Hellbound Heart

Elle could only hold on to Sebastian as the man suddenly scooped her up and brought her back into their room.

She did not even have the time to process what he had just said because of all his incredibly fast movement. It was a little unfair how he was using his vampire abilities on her.

And then they were already back in their bedroom.

Elle's brain still could not help but lag a little in disbelief at this seeming display of magic or whatever this supernatural thing he was doing.

When she finally snapped out of it, she found herself already being seated on top of the table. He had wedged himself between her spread opened legs and now he was staring at her with a serious, breath-stealing gaze.

Somehow, there was something different about him right now. Something was a little unsettling about the serious gaze he was leveling at her right now. It was hard to explain, but he feels like he was about to do something that was truly a big deal to him. Something that seemed even harder than anything else he had ever done before.

When he slowly pressed his forehead against hers, Elle's breath got caught in her throat. She realized she was getting affected by this indescribable situation. She could not even tell if she was excited or worried. But what she knew was that this moment in time was going to be a significant one. She could somehow feel that it would be the turning point in their current relationship and from this point onwards, their relationship between each other would only get better or worse. But which way would it turn, that she was unsure.

But Elle tried her best to stay calm despite being very unnerved by the stiff expression that was on Sebastian's face. That expression was not very encouraging, but she told herself that it is not a good point of reference. Thus, she told herself to be patient and wait for what he was going to tell or do to her. She also just stayed still and waited patiently for what he would be doing next.

Seconds ticked by as they just held each other's gaze. And then, his gaze slowly traveled down to her lips, causing Elle's heart to experience flip flops.

Was he... was he really going to... to kiss her?

Elle could not help the surge of anticipation that came flooding over her. It was unbelievable how her heart was reacting at this moment. This felt far more nerve wracking to her than experiencing her first kiss. In fact, she felt like her first kiss was comparatively actually not even that nerve wracking. She did feel nervous that time, but this was... this was a whole different level! Was it because she had longed for this for so long? Since he had not kissed her even during the ceremony on their wedding day? Or was it just because the man who was going to kiss her now was no other than Sebastian himself?

Her heartbeats started to sound louder in her ears. So for fear that she would distract him – as she already knew vampires had insane hearing ability – Elle secretly took a deep breath to calm down even if it was only a little.

Somehow, she managed to. But now, she started to notice that his breathing patterns had changed. She was certain, he was not breathless a while ago so he could not blame the supernatural ability he displayed a while ago. Why was he suddenly breathing harshly like he had just had an intense physical movement?

When Elle's hand slowly slipped over the side of his neck, she was shocked to find how sweaty he was. They were already in their cool room and not under the sun, so why was he sweating even harder?

All of these were just so unlike Sebastian that she started to feel worried for him. From the little she knew about vampires, they do not sweat easily as they have no need to exert themselves in physical matters, thanks to their supernatural strength. Thus, just seeing him sweat only told her that it must be something really serious that was bothering him.

Parting her lips, Elle was about to call his name again, but he stopped her before a single sound could come out.

"Shh... baby... I told you... I can't let you speak anymore or your throat will never heal." His voice sounded a little strange. He really seemed to be struggling, making her feel even more worried.

And the most unsettling thing was the fact that his fingers felt cold and clammy on her skin. No matter how hard he tried to mask it, the excessive sweating, his harsh breathing and the fact that his ever so warm hands seemed to have gone colder than ice, only told her that this was truly something extremely hard for him to do. In fact, she realized now that 'hard' might even be an understatement.

He had told her early on that he hated kissing because of something that had happened to him in the past. She did not know what that was, but his reactions were enough for her to realize that it was something not trivial at all but something worse. Something that she might never even imagine.

And to think that he has not even done it yet and he's already like this.

Elle felt her heart tighten at the realization that he was also battling his very own vicious demons right now. She just could not stand it. She did not want him to force himself like this.

Cupping his face, Elle looked at her with all the understanding she had within her. "It's okay..." she mouthed but then, he gently held her wrists.

"No, it's not... okay... I will do it." He declared firmly and then stared at her lips again. His grey eyes burned intensely... too intense it was almost... scary. It was almost like he was not only about to kiss her, but about to do something that involved his life or death.

Despite that, Elle was unable to protest. She did not want him to force himself like this, but looking at the firm light sparkling in his eyes right now, she did not have the heart to stop him either.

His cold thumb then brushed across her lips. "I'm going to... claim these beautiful lips of yours too, Iza..." he whispered and when she felt his harsh breaths brushing against her lips, Elle just slowly allowed her eyes to slide close.