Garden Of Poison

For several seconds, Emily lay there frozen with a stunned expression as she gazed into the darkness while acutely aware of feeling Raylen’s arm holding her as if she were a stuffed toy. "Raylen... Do you know what you are doing?" Emily asked, trying to stay calm even as her body continued to heat up with her cheeks on fire.

"Attempting to sleep but being disturbed by your question?" Raylen’s voice held a questioning tone, blatantly ignoring the fact that they had skipped all the steps.

"No. You are holding me," Emily stated, rolling her eyes.

"I thought it was obvious, Princess. I am holding my wife," Raylen hummed, his voice gradually fading as if he had settled into a comfortable position and was ready to drift off to sleep.

"Raylen!" Emily scolded him, though Raylen found it all the more endearing. "I thought we were going to take little steps."

Raylen could only imagine that Emily was soon going to combust into flames from sheer embarrassment. Given that her soul had almost succumbed to corruption, and as they were not fated soulmates, their bond was yet to fully bridge, even though their true feelings had already begun to surface before he had bitten her to mark her. He wondered how she would react if he were to light a candle just to catch a glimpse of her blushing furiously.

"Little steps?" Raylen asked her with a hint of mischief in his voice. "Unfortunately, I happen to have rather long legs. No matter how small the steps I take are, they inevitably turn into big ones."

Emily was well aware that he was toying with her; the wicked Archdemon enjoyed teasing her nearly as much as her blood! Heat gradually began to spread from him to her, creeping down her legs and making her toes curl.

"And these are small steps," Raylen whispered from behind her.

"How so?" Emily inquired softly, blinking in the darkness. These steps were nothing less than a hurricane started by Raylen, one that wouldn’t stop until he engulfed her completely.