of a token? Look at it, nothing but cheap metal, just like the spineless bastard who gave it to you."