His hand moved to her hip gripping lightly but with force around it, he paused the kiss just to take a breath as he met her lips once again hearing Roselyn's moan to complain for the lack of contact. He smiled, locking his lips with hers once again. This time the kiss was more hasty and repetitious as he was tasting every inch of her lips. Their tongues caressed each other, and a covetous chase followed.

It was better than she imagined. She felt like heaven, still unsure of the moment she was living, whether it was a dream. She smiled when he took back, but when opening her eyes, she noticed he was doing the same.

"Am I dreaming?" She asked, they both laughed.

He stood up and took her up, carrying her.

"I can walk," Roselyn complained, but he shook his head.

He ran toward home, and after some minutes they were standing in front of the door. Before opening the door, he waited for her to catch her breath back.

As he kept carrying her body with a strong kick, he opened the door of his castle. All his servants arrived, followed by his guards.

He walked, rushed toward her room, and gently leaned her body on her bed.

"Someone call the best doctors!" He yelled, making some maids jolt before proceeding to follow his order.

"Keep her down and bring her all the food we have." He commanded once again, few more maids left the room to follow his orders.

"I'm fine, don't worry," she murmured out, and he offered a gentle smile, then turn around and frowned, looking at his immobilized servants. "HURRY!"

After some seconds all food was brought to her room and few maids watched her monitoring each movement she took. They were helping her to eat and to drink as if she was seriously injured. Carrying her dish and her glass so all she had to do was put the food in her mouth.

Jake arrived after some minutes. He was dirty with soil. His slow walk paused in front of John. His facial expression was miserable and disappointed.

"Have you found him?" John asked him but Jake remained silent for some seconds.

"No, I haven't." He replied, his eyes glanced down the floor.

A groan escaped from John's lips as he clenched his fists.

"I am sorry." His loyal friend took a deep breath. "I promise, we will find him."

John's eyes darted toward Roselyn's direction, staring at her, smiling at the blond maid and eating the food. He loved to see her cheeks easily blush for the minimal thing. She looked so fragile, innocent in her shyness, yet her personality was so strong and determined.

It was hard to admit to himself that he was catching feelings for her. He never felt such a strong feeling for someone besides himself, and deep down he was scared for the way he felt around her. His vulnerability scared him. He knew what happened to the few people he cared about; they ended up hurt either by him or by someone else who involved them purposely to hurt him.

He didn't want the same thing to happen to Roselyn.

***

"Now tell me what happened!" The blond maid asked as soon as she remained alone with the lady as the other maids brought food away.

"He kissed me and said that if something happened to me, he would die." A cheerful smile lightened Roselyn's face.

The maid's eyebrows frowned down. She took few seconds to assimilate the lady's statement and then shook her head. "You must have dropped on your head." She commented. The lady rolled her eyes as a response.

Was that so hard to imagine?

"Oh, you're serious." The maid said noticing Roselyn's serious gaze. Her voice was still confused, probably not fully believing what she heard.

"He kissed me," Roselyn repeated, empathizing with each word. A thrill ran through her spine, as she could still feel his lips on hers and the way he held her neck with his hand.

"You don't have to tell it to anyone." The blond maid suggested with a worried tone of voice.

The lady looked at her puzzled, who could she tell it to? She talked to nobody besides her there.

"Rose..."

Both the girls turned around, hearing John's voice.

"Leave us alone." He said gesturing to the maid who walked away.

Roselyn wanted to tell him she could stay since she knew more than he imagined and she was a loyal friend to her instead she remained silent. She knew how important it was for him to follow the rules.

"I owe you an explanation." He said, clearing his voice right after, as he sounded quite raspy.

"Oh..." Roselyn nodded, as she already imagined him to apologize for the kiss or claim he didn't want to do it.

But the words that left his mouth were completely unexpected, "the creature who kidnapped you was the murder of my dad."

Roselyn's jaw dropped, as that was the last thing she imagined hearing. His confession left her speechless.

"I am looking for him since the day my father died. There is something you remember that may help my researches?" He asked, caressing her cheeks and smiling gently at her.

She closed her eyes, picturing the scene she lived, as she kept focusing she could hear the smells of the forest, and her vision became clear in front of her. It was like she was still there.

"All I can see is his red eyes." She murmured as she kept focusing.

When suddenly a shadow appeared on the ground, she didn't remember having seen his shadow earlier. She glanced up when she felt a firm grip around her neck. She jolted and a bruise forming on her neck.

"Roselyn!" She could hear John's call fading as the grip tightened.

"You're back Roselyn." A voice murmured. The calm wind brushed the branches of the tree.

"Roselyn, don't get stuck there!" Another shout came out of his lips, his voice was angry and sad.. He shook her from her shoulders as the bruise around her neck became more livid.