Aselia was standing in a towel wrapped around her slim body, her wet hair was dripping. She gasped and turned towards him at the clicking sound of the door closing and he stood there watching her in awe. Aselia tightly clutched the towel so it won’t fall as she shrieked at him:

"Xiran! Couldn’t you let me change?"

"I knocked, but you didn’t respond so I thought you were in the bathroom," he sincerely answered while closing the distance between them like a panther prancing towards its prey and she involuntarily took a step back before her legs hit the bed behind her.

"Let me change," she narrowed her eyes at him, knowing too well how this would end if he touched her in this state, her heart beats were rising and she could feel her body heating up just from the intensity of his lust-filled gaze, like a starved beast, ready to take what was his.

"I can help with that," he held out his hand, wanting to touch her, a sly smile adorning his lips.

"I would prefer doing this on my own, stay back," she ordered but her voice came out shaky, he pouted like a needy child but obeyed. Aselia grabbed her dress and lingerie from the bed and rushed to the bathroom, his sultry gaze followed her until she disappeared into the bathroom and banged the door shut, all the while throwing profanities at him which no lady would do.

Xiran disappointedly sighed, not knowing what to do with his pent-up feelings, he glanced around her room, the curtains were drawn and little light filtered through them falling on the floor. Her table was strewn with paints and brushes and an unfinished painting of an emerald sea rested on the easel.

Aselia was not as organized as Xiran was nor was she a clean freak like him but she wasn’t messy either. He lowered himself onto her bed and took in a deep breath soaking in her scent which lingered, placing his palms down on either side of his torso and spreading his arms.

His eyes wandered to the painting on the wall and a knowing smile grazed his lips. She was right, he couldn’t erase himself from her heart.

The door of the bathroom opened and she emerged all dressed up in jeans and a baby blue tank top, seeming fresh and beautiful.

His gaze went to her and lingered making her heartbeat accelerate. He patted the side of the bed, motioning her to join him without uttering a word and she nibbled on her lower lip before shifting and approaching him.

She settled down near him and began fidgeting with her hands, not meeting his expectant eyes.

"Leia! I want to take you along. You don’t have to be a hunter anymore, that reason to be one is over and nothing is standing between us now," he began, glancing at her sideways.

She finally lifted her head at his words and woundingly stared at him before voicing out her concerns:

"Yes, there is. Your incessant need to make decisions for me, to take away my free will and choices and to dictate what I can or can’t do."

He shifted so he could properly face her before speaking again:

"You can understand why I did it. My mental state was so fragile, I wasn’t even thinking straight."

His hands moved and he took hers in his large ones, this thumb caressing the back of her hand. Aselia watched his movements and it soothed her beyond words, every touch of his comforted her.

"Can you promise to not do it again? To not take away my choices even if it’s endangering my life. Can you let me be the boss of all my decisions?" She questioned raising her brows at him. Xiran pressed his lips together at her queries. The emotional crisis in his brain was seeping out through his conflicted eyes.

"I would not take your memories again, without your permission, that much I can promise. But if ever some decision will pose a threat to your life. I will not sit back and watch it happen. And I want you to quit being a hunter." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"What if I don’t want to quit being one? The world is still not a safe place for my kind or other species. Vampires still run rampant and we don’t even know how many monsters your father has cooked up in those labs and let loose. Besides, discussing something and imposing something are two very different aspects and you like to impose instead of discuss," she dragged out her words and his hold tightened around her hands.

"Then let other hunters handle them. Haven’t you given enough of your sweat and blood to this organization of yours? And you are so strong-headed at times that you don’t listen when I try to talk to you then I have no choice left but impose," his voice was raised, telling her he was not pleased with her decision to continue being a hunter.

Aselia had thought about resigning as a hunter and taking a break to spend time with him and her family. But his telling her that in a commanding way turned on her petty side and she wanted to get back to him for taking away her memories.

"Then you need to contemplate your decisions because I am not leaving with someone who wants to control and suffocate me. I will quit being a hunter when I want, not when you tell me," she snatched her hands away from him and he ferociously growled at the loss of contact.

"I want you to leave. I need time to think and wrap my head around what has occurred and with that year-long gap between us, I hardly know you anymore," her words not only stung and poisoned him but also burnt and stabbed him at the same time. He clutched his heart, her refusal to go with him after what they had been through was killing him.

He knew his decisions had hurt her profoundly and like a haunted shadow guilt tightened its gnarly fingers around his throat and he found himself suffocating. This was all his doing and now it was shattering him like a hammer of justice against a mirror, for he was extremely vulnerable and in a broken state. Xiran wanted them to work this out together, not away from each other.