Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"Aahhh" a scream left her lips when Evan felt that she had lost her balance and fell, she was expecting the hard blow but it did not come. Instead she felt the strong yet warm cushion under her body.

The cold breeze was leaving shivers or was it the man who was lying beneath her while she was clutching his shirt tightly. Her heart was ramming so fast in her chest, as if it wanted to break free.

She could feel his strong chest muscles as her hands held him for her dear life.

Still tormented by the fall, She did not even notice that she was still lying on him and he was still holding her waist. His large hands had completely swallowed her small waist.

Her heart was still beating fast and her eyes were still tightly shut but she knew that he had saved her by bearing her weight. That thought made her relaxed but at the same time guilty too. Slowly her panic decreased and she came back to her senses. Surprisingly his calm heartbeat had made her relaxed too.

They were so close that Leo could smell her fragrance too. The smell of fresh jasmine flowers were making him relaxed even when he was damn angry at the dumb girl. Yet when he saw her panicking and so scared. He wanted to pat and soothe her that nothing happened and she would be fine.

He was glad that she had closed her eyes so that she was not able to see his worried expressions. He got the time to calm himself down too. So, when she opened her eyes, he had already controlled his expression.

Finally she took a deep breath of relief and looked at the man who had saved her only to see that he was glaring at her.

"Do you think horses are toys or small animals that you can play with? You know, you could have died by the fall if he had taken you towards the cliff without stopping at my whistle?" the more he thought about it the more he felt infuriated.

She bit her lips as she knew that she was in the wrong. But she had really not realized the gravity of the situation.

"I apologize. I did not know it was that serious. I just wanted to ride the horse once." Her tone was meek and low, completely opposite to the one she had always used which made him at a loss of words. Yet he did not want to give up on the matter so easily.

"That is it? You even jeopardised the safety of my blaze. What if anything would have happened to him?" he asked in a fierce tone and she looked at the horse apologetically which was still standing there calmly and majestically.

"Now will you get up?" he asked, not because he was having any problem in bearing her weight or he was uncomfortable. What! He was surprised at the thought that he was not feeling irritated even when she was so close to him. Was he not allergic to the girls who often stick to him?!

Evan panicked again when he shouted at her and she tried to move herself away but her ankle was bent and she had hurt herself. So when she tried to stand up, her body disbalanced and she fell on him again. This time her chin hitting his chest.

"Owww." she rubbed her chin that had hit the chest only to see that he was glaring at her.

Yet his arms were holding her tightly so that she would not hurt herself again. She felt warm at his thoughtfulness,

"You know what, you did not need to act. Just show them how clumsy you are and i am sure father would reject you automatically." her warm feelings were doused in the cold water again making her glare back at him this time.

"Ha! I did not ask you to save me." she stumbled a bit to stand up again but it only made her move that created friction between their bodies.

Leo who was glaring at her a moment ago was surprised when she moved that way? Did she have no self awareness. Even when he was a knight, he was a man at the end of the day. If it had been any other man, he was sure that they would have already taken advantage of the situation if the woman had been this dumb.

"Wait!" he held her hands tightly which made her eyes widened and she stared back at him.

He held her waist with one hand and her hands with the other hand.

"Let me help you." he said as he sat slowly while she was still in his arms.

She was sitting on his lap when he moved and then he raised a brow at her as she still continued to sit which made her cheeks burn.

She finally stood up but limped when it came to walk and he held her hands again.

"You are too clumsy." he shook his head. Yet he held her waist and helped her in climbing the horse again.

"Let's go back now." she nodded as the night had already turned much more eventful than she had thought and now all she wanted was to lay down on her bed and sleep.

She had thought that he would climb behind her like before yet he did not.

He held the reins of the horse and started walking which surprised her.

"Why are you walking?" she asked unsure if she was the reason behind it. Evan was sure that they had covered a long distance to walk by foot. So she did not understand why he was doing so.

He looked at her with a gaze she did not understand when he replied to her

"Blaze needed to be calmed down before bearing the weight of two and starting galloping again. He is still in trauma."

'..........'