The Devil's Temptation!

143 Magical Fated Bells

Still peeping from the window and staring at the fancy-looking carriages outside, the admiration in her eyes wasn’t hidden and she knew whoever showed up definitely had to be important people.

The sound of the door closing behind her made Annalise flinch away from the window and when she spun around, it was Roshan who walked in, lighting her face with a smile after seeing he was alright.

“You’re back.”

As relieved as she was to see he was alright, she didn’t fail to notice his calm mood had surprisingly deteriorated after stepping out. His expression looked somewhat gloomy and distant, most especially when he lifted his head up to meet her gaze.

Did something happen?

Standing before him, she tried to lighten the moment and pointed at the window, “those carriages outside are very beautiful, your guests must be very important right? I couldn’t see them since they already stepped in and–”

“They’re here for the family ball.” He cut her words short with their reasons for coming, not fancying the way she was praising them and he went to sit back on the couch in silence.

“The family ball?” Anna pondered on the name until it became even more familiar to her ears, Levi had mentioned something about the family ball and she was smiling again.

“The family ball! Levi told me about it earlier, it’s when your families do a get-together by holding out a grand celebration, even guests are allowed to come and I_I also heard you’ll have to pick a mate during the event, am I right?”

.....

Roshan met her gaze to see the woman was smiling and it only irked him further as he cursed her silently in his head, was she happy about the fact he’d have to pick a mate???

“You don’t mind?”

Anna forced her smile to remain intact, she should be happy for him, maybe the event will make him find his true mate and she wouldn’t have to worry about him when she’s gone, that way, she was sure someone would take good care of him in her absence.

“Why should I?” She went on her knees beside the couch Roshan was sitting and tried to envision the family Ball with a glow in her eyes, “so many beautiful demoness will be present, there’ll be lots of dancing, treats and everyone will show up in their finest dresses, then there’s the girl, walking through the crowd, searching for the one that would complete her and then..” she looked up to meet Roshan’s stare, “that’s where you come in.”

She got to her feet and twirled at the lovely imagination, “it’ll be like one of those sweet fairy-tales, Can humans attend?”

Roshan shook his head helplessly at the words this woman was currently saying, she was HIS mate, he gave her that mark on her neck and despite it being accidental, he couldn’t change fate and here she was, saying all this to him, it hurt his feelings to see she wasn’t bothered about it, but refused to utter a word against it.

Noticing his sour mood and how his expression continuously darkened as she spoke, the smile on Anna’s lips slowly vanished and he looked uncomfortable for some reason, cutting her off guard. Was he feeling guilty about what transpired between them at the inn??

Quietly crawling on her knees and reaching for the couch where he sat, she tugged at the sleeve of his robe and when he looked at her, she tried to remain composed and cleared her throat.

“Are you feeling bad about what... what happened at the inn?” She questioned, but before he could respond, she looked away from him, “you don’t have to worry about that at all, it was a one time thing and besides, I was the one who took the first initiative so you don’t have to stress yourself over it, I’ll even keep my lips sealed about–”

Before she knew it, he grabbed the back of her head, turning it so she could face him and with no time to react, she let him kiss her lips.

That act of his took her by surprise and when she tried to pull away, he refused as his hands cradled her neck, keeping her head in one place while ravishing her lips.

His lips were relentless on hers as he kissed her hungrily, as though punishing her for something and knowing their actions weren’t right in the slightest, Anna kept trying to pull back, freeing herself before her own mind goes foggy but his lips on hers was like a magnet that was difficult to get rid of.

“Stop resisting.” He breathed against her lips before claiming them again. His mouth was no different from a hot liquid descending down her throat and Anna sighed into the kiss.

He pulled back after making sure he’s left the annoying woman breathless and he stared straight into her eyes, his gaze hot and intense that it left Anna falling into his trance again.

“Unless the mark fades from your neck, no one has the right to be my mate Anna, no one.”

Anna didn’t dare to argue with him, he made it clear that she wasn’t supposed to fall in love with him, so why was he acting like this?

~

The next day, Gemma happily hopped into her Aunt’s Letitia’s chamber with a bright smile, wanting to say hello to her but upon reaching there, she was nowhere to be seen.

Not minding it since it was her Aunt’s chamber, she decided to linger for a bit, and she wouldn’t want to crosspath with those new faces she saw having breakfast downstairs, new people always terrified her.

Another reason why she had her breakfast in the bed chambers instead of with the family.

Sitting on her Aunt’s study table, she swung her legs playfully, knowing they didn’t reach the ground while her eyes scanned the books on the table. Her touchy fingers scrolled through numerous books, finding each and everyone of them boring and when she got tired, she opened the cupboard, wanting to see if there are any interesting story books there but her eyes widened in amazement after seeing something else.

With her hazel eyes glistening with a mesmerizing look, she picked a golden bell that was tied with a red knot and admired it for a few seconds.

She remembered the bells very well, they are magical fated bells.

Her Aunt had stolen them from those djinns when they went hunting, but their use was still unknown to the confused Gemma who was attracted due to its beauty.

Looking into the opened cupboard, her eyes scanned through the remaining bells, three of those were tied with a blue knot and the remaining two were tied with a red knot.

According to what she reads in books, red also signifies love so the ones with red knots must be the love bell.

“Gemma.”

The little one froze after hearing her Aunt call her so abruptly and she quickly closed the cupboard, hiding the bell with a red knot in her royal garment before turning to look at Aunt Letitia with innocent hazel eyes.

“You’re here?” She strode up to Gemma who was still sitting on the chair at her study table and she nodded with a smile.

“It’s good you’re here anyway, I just called the seamstress to come make you a lovely dress for the family ball that’ll be happening three days from now, you’d love a dress right?”

She nodded with an exciting grin on her face before jumping down from the chair.

“Careful now or you’ll hurt yourself.” Letitia reminded her and she behaved with a guilty smile.

“Meet Becca, she’ll take you to your–” Letitia wasn’t even done speaking when Gemma raced out of the room, startling the lady Letitia herself.

“This child.” She sighed, going to close the door.