Hellbound Heart

They both turned very still at the sudden contact of her cool lips on his warm neck.

Wide-eyed, Elle heard the loud and crazy fast heartbeats that belonged to her. Her mind screamed at her to pull away, asking what she was even doing.

But she could not make herself listen to her own mind but instead did something far graver than her first move. She had gone ahead and bitten him.

His muscles turned utterly taut, as though they had transformed into something really solid and hard. He then made a noise that sounded like a half curse and half groan.

A gasp was torn from her lips and the next thing she knew, he was hovering above her, pinning her down. His eyes were so animal-bright as he looked down at her. His breathing was uneven as he held himself still over her. And yet, Elle's first reaction was... oh lord... she had licked her lips in anticipation.

"Fuck... Iza..." he cursed again. Only this time, his voice was so husky, that she even heard it shaking. "What the hell... are you doing?"

He did not sound angry or upset and that was the only thing that mattered to Elle at the moment. As for his question, Elle was not sure about her answer.

She only bit her lip and silently stared back at him. Until her gaze strayed back to his neck again. She could not see if her earlier bite even left teeth marks as it was dim, but she thought that it might not have left any marks at all. She was not even certain if her bite was hard enough to leave any trace on him. After all, it was only a small nip.

Letting out a shaky breath, Sebastian pulled away from her and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked exasperated and in disbelief but slightly amused at the same time.

"I can't believe you just did that." He murmured. "You really aren't listening to me anymore, Izabelle. How I wish I could punish you... so f**king hard right now –" he broke off as Elle reached out, slipped her hands around his neck and hugged him, nuzzling her face against his neck.

Sebastian was caught so off guard at her unexpected action that his entire body stiffened up again. His pupils dilated as he swallowed. Hard. His hands were now moving to grip her hips.

But they halted just before touching her and his jaws clenched and unclenched.

"F**k..." he cursed once more, and this time it sounded almost pleading. Like he was asking for someone's help. "You really know... how to torture me to death, Izabelle."

He sighed once again and shook his head before he moved his hands to hold onto her arms, peeling her off him and pinned her down onto the bed again. This time, he pressed both her hands above her head, locking them there to make sure she would not get the chance to reach out and mess with his calm again.

"Not... now baby..." he breathed out. Elle could hear just how much self-control was in his voice through those few words alone. Though the words were obviously for her, he seemed to be convincing himself at the same time. "I am not going to blow up and screw your brains out tonight, then be unable to bed you again for the next several days. I know any suffering on my part later would be worth it. But... f**k...!! You really need to quickly get better and you're almost there. Do you understand me, huh? Izabelle?"

She only pursed her lips ever so slightly, glancing away from him, causing him to laugh exasperatedly.

But then, he cupped her chin and his thumb started playing on her lips. "The doctor said, you'd be fully healed in two days. Two more days, baby... I promise that day will be so... no. Just prepare yourself because I will ravage you like never before and make you come apart so hard... so many times over... until you'd remember nothing else but my name." His eyes blazed with a seductive promise that sent her heart flip flopping like crazy.

Elle swallowed. She could not believe how her mouth watered at his suggestive words. Lord...

A soft kiss landed on her temple and then he pulled away so fast, he was already standing a step away from the bed when she was finally looking up at him.

"Sleep." He told her once again before striding off purposefully towards the bathroom.

Rubbing her face with her palms, Elle took a long and deep breath. She was glad that he thought she did that to seduce him, because she could not even explain the reason why she did that herself.

...

The next morning, Elle had managed to finish reading that book as Sebastian seemed even busier today.

Standing by the shelf where she had taken that book from, Elle stared unseeingly at all the books' spines that were arranged on it. She had tried to find a similar book but could not find one at all. She honestly did not know what to feel or how to even react at the fact that she finished the book without finding any other information if that curse was already broken or perhaps if the vampires today had already found a way for a human and vampire's relationship to work. Because well... she and Sebastian... they were human and vampire. And they have had sex without her dying as was mentioned of how the females recorded in the book had.

Elle had checked on how old the book was and it was not actually that old. It was just a couple of decades old. Could it be that things have changed just within the past twenty years? And that now, humans and vampires' sexual relationship are no longer forbidden?

Staring at the maroon book in her hands, Elle sighed and decided to believe in her own conclusion. She had asked Sebastian about it too, once she had the chance.

Just when she lifted the book to return it to the shelf, a folded paper slipped down from its pages and fell at Elle's feet.

She bent and picked it up. But before she could open the folded piece of paper, her body instantly became almost catatonic. Her heartbeat stopped for a moment.

One thought came to her mind – Elijah. The experience in that dungeon was still fresh and a sore spot for her. The meeting with Elijah had flashed unbidden in her mind, and her heartbeat raced damned hard.

Whirling around, her eyes searched the entire room until it settled on the slightly opened door. Sebastian had always kept that door slightly open all the time while she was inside.

"Lucas? Rion? Anyone there?" she called out immediately, trying her best to stay calm, when Sebastian emerged from the door.