As he heard her, for a mont his molten red eyes remained locked with hers; he then parted his lips to answer her. But before he could utter a word, his head snapped to the entrance of the cave, as if he heard sothing.
Eve frowned at Ivan’s sudden action, and she began, "What ha-" But she was abruptly cut off as Ivan pressed his hand gently over her lips. His own brows drew together as he listened intently, then he turned his head back to her, eting her questioning deep blue eyes. His eyes drifted lower, taking in the disheveled state of her attire. He then leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "Get dressed...looks like we have company."
Eve’s heart began to pick up pace at his words as her wide eyes stared at him. Ivan slowly removed his hand from her mouth and lifted a finger to his lips in order to indicate that she still couldn’t speak, to which she gave him a nod in understanding.
When she peered down, her expression twisted into pure mortification at the sight of her bra exposed, revealing the upper swelling of her breast, her white shirt wet and slipping off her shoulder, hanging loose almost to her waist, and worse, the damp fabric had turned nearly transparent. Her cheeks sung in realisation that she had been sitting in front of Ivan like this all along, blissfully unaware.
She imdiately beca aware of his intense gaze. Looking up, she found him watching her in silence, his burning eyes roaming willfully from her sorry state of attire to her flushed face. Amusent glead in his eyes as he arched one elegant brow at her and his lips curled into a slow, devilish smile.
She quickly pulled away from his hold and turned around, pressing her lips together so she wouldn’t accidentally make a sound. ’Shaless! Couldn’t he look away instead of shalessly staring at ?’
As she hastily buttoned up her shirt, she noticed that she wasn’t feeling the throbbing pain she had earlier. Glancing at her shoulder, she saw there was an angry red scar. It hadn’t healed completely, considering how deep the wound had been, but it had closed over with a thin layer of skin, instead of remaining as an open wound. ’So, he was telling the truth...vampires can close the wounds.’
Before relief could settle in, an unwelcoming image of him pressing his lips to another woman’s neck, with his fangs sinking into her skin, seared in her mind. The thought made her scowl, as her chest tightened at the ntal image.
She shook her head lightly as she tried to get rid of the unnecessary thoughts clouding her mind and focused on fixing her attire. By then, Ivan had already moved to the entrance of the cave, standing tall and still. His eyes were closed in concentration on what was outside.
Eve slipped on her damp coat and walked up to him quietly. The second she stopped behind him, he opened his eyes and turned to face her. His brows were knitted together, and she mouthed silently, "How many?" Understanding well that Ivan wouldn’t so much as blink if it were just so students... or even a dozen beasts.
He pulled her by the arm, letting her body crash into him, and leaned close to her ear to whisper, "I’ll have to leave you here for a while, Eve."
Her heart lurched at the thought of being left behind. That old, familiar fear of abandonnt pricked sharply at her chest, and she whispered back, almost desperately, "No! I am coming with you."
Ivan was taken aback by her quick refusal, especially since he hadn’t even told her what was waiting for them beyond the boulder. Hearing her anxious pulse, he lowered his voice and murmured, "I’ll co back for you. There are too many Eve. I only managed to close your wound, not heal it from inside, you’re still too injured to face them."
She shook her head and grabbed the damp fabric of his uniform, her fingers clutching it tightly, "Please...." she whispered, her eyes searching his. "Please don’t leave here alone. I can fight."
When he remained silent, while studying her anxious face, she pressed on, her voice trembled, yet determined. "Please, I promise I won’t get in your way. I can still fight...just...just let be out there with you...Ivan."
Ivan frowned slightly, wondering why she was reacting so strongly to sothing that seed perfectly logical in his eyes. He knew there were many things about her that he didn’t know. But now that he has claid her as his, he wanted to uncover every secret she carried. That, however, can wait.
Right now, he estimated there were around fifty beasts outside, their size and kind unknown, waiting to pounce at them the mont they stepped out. Ivan could handle them alone, but the problem was leaving her unguarded when she was already injured. Taking her out would be like throwing her straight into the jaws of the beasts, yet leaving her behind ant risking her being cornered if they managed to break in. He could already hear their restlessness growing outside.
But then another thought struck him: Why had they suddenly gathered like this? Did they sll them? Even if that were the case, it was unlikely for them to linger and wait when there were other students out there, let alone gather in such large numbers. Was it because they slled her blood? That was a possibility, yet he rembered how those wolves had targeted her earlier, even when she wasn’t injured. Their attention had been uncharacteristically drawn to her even without the scent of her blood. Then... just what else could it be?
As Ivan was lost in his thoughts and remained silent, Eve was beginning to turn into a nervous wreck. She lifted her hand and gently touched his cheek, trying to draw his attention back to her. Ivan, noticing how unusually cold her hand felt, shifted his focus back to her and saw that she was waiting for him to respond.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and as he did, his eyes snapped open. He grabbed her hand that rested on his cheek, startling Eve, who got worried that she might have angered him. But what he did next surprised her even more. He pulled her arm, still covered by her damp jacket, close to his nose and inhaled again.
Suddenly, it hit him, the sll was unmistakable of a potion designed to attract the beasts.
Ivan knew such potions weren’t banned in the kingdom, but they were tightly regulated and sold only to the licensed hunters who harvested beasts for dical ingredients and other valuable resources. Eve, however, had no conceivable reason to carry sothing like this. Just to confirm, he leaned close and whispered, "Do you...have a beast-attraction potion with you?"
Eve scowled and shot back, "No! What makes you say that? Besides, even if I did, I am not bitten by a rabid dog to carry sothing so dangerous when we’re practically surrounded by them."
His intelligent eyes studied her for a mont before he suddenly grabbed her other hand and inhaled deeply again. Evelyn could only stare at him in disbelief, her mind racing to keep up with whatever bizarre thing he was doing.
And then, before she could even process it, he leaned down and sniffed around her chest. Her jaws dropped, "Ivan!" she hissed, mortified, her face instantly turning crimson. "What in god’s na are you sniffing around like that for?" She hugged her coat tighter over herself, glaring at him with a mix of horror, embarrassnt, and outrage.
He stopped his track, smirked at her, and pulled her by her waist, "My apologies, you sll so good that I couldn’t stop myself."
Eve was left agape at his shaless response, thinking he must have actually lost his marbles. She pressed her hands against his chest and pushed him slightly, arching her back to put so distance between them. "Wh-What are you..." she flustered, then whispered, "Have you lost your mind?"
Ivan, who was savouring her adorable expression, simply replied, "Maybe.."
Before either of them could say more, a loud guttural growl echoed from outside, making her jump. ’Oh goddess, should I be more wary of the beasts out there or the shaless one standing in front of ?’ she thought to herself.
He broke the mont with a quick command, "Take off your jacket."
"What?" She froze, stunned by his sudden request.
"Take it off now if you want to go out there with ," he said, with a poker face.
"W-why?" Eve asked, genuinely baffled by his request.
This ti, Ivan decided to stop teasing her since they were running out of ti. So he answered honestly, "Because your jacket sleeve has a beast-attraction potion on it. If you keep it, you’ll probably beco their food source. And I’d very much like you alive so we can continue our.."
Before he could finish, Eve quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, her face burning as she shot him a light glare, "I get it! You don’t need to say everything so...so shalessly."
One side of his lips curved into a smile, as mirth danced in his eyes, but she ignored him and said, "I..I can’t though.." She pursed her lips, trying to find the right words, "My shirt is... wet a-and...everyone could see..." She didn’t need to complete the sentence as Ivan understood instantly.
Now it was his turn to scowl at the thought of her in a see-through shirt before other n. He clenched his jaw at the re thought of it and whispered firmly, "You’ll wear my jacket. So take yours off, now." It was a command, and this ti Eve had no trouble following it.
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