Leaning against Gavriel's shoulders, Evie was trying to suppress her little hiccupping spell as well as trying her best to stop her tears, knowing that Gavriel would be concerned as well if she cried too long. His gentle caresses soothed her and soon enough, under his gentle coaxing and ministrations, she was able to control her emotions and calm her outward expressions of distress. He was right, he is here with her now, safe, and stronger than that younger boy that he was in the past. She reminded herself that this was the most important thing to her for now.

Evie just continued to hang onto Gavriel, quietly hugging him, her arms wrapped tightly around his midsection and hands fisted into his clothes, breathing in deeply and taking in his masculine scent that she loved and feeling this incredible emotion of wanting to be always by his side, if possible, from now on, no matter what happens. She would never let him face and fight his battles – emotional or physical – all alone ever again.

After a long while, Gavriel finally brought her out of their room, holding onto her securely in his arms. Evie used to feel shy when she gets carried around by Gavriel previously. However, this time, she relished in the actions, knowing it was one of the many ways her husband is showing her how much he cares for her, how he is pampering her and at the same time also meeting his own need to keep her close to him.

Even though all that Gavriel wanted was to be able to stay in bed with her all day and all night, he decided that they had to leave the bed because he was worried he would continuously make love to her again if they prolonged their intimate cuddling. Gavriel could tell that his desire for her was nowhere near fully sated at all despite already going at it for two times in a row. And no matter how much he tried to scold himself to fight for self-control, Gavriel could feel that he would surely lose the battle sooner rather than later if they remain lounging about in the bed! Gods, he had somehow guessed that this could have happened, but he could barely believe that his desire for her was far worse than he ever imagined possible. He actually wanted to make love to her the entire day too. And he knew he would do just that if he did not do something else right now!

Gladly, he quickly thought of his wife's need for food. She would definitely be more than ready to have breakfast and he immediately moved and helped her dress and brought her to the dining hall.

"Is it just my overactive imagination… or is the castle really empty this time?" Evie asked as Gavriel put her down and pulled the chair out for her to sit.

"Well," Gavriel seemed to concentrate a little and spread out his senses for a while, "it seems everyone had indeed left after setting up the food." Came his reply after a few seconds of silence.

Evie blinked at his comment before she narrowed her eyes at Gavriel. "Did you send everyone away?" she asked suspiciously.

"Hmm… oh, it seemed they finally took my words seriously last night." Gavriel observed casually with a shrug of his broad shoulder. Evie saw how he reacted and did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Because what he said had immediately made Evie remember the extremely embarrassing moment they had encountered in the garden and she flushed a deep red while Gavriel sighed after seeing her reactions, then smiling, and shaking his head. "Those guys…" he muttered as he sat next to Evie.

"You mean, there's no one else inside this castle now but just the two of us?" Evie asked again, her eyes going large.

Gavriel nodded, smiling, as he put bits of food on her plate. He was acting as if it were a common occurrence to clear out an entire castle full of people just for a couple to frolic around in fun? Evie honestly did not know if she should feel honoured or appalled.

"Why? Are you worried, my love?" his voice became wickedly smooth and his eyes gleamed seductively, "As things stand, now I am free to make love to you anywhere and everywhere inside the castle since there's no one else who could see or disturb us…" Gavriel suddenly trailed off as if a realization had just popped into his head.

While Evie was blushing red and speechless, Gavriel ran his fingers through his hair and focused his gaze on the food before him. Damn! Now that he had said it, creative juices started flowing in that naughty mind of his. And now the fire that had previously died down to a tiny little flame was being ignited into a blaze once again! What kind of timing was this? He could only facepalm himself within his mind.

"Of… of course not." He heard her say and his eyes widened as his gaze flew towards her. My god! Was this little wife of his provoking him? Here he was trying so hard to stay in control, telling himself again and again about their differences in strength and stamina. And most importantly, he kept reminding himself that she is still a human – and a fragile one at that – and he is a vampire – as purebred as it could possibly get – and also such a savage one too. And yet, here she was giving him this kind of response … may the gods help him!

"My wife…" he drew a stabling breath as his voice became a little more serious, "I think you should refrain from your seductions right now. Or else I wouldn't be able to give you any rest." He felt that maybe he should give her some warning just in case she did not know what her words and actions were doing to him.