Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 189: A Walk In Fernwood

Chapter 189: A Walk In Fernwood

{Music Recommendation; Be together by Duomo}

The next morning, Samantha was fast asleep on the comfort of her bed, but her subconsciousness was interrupted when she felt someone nudge her arm gently. She had ignored it for a moment with the thought that it was Alain, but when the hand that continuously nudged her to consciousness became slightly persuasive, her restraint broke, and her eyes fluttered open to see the blurry figure of someone crouching in front of her bedside. She blinked once, slightly baffled, but the figure remained vague to her sleepy green eyes, yet she could perceive the familiar scent that she would never forget even in death.

"Little Lamb." She heard him call her by her nickname, his voice was seemingly gentle as they weighed with the morning air, sounding hypnotizingly deep in her eardrums. Subconsciously, she melted into the homely feeling of his palm caressing her cheek, taking his presence in her room to be nothing but one of her silly fantasies. A tender smile curved her lips as she succumbed to his delicate touch, not minding that his fingers were temptingly tracing the curve of her bottom lip; she truly loved the feeling of his hands on her.

"Ivan...?" she mumbled his name in her sleep, her voice filled with untold yearning while letting his elegant long fingers trace the contour of her skin.

She was about to drift into her fantasizing realm when he called her name for the second time, but like a whisper luring her back into the present.

"Little Lamb."

When her eyes fluttered open again, the vague image was still right in front of her, crouching by her bedside. Upon realizing that his presence might not be a dream she had stupidly envisaged, she blinked profusely until her visions cleared. At that moment, Samantha’s heart momentarily stopped beating when the face of Ivan hovered against her own, and with a gasp of genuine shock, she involuntarily pushed herself up into a sitting position, looking evidently aghast and flushed to her neck.

She wasn’t dreaming!

"You–!!"

"Shhhh..." he placed a finger to his lips, silencing the flustered woman and pointing at Alain who was still sound asleep on the space beside her bed. "You’ll wake him up if you keep up with that tone, and we don’t want that now, do we?"

"But you’re here... I lock the doors.... How did you...?" Samantha whispered her bafflement, her gaze instinctively darting to the door only to find it slightly ajar. Her eyes widened at the improbable assumption that clicked in her head, because if she remembered correctly, she had locked the doors before retiring to bed last night. She hadn’t discovered the full length to Ivan’s complicated powers but she knew teleportation wasn’t one of them.

He couldn’t possibly have broken the door to get inside, could he?

"Just now you were yearning for my touch," his alluring voice snapped her attention back to him, and when his hand moved to tuck away her hair behind her sensitive ear, she flinched away from his touch, as if electrified, but that didn’t deter his intention as his hand swiftly moved behind her neck to grab it, keeping the decisive woman in place. He watched as the color on her cheeks intensified due to his action, and she was trying too hard to avoid looking away.

"How.. How did you get inside my room?" Samantha finally whispered, but when he didn’t answer, her eyes narrowed upon realizing something more unbelievable, "how long have you been watching me sleep?"

"Since the very day you spent your first night in the Palace." He answered wittingly before cocking his head, pure adoration gleaming in his crimson eyes as he sized up her morning appearance. "You look mesmerizing when you sleep like that, even better with my palm as your pillow. The thing is the more you try to run away from me and my feelings, the more I hunt you down till you accept it, my beloved little lamb. "

His fingers that firmly grabbed her neck from behind loosened their grip, and his index finger glided up her neck into her hair, leaving her feeling inexplicably enticed by his actions. Samantha’s eyes drifted to Alain who was still asleep, and she looked at Ivan whose crimson eyes had darkened into a shade that inferred his dominance upon her, and when she tried to shake his hands away from her innocent neck, he was back to grabbing it, keeping her still.

"Did you forget? You were dying to have my hands on you earlier, in your sleep. Don’t pretend that you don’t like what I’m doing to you. You won’t feel better if you keep lying to yourself."

"I didn’t know... I thought I was dreaming and I–"

"Dreaming?" Ivan’s pupils dilated at her provocative statement, and Samantha, who noticed his dazed reaction instantly realized what she had spilled out of impulse, and her breath hitched when his firm grip on her neck released. He wasn’t done and simply caged her between the headboard, his movement swift but masterfully silent.

"What did you dream about?" He inquired, highly piqued after knowing his little lamb dreams of him. "I want to know, is it possible we... dream about the same thing happening?" He leaned feverishly close to Samantha whose back came in contact with the headboard, and the colors on her cheeks deepened when his sinful whispers moved to her ear.

"Do you.... Dream about touching me? Or is it about where these hands of mine can explore? Shall we test it?" He playfully bit the shell of her ear.

"Ivan!" Samantha whispered-shout, her heart rate speeding to the point she felt it might burst out any second. How in Earth’s name does he expect her to answer something so directly?? She was having such a wonderful sleep but this man! How he got into her room unannounced was still an answer she needed from him. Presently, she didn’t have the heart to ask because she was trapped in his cage.

"Little Lamb, are you awake now?" He suddenly asked, diverting her perplexed mind to his blatant question.

"Huh?"

"Good, you are." And he rose to his full height, "you have to visit your old home today, remember? Get ready and meet me down in the lobby."

"Wait... pardon my question but was all this just to wake me up?"

"Not entirely, but waking you up was one of them. Whatever dreams you claimed to have of me, I am going to make you spill it. In the meantime, we still have work to do. If I don’t see you down in forty minutes I will storm back up here, and you should learn to lock your doors properly."

With a taunting smile dawning his lips, he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. Samantha’s mouth hung open in bewilderment, and she regained herself a minute after he had stepped out. She felt like slapping herself a hundred times after remembering everything she did, and she palmed her face with both hands, a wave of embarrassment filling her whole. How was she stupid to think his presence was a dream? But.... If this isn’t the first time, how many times has she reacted to his touch without being consciously aware??

"Ah! I... I better get ready."

Not forgetting the amount of time he had strictly set for her, Samantha quickly got out of bed to get herself prepared for the day. When she was done, she joined Ivan who was patiently waiting for her in the lobby, and when he noticed her presence, his eyes traveled to her lovely green outfit before he clicked his tongue, and his blue eyes displayed his restraint.

"A part of me wanted you to be late." He admitted as he rose from the chair, and Samantha could still hear her heart thumping in her chest as she approached him, unable to meet his eyes. Her cheeks were painted in the softest shade of pink when she dared to meet Ivan’s pretty blue eyes, and they weren’t possessing the earlier darkness she had seen in her room.

"Do you plan on accompanying me?"

"Not quite, but we could be heading in the same direction, after you." Politely stepping aside for the young woman to pass, Samantha’s lips twitched at his display of gentlemanship, but she refrained from saying anything refuting and quietly walked past him. Ivan didn’t fail to notice her judging stare, but that only made him want to do more.

The innkeeper, who didn’t miss their interaction from his table, smiled slightly as he mused. "Young love."

—-

"What about sir Cassian?" Samantha inquired from Ivan who walked beside her as they made their way through the street of Fernwood. Curious glances were casted in their direction, but Ivan didn’t mind it, the only ones he did mind were the ogling stares that were diverted to his little lamb, whilst his arm went around her shoulder as he pulled her close to him, Indicating she already has an owner.

"We have another hunt tonight, he’s making the layouts." Ivan responded, his gaze lowering to look at Samantha who became flustered with how he held her. From a third person point of view, they looked no different from an ordinary romantic couple who had chosen to spend a holiday in Fernwood.

"Is... is he busy? I fed Ali his breakfast before leaving, I think I should have brought him with me since all I’m going to do there is a survey. It’s possible I might not find anything concrete but I’m keeping my hopes tied."

"I see you like children."

"I love children." Samantha corrected before smiling as they walked past the street that was beginning to look familiar to her. "Children are a bundle of joy with a twist of trouble. After losing my Mother to an incurable disease, I became Maurice’s Mother. My Father never failed to remind me of this, he became my duty, so I am not new to children’s wild behavior since I have experienced taking care of one myself."

As they walked past the familiar route, Samantha’s gaze lingered on the clustered crowd who were busy buying stuff from shops for their loved ones. A smile broke on her lips as she sighed at the sight, and she folded her arms.

"Isn’t it beautiful? How love can change people to do the things they hate." She glanced at Ivan who also stopped at one of the stores to purchase something.

"If that occurs to me then I cannot say," he answered indifferently without looking at her. "I’ve never liked people who give each other silly pet names or buy flowers for their loved ones. To be honest I find it quite stupid if you ask me."

"Uhm.. what are you doing?"

"I’m buying flowers for my little lamb." He received the flower from the shopkeeper and turned around to hand the lovely bouquet of flowers to Samantha.