Hellbound Heart

"I need to know which one works for you best, princess –" his face was serious as he said that. Elle had at first thought that he was making fun of her. But she immediately realized that he was serious and was expecting her response.

"The f-first one would do!" her face was blazing red as these words burst out from her lips. Among the three names he had rattled off, wench sounded a mile better to her compared with the other two. Even thinking about the other two was enough for her to squeeze her eyes shut. She could only quickly choose that as she did not want to hear any other selections of those kind of words. She was afraid he would only come up with even weirder names if she did not reply soon. But most importantly, she was really afraid she would lose her courage and composure if he continued with this. What came out of his lips were just names… but they really flustered her! They had yet to even start anything yet! And she was already flustered to this extent. She must not let him get her all thrown off before they could even begin!

Sebastian regarded her with a searching gaze, tilting his head a little. "Which one?"

Oh lord… Elle could only groan within her, knowing that he wanted her to say the word. Is he purposely trying to push her limits? Did he really need her to spell it out?

"The… umm… wench one. That one's fine for me." She quickly responded, her volume dropping at the 'word'. She did not want this conversation to drag on any longer than was necessary.

He was silent for a moment, just staring at her. She could tell he was trying to read her and see if she was lying or not.

"As you wish." He eventually said, though she could still somehow sense a slight doubt in his tone. However, he seemed to have just decided to take her words at face value. She then felt his thumb started to caress her cheek. That small circular movement was… his touch really was too hot! "The second and last rule is…" he held her chin and tipped it higher as if to make sure that all her focus was on him alone. "Don't touch me. Never… while we are at it."

The breath of relief Elle was about release was stuck in her throat. W-what did he just say?

"You heard that right, Izabelle." he said as though he had heard the question she had just asked herself in her mind. His eyes looked so intense. So mysteriously strange. She felt something unspeakable suddenly oozing from him. Something so extreme that she felt like him just telling her that rule of his was already some kind of a nightmare to him. It was hard to even explain but something in her told her that she needed take this very seriously. She suddenly remembered her gloves and she could not help but wonder if he had actually some unspeakable issues about this matter. Hence this rule. Or was she overthinking it again and this was just one of the many other preferences of his?

"Do you think you can do that?" he asked, pulling her off her thoughts. It was strange how she felt such a strong compulsion in obeying this particular rule. She did not even know why, but it was like something was forcefully convincing her not to break this one rule of his. At all costs. Whatever the reason, she did not have the luxury to delve more into the matter at this moment. Contemplation and scrutiny will have to wait for later – when she has time to be on her own. Her mind was already filled with so many questions and uncertainties that she was afraid she was already losing focus due to all these. And besides, she was also quite certain he would not give her further explanation about it either. She could still remember how he had told her before, never to ask or mention anything about his eldest brother. The look in his eyes at that time had had her heart shivering cold and she did not want that to happen again this time.

Forcing herself to stop thinking about it and just making herself believe that this was nothing but his preference for now, Elle nodded agreeably at him. She also told herself that this was better off for her too, because not touching him back would make this less intimate for her. It would be easier for her to pull back and keep herself from being accidentally attached to him. She remembered how it felt just having his bare palms touching her face. How electrifying it was. Thinking about it now was enough to send a tiny jolt of pleasure shooting through her. Yes… it was better off that she did not touch him as well. She agreed fully to this condition.

"Yes…" she answered with a firm nod of her head, making sure that there was no hesitation in her voice. "Can I assume that what is prohibited is actually touching you directly…? Since you have let me touch you before. Or is this only your… rule in bed?"

"That's right." He took a moment to respond. His expression was once again unfathomable.

"What will… happen if I accidentally break this rule?" she asked in a careful tone. She needed to know the consequences so she can be ready for it. Just in case.

His grey eyes gleamed as his bare hand on her face moved. He fiddled with strands of her red hair and slowly tucked them behind her ear. It was a gesture that had her eyes circling at him.

"If that does happen… you shall be punished." he answered. Though his voice was gentle – almost a whisper – but something savage, primal and dangerous danced across his eyes. Then his hand crept to the back of her neck and fisted her hair a little tightly as he continued in a strained dark voice. "Real. Hard… Izabelle."

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A/N:

To all my dearest readers,

For those who aren't on our fb group, i would like to update you guys that the delays in updates are due to the strong earthquake that hit my region last month. But don't worry about me because I and my family are safe.

I just want you guys to be more patient for my updates' pace for now. I will be releasing five chaps tomorrow but for another privilege tier. And then maybe five more the next day to fill the last tier.

Once the privs are filled, I will try my best to resume daily update and resume Spellbound as well.

Thank you so much and I am hoping for your continues support and understanding.

Love, Kazzen (08/05/22)