Spellbound

CHAPTER 4 - JOURNEY

"No one's allowed to hurt you, not even me. You have nothing to be scared about," he added gently and before Evie realized it, as though he had cast a bewitching spell on her, she obeyed.
He shifted and made room for her and then she found herself half lying on him with her back to his chest and his arm wrapped around her, holding her, keeping her tucked against him as the carriage lurched forward. It seemed her fatigue and dizziness had given her away because of how little resistance she had against his irresistible offer of comfort. The back of her head settled on his solid and hard chest, which suddenly felt like a cushion, as she relaxed comfortably.

This was the first time she had experienced anything like this. She had never let any man hold her this way before. She found it overwhelming because, even in her lightheaded state, her body reacted in a strange way as he held her. And the most surprising thing was she didn't hate it. She had thought she would despise any physical closeness with a vampire so this was surprising.

However, she brushed it off. She thought that she was feeling this way because of the strange situation she was in. She was perhaps just really exhausted.

"You are… warm…" she muttered in a sleepy voice, her eyes already closed. "I thought… vampires are cold."

"I am the only exception," he answered and she forced her heavy eyelids to open.

An amused smile curved on his lips as he watched her forcing herself to open her eyes, struggling to fight her dizziness. "What do you –"

"Hush…" His finger almost landed on her lips. "Sleep. One day, I might tell you," he whispered and Evie could no longer fight the call of the god of sleep and finally succumbed to its irresistible invitation.

…

When Evie opened her eyes again, daylight was already peeking through the horizon. She blinked groggily and then a second later, realized that she was lying in someone's embrace.

Twisting, she glanced up and a gorgeous face greeted her good morning. Her eyes circled at the sight of the man and almost immediately, she pushed herself away from him so hard that her back hit the wall on the other side of the carriage.

Deep lines formed on the man's smooth forehead, but, "Good morning, Evielyn," he greeted still. He seemed displeased by her reaction. Despite his expression, Evie couldn't help but just stare at him. His legs were still parted, one resting on top of the seat and the other hanging down to the floor. Evie knew that he was in that position because he had cradled her in her sleep. And more importantly, he was… oh god… Gavriel, her vampire husband, in daylight was a sight to behold - not that he wasn't already - but unlike his angel of the darkness appearance last night, he now looked approachable and almost harmless. It was as if the daylight had turned him into the angel of light or something. Evie could even stare at him longer now without flinching.

She shut her eyes and then blinked quickly, as if she was trying to wake herself up from having a hallucination, but when she looked at him again, her shoulders dropped, disappointed that she wasn't hallucinating at all. Evie couldn't help but feel this uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. This was not supposed to happen. She was not supposed to be admiring any vampire's beauty. She was supposed to despise them all.

"Good morning, Your… I mean… G-gavriel," Evie struggled to respond calmly.

"We'll stay in this inn until you're ready to continue the journey," he said as he opened the carriage door and then he jumped down and stretched out his hand towards her.

Hesitantly, Evie put her hand on his and he gently helped her down. Since the moment he had held her hand at the altar, this man, she noticed, always held onto her with an almost exaggerated gentleness - something she never, ever expected from her vampire husband.