The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 347: The Winter Prince’s Game (Part One)

Chapter 347: The Winter Prince’s Game (Part One)

Annalise stood in front of the huge open window in her bed-chamber as she looked at the beautiful night view. The full moon was for once not hidden by the clouds and fog that had become common during these winter nights, and millions of stars were scattered around the sky.

The light chilly wind was rustling the vines that were decorating nearly ninety percent of the outside walls of the castle and around twenty percent of the inner walls and ceilings.

"Do you love winter this much?" Valerius’ sweet voice infiltrated her deep thoughts and made Annalise turn her attention toward her husband who just entered the room and was now heading in her direction.

Returning her focus to the outside view, she let out a small breath and answered - "Despite the cold, I love the calmness that it provides."

Valerius stopped right behind her with so little space between their bodies that she could feel their clothes brushing the slightest. "What me to keep you warm then?" his deep but low voice whispered the suggestive question next to her ear, making Annalise’s heart flutter.

And even though her heart, body, and soul were immediately ready to accept his offer, when she spoke, her words were completely different from her thoughts or desires. "Are you forgetting that your body is always cold?"

Instead of answering her immediately, Valerius took a step closer to dismiss the remaining little space between their bodies before he whispered in her ear - "You know that my body can fulfill all your needs, wife, even if you want it to be warm against this cold." And then, his hands were sliding across her waist as he engulfed her into his arms from behind.

What made Annalise gasp out loud in response wasn’t his warm skin against hers but the fact that despite both of them wearing thick layers of clothes, she was feeling his naked arms pressed against her naked waist.

"What kind of spell is this?" She asked while trying to sound curious and not desperate for more of his touches.

"How about you find out the answer on your own?" Valerius proposed the idea even though it was pretty clear that Annalise didn’t have much choice but to play the game he had started. "Try to guess the right spell and if you succeed, you will be rewarded."

"What kind of reward?" Annalise asked curiously even though a part of her knew exactly what sort of reward the Winter Prince was referring to.

Valerius’ fingers started drawing soft circles around her belly button as he replied in his soft and calm, but deep alluring voice - "Anything that you will demand." Though the words were straight and clear, his suggestive tone made her brain think of all the wrong but hot things, hot enough to keep them warm on a freezing night.

"What if I demand something really outrageous?" Annalise asked as she completely relaxed her body in his arms and basked in the pleasure that the contact brought to her body and soul. Their mate bond was flourishing in their proximity.

"Then so be it. I would love to see how outrageous my innocent wife can become when given the chance." His words sounded like a challenge that Annalise accepted immediately.

"Fine."

She didn’t say anything more as she just closed her eyes and took in a few deep breaths to calm herself enough to connect with the spell that Valerius was using. Just as she was about to succeed, her thoughts and focus were interrupted by a very cunning tongue that ran a wet trail down the side of her neck before stopping at the crook of her shoulder.

Her breathing hitched in surprise as her eyes flew open and her body arched against his in submission, her neck tilting to the side unconsciously to give him more space. Just one little touch and he had all her attention focused on him instead of the challenge she just accepted. As the thought of the challenge popped into her mind for a mere second, Annalise immediately realized what her husband was trying to do.

As if sensing her thoughts, Valerius raised one of his hands toward her abdomen before coming to rest his fingers right on the underside of her breasts, once again successfully pulling her entire focus on him and his hand.

"You are cheating..." Annalise whispered out the words as she tried to keep her body from getting too excited. Unfortunately, it was no easy job to control her body’s reactions toward Valerius’ touches.

"Who said so?" Valerius asked as he placed a soft kiss on her cheek before bringing his mouth over her ear and then he bit down lightly on her earlobe, causing Annalise to gasp out loudly in surprise and... pleasure. "There are no rules in this little game of ours. You will try to find the right spell and I will try my best to stop that from happening. Simple."

He did make it sound so simple but his actions were saying otherwise. What he was doing to her in order to stop her from finding out the right spell, was anything but simple.

"Why are you the one making rules?" Annalise asked right before she felt his other hand working another spell to take care of her clothes which seemed to be proving a hurdle in his plan. He took away her cloak and outer gown, leaving her in nothing but a simple and barely covering inner nightgown that had her shoulders, arms, and collarbone on full display.

She was expecting the cold wind to hit her body the very moment she lost the protection of her clothes but that never happened. Instead, the castle stopped any outside wind from entering the room despite the wide open window and the inside of the bed-chamber was immediately filled with warmth that took away any sign of cold.

As soon as her clothes were out of the way, Valerius’ arms were back around her waist with the same spell that made her feel like neither of them was wearing clothes. This time, it was not only his arms but even his bare chest was pressed against her bare back. What was even more surprising was that, unlike his warm arms, his chest was cold against the warm skin of her back.

The cold and hot feelings made her recall a very fond memory that she shared with Valerius and Kenric in the pool around half a year ago.

"Are you giving up, love?" Valerius asked as he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck before placing a sweet kiss right over her pulsing vein, igniting another fond memory in Annalise of the night when he marked her with his permanent soulmate mark.

"I..." Annalise struggled to find any words to speak out loudly as her brain was too entrapped in memories to think about anything else. "I’m not giving up." Somehow, her voice came out strong enough for Valerius to believe her.

"That’s my wife." Valerius rewarded her with another kiss on the top of her left shoulder before he pulled away from her and took hold of one of her hands.

As he pulled her in the direction of the bed, Annalise followed behind him without any protests, knowing fully well that the bed was a danger zone if she really wanted to win the challenge.

Still, neither she nor her body made a single protest as she was made to sit in the very center of the bed before her husband followed suit, making her lay on her back in the process while he hovered over her.

His long silver locks fell down from either side of his shoulders, creating a curtain around their faces, and on instinct, Annalise reached out with her hands to tuck the hair behind his ears.

But before her hands could have made their move, Valerius captured both her wrists and pressed them against the pillows on either side of her head. "At your current pace, you are going to lose the challenge really badly, love." He whispered the words to her with a smile.

"What do you..."

Annalise didn’t get to finish her question as the answer made its way to her almost immediately. She hurriedly turned her head to the right to look at her right hand before doing the same with her left one, and then she turned a very unimpressed gaze toward her husband who didn’t seem the least bit regretful for his action.

"I told you, there are no rules in this game. You can’t blame me for trying my best to win."

He was right. He hadn’t done anything against the rules as there was no rule to begin with. His idea of tying both her hands to the bed-post with a magical binding rope to keep her from touching him was really good, not only did he make sure that she wouldn’t be able to use the same seduction game on him but also stopped her from connecting to his magic through a physical connection.