Hellbound Heart

Elle was not aware she was holding onto her breath until Sebastian whispered against her ear, chuckling a little. "Breathe, Iza...".

She tried to look at him but he held her in place. And then his other hand moved over her lips, causing her to close her mouth again before any words were able to escape. Lord... must he need to do it this way while telling her all those things?

He took a long, drawn out inhale against her skin as if taking in her scent. "Have I ever told you that you smell divine, Izabelle? You must know that the only reason no one jumped on you yet is solely because of my scent that's all over you... yes, Iza... since that night, you've been wearing my scent like a perfume."

Elle struggled to turn and look at him. She was starting to feel hot from all his touches, the heat of his body and his utterly seductive voice right now. But her curiosity was far stronger this time and even though she was being seduced by him, her want to know won out. She wanted to know more about what he was talking about.

"Stay still, baby. I'm not done with you yet. I need you to understand the dangers of you being so fearless towards the vampires." He continued, holding her still.

Not wanting the topic to change before she could get any more explanation, Elle struggled again within his hold, worried that she would not be able to have the chance to ask about this matter again if she just let it go this time.

However, Sebastian's arms were a steel vise she could not even shake off even for an inch. After much struggling and still being stuck, she was feeling frustrated. And so, she bit his hand. It was not hard but she made sure he would feel it.

He clicked his tongue and finally craned his head over hers and looked down at her face, not bothering to remove his hand off her mouth.

"Now what's this, hmm? Izabelle?" he drawled, looking amused at what she was doing. This man... why was it that he seemed to be enjoying this so much? She was already dying of frustration because she had wanted to speak so bad and just ask him a series of questions right now!

Creasing her brows, she let go of the finger she was biting on and huffily scribbled on her notebook. She did not bother to keep her handwriting neat. They were indeed scribbles, as long as she could get the message across. 'What do you mean that your scent is all over me? Which night are you referring to?'

He took a short pause before answering. "I'm talking about that night we first met."

Her eyes widened. She truly had not been expecting that. She had thought he might be talking about that night when they first had sex.

"Your scent is maddeningly distracting, especially when I'm close to you inside a closed up space. So I had to do something about it. If I hadn't... I might have bitten and drank from you that very same night."

Her eyes circled wide.

"Don't look at me like you doubt it. It's true. When you came to me, especially when I held you, I had to fight myself for self-control. For the first time, I felt unconfident with my self-control so I decided to do that. Which ended up as the best move I've done, in fact. I can't even imagine the danger that might have befallen you the moment other vampires come into close proximity with you." He shook his head after saying that.

'What did you do?' Elle quickly wrote another question. Now all his answers were getting her dead curious. What did he do? How could he even do something like that? She had read that vampires were not like witches who had magic.

"It's not much of a big deal, Iza. Don't worry. It's just a bite mark right here." He traced a circle at her back, just right below her shoulder blade. "I didn't draw blood as I didn't use my canines, but my teeth marks are always here. It won't heal for a long while, so my scent in there will linger. Though it's only vampires who will be able to scent it out. I've been biting you here without your notice every time I had a chance before it could begin to heal."

'But I don't remember you biting me there at all!'

"Of course, you don't. Because I made sure it's painless. It won't even sting because it's not a normal bite mark. I'll have to bite you there again soon though. Your own scent is getting stronger and would soon overpower mine because it's been a long while since the last time."

'Do vampires usually do something like this?'

"Not anymore in this era. It's an old practice. Back then, vampires did this to their human sl..." Sebastian's words suddenly trailed off but Elle already knew why. She had read that long time ago it was legal for the vampires to have their very own human slave to supply them fresh blood whenever that they wanted. It was something Elle was so glad that it was no longer being practiced and that vampires now were treating humans as their fellow living beings and not as food supply or slaves.

'Slaves?' she wrote and Sebastian could only nod.

"Yes. It's their way to put their scent on the human so everyone will know that the human already has an owner and that she's now off-limits. It's like a personal mark of possession on the human that they consider their belonging."

'Is the effects different if it's a real bite where the vampire drinks blood?'

"It's the same. But when vampires drink from a human, they need to have the wound heal as fast as possible or they'd bleed to death. So, if they want the scent to linger for a longer time, the teeth marks are much more efficient."

Elle's lips formed an 'o' as she nodded. Fascinated by every tiny piece of information she was learning about the vampires, she found herself thirsting for more.

"You must know that just with your scent alone, is enough to drive any vampire to break the law no matter the circumstances - all so that they could just taste your blood." He continued. "This is why... you need to have a healthy dose of fear for vampires too! And never let your guard down just because you think they are kind and not scary. You can't possibly know what's the motive of others, so it's better for you to always be wary. Do you understand me, Iza?" his voice seemed to drop even deeper as he said that last line.

'But you said your scent on me is-' before Elle could even finish writing the sentence, Sebastian, who was already reading as she was writing, spoke. "My scent on you is not enough as a deterrent, if the vampire has bad self-control or does not care about the law. The male vampires who have been close to you all these times were trained. If you had come across with a rogue..." the edge of his tone hardened into a flinty quality. "Some rogues are crazy for human blood. It's like drugs to them. And yours... it's one of a kind, Izabelle."