As the sky went darker, the cold night breeze washed over all that was present around.
Closing her eyes, Joanna felt the air beco colder with ti. With ti as well, she felt the embrace that shielded her body tighten, as if not allowing the cold air to intrude inside her.
That was the only thing she had done since the sudden invasion repressed her territory. Standing in silence with her hands gripping either side of her skirt while feeling the heartbeat resonate through her back to be mixed with hers.
His was steady this ti, not like a few monts ago when they were in the sa position but in a different situation. And it was not like hers, which was always unsteady every ti he showed his affection for her.
Why did she stand still, allowing him to tighten his embrace around her? Why did she stay still with his skin pressing against hers, making her able to feel the texture and warmth that she had never perceived well from him before?
Why did she let him give her warmth and let herself lt into it? Why did she not avoid him or push him away like she had done every ti he crossed the boundary she had set?
Joanna wondered and wondered. Was the boundary no longer there? Had the barrier turned into a mist? Or was it because she had considered accepting him and their marriage?
"Shall we go back?"
Her mind, which beca like a tangled ball of thread, was sorted out when the deep voice that she was familiar with was perceived by her senses.
Guilt. Joanna slowly opened her eyes at the answer that she thought to be the most precise to unravel the knot in her mind.
It was supposed to be the guilt that lingered in her heart that she was now there, staying still in his arms.
"Yes," Joanna briefly answered to his inquiry, looking into space in the direction of the garden.
But could she go back to her initial plan? Was it really ti to embrace reality to be Joanna von Rodega? Would she regret it later?
The dream was only a re dream, wasn’t it?
Gradually, as the next sequence of questions twirled into a knot in her mind, the pressure left her body, together with the extra warmth that was provided by Canillas von Rodega, her husband.
Coldness slowly seeped through the front of her body, where the coat was not wrapped properly, and she was jolted when more coldness hit her through her hand, making her completely return from her trance before the knot was disentangled this ti.
Although she wore gloves, the coldness that penetrated from the hand that clasped hers was vividly felt.
Looking up at the man who held her hand, Joanna saw him smile before turning away and leading her to leave the balcony towards the empty hallway where she previously fought him.
During their way there, Joanna brought her gaze from the broad back of the tall man that was adorned in a crisp white shirt towards the big, cold hand that wrapped hers.
Without enough shield to warm his hands and body, he provided warmth to shield her.
Was that dream only a re dream? Joanna asked again in her mind, as if she were in an urge to get the exact answer to the doubt that stubbornly lingered inside her, no matter how much she made her mind believe it as it was.
With her eyes fixated on the bare, sun-kissed hand, Joanna felt her surroundings warr than before, making her belatedly realize that they were already back inside the hall.
As he drew the door closed and locked it, both of her hands were now free. Without spending any seconds, she removed the coat that had given her body warmth and handed it back to the coat’s owner when he turned to face her after locking the door shut.
But the owner of the coat did not take it imdiately. Instead, he just looked at the coat that was simply folded in her hands, which reached out toward him.
"Help ," ca the command that made Joanna stunned after she had waited for him to take and put the coat on so that warmth enveloped his body.
"I want my wife to help wear this," ca the next command that sounded like a demand this ti when she did not respond but only stared at him in bewildernt with her round, doe-like eyes.
Joanna was literally out of words for what she just heard because Canillas had never given her any grim commands since she first t him. He had never shown any audacity to request sothing from her with such an unyielding tone and expression.
However, in her bewildernt, she made a movent, moving closer toward Canillas to carry out the order that was given without any words or complaints.
Canillas watched every movent that was perford by the lady before him, who behaved like an obedient wife, while slipping his hand on one of the sleeves. Discerning her when she walked around behind him, he subsequently slipped his other hand to the other side of the sleeves.
The warmth and scent that were left by her body in the coat were now blanketing him.
As Joanna was back to stand in front of him, he could now see her face clearly. She looked very composed, focusing on fixing the collar of the tailcoat before fastening the buttons one by one with her dainty fingers.
As if intending to make the coat look tidier, she brushed the collar and all the areas around his chest. All were done in a deliberate movent, like a wife who was considerate of her husband.
When Canillas found Joanna done examining the look of his attire, he grabbed her hands, which were about to leave his chest. With Joanna’s hands pinned on his chest, Canillas stared into the hazel eyes that stared back at him, full of bewildernt.
Holding her quizzical gaze in his, he slowly bent over, bringing his face inching toward hers to the distance where both of them could feel each other’s breath that slipped out of their lips.
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