Hellbound Heart

Sebastian became very still as a lengthy and quiet pause reigned between them. His eyes wide and in shock at her comment as she stared back at him, waiting for his response.

The abrupt appearance of a steel-cold glint in his eyes forced Elle's pulse to start rioting and picking up its pace.

Then she began to feel it – the fury that was radiating off him. The gleam that had appeared in his eyes was intense and hot. Too dangerously hot until it seemed to turn almost malevolent.

This was a look he had never shown her before.

Just as Elle was starting to feel chills running down her spine, his expression abruptly changed.

After what felt like a long while, he finally opened his mouth, as though ready to speak. But he then paused, appeared to think the better of it, and closed his lips again before he dropped his head.

Silently, Elle watched his fists clenching so hard at his sides that his knuckles turned paper white and the veins along his arms protruded.

He did not seem to be breathing well for a few moments and Elle's fingers twitched, itching to touch him and soothe him. It did not cease to make her feel torn between crying and laughing at the same time every time her heart squeezed tight like this whenever this man was struggling or hurting. It seems that no matter how bad she gets hurt because of him, she still could not watch this man get hurt even the slightest bit.

But she clenched her fists lightly to stop herself from reaching out, steeling herself from caving into her desires.

"No." he suddenly bit out. His voice was so tight, as if he was giving everything he had to restrain himself from losing control. Even the very sound of his voice. Elle ran her eyes over him, from his face, to his broad shoulders - his entire frame was shaking slightly from his own suppression. She then understood how much he was holding himself back.

When he let out a slightly shaky breath after a couple more seconds, the ferocious tension that had been contained in his body seemed to have evaporated in an instant. No, Elle believed he must have successfully bound it within him. It was not truly gone, just very carefully and tightly contained in the depths of his person.

Finally lifting his face to look at her, Elle was unable to say anything at the sight of his now seemingly relaxed expression.

If he was still raging, it was impossible to tell right now.

However, the almost scary and calm look in his eyes gave Elle an uneasy feeling. Because she felt like this sort of calmness was worse than having him shouting and ranting at her.

"I've got the message, Izabelle..." he murmured gently, nodding. She could tell he seemed to be trying so hard to hang on to his calmness, to not appear dangerous. "I'm ending it. Her service duty to me."

Elle stared at him, her expression one of shock and disbelief. His announcement was just too sudden that she was still reeling from the shock.

"I won't drink from any other females from now on. Is that... enough?" he added, the utterly serious gleam in his grey eyes had Elle feeling so bewildered that speech had seemed to have failed her.

Both his hands curved around her scalp as his thumbs began stroking over her cheeks. "Answer me, Iza. Are there any other matters you want that I failed to figure out? If there is... tell me, baby... don't hesitate and just tell me."

Those words seemed to literally dismantle her brain. Everything was so unexpected. She had thought he would blow off and just leave her alone again, hurting and wondering about things all by herself. Lord... this was... was this even real?

"It's... enough..." she managed to say, still disoriented as she struggled to gather her composure and clear her mind from the daze he and his words had just thrown her into. She belatedly wished those words did not come out yet until her heart and mind had calmed down. But her lips betrayed her, unable to withstand his gentle demand for her answer.

He stilled for a moment before a relieved smile tugged at the corner of his lips. His elusive dimple showed up.

But then he rose and called for Lucas. He was so quick to step back from her and Elle almost reached out again when she saw his bright grey eyes turning crimson.

He looked away immediately and turned to Lucas who had just entered through the door.

"The lady is already in the living –" Lucas reported as he thought Sebastian was expecting an update. However, he was rudely cut off.

Lucas could not finish his sentence because Sebastian suddenly flashed before him, grabbed his arm and sunk his elongated fangs into his wrist, shocking both Lucas and Elle with his actions.

Elle sprung from the bed and rushed towards them.

When she reached them and saw his face as his mouth was still latched onto Lucas' wrist, the very first thing Elle noticed was the deep frown all over his face. He was... wincing, like he was forcing himself to eat something so terrible he could barely stomach the taste.

"Y-your Highness. What are you..." Lucas was still in utter disbelief, showing a face saying that he never ever imagined Sebastian would do what he was doing right now.

"Shut up!" he growled before bending his head and latched on to Lucas' wrist to suck on his blood again, never opening his eyes, as the lines between his brows deepened.

Once he let go of Lucas' arm, he winced again before he harshly wiped his lips with the ends of his sleeve.

The sight of Elle standing right there, watching so closely as he fed, had him stiffening for a moment. His face showed pure disbelief as if he could not quite believe she approached them and actually watched as he was drinking someone else's blood!

But he recovered and raised a brow at her. "What hmm...? My wife? You said earlier that it's enough. So that means, you're fine with me drinking from anyone as long as they're not female. Right?"

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A/N: Daily update will resume today. Thank you for your patience. <3