SPELLBOUND

Gideon could not seem to react after hearing her statement. He could not believe what he had just heard. Did she even understand what he had been trying to say? This girl. How could she… how could she still smile like this at him? 

It was clear as crystal to him that she was someone broken to the extreme. In fact, right now, she was still bleeding and in pain, filled with cuts and bruises on the inside. Yet she could still smile so dazzlingly and why… why was she looking at him like he was her newfound light? Her eyes that were dull and gloomy previously are now sparkling with some renewed vigour that seemed to have come out of nowhere.

Subconsciously, Gideon clenched a handful of the bedsheets tight in his fists. This cannot be… happening. He was no one's light. Never. In fact, it could be said that he was the exact opposite. What the hell was wrong with this lady? Are her eyes even working right? Was she blind? 

Something so unsettling bloomed within his chest. No, this must not happen… he cannot allow this to go on. Not now… not her…

All of a sudden, the look in his eyes changed again. His fiery blue orbs hardened as if something suddenly quenched the flames and froze them all into cold hard glaciers. The burning flames had transformed into an endless eternal wintry scape.

And in a swift, almost as fluid as a wisp of air, he was looming over her. His strong hands had grabbed onto hers and pinned those frail limbs above her head. 

"What a naïve little red you are," that voice that sounded like the darkest song, echoed in Vera's ears, sending a zing into her heart and itching up a storm, causing Vera's heartbeat to pick up its pace. The blue ice in his eyes seemed to be shooting out icicles uncontrollably as he stared down at her. She was supposed to be scared out of her wits right now but… Vera did not even flinch. On the contrary, she found herself totally mesmerized by him. He was truly a breathtaking dark angel. Was she a twisted girl to desire a man who was clearly oozing with darkness just because he had saved her and embraced her once? Maybe she was… but she realized that she could not even bring herself to care any longer. She would not care. All she knew was that she wanted him. That was all that matters to her now. 

"It seems that someone must teach you a lesson for you to learn how to heed serious warnings, little red." He continued in that low rumbling voice, his face moving ever closer to hers. 

"As long as… that someone is you," she replied, "I wouldn't mind." Vera boldly declared while little shudders intermittently shook her petite frame.

Once again, Gideon looked at her as though he were looking at an odd creature that he had never seen or heard of before. Then he narrowed his eyes at her. "Tell me, red…" his voice came out low and gravelly. For some reason, there was a tinge of anger that coloured his voice. "You do know exactly what I am talking about, don't you?" his jaws clenched as his gaze became more and more intense. "Or are you still a little confused about how things roll from here?" Gideon's narrowed eyes glittered as he double checked with her, wanting to make sure that there was no misunderstanding arising from this.

Vera was no longer innocent regarding this kind of talk. Back home, she often secretly overheard her mother's conversations with her many lovers when she hid herself behind doors or small spaces to keep out of the way. Days before her mother had decided to sell her, her mother had locked her inside her room and made her watch her in secret having sex. That nightmarish night, she had thought her mother was becoming more and more insane that she no longer knew what she was doing and tried to break them both to the extreme degree. She did not know that that was actually her trying to teach Vera on how to please a man. It was not until she found out that her mother was selling her to become a whore that she understood her mother's actions that night. 

She had heard her mother's lover saying the words 'I'll teach you a lesson' and that was how Vera had finally understood and learnt what those words actually meant. Though Vera had never actually watched, as she had just sat there, staring at the floor like a lifeless doll, she certainly heard more than enough to know what went on during matters such as these. 

Therefore, she nodded at Gideon's question – although a little hesitantly – because that was the truth. Vera had no intention to play the little pure and innocent virgin role – though she was still one – but to face it head on and admit that she knew the dynamics of what goes on between a man and a woman when they were together in bed. And his darkness seemed to blaze into an uncontrollable thing that seemed to be alive. 

His one hand moved to her face, cupping her chin as his other hand clasped both her wrists hard. The tinge of anger now had grown very intense and morphed into a full-on flood. 

"Tell me…" the sound of his voice seemed to become even darker, if that was possible, causing Vera to involuntarily hold her breath as goosebumps ran across her skin. "I need you to tell me everything. Every single one of those lessons those damnable men had taught you, little red." he almost growled as he demanded full compliance from Vera. 

Vera blinked at what he had said. She was getting a little nervous because of what seems to be anger which was present in his eyes. But what he just said made her come to a complete halt for a moment. Those men? What did he…

Suddenly, Vera remembered her conversation with Azrael. Could it be because of that 'bed warmer' thing? Could it be that he had assumed she had… and was that the reason why he seemed so outraged?

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