Chapter 199: Blood On The Thorn
Madeline’s breath hitched in her throat when he cornered her to the table. Her eyes sprang open in obvious bashfulness as he kept leaning forward, and Madeline, out of her own impulse, leaned back against the table with her forearm resting on it, her fingers grabbing the edge, and as though he sensed it, he took hold of her left hand, grabbing it by the wrist, and his gaze shifted to the delicate finger he just treated with ointment.
"Do you enjoy hurting yourself? Tch!" Cassian bit his tongue before he could say anything else that would make her feel uncomfortable.
He could see she was flustered, and then Amade’s words returned to his head, reminding him not to pressure Madeline into accepting his feelings, but then, he wished she would behave the exact way she did in his dream, maybe then, he would be more bold enough to confess his feelings without thinking of the odds.
Who knew a day like this would come when he acted like a coward.
Sighing disappointedly at himself, he released her hand and stopped looming over her as he pulled back. When the distance between them gradually expanded, Madeline could finally breathe, but her mind and heart raced as she pondered on his word, the seriousness in his tone, the silent longing that reflected in his Amber-brown eyes, what did all of that mean?
Her gaze shifted to the handsome lad as he placed both his hands at the edge of the table, his eyes fixed on the flower vase.
"I don’t want you to feel indebted to me." His tone turned soft, but Madeline could tell he was holding back a lot more emotion than what he was disclosing. "I’m doing this because I want to, so don’t remind me of how much you want to repay me for it, just... stay by my side, that is enough for me."
"Cassian..."
"Here we go." The change in his tone made Madeline keep quiet, and she figured he was referring to the flower vase as his eyes closely inspected it. "The dried stem, it has a drop of your blood on it." Cassian concluded, wanting to change the subject, and Madeline’s eyes widened at his analysis.