Xiran returned to his room late. Lights were dimmed and Aselia was asleep.

"Did she eat?" He inquired from Frila who was keeping watch over her. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Yes, and took her medication as well."

"Alright, you can go Frila." She nodded and left the room.

He slowly climbed into the bed so as not to wake her up and ducked under the blanket. He stole a glance at her peaceful face and closed his eyes.

"Xiran..." she called him slowly and his eyes flew open.

"Yes, are you alright?" He placed his elbow on the pillow and supported his head on his hand to look at her properly. She had opened her eyes and was looking at him.

"Did you eat?" She asked in a sleepy voice hardly able to open her eyes. She was still concerned about that, he thought.

"Umm...no. I got stuck at work, I will eat tomorrow." He reassured her.

"Drink," she offered him her left arm which had barely healed and Xiran felt someone had given him a shock of thousand volts. He looked at her with as much seriousness as he could muster.

"Aselia, you can’t be serious right now. How can you even think of that in this condition? You lost so much blood that you almost died and you have hardly recovered from your injuries. Why are you being so ridiculous?" He spoke in a grave voice, trying to control his anger. He was baffled beyond his imagination.

"I told you to eat, you didn’t listen. Why are you starving yourself? What else am I to offer you after everything you have been doing for me?" She looked at him with the same serious expression he was wearing.

"Just get better and focus on healing. That’s all I need from you." He finally took her outstretched arm and kissed the bruised part left by Sohlia’s fangs. He then went on to place her hand on his face.

The air in the room was turgid with their raw emotions. The affectionate stares, rising heartbeats mingled with heavy breaths, and the urgency to touch each other.

"I would have hugged you but I don’t think that would be a good idea, I don’t want to cause you any pain," Xiran whispered and Aselia felt her face heat up due to his tender gaze.

She shifted her weight on her side and slowly moved forward to hug him herself. Her hands reached out to his neck as she embraced him in her arms.

Xiran was dumbstruck at her action. She had never hugged him before, on the contrary, she always avoided his touch as much as she could. He couldn’t understand what was going through her mind right now to take this initiative.

He wrapped his arms around her waist very tenderly to avoid her injured ribs and belly. They were still in the process of healing. His eyes met hers and she did another unthinkable.

She softly kissed his cheek and murmured: "Thank you for taking care of me." Xiran’s mouth hung open at her actions and every cell in his body wanted to own her in that instant and never let go. Her kiss on his skin felt so sensuous like a silken touch, it had set his whole body on fire and he felt consumed in the flames she had torched. He wanted to feel the sensual feel once again.

"Aselia.....kiss me again....." He asked shamelessly moving his hands in her hair and on her neck, as he stared at her sensual pink lips.

"Don’t be a greedy Vamp, that’s all you get for now." She teased him with a smile her lips only inches apart from his. Her nose almost touched his.

"Please...just one more." He pleaded with puppy eyes while stroking her lower lip with his thumb. This made Aselia blush even more but she made no effort to kiss him again.

So Xiran took the matter into his hands and offered his other cheek to Aselia while pleading with his greyish orbs.

She finally gave in to his needy glances and planted a small kiss on his other cheek as well. But before she could pull away he held her head with both his hands to prolong her caress.

She inhaled deeply while her soft lips explored his warm skin, her timid approach slightly turning into a bold one as their heart conjoined and thudded as one. He took her hand and placed it on his bare chest resulting in her parted lips letting out a slow moan.

Why did she always feel that her body was being set on fire every time he made her touch him? She wanted to escape this inferno he was slowly creating for her but he held her close and there was no escape. None. Nada...

He laid her down carefully, she had flustered his heart and now he towered over her without putting any weight on her.

"My turn," he declared with his evil grin. His robe was open revealing his perfectly sculpted chest. And Aselia couldn’t peel her eyes off him.

’Stop ogling at him and stop him right now.’ Her brain screamed at her. ’But, but I want to feel his touches.’ Her heart put forward its innocent desire. While she stupidly gawked at this seraphic being on top of her.

He shifted her hair from her neck and moved her shirt but stiffened at the view which met his eyes. The bandage had been removed but there was still a distinctive bite mark which had turned black. Although it was tinier than when it was made, it stood like a sore spot on her pale skin.

He couldn’t look at it anymore, he was losing his mind just looking at it. His smile was long gone. So he covered it back with her shirt and moved to her lower body.

He picked up her shirt to see that there were numerous lacerations on her stomach as well. Although they were mostly healed, the scars they left behind might not be. The rest of her stomach and most parts of her ribs were still covered in special bandages to help her broken ribs heal.

"Stop...," Aselia eventually whispered to him. She couldn’t take the hurt in his eyes anymore. He shifted his gaze from her broken body to her beautiful eyes. His hauntingly mesmerising orbs were almost damp right now and he was trying everything in his power to not break down in front of her.

"Xiran, it’s alright." She tried to reassure him. He climbed off her and covered her with a blanket. Pressing his back against the bed he sat there and closed his eyes. Aselia didn’t know how to console him at this point.

So she got up and scooted over to where he was sitting and laid her head in his lap. He opened his eyes to stare at her with a mixed expression she couldn’t place.

"Please, say something." She pleaded.

"You won’t like what I have to say right now." He began to stroke her hair.

"Let me hear it."

"I have so much rage inside me that I want to kill someone." He replied between gritted teeth.

"Do it." She smiled at him and he threw her an astonished look.