Engaged to The Duke of Death

The Manor

Deciding that I had about enough of being manhandled, I sank my teeth down into the man that dared to keep doing it – biting down as hard as I could. Immediately, I noticed the metallic taste of blood that was beginning to fill in my mouth. I pushed it away the best I could with my tongue, trying to not taste the metallic flavor.

I wouldn't swallow it.

I had a taste for blood but I didn't want it to be so literal. It was moments like these that I wished that my jaw could lock around his arm, making it so he wouldn't be able to pry away – it had been a long while since I had to resort to such tactics.

"Agh!!" Yelled the man as he tried to wriggle his arm away from me. It only caused my teeth to sink deeper into his skin. "She is-!" He cried in disbelief. "She is biting me!" He managed to get himself free and the moment he did, I spit out his blood on the ground. I watched the pristine, white cobblestone in the driveway become tainted with crimson with mild satisfaction. "My lord-!" He began to yell, and I could see him tremble out of the corner of my eyes.

Slowly, I looked up and found Duke Elis walking towards me, his feet not making a single sound.

He brought a gloved hand up to my mouth and I turned my head away, not wanting him to touch me. The tip of his thumb swiped at the corner of my mouth. I must have had a smidge of blood leaking from there from when I attacked his piece-of-shit guard.

Duke Elis' eyes softened for a few seconds.

"Should I put a muzzle on you?" He whispered down to me.

"Try it and I'll bite you..." I all but growled out.

He let out a low chuckle – "I believe I would enjoy that," he stated, a coy smile appearing on his face.

It took me only a second to realize that he was exchanging flirty banter with me. I took a step back, instantly disgusted by the conversation. I didn't bother to hide it when one half of my mouth curled down and I withheld the urge to gag.

He let out an exhale of amusement before placing a gloved hand behind me and positioning it on my lower back. "We should get inside," he commented lightly. "We have much to discuss."

"Fuck no," I responded instantly, breaking away from his hold as I took another step back. I took a glance at the surrounding, seeing forests on both sides of the large estate. I could go back the way we came or dart as fast as I could into those woods. "You might have kidnapped me," I accused while he raised a lone eyebrow, "but I am not going into your house."

"Annette," he spoke in a lecturing tone causing me to narrow my eyes. "You are far from a child – you are nineteen," he spoke, and I blinked my eyes in surprise. All this time I was inhabiting Annette's body I hadn't even questioned how old she was – she was still so young. "Aside from that, we are to be married soon. This will be your home as much as it will be mine."

I let out a rage-filled huff of air – "I never agreed to that!" I yelled, wishing that he would accept those words once and for all. "Find another person," I spoke a bit more calmly even though my anger was hard to extinguish. "I'm not who you think I am," I added cryptically, not willing to admit the whole truth to him, but only a fraction of it.

He smiled and then brought a gloved hand up to my cheek – I flinched at the touch.

I hated it when people touched me.

"I know that you are not Annette," he spoke and my eyes couldn't help but widen at that. I might have suspected that he thought I was a different person, but hearing the admission coming from him was on another level. It felt as though I was found out – my secret having been exposed. "There is much about you that I do not know; I do not even know your name."