~YULIA
Issa stared back at me nervously.
There was an uncertainty within his eyes. He looked like someone who liked to read people and it probably made him furious that he could not easily read me.
I sighed inwardly and focused back on the task at hand.
I couldn’t believe it myself that I was considering his offer but there was nothing I could do.
“Yulia. . .” He took a step closer.
His gaze, his eyes. Everything seemed to burn with a passion that made my heart race. There was this look in them that felt so good and awkward at the same time, I just couldn’t name it.
Having him stare at me this way made me speechless, gosh! He could literally take my breath away without moving a muscle.
“We. . . We would not share the same bed, under no circumstances.”
“Really? Is that all you want?” He asked as if he had expected more from me.
Shit! I should have been more demanding. Perhaps I pushed my luck to ask for luxury. Stupid Yulia!
Yara stirred in disapproval but I did not let that govern me in any way.
By now he had dropped his hands and only focused on me. At that moment, nothing else mattered in the world as it made me feel special.
“Yes,” I whispered, nodding my head.
“Follow me then,” he stretched his hand out again. I stared at it for a while, contemplating whether to take it or not.
I could have rejected his gesture and walked into the room on my own but there was no denying the fact that I wanted it- to feel his hands entwined in mine.
So I took it. I took his hand and felt his fingers wrap around mine with a gentle yet firm grip, as if holding onto a precious treasure.
His face which was mapped with worry earlier suddenly relaxed as he heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” I heard him mutter under his breath.
I felt as if this was us making a little progress from where we had begun before. At least, we were not trying to plug each other’s eyes out.
We walked silently, side by side till we entered the room. He closed the door gently behind him and locked it to stop any unwanted visitors. Then he released his grip on my hands since I was safe inside the room.
I was slowly moving to the side of the bed where I had been earlier when I heard him call my name.
“Yulia.”
His voice seemed to wrap around me like a warm hug, making goosebumps trail along my skin. It was soft and it was gentle, I could listen to it all day- ringing in my head without getting bored.
“Y- yes?” I covered my cheeks quickly which had turned red in the space of a second with my hands, not wanting him to see my expression.
“I will never let anyone hurt or come close to you again, I promise.”
I didn’t say a word but nodded so he wouldn’t think I was ignoring him. He was truly taking this job of protecting me seriously.
I could still remember the look on his face when I came back into the house and he hugged me. Had the belief of losing me truly wrecked him that much?
“I’d like to take a bath and get out of this dirty cloth, w- where is the bathroom?” I stuttered instead, changing the topic so that I would not have to think about it.
Aside from the entrance door, there were two other doors in the room. One of them had to be the bathroom.
“It’s over there. . .” He pointed towards the wooden door on the left side of the room.
Following the direction of his gaze and finger, I mouthed a quick “Thank you,” before walking towards the door.
I had hardly taken two steps when I saw his shadow, falling closely behind me. So I stopped and faced him. “I wonder what it is you want to protect me from in the bathroom. Has the cold water become harmful too?” My eyes were wide with surprise as I confronted him.
His cheeks flushed and his lips trembled nervously. He looked like a child who had been caught stealing candy.
“I’m sorry, I- I must have gotten carried away. I’ll be right here when you are done.” He turned away quickly and went to sit at the side of the bed, twisting the sheets of the bed like the child that he suddenly seemed like in my eyes.
For some odd reason which I could not point out, I found his reaction enticing.
“He’s cute!” My wolf jumped crazily inside me, enjoying the moment.
A gentle, crooked grin spread across my face as I walked into the bathroom.
His bathroom was neat and his scent lingered on everything around me. The tiles were shiny and the room was huge, so huge, that one could fit two of my former rooms into it without having issues.
I walked from one end to the other, thrilled by the cool and modern gadgets I never thought I would come across- in it. It was true what they said, the technology of the old and fallen world was only available to people of high influence and power.
My mother might have had some money but it was not enough influence to have this technology.
The first thing that caught my attention was a LED-lit magnifying mirror which was not far from the door.
I was still admiring its beauty when a soft female voice spoke from above me. “Good evening Issa, would you like to listen to your favourite music while you take a bath?”
I gasped as my heartbeat sped up to a thousand miles per second as I looked around in fear, searching frantically for where the voice had originated from.
My eyes suddenly caught sight of a medium sized black box in a corner above the space and my eyes grew wide as I feared that I was about to undergo another witch attack.
“What are you?” I demanded as I stared at the dimly glowing blue light on it.