Hellbound Heart

Elle's brows creased a little, curious to know what he meant by what he just said. What did he even mean by that?

But before she could ask, Sebastian was already continuing, "Alexander and my brothers are all here right now. Normally, it would only be us in this place. To top that off, everyone obviously likes you a lot. Due to that, I won't have a choice but to force myself to tamper down on my usual style and be as gentle as I possibly can tonight. Or else…" he let go of her chin and bit at the tip of his glove. In an elegant move, he pulled the glove off his right hand and flicked his head, allowing it to fly in an arc before landing at one corner of the bed. Elle could not help but wonder again why he likes wearing those black gloves. "… the entire family will come at me mercilessly tomorrow. And we can't have that happening, can we?"

Elle blinked, speechless. Her mind immediately wondered how his family would even know if he was gentle or rough with her as they do the deed. She could not quite figure that out even after thinking for a while. But then, she had quickly remembered that there was also the choking and tying that he had mentioned to her before. Her mind quickly went into overdrive, and she saw herself with bruises all over her wrists and neck. Did he know that her skin easily gets bruised? There should be no way he could know that, right? He must really like it extremely rough in bed like he had told her before, if he was this worried about his family's reaction! She did read in the article that this activity could leave bruises!

She forced herself to stop the urge to swallow nervously. Somehow, she was suddenly really glad at her decision of not postponing this wedding night. She had found out that the only prince living in the Reign castle was actually Sebastian. The rest of the princes actually live in their own homes including Abigail and Alexander. This had made Elle a little sad when she had found out. She had wished that they lived in the castle too. That way, it would be easy for her to find company whenever she wants to find a chat buddy.

"But don't expect too much from me." Sebastian's deep voice echoed again. "I don't do gentle… so my kind of gentle might not be up to your standard."

He looked serious as he said those words. She could see that he was trying to be as clear as day to her about everything. And his statement once again had her relaxing a bit. The fact that he was even willing to try and hold back was enough to calm her frantic heartbeat a little. Though she had mentally prepared herself for a rough experience for her first time, she still would get bouts of nervousness that needed to be suppressed so that she would not chicken out at the last minute.

A small smile tipped at the corner of her lips. "Don't worry. You already know that I'm pretty pessimistic, Sebastian. So, I am not and would not be expecting too much." She shrugged her shoulders elegantly.

His dimple appeared as a smile flashed – but only for a split second. Because in the next second, his expression had changed into something that had her heart stuttering and threatening to stop for a moment. This man could really switch gears in the blink of an eye! Who said that women were the fickle ones?! Apparently that statement also applied to men as well. Princes included!

He cupped her face again. This time without his gloves. And oh lord… the feel of his hands directly touching her skin was electrifying. Was it just her nervousness and the atmosphere affecting and overwhelming her senses? Or was his touch really a little too hot? It was like he was burning with a fever!

"Listen, Izabelle…" his voice and gaze held her captive, "there're two rules I need you to follow at all costs. This is very important, so you really need to pay attention. First… if you can't handle what I am doing to you anymore and want me to stop… just say your own name. "

Silence reigned between them for a few moments before she could answer – but only with a nod. His thumb moved to her mouth and pressed down on her plump lips, brushing it as he stared intently at it.

"Use this beautiful mouth of yours and speak up Izabelle." came his commanding tone and Elle did not know how that had her immediately responding. Was it the seemingly hypnotic look in his eyes that had prompted her to answer so quickly?! Whenever had she been so obedient? She wondered but stashed that thought away for later contemplation.

"Yes. I understand." She answered and nodded as well.

"What will you say?"

Something strange was happening to her. It was like the more he spoke to her with those commanding words and the more she did the things he asked her to do, the more she felt like she was falling down some unknown and dangerous territory.

"I… Izabelle." Her own name came out breathless past slightly trembling lips. That was not the way she had wanted it coming out at all!

And that devastating smile flashed across his face again. "That's my good little wench." He said indulgently and her eyes widened.

Elle bit down lightly on her lower lip and he followed that line with a question. "Do you dislike that pet name I've given you?"

She blinked, moistening her lips again. "I…" Elle trailed off, frowning a little. "I don't know. I'm not –"

"Slut?" He cut her off causing Elle's lips to part. "Whore?" came another word and Elle's eyes stretched even wider. "I need to know which one works best for you, princess –"