Hellbound Heart

Elle's heart skipped a beat as she blinked and reread what she wrote.

Slowly, she lifted her gaze to him, a little nervous of what reaction she would see displayed on his face.

Sebastian's gaze was fixed on hers. Devil-bright again.

Their gazes held.

"Don't tempt me on this too, Izabelle." His voice low, as he reached out to take the notebook and pen from her hand before tucking her into bed. "It's time for you to sleep and rest. We're done talking, for now." Though his words sounded tough, his tone was extremely gentle.

She protested through her eyes but Sebastian did not budge and only looked intently at her. Knowing that this time he was serious, Elle had no choice but to lay back. For now.

Her eyes continued drinking in his features until she eventually drifted off to sleep.

Sebastian stared at her peaceful sleeping face for a long while. Something mysterious was gleaming in his eyes as he fiddled a small lock of her hair between his fingers. He looked lost in thought for a long time until he carefully rose and silently left the room.

...

Days passed, quiet and peaceful.

Sebastian never left the castle. He occasionally disappears when Lucas calls for him but he always comes back before a couple of hours were up and immediately checks on her.

During the nights, he sleeps on the couch.

Elle had insisted on having him sleep on the bed. Yes. She could not believe that there came the day when she would be the one insisting on him sleeping next to her.

But Sebastian was uncompromising. He had told her he must not because the doctor had reminded him that they cannot be having sex for now. As she would not be able to hold back from gasping and moaning which would be bad for the healing of her throat.

His argument had Elle blushing hard and at a loss for words. Thus, the two of them had slept separately.

Sebastian had also been very strict. He had also stopped answering some questions he thought would lead to her not being able to avoid talking. He had told her he would answer those questions once her throat was better, leaving Elle without a choice but to listen and do her best to recover quickly for her to finally hear the answers to the questions he had promised to answer.

To distract herself from trying to speak with him, Elle had asked to visit the library.

Sebastian agreed. Now the two of them were staying in the library for almost the whole day. Elle kept herself busy reading books not only because she wanted to, but because Sebastian also wanted her to immerse herself in books to avoid more conversations between them. At least until her throat completely recovers.

Sitting on the soft and long couch and reading a thick old book that was of course about the vampires, Elle's gaze darted to the glass of water that landed silently on the table before her.

Her gaze lifted and met Sebastian's eyes.

Wordlessly, he then sat next to her and casually stretched out on the couch, resting his head on her lap. He grabbed her hand next and placed her palm over his eyes.

It was in that way, he slept.

He had been doing this ever since they started visiting the library.

At first, Elle was speechless and a little bothered. Not in a bad way, but she just felt sort of flustered at his actions.

But she eventually adjusted and now she only felt relaxed and beyond pleased whenever he just lay his head on her lap like this. She loved this. Them being so close and peaceful and quiet like this.

It was honestly still a little hard for her to believe. She still sometimes asked herself how everything had turned into something this blissful and peaceful?

The peace between them was so good. A little surreal even. And a tiny part of her even wanted her throat not to get healed any time soon. Just so this bliss would last. Even only for a little while longer.

It was a thought she herself had never expected but she could not blame herself if she wished for something like that. Everything had been like a roller coaster ride and these little blissful moments had been like a vacation to a quiet paradise with him, just being there next to her, never going away.

Looking down at him, Elle stared at his lips. Her fingers itched to touch them so she forced her gaze back to the book that was in her hands again.

Several minutes later, Sebastian stirred.

Elle removed her hand over his eyes, looking down at him with curiosity. He usually sleeps for hours when he lays his head on her lap.

He rose and looked at the door. Then he sighed and muttered a soft curse directed to whoever it was that disturbed his sleep.

"I'll be back soon." He told her softly and Elle just nodded at him.

Sebastian usually never leaves her alone in the library for more than twenty minutes. Elle had wondered why once, but did not put too much thought into it.

But now that he had not returned even after thirty minutes, Elle had started to wonder if it was only coincidence. And while she was thinking of that, she began to wander along the old massive shelves. Her fingers glided along the spines of the books as she passed by.

She headed to one of the corners where she had not visited yet in the past few days. The library was big and mostly, Sebastian was the one who chose books for her after she told him what she would like to read.

Suddenly pausing, Elle turned to look where her fingers stopped. It was a maroon-colored book. Deciding to read something she had not planned to read for a change, Elle pulled the book from the shelf and returned to her seat. She was excited to find what topic she had come across this time.

Moments later, her heartbeats began to thud crazily behind her ribs as she realized that the book was about... Vampire and humans' mating.