Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 73: Sharing A Bed

Chapter 73: Sharing A Bed

When night approached, Samantha sat on her bed with both her legs folded, looking at the list in her grip with a smile that reached her eyes. Finally, she had a chance to see the location Ivan had refused to show her, and from what she saw, it wouldn’t be difficult to locate the place once she’s out of here.

Thinking about her brother and remembering how they got separated, the way he called out her name with his hand stretched forward for her to hold, as if his life solely depended on her getting to him. Recalling the painful moments when she couldn’t be there for him already had tears pricking her eyes, but she sniffed it back and shook away the heavy feeling from her heart and mind.

"Just a few days." She whispered to herself, and now all she needed to do was to begin executing her plan for another escape, but this time, she would picture the perfect moment in order to avoid making the same horrible mistakes as last time.

Hearing the door click open, Samantha instantly hid the parchment under her pillow. When Ivan stepped into his chamber, she got out of bed and welcomed him with a bow. "You’re back!"

"You don’t sound too happy about that, have I interrupted something?" He asked, turning around to look at Samantha who lowered her head deeply so he wouldn’t make out her expression.

"It’s nothing like that."

"I need to bathe." And just like that he changed the subject, going to his wardrobe and taking out his bathing towel.

"I already sensed you’d be in need of one once you returned, i heated the tub already." Samantha informed him, and all he did was acknowledge her words with a nod before making his way to the bathing chamber. Sliding the door shut, Samantha could feel herself sink back to the bed, feeling relieved he didn’t push further concerning what she had been doing all day today.

When he stepped out later on, Samantha had helped him into his night robe. With his arms stretched out, the young maid assisted the Vampire Lord by helping him adjust the robe against his broad shoulders, and since she wasn’t tall enough, she had to stand on her toes. Focused on what she was doing, she hardly noticed Ivan’s gaze watching her as usual, despite standing so close to him.

She could inhale the fresh scent of lavender emitting from him, he smelled incredibly pleasing and only then did her gaze move to meet his crimson eyes watching her every moment. There was this strange spark that jolted through her nerves when she met his gaze, as if a strange current of electricity had run through her, but when Ivan showed no reaction at all, she wondered if he felt it too.

Wait, what is she thinking?

Averting her gaze when she was done, Samantha hastily stepped back from him with her face all flustered. "All...all done."

"I can see that." Turning away from his flustered little lamb, Ivan picked his glasses from the side table and returned to his bed, but he didn’t lay down to sleep. Rather, he was handling some record files while fixing his glasses into place. Those crimson eyes had automatically switched to ocean-blue.

"Lord Ivan, it is late, won’t you retire to bed?" Samantha, who was a bit concerned considering how he stayed up till the next morning with no sleep, couldn’t stop herself from asking, but he replied without turning his head to look at her.

"Sleep if you want to, I have things to do."

"But you don’t sleep at all." To Ivan’s surprise, his little lamb was complaining, and then she began counting with her fingers. "Morning, afternoon, mid-afternoon, noon, evening, night, Midnight, dawn, you don’t sleep at all. When you eventually zone out, you’re up the next second I can blink." Samantha found it to be something one should be bothered about. There’s absolutely no way she would stay awake for a whole day and be the same person the next day.

She knew he was tired, yet he kept overworking himself.

After staring at her for some unblinking seconds, Ivan arched a questioning brow at his little lamb. "Have you been monitoring me?" He asked, and Samantha truthfully shook her head.

"It’s obvious, and I am quite observant. But I am your servant, I’m allowed to know these things."

"Little Lamb." He closed his record file before making it clear to her, "yes, you are right, I don’t sleep. My mind has the scary capability of being dark and demented."

"You are.... afraid of your own dreams?" She interpreted his statement, recalling the facial reactions he normally made each time he subconsciously drifted to sleep, and Ivan almost uttered the word ’yes’ but had stopped himself at the last minute.

"It’s something I’ve been dealing with as a child, I’m used to it." His voice softened as he refused to meet her gaze. "Don’t disturb me with your endless questions, or you’ll be sleeping outside in the cold."

Just as he guessed, his threats had been able to shut the woman up, but the problem was, he still couldn’t concentrate, because how can he focus on dealing with these records when there are a pair of doe-green eyes staring at him? He tried to ignore it with the hopes that she’ll fall asleep but this little lamb kept staring as if she was still waiting for him to give her permission to speak.

"Fine! What do you want from me?" Dropping the feathered pen in defeat since he could no longer handle it, he closed his files and looked at the woman who instantly asked.

"How long have you been unable to get any sleep?"

"And why do you suddenly care about that?" He eyed her suspiciously, "are you trying to mock me?"

"Oh no! I wouldn’t dare." She shook her head, "it’s just.... vampires also run out of energy once the sun is out, that means they sleep more during the day, but you.... don’t do any of that, and you’re half-human too. Are you perhaps dealing with insomnia?" She had asked out of pure curiosity, but when he frowned, a tinge of fear found its way to her heart.

God he can be terrifying.

"The thing is my brother also suffered from insomnia when he was much younger. The village physician back then advised he drank warm milk or chamomile tea every night before going to bed, and my brother always stuck to a sleep schedule everyday. If you could try some of these methods then you might be able to fall asleep."

Samantha hoped he wasn’t going to ignore her decision to help him out, but the look on his handsome face softened later on as if he was pondering on what she said. To Samantha’s surprise, Ivan quietly got out of bed, taking his pillow and duvet with him. She wanted to ask him where he was going with his sleeping necessities, but immediately stopped herself upon realizing he was heading towards her bed.

Walking through the curtains that separated their Chambers, Samantha’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief when he settled his pillow in the empty space beside her bed.

"What... what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I’m doing? I’m sleeping here tonight." He answered her obvious question before joining her on her bed.

"What?!" Samantha shook her head abruptly, totally not in one with his decision. Since when did he decide to do this?? "It wouldn’t be right to abandon the comfort of your bed to join me here, you should–"

"I’ve made my decision, you can’t change my mind." Letting out a satisfied sigh, the vampire Lord relaxed his back against the headboard, and Samantha barely knew what she needed to do with Ivan, neither did she know how his mindset operated.

"My Lord, this is inappropriate."

"I’m not that kind of person if that’s what you’re thinking." He silenced her, "I can be anything, but not what you’re thinking."

"Still..."

"I’ve always wondered what it felt like sleeping so peacefully." He uttered, diverting her attention from having him chased away. "When you sleep like there’s not a care in the world, I envy you." He confessed, meeting her clear green eyes. "Also, you sleep very unlady-like, maintain yourself while I’m here. "

"But I am asleep, how am I supposed to–"

"Then don’t maintain yourself," he shrugged nonchalantly, "when you wake up to see your skin covered in bite marks, you’ll understand why it takes two to tango."

Refusing to let her mind be concerned about the meaning behind his phrase, Samantha used the extra pillows to form a barricade between her and Ivan.

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Three more Chapters on the way!!♡♡