Rise of the Crusader

"798"

"799"

"800"

The heavy panting followed by a cold and decisive voice rang out inside Raphael's room.

Raphael was on the floor with his hand stretched apart and legs also spread wide. He lowered his chest, almost touching the floor, and with his hands, he lifted his body back up.

The sequence had started for quite some time and Raphael didn't stop nor did he consider stopping until he reached the required amount. The target was a thousand push up and once those figures were attained, Raphael stood and picked up the battle ropes that were beside him.

Heaving a deep breath and then gathering enough strength in both of his hands, Raphael swung the ropes continuously. His mouth opened slightly as he worked on the training, and he was soaked in his sweats.

Inside the room wasn't just Raphael, but there was also a woman. She was wearing orange blue and blue ripped jeans. Her black hair was packed to the front, and she had a book in her hand.

The woman was none other than Elisa, and even though Elisa had a book in her hand, her attention was somewhere else.

Elisa bit her lips hard as she stared at Raphael, while she moved her gaze between the book in her hand and Raphael. Her gaze was however mostly on Raphael's body.

"Ah-Ahem…" Elisa shook her head as she saw Gus staring at her.

Gus bent its head slightly, but the instant the both of their eyes come in contact, Elisa flashed a rough smile at it, before then moving her gaze back to the book.

However, it wasn't even up to a minute after she turned toward the book that she raised her head back. She stared at the owl that was on the perch, seeing it focus elsewhere, she turned towards Raphael.

Despite his body drenched in sweat, Raphael didn't take a break, and he continued to work on the battle rope. And seeing those muscles along his upper body, Elisa's eyes twitched.

"Do you need something?"

Elisa was in her trance state when the voice rang out. She was, however, pulled out of the state, and as she stared at the owner of the voice, she gulped.

Raphael was already attractive as it is then adding to that perfect build that he possesses, he looked like some god.

Elisa stared at Raphael, who was topless and only had his training short on, and after a few seconds, she shook her head.

"No, I don't need anything." She responded.

A second after she spoke, she stood from the bed and grabbed the bottle of water that was on the desk, along with the cup. She then walked in front of Raphael, and after pouring the water into the cup, she passed it to him.

With a neutral expression on his face, Raphael took the cup from her hand and gulped it greedily.

After he swallowed every bit of content that was in the cup, Elisa took the cup from his hand and poured in more water. She passed it over to Raphael, who drank the water a second after.

"You still have thirty more minutes," Elisa said as she stared at the clock in the room. And with a slight nod from Raphael, she said.

"I thought you only work out in the morning, so why is it that you're training around this time?" Elisa couldn't help but ask.

"Nothing," Raphael replied.

Elisa was clearly not buying the word that Raphael had just spoken, she peered deep into his eyes and said, "Did you perhaps have a bad day?"

As there was no response from Raphael, Elisa took a step closer to Raphael.

"Would you like to tell me about it?"

"I rather not," Raphael replied.

Elisa wanted to retort to him, but when she saw the look on his face, she decided to keep quiet. She stared at him, and after a brief, she did something that Raphael didn't expect.

As Elisa pulled his nose gently, Raphael's eyes twitched, he raised an eyebrow and was about to speak when she pulled his nose again.

Raphael knitted his brows, and as if the nose pulling weren't enough, Elisa went ahead and patted his head.

"Anytime you want to talk to someone, I'm here," Elisa said with a smile on her face.

For some reason, Raphael's lips curved into a smile. He seized Elisa from head to toe, and a second after, he moved close to her.

Elisa wasn't expecting Raphael to make a move and when he stood very close to her, she moved a past backward. As she moved backward, Raphael took a step closer to her.

Elisa took another step backward, and with every step that she took back, Raphael took one forward. This went on until she hit a wall and was unable to retreat.

"Y-You…" Elisa stuttered. "What are you doing?"

After saying those words, Elisa's heart skipped a beat as she saw Raphael getting closer to her, or to be more specific, his lips getting closer. Her whole body tingled, the smell of him hypnotic beyond reason.

While Raphael was still soaked in sweat from his training, to Elisa it only made him even more attractive.

She curled her toes, and as he gently placed his hand on the wall, she gasped heavily. The feeling of his frame leaning close to her unfurled all her senses, and as Elisa peered deep into those pair of blues, she parted her lips.

Beep!

Beep!

A sound rang out from Raphael's wristwatch that was on the desk, and the watch Elisa was wearing. And while Raphael had no intention of checking the watch, the same couldn't be said about Elisa.

Elisa flashed a light smile at Raphael who was in front of her, she was about to raise her hand, when Raphael leaned in further and claimed her mouth.

The kiss wasn't a hungry or intense kiss, instead, it was a slow yet passionate kiss.

Raphael savored the taste of Elisa's lips, their bodies were pressed heatedly against the wall, and the both of them gasped heavily as their lips were pressed together.

After a few seconds, Elisa pulled away from the kiss, she placed her hand on Raphael's chest as she brought her breath under control.

"I know you're trying to use this to get over what bothering you," Elisa said.

And seeing the look that was on Raphael's face when she spoke, Elisa placed her hand gently on his face, "It's fine." Elisa paused, "Anytime you want to talk, I'm always going to be here to listen."

Raphael didn't say a word, nor did he react when he heard Elisa. He stared at her for a while before moving backward.

He had only just taken a few steps backward when he felt someone's hand on his. Raphael turned towards Elisa, staring at her hand and then her face, with a questioning look on his face.

"What are you going to eat, Should I order or do you want homemade?" Elisa asked.

Certainly, the mention of food picked Gus's ear, and it immediately flew toward Raphael and Elisa.

"Buffalo wings for you isn't it," With a smile on her face, Elisa turned towards the owl beside her. And when Gus heard her mention those two words, it flapped its wing and nodded its head at her.

Meanwhile, Raphael's eyebrows furrowed, and he stared at Gus and Elisa, who was smiling at one another, before shaking his head.

"Gus will eat something else, enough of buffalo wings for today." Raphael blurted.

Whether it was Elisa or Gus, both of them didn't seem excited by Raphael's words, most especially Gus. Gus stared at Raphael, almost as though it was going to launch at him anytime soon.

"Why don't you want it to have buffalo wings?" Elisa inquired.

Elisa had just spoken when a loud hiss and then a snort came out from Gus.

Raphael ignored the insult that Gus had just thrown at him and said. "It would create a mess of this place. If you're able to take care of the mess, then I won't have any problem, but you can't."

"And I would rather not deal with the chaos it would create," Raphael stated.

Followed by Raphael's words was a hiss from Gus. And as it receive an intense glare from Raphael, Gus flew back to its perch and shut its eyes closed.

Meanwhile, a light smile hung on Elisa's face. After her discussion with Serena, she had learned to take Gus very seriously and had been pondering ways to have Gus by her side.

So, when a chance to please the owl came up, Elisa wasn't going to let it slip past her.