Hellbound Heart

The gentle breeze blew to the inside of the quiet room, causing the curtains to sway and flutter gently.

On the couch, Sebastian was lying there, his head resting contentedly on Elle's lap while she was looking down at him, her palm covering his eyes. It was as though she was using her palm as an eye mask to block out the light that would otherwise disturb Sebastian from resting.

The picture of them together on the couch was so peaceful, so warm. As if they were in a moment of nothing but serene paradise, enclosed and without the presence of anyone else.

She had somehow managed to lead him to the couch and made him lie down. He did not protest nor said anything to stop her from leading him over. He simply followed along almost robotically.

He seemed so worn out that the moment he laid his head on her lap, he silently took her hand and covered his eyes with her palm. As if he wanted nothing more than to be close to her and to feel her touching him, even with the most basic of touches like covering his eyes.

They stayed like that for so long that it might have already been an hour. Elle did not move until she was certain he was finally asleep.

Ever so slowly, she took her hand off his face. His brows creased a little but when Elle lowered her palm again, though this time she had placed it on his forehead, he relaxed again. Breathing deeply and peacefully, his entire body relaxed further into the couch and Elle could feel even the muscles at the back of his neck loosening.

Elle let out a silent, almost shaky breath as she stared down at his incredibly handsome face. Her gaze traced his enviably thick dark lashes, to his brows, his perfect nose, and then his... seductive lips. At that moment, he looked so vulnerably beautiful that Elle felt as though thousands of sharp needles viciously pierced her chest.

She could never forget that tortured expression... that haunted and tormented look that kept lingering in his eyes. Never. She could not believe it. She never once thought it was this bad. She had never thought that this... that this powerful, dangerous, and beautiful man was so damaged on the inside. Looking at how he carried himself so confidently with much self-assurance outwardly, no one would think that he carried such vicious emotional and psychological scars within himself.

No matter the whole story behind all this, that look she saw in his eyes was enough to tell her that he must have gone through and endured something unspeakably depraved. Sebastian was most of the time impassive. It was rare to see him letting his emotions come to the surface, except when he was really angry, that many might even believe he was not capable of showing emotions aside from anger.

The emotions she saw were nothing but shocking and... it hurts. It hurt so badly. Because she could not even imagine what kind of damage had to be done to a man like Sebastian to be that haunted and horrified.

"I'm so... sorry..." she mouthed, fighting her tears as she caressed his handsome face as gently as she could.

...

When Sebastian opened his eyes, the very first thing he saw was the face of his angel filling his entire sight. Her eyes were closed and her red hair was cascading down over his head.

He reveled at the sight and situation he found himself in for a long while. Until everything that had happened came rushing back to him.

Shock and then awe flashed across his eyes. Shock, that he was actually right here, resting his head on her lap instead of going on a berserking rampage somewhere, most probably in the dungeon. And awe of her reactions and to the fact that he even actually fell asleep and now everything already seemed back to normal. It was as though the nightmare had never happened. It was... unbelievable.

Carefully, Sebastian shifted so he could move away without waking her up. He never thought he would be the kind of man who would like the feeling of sleeping with his head on his lover's lap. He remembered she had offered it before, but he had been an a**hole and rejected her good intentions. He was truly stupid to reject such bliss before.

But he was worried that she had hurt her neck or something. How long had he been sleeping? He was worried his head was too heavy for her and her legs might be numb by now.

Just as he was lifting his head off her lap, Izabelle opened her eyes. Their eyes met as he froze right in the middle of the act.

Suddenly, she placed her hand on his forehead and gently pushed his head back down, causing his eyes to slightly widen as he looked at her.

"It's not even an hour yet." She whispered and Sebastian almost relaxed against his newly found best pillow if he did not remember the issue about her throat. "Please rest a little more –"

"I told you not to talk, remember?" He covered her mouth with his palm as he sprung up. "What do I have to do to make you listen to me on this? You're not going to heal at all at this rate!"

She only blinked, not repentant at all, causing him to smirk at her with mock warning. "I'm warning you Izabelle... if you talk once more, I'm going to..."

She gave him one slow blink, her long lashes fluttering innocently yet at the same time seductively at him, that it had him forgetting what he was about to say. His smile widened in disbelief as his dimple appeared. "Yes baby, I'm going to punish you if you talk once more. And no, I'm going to glue my hand over your lips like this... do you know what I'll do?" his grey eyes gleamed with something wicked and naughty. "I'm going to take your panties off you place them here... in your mouth..."

Her eyes instantly flew open so widely that he could not help but chuckle at her reaction.

However, he looked at her seriously and whispered. "I'm really going to do it so if you don't want that... then don't try me, and just listen to me. Are we clear, baby girl?"