Chapter 173: 173-Exposed
Maisa sweet face was framed by delicate brows that lifted slightly, while her soft pink lips parted in surprise.
Her large, round eyes looked up and her petite figure found itself standing face-to-face with the tall, slender ethereal vampire in front of her at an unusually close distance and an equally tall and slightly well build vampire behind her, also too close.
Since Varitreya was already attracted to Maisa, how could she possibly resist turning on her charm when they were that close? Her full, soft lips curved into a faint smile as she looked at the gorgeous redblood before reaching for her arm.
"It’s been a while since we last shared a moment, hasn’t it?"
Maisa couldn’t stop swallowing. It wasn’t from feeling the warmth of Varitreya’s touch but from not feeling it.
Addessa’s hand wrapped around her waist while her free hand pushed Maisa’s hair to the side and lowered her face to Maisa’s nape.
Maisa went still. She curled her fingers over her dress and prayed they stopped before they realized how abnormal she was acting. Just like she couldn’t feel the sun on her skin, she couldn’t feel the two vampires closing in on her.
Varitreya lifted her hand. Her fingers brushed a loose strand of hair away from Maisa’s cheek before lingering there.
Maisa leaned into his palm, her eyes fluttering shut as she desperately called to the bond to activate and return the feeling to her body so she could feel Varitreya’s warmth against her skin.
The small movement nearly undid Varitreya. Her thumb traced the softness beneath Maisa’s eye and as hand tightened around Maisa’s arm.
The gesture was tender. It made the air between them charged, every breath drawing them closer but sadly, the one in the middle couldn’t feel any of it.
Varitreya’s gaze fell to her mouth. Maisa’s lips parted slightly, and her restraint thinned to its final thread. She leaned closer.
Maisa drew a sharp breath. The memory of their previous kiss linger just at the tip of her mind but she couldn’t force her body to react the way it has that first time.
Just as Varitreya’s lips nearly touched her, the princess stopped. Their eyes locked tight with one another and for a scary moment, Maisa couldn’t breath normally.
"You can’t feel me... Can you?"
As she asked, Addessa bit down on Maisa’s skin. Hard. Her teeth left marks on Maisa’s skin but it didn’t pierce the skin and neither did Maisa make a sound or feel that she had been bitten.
"You were right, Vari. She really can’t feel anything. It’s proven," Addessa slowly pulled back and moved closer to Varitreya instead.
"It’s been a while since I last felt her but I hadn’t noticed. If you hadn’t brought it to my attention, I wouldn’t have realized that I have long forgotten what it means to feel her and be controlled by the zing," what crossed her lips was a smile that bordered between a relieved grin and utter happiness.
Maisa tensed up. ’So that’s what they wanted to prove. They had picked up that something is wrong with the bond on my side. She had been exposed.’
"Now to the next theory," Varitreya said. "We’ve proven that she can’t feel anything on the surface but what about the spiritual connection?"
Maisa’s eyes softly shut. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what came next in any way.
Addessa wrapped her hand on Varitreya’s waist as she’d done for Maisa. She drew the princess close, breaths mingled. Varitreya giggled.
"Be serious!"
"Am trying," Varitreya couldn’t hold back her laugh. "We can both agree this would work better if I took charge."
"No, we agreed that I’d be in charge. No way I’m playing the little spoon even for an experiment," Addessa argued back.
"You’re just happy that for once you get to dominate me. Something that doesn’t happen everyday."
Maisa watched them and her heart twisted in jealousy and hurt. She badly wanted to join them and joke around but with the zing and the bond so quiet, even if she did, it would be like an emotionless log in the midst of them.
Addessa leaned closer. So close that her nose brushed Varitreya’s and both of them went still. For one suspended heartbeat, neither of them pulled away from the other.
The blackblood’s thumb rested beneath her cheekbone, her other hand finding hers and intertwining in place as though she needed the contact to keep herself from rushing the moment.
Varitreya tilted her face toward her, her lips hovering just beyond hers. "Can you really manage? I am more than willing to take over at any given moment," she waved her eyebrows in suggestion.
"I got it," Addessa forced out.
The distance between their mouths became impossibly small. Her heart raced and Varitreya’s did too.
She could feel the warmth of her breath against her own lower lip and could feel the faint tremor that passed through Varitreya when her mouth nearly touched hers.
For one suspended moment, the world outside the room ceased to exist and even Maisa standing to the side faded to the background.
Addessa tilted her head slightly and began closing the final inch between them. Varitreya’s fingers tightened around hers. Her lips parted, ready for her. But just then, the door was pushed open.
"What are you both up..." Lumi held her scolding when she saw how close Addessa and Varitreya seemed to be. She swallowed and continued in. "Proceed, pretend I am not here."
Hahaha. Hahaha.
Varitreya laughed and stepped back from Addessa and thus killing the mood between them. "A minute later and I would’ve been taken by the fierce blackblood," she joked.
She circled Addessa and went to Maisa. "Though we didn’t kiss, the emotion flowing through the bond was enough to drag Lumi here and yet I can’t feel you feeling it which means that you didn’t feel it."
"Exactly," Addessa joined in, coming over. She leaned on Varitreya’s arm. Seeming so close that the others felt like they were intruding by being there.
Varitreya was slightly taken back by her attitude but she didn’t push her away. "Before, us pulling away used to affect you so much and now. Not even our closeness gets a reaction out of your petal in the flower. Why is that?"
"What is going on here?" Zolani arrived.
"That’s what I was about to ask myself. What is going on?"
"I don’t know," Maisa lied. She couldn’t bring herself to admit that she was changing because of her mistake in trusting that benefactor. "They brought me here to watch them romance each other."
"Ro... What?" Zolani who hadn’t caught the moment was stunned. "Since when are the two of you so close?"
"That isn’t important," Varitreya interrupted, her eyes locking tightly on Maisa’s. "The question we should ask and demand and demand an answer to is this. Why has your petal gone numb Maisa?"