Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Vampire King
(Adult Fairy Tale, Cinderella #1)
Joanna Mazurkiewicz
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Newsletter
Copyright © 2017 by Joanna Mazurkiewicz
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Chapter One
Cindy, short for Cinderella, was walking around the market with her basket full of groceries while humming an old and well-known ballad to herself. She was hoping to be done with shopping soon enough and spend some time alone in town, before she had to head home. Shopping was the only time she had where she was able to escape the taunts and ridicule from her stepmother and annoying stepsisters who notoriously made her life difficult. There was also another reason why she enjoyed these weekly trips; Cindy hoped to finally see the forest ranger and find the courage to speak to him.
Cindy lived in the Farrington Kingdom that was ruled by the wealthy and powerful King Caspian II whom she had never seen with her own eyes, but apparently all the ladies in town were convinced he was incredibly good looking. Caspian also had a son a little older than Cindy, Prince Eric, who had been seen in town many times before.
She kept walking around, enjoying the weather with her basket already half full, knowing that she still had a little bit of time left on her hands. She kept wondering around between the stands, thinking about the day ahead, and enjoying being on her own. She started humming a well-known ballad to herself, when she spotted Charles, the forest ranger, by the meat stand. Her heart shuddered a little, and she tackled a lock of blond hair behind her ear, telling herself that she needed to be brave. This was her chance to approach him, hoping he would finally take notice of her.
Red Riding Hood, Cindy’s former best friend, introduced Charles to Cindy a couple of years ago. Cindy was enchanted by him straight away, but soon after, he started going out with Red instead. As time went on, she developed a little crush on Charles, fighting her feelings, not wanting to hurt her best friend. Besides, Charles had never paid any attention to Cindy while Red was around before they started dating.
Deep down, Cinderella was feeling unsure about speaking to him at the market. What if he didn’t want to talk to her? A few weeks ago, she heard that Charles had broken up with Red. Apparently, the two of them had a huge fight and went their separate ways.
Since Cindy and Red had a falling out, Cindy told herself that she didn’t need to feel guilty anymore, but she worried that Red was still in love with him and Cindy wasn’t sure if acting on her feelings would be appropriate.
She continued walking, lost in thought and when she was a meter away from Charles, someone pushed her from behind, causing her to drop the basket, falling face-first onto the ground at his feet. Vegetables scattered everywhere; embarrassed and wanting to leave right away, she tried to pick everything up as quickly as possible. When she went to grab a carrot, someone’s hand landed on hers at the same time. Her heart leapt in her throat as she lifted her eyes, staring into Charles’ intense, brown gaze that was only inches away from hers.
“Let me help you with that,” he said, in a low voice that caused her insides to quiver instantly. Cindy was a little confused, because Charles was acting like he had no idea who she was.
“Thank you, Charles. I’m surprised to see you here alone today,” she quickly said, trying to remind him that they actually knew each other.
“Sorry Cinderella, those barrels were a little too heavy and I lost my balance,” said another voice. Cindy and Charles looked at Jack at the same time. The tavern owner was carrying three large wine barrels, looking a bit embarrassed about what had happened, as two other barrels rolled across the road.
“It’s all fine young man, just be more careful next time,” Charles said, sounding annoyed. Jack nodded, smiled at Cindy and then continued to walk towards the tavern, looking slightly baffled, probably because Charles had called him a young man. “Cinderella, what a pleasant surprise seeing you here.”
“Oh stop it Charles, you know that I don’t like being called Cinderella. Cindy is just fine,” she chuckled, aware that she was already flustered and red. Charles helped her put her groceries back into the basket, then held her hand as he helped her to her feet. He smiled at her and Cindy felt a cold shiver crawl over her spine.
“Cindy, come walk with me. I’m browsing around the market today, and would love for us to catch up,” Charles said, staring at her so intensely that she felt like she was going to lose her bearings again. Heat rushed to every part of her body.
“Sure, so are you buying something for Red? I haven’t spoken to her in a while. I hope she’s all right.” Cindy asked, just to be sure that Charles and Red were no longer an item. She didn’t want to feel guilty about flirting with him afterwards. Charles expression remained stilled. “I’m asking because I heard that you guys had a little disagreement.”
“There’s no other woman in my life, beautiful. Right now, all I want to know is where you’ve been hiding all this time?” he asked, when they stopped by the town fountain.
Cindy parted her lips, squeezing the handle of her basket, trying to deal with her racing pulse. Charles had never before called her beautiful, they had exchanged a few words here and there, but he seemed so different today. He was studying her face, noticing her for the first time and this made her feel special.
“I’ve been at home, you know doing my usual chores and helping my stepmother. Red and I haven’t been seeing each other that much and I was concerned about her when people told me that you two had broken up,” Cindy explained, feeling a little hot. She was also conscious of the time; she couldn’t come home too late or she’d face her stepmother’s wrath.
“Don’t worry about Red, I’m sure she’s already seeing someone else. I was wondering if you would want to spend some time with me today?” the forest ranger asked, moving a little closer and Cindy caught a wave of his cologne. It made her heart pound even faster and she told herself that Charles was acting a lot more mature than usual–and it was definitely good thing.
“Yes, I’m almost done with shopping and the weather is so nice today,” she answered, feeling ecstatic that he wanted to keep her company.
Charles walked with her around the market, and they talked more than they ever had; Cindy could barely contain her excitement. He even bou
ght her roses and kept asking her about her life with her stepmother and her stepsisters. Soon enough, Cindy had lost track of time, and quickly forgotten that she was supposed to head home over an hour ago. She always thought that Charles was only interested in his work in the forest, but after a few hours with him she realised that she had been wrong about him. He was well-read, travelled and she felt like they understood each other without words.
Charles ended up walking her halfway home. She wouldn’t let him get too close just in case her stepmother was lurking about. When they were just about to say their goodbyes, he was already asking her when they could see each other again. At that moment, Cindy stopped being conflicted about her feelings. Charles had made it clear that his relationship with Red was over and he was ready to start fresh. Cindy even let him kiss her on the cheek. As she was walking away, he continued watching her from the distance and her heart was pounding away in her chest.
She couldn’t believe her incredible fortune–Charles had finally noticed her and was interested. It was one of the happiest days of Cindy’s life, because she was finally noticed by someone other than a drunken peasant. Everything was perfect until she arrived home, and her stepmother began shouting, asking her where she was all that time. Even through her stepmother’s rant and threats, Cindy kept her radiant smile, knowing that soon enough she would see Charles again.
Cindy didn’t have the opportunity to get out from under Ida’s careful watch for a very long time after her meeting with Charles. Weeks went by and she eventually managed to see him in the forest while she was picking mushrooms. It was a short meeting and after an hour she had to rush back home, knowing that her stepmother would look for her if she was late again.
But tonight, she managed to sneak away unnoticed, and went straight to the local tavern, where Charles liked hanging out a lot. She was sitting alone, too afraid to take a sip of her wine or talk to anyone else. The forest ranger had been coming to the Fox Tail often and many people in town knew him. Cindy wasn’t used to being out on her own, but she was missing Charles since they met in the forest a few days ago. He turned out to be a completely different man than she had originally thought.
With her, he was a gentleman, always asking about her passions, her stepmother and her dead father. She couldn’t help but notice that over time she began developing real feelings for him.
Cindy sighed loudly, realising that her stepmother was most likely furious with her by now. Cindy left without her permission and went to town to meet a man that she’d had a serious crush on since as far back as she could remember. This kind of thing was unacceptable and simply wrong in high society. She was responsible and kind, not a troublemaker like her stepsisters. She always thought twice about everything she did, but tonight she decided to stop being compliant.
For the past few minutes she’d been telling herself that she needed to leave, otherwise the drunken peasant who’d been eyeing her boobs for a good ten minutes now would approach her instead. Besides, it looked like Charles wasn’t coming after all, and Cindy didn’t want to anger her stepmother even further. She left the house after dark to come to the tavern. It was a hell of an effort on her part, because normally she refused to go outside once the sun had gone down.
She began practising in her head what she wanted to say to him once he showed up and didn’t even notice when someone approached her table. A split second later, goose pimples appeared on her arms and she lifted her head.
“Hello, my beautiful Cindy. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you tonight, sitting here all alone.”
She didn’t even need to look up or hear his voice to know that it was her Charles. He was now standing right in front of her. She thought that tonight he looked even more handsome than any other time that she had seen him. The only reason that Cindy snuck out tonight was because she truly missed him. On top of everything else, Cindy was done sitting around, waiting for her true love to appear out of thin air. She needed to take matters into her own hands.
Charles was very tall, with broad shoulders and dark, curly hair. Cindy remembered the way he stole a kiss the second time they met in the forest.
“Darling, you will be angry with me, but I can’t seem to control myself around you,” he told her a few weeks ago when they were lost in the forest, sitting on a broken tree. Cindy palms were damp with sweat and she felt warmth spreading throughout her body, causing her heart to pound loudly in her chest. When she looked at him to ask what he meant, he leaned over and captured her lips in his. Her mind screamed at her to react and before she could pull away, Charles brought her closer and continued kissing her deeply, devouring her completely.
She responded, and they kissed for ages. That night Cindy’s body was on fire, but the squeaky noise of a bird from the nearest tree distracted her. She pulled away from Charles, telling him that she had to go, and ran back to the house. Since that night, Cindy couldn’t stop thinking about the amazing kiss they shared together.
“I had to run some errands for my stepmother, and now I’m waiting here to pick up something from the shop later on,” she replied, pulling away from her thoughts.
They hadn’t seen each other since then and Cindy was going crazy being stuck at home. Everyone in town thought that Cindy was shy and innocent, because she was always so well behaved, but deep down she yearned to be more adventurous. She dreamed of having the whole fairy tale romance since she was a little girl. Over the past several years, she kept that dream deep inside her heart, thinking that soon someone special would appear and sweep her off of her feet. When her father was still alive, she often told him that one day she was going to marry a real prince, someone who would love her for who she was. Charles wasn’t the prince that she’d always dreamed of, but he was a decent man. On top of that, Cindy thought that he was very attractive, kind and since he’d stopped seeing Red, he turned into a more decisive and interesting man. Besides, the only prince who lived in Farrington wasn’t rushing into a marriage at all.
“Well, you don’t have to be alone anymore my darling, because I’m here to keep you company. The past few days were torture and Sunday couldn’t come soon enough, because I knew I would see you at the market again,” he said, and sat down opposite her. For a split second, she could have sworn she saw his skin shimmer in the dim light of the tavern, but no. Her eyes must have misled her, because that was surely impossible. She knew him well enough by now.
After the kiss, they met a few more times at the market, but they never had much time to truly be with each other. After their first meeting in the market, Cindy’s stepmother ordered her to do the shopping and come back home as soon as she was done. Ida must have noticed that Cindy came back looking happier than usual, and from that point on, she only gave her an hour to finish or she would have to suffer the consequences.
Her stepmother had been busy with paperwork all day and when she finally retired for the evening, Cindy slipped out through the back door. She didn’t tell anyone where she was going. Her stepmother would never allow it, so Cindy wasn’t ready to take any chances. She stood just outside of the door for at least half an hour, trying to dismiss her fear of the darkness before she forced herself to venture further. It wasn’t fully dark at the time, the sun was slowly hiding behind the horizon, so it was easier for her to deal with her insecurities. She hadn’t always been fearful of the dark, but something snapped inside her when her beloved father passed away several years ago–when she was only thirteen. Now every time she tried to go out during the night, her pulse started racing. She would suddenly be drenched with sweat and unable to breathe properly, so she started going out only in the daytime. Being out tonight was a feat in and of itself.
“Yes, I was counting the days, and couldn’t stop thinking about you too,” she admitted shyly. She also noticed that a few other women from town were shooting Charles flirtatious looks. They must have heard by now that he was single. Too bad he wasn’t paying any attention to them.
He stared at her li
ps, and a warm buzzing sensation spread through her body. She felt excited about breaking the rules again. Before she bumped into Charles at the market, every day of her life was the same: she got up, cooked, prepared meals, fed the chickens, cleaned, then cooked dinner and by the evening she was so exhausted that she dropped dead on the bed, falling asleep instantly. Tonight she was actually doing something for herself.
Charles proved to her before that he was a wise man, but tonight Cindy was ready to move further and show him that she could truly commit to him. She didn’t want to wait for the right moment, and felt that Charles was the man for her. The man that she could eventually marry.
She glanced out the window, seeing that it was already pitch black, and swallowed hard, sensing her growing anxiety. Fear was making her feel insecure and trivial, but she told herself to stay calm. Charles was there and he would walk her back to the house. She only had to ask.
“Cinderella … you’re driving me insane, and I know that your stepmother is very strict, but I think you should introduce me to her. She would love me, and then we wouldn’t have to sneak around anymore,” Charles said, and accidentally or totally on purpose brushed his thighs against hers. She felt a jolt of electricity running down her legs, and suddenly realised that his face was only inches away from hers. She smelled his cologne, a fresh, musky scent that instantly turned her on.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s too soon. She would hate that I met with you in secret, behind her back,” Cindy explained, remembering the past when she was standing at the window watching her stepsisters going out to parties, while she had to stay at home and clean.
It was disheartening and she knew that her stepmother hated seeing her happy. She was a little apprehensive about introducing the forest ranger to Ida.
“All right, my darling. In that case, let’s get out of here right now, and walk around the forest for a bit. It’s too crowded in here,” Charles suggested, leaning even closer, and Cindy didn’t have to think twice about it.