Chapter 77: A Touch Of Fire
At her soft plea and tender touch, he exhaled slowly as he raked his other hand through his raven black hair, and just like that, all his anger melted away. When he opened his eyes, they had returned to their familiar molten red.
"There, I’m not angry anymore. Now, can I see your wound?" he asked in a low, calm voice.
Eve’s eyes widened a little, and she blurted, "No! H-How can you...how can I show-"
He cut her off mid-sentence, "I need to see the damage before treating it, Eve. The physician left ointment for your bruises, but I need to check the one on your stomach to make sure it isn’t serious."
"B-But.." Her face blazed red again as she stumbled for words.
Understanding her hesitation, Ivan softened his tone slightly. "Fine, I’ll turn around, and you can lift your gown up to your stomach while keeping the rest covered beneath the blanket. Will that work for you?"
She gazed at him for a moment before letting out a helpless, soft sigh, knowing he would not relent. "Fine," she murmured and released his hand.
He turned his back to her and waited, listening to the quiet rustle of fabric as she adjusted her gown and the blanket.
Once she was done, her face still flushed hard as she turned away, "You can turn now." Her voice trailed off in embarrassment.
She lifted an arm and placed it over her eyes to cover them, and felt him shift on the mattress. Her heart beat sprinted at the thought of him staring at her exposed stomach.
As Ivan turned back, he saw that she had covered her eyes with her arm, her cheeks flushed a deep crimson. He could hear her heart fluttering wildly, a sound he secretly adored. His eyes trailed slowly from her blushing face, down to the gentle rise and fall of her chest, and finally settled on her stomach. There, an angry bruise bloomed in the shade of deep red and blue, as if someone had punched her right above her navel.
His fingers curled into fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth as though any more pressure might shatter them, as he tried to curb his anger. He realised it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to keep his emotions in check whenever it came to this woman who lay before him.
Eve, who felt his suffocating aura again and knew that he was struggling to contain his rage. She wondered, how could he be so affected by her injury, or was it something else? She was about to lift her arm off her face to look at him when she suddenly felt him brush his fingers on her bruise lightly, making her heart skip a beat.
She then heard him ask in a low and careful voice, "Does it hurt when I touch it?"
"No," she whispered faintly.
Silence fell between them once again, and she felt him move slowly, as though he was picking something, before he settled beside her. Yet she didn’t dare to remove her arm to look at him.
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Soon she heard the sound of a lid being removed, followed by the cool sensation of gel as his fingers gently glided it over her skin. Yet, despite the soothing cool touch, every glide of his fingers over her bruise felt like fire against her skin. When he was done, he leaned over and blew softly across her stomach, sending a familiar shiver down her spine. A soft gasp escaped her lips as heat pooled low in her belly. She silently wished he hadn’t noticed her reaction, but he did. His intense gaze took in every subtle reaction and savoured it.
Once done, he lifted his head from her stomach and drew closer to her face, where she still refused to uncover her eyes. So he hovered above her and commanded in a deep, low voice, "Remove your arm from your face, Eve."
She bit her lower lip in order to stop any sound from her mistakenly slipping out while he was so close to her. The small action drew Ivan’s eyes there, and he whispered, "Is this your way of telling me that you won’t listen to me unless I kiss those lovely lips of yours?"
Eve’s eyes flew wide open at his shameless words, and she quickly removed her arm from her eyes, staring at him in disbelief, "What?!"
A wicked smile curved on his extremely gorgeous face, momentarily spellbinding her. ’Gods, this devil is out to kill me with his face alone.’
Her heart did a wild leap when he leaned in closer, his voice low and sinful as he teased, "What is it...my Eve?" Reminding her of their moment back in the cave, heat rushed from her cheeks to her roots. She knew by now she must positively resemble a boiled lobster.
As her lips trembled, his intense gaze traveled to her lips, and he continued, "If you don’t answer, I’ll take that as a yes."
Her wide blue eyes flickered from his eyes to his lips, and instantly she felt her throat go dry. She felt so parched and knew that her thirst wasn’t for water, so she unintentionally licked her lips.
When she remained silent, he leaned closer and took hold of her chin and pinched it lightly. "Ah.." A soft sound slipped from her lips, almost like a moan, and she felt mortified that such a simple touch from him could elicit that reaction. On the other hand, Ivan’s eyes darkened with desire at the sound, and his mind was instantly consumed with the thought of what other kinds of sounds he might be able to draw from her.
"It seems you really want me to, don’t you, Eve?" Though he asked it as a question, his tone made it clear he already knew the answer.
She swallowed hard and was about to deny it, but he cut her off smoothly, "Unfortunately, you may not get what you desire, since you’ve been bad and went ahead to get yourself injured again."
And as if the spell broke, she snapped, "What?"
"Hm, and bad girls don’t get rewarded ... they get punished," he said, pinching her chin a little harder.
"Ah!" Another involuntary moan escaped her lips, and his smile widened.
He dipped his head until his mouth hovered by her ear, letting his hot breath brush against her shell, making her toes curl.
"But don’t worry," he whispered, his voice laced with sinful promise. "You’ll get your due punishment once you recover."
Before she could respond, his teeth caught her ear in a teasing bite. "Mm!" Another soft sound slipped her lips, only for her to feel his tongue glide over the tender spot he’d bitten, sending a shiver down her spine. Trembling, she couldn’t help but clutch on to his robe.
It excited Ivan to see her so responsive to his tender touch, and he trailed his nose from her ear down to the curve of her delicate neck as he took a lungful of her unique scent.
Eve felt as though her body was set aflame, as her desires for him were growing to the point she felt it becoming its own kind of torture not to give in. Her lips parted to let out another sigh when she felt his lips softly brush against the sensitive skin of her neck, and she loosened her grip on his robe. She ran her right hand on his sculpted, exposed chest, pausing when she felt his heart racing beneath her palm.
A low rumble erupted from his chest in approval when he felt her bold hand come in contact with his bare chest. The sound only turned her on more, along with the fact that she was able to make such a fearsome man’s heart race so fast.
In response, he opened his mouth against her neck, capturing the tender flesh between his lips and sucked deeply.
"Ivan!" she gasped, her voice trembling with both surprise and need.
He released her skin, letting his tongue glide over it to soothe the mark before dragging his hot tongue all the way up to her ear. She let out another soft moan, which was music to his ears. He whispered, "Tell me, Eve...did you miss me?"
Her hands slid from his chest to his broad shoulder, and she dug her nails in response. But when she remained silent, he lifted his head to study her face and found her expression utterly undone. Her unfocused, hooded eyes stared at him, her lips parted, as shallow breaths escaped between them.
He brushed his thumb over her lower lip and demanded, "Answer me."
And as if spellbound by him, she finally gave him a single nod.
"Use these pretty lips of yours," he breathed against them.
She was about to answer, but then suddenly remembered why she had ended up in all that mess in the first place. So, as always, she countered with a question, "Did you?"
His gaze burned into her eyes as his hand slid from her chin to her cheek, till he weaved his fingers through her beautiful brown locks. He let out a low, sexy chuckle, making her heart do a somersault, "Always answering my question with another question, aren’t you?"
Mirth danced in his eyes, and she replied breathlessly, "Aren’t you doing the same right now?"
A devilish smile bloomed on his handsome face, "Hm.."
When he didn’t say anything more, feeling a little bolder, she asked again, "Did you, then?"
