Hellbound Heart novel Chapter 22

A jarring voice jolted Elle awake. Ava? After blinking blearily, as she tried to clear the haze of just waking up, her eyes flew wide open at the very first face welcoming her. Sebastian? Was she dreaming?

He was standing there, looking down at her, wearing the same neutral expression that he had on the last time they had seen each other. Finally realizing the presence of cold water surrounding her entire body, Elle moved, only to realize that her limbs felt numb and stiff. She slipped but her face did not sink into the tub as she had expected to.

A large hand had shot out, caught and was already cradling her jaw. Her eyes widened even more as she rolled her eyes up to look at him from that awkward angle. How… how did he move so fast? Was her mind playing tricks on her? It must be… right? It must have been the wine and the warm water…

"Towel, Ava." Sebastian's deep voice cut through her musings as he pulled her up and then out of the tub.

Pressing her against his solid and warm body, he took the towel from Ava and wrapped it around her. It was then that Elle realized her teeth had started chattering. She was cold. So cold.

"Do I need to call for an ambulance, Your Highness?" Ava asked worriedly from the side.

"No need." Was all Sebastian said before lifting her up into his arms effortlessly. Even with his suit on, Elle felt his body radiating so much heat that she was craving badly. It almost felt like he himself was running a fever. She wanted to think that this must be due to the fact that she just felt too cold, thus the contrast in temperature. But… she remembered that he felt like this too, back then when she was in his bed that night. But then again, it could also be just her feeling his temperature hotter than normal because she was in such a desperate situation back then.

Once they reached the bedroom, he dried her down quickly with the towel before he grabbed a fluffy fleece blanket and wrapped her up in it. Her teeth's chattering and body's shivering slowly subside as warmth seeped into her.

Stealing sideway glances at him when she thought that he was not looking, Elle could not help but notice how careful he had handled her. It was as if he thinks that she might break a bone if he accidentally made even a single careless move.

He sat on the edge of the bed with her still cradled in his arms and he did not let go until her shivering completely stopped. Elle looked up at him, curious and confused yet touched at the same time. She had never expected this man to do all this for her. And why was he here at all? Was he not on his date with that beautiful woman? She was puzzled but kept all her questions to herself.