SPELLBOUND

"Clothes…" she uttered urgently, panting a little. "Gideon… take them off…"

He pulled away from her stumbling fingers and stared at her. There was a growing hunger in his eyes, but it was still tightly controlled. He was still the master of his own body – at least for now.

"You don't need to do this to make me stay." He told her, tucking the stray strands of her hair behind her ears. And that simple gesture just made Vera's heart swell even more. "I already promised you and agreed to your request that I'll be all yours tonight. So, don't worry. I am not going anywhere anytime soon –" his words were reassuring to Vera's ears to say the least and it only brought a brilliant smile to her face.

"I'm not doing this just to make you stay. I'm doing this because I want you. This is just me wanting you so very badly…" she responded in a heated whisper and then made to tug at his clothes again. "You're all mine tonight, so listen to me and just take off these clothes right now."

A disbelieving smile suddenly curved across Gideon's lips without him even realizing it. Then a glint of mischief suddenly replaced the shock in his eyes. Gods… this little lady just keeps bringing him one shock after another, rocking him to his very core.

"It's true that I had agreed you can have all of me tonight, but I didn't agree to obey all your orders, little feisty red." He replied and he bit down on his tongue at the realisation of what he had just said. Damn it all to hell, he was unexpectedly getting carried away by the situation. However, he could not seem to stop himself. But screw it all! He had already made a deal with her, so there was no use holding back anymore. He would honour his words to her if it was the last thing he did! Tonight, he was going to allow himself to surrender fully to her all she wanted. And he was going to let himself just go with the flow, without holding back… just for tonight, he would forget about anything and everything else – but her. Tonight, he was going to ignore it all, his darkness, his demons. Yes, just for tonight, he would not care about anything else but her. Tonight, he is going to let himself go and breathe. For the last time…

And as soon as he had decided on that, his body suddenly seemed to get lighter. The hardness and ruthlessness that were ever present in his eyes was finally dissolving like wax right into the fire.

She had already managed to remove his long coat and was now clumsily looking for something. "Help me…" she breathed, looking like she was in a pinch. "I don't know how to undress you. Your clothes are strange." She could not help but pout in exasperation as she was stumped in dealing with the dark fae's clothing.

Once again, Gideon could not help but smile helplessly. He had half bitten his lower lip to stop himself from chuckling out. The pinched expression on her face… he found it incredibly adorable. She kept on bringing shock after shock to him again and again with her boldness and sudden feistiness and that adorable look… some little hands were trying to tickle him, and he could not help but want to tease her. He wanted to see more of her. He wanted to unearth more of her other expressions that was not those of pain and sadness or hopelessness.

And so, he did not say anything but simply sat there, looking at her silently with the corner of his lips lifted up, as if enjoying whatever he was looking at.

Finally noticing the look on his face, Vera pursed her lips even more and she creased her brows at him.

"Fine," she said suddenly, and Gideon raised his brow.

Vera climbed off him and ran off to grab something. And Gideon bit his lip again, barely stopping himself from bursting out laughing at the sight of her running back to him with a small fruit knife held in her hand.

She straddled him again as Gideon leaned his back against the bed. Still, he did not say a thing and just watched in anticipation at what she was planning to do next. His curiosity in her every action skyrocketing every second that pass.

Her pale blue eyes looked at him, and there was bravery in them. Then she swallowed and moved the knife closer to his neck. He was wearing a strange ink-like fabric that hugged his body tightly up to his neck. And strangely she could not find any button to remove nor lace to pull. It was nothing like the tunic human men usually wore.

Vera pulled the fabric away from his neck moved the knife again, but her fingers wavered. And like a puppy afraid to make a mistake and harm him, she looked at him helplessly. There it was… this lady just switched from a feisty little spitfire to an incredibly innocent little girl within the blink of an eye.

"Don't be afraid… go on…" he told her, causing her eyes to widen. "You can rip it all apart all you want. That's the only way you can undress me." Gideon teased her with a poker face.

She blinked. "R-really? There's no other way?"

He nodded. Mischief gleaming in his eyes.

Once again, Vera swallowed nervously, but not long after, the feisty look returned. She took a deep breath and then with an intense focus, she sliced the fabric with the dagger, beyond careful to never harm him even with a single nick. And it made Gideon feel another tug in his heart as she looked at her treating him like he was someone so fragile that a small cut could kill him.

The jarring sound of the fabric of his clothes ripping echoed out in a loud contrast to the silence of the room, and he watched her smile victoriously as she put the knife away before tugging and pulling on his cloth down until his torso was fully naked and bared to her roving eyes.

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