When their lips parted, Eliana's chest rose and fell quickly, each breath mingling with his. She tried to shift, to move away, but Sebastian's hold on her waist was firm, unyielding.
"Sebastian… something's… p-poking me," she stammered, her face burning red. Her small hands pressed against him, trying to create even the slightest distance.
For a brief moment, he froze, his eyes dark with curiosity and something unreadable. But Eliana wasn't waiting to find out. She pushed lightly, enough to slip from under his hold.
When she finally slipped from his hold, Eliana didn't stop to look back. She hurried into the bathroom and shut the door, twisting the lock with trembling fingers.
The shower ran longer than necessary. Steam filled the small space as warm water streamed down her skin, but it wasn't the heat she was trying to calm — it was her racing thoughts.
Her lips still tingled.
Her waist still remembered his grip.
She pressed her palm against her chest, willing her heartbeat to slow.
After a while, she turned the water off and changed into something comfortable. When she stepped back into the bedroom, the room was quiet. Too quiet.
He was gone.
A breath she didn't know she'd been holding slipped from her lips. She walked to the bed and sat down, staring at the sheets, replaying everything in her mind — the way he had looked at her, the way his voice had softened for just a second.
Her fingers brushed her lips unconsciously.
Then—
The door clicked open.
Her heart jumped straight into her throat.
Without thinking, she quickly lay down and shut her eyes, turning slightly to the side as if already asleep. She forced her breathing to even out, hands resting neatly over the blanket.
Slow. Calm. Normal.
Footsteps.
Unhurried. Controlled.
Sebastian stopped beside the bed. She could feel him there even without looking — his presence heavy and warm in the air.
He didn't speak.
He didn't move for a few seconds.
But he listened.
If there was one thing she had forgotten, it was that he wasn't human.
He could hear the way her heart was pounding far too fast for someone "asleep."
A faint smile curved at the corner of his lips.
He stepped closer deliberately.
Eliana felt the mattress dip slightly as he leaned in. Her entire body went stiff, but she forced herself not to react.
A strand of hair fell across her face. Slowly, carefully, he reached out and tucked it behind her ear.
Her pulse spiked.
Then suddenly—
He pinched her nose.
Her body instinctively reacted, but she stubbornly kept her eyes shut, refusing to give herself away.
A quiet chuckle escaped him.
He knew.
Of course he knew.
"Sleep well, Eliana," he murmured softly, amusement threading through his voice.
And instead of exposing her, instead of teasing her further, he simply straightened, walked to his side of the bed, and turned his back to her.
The room fell silent again.
But this silence felt different.
Safer.
Charged.
And as Eliana slowly relaxed, still pretending, she realized something that made her cheeks warm in the dark—
He had known all along.
And he had chosen to let her keep her pride.