Chapter 520
The hallway was brightly lit. The girl’s silky black hair cascaded over her shoulders, accentuating her luminous, radiant skin. The flush of crimson on her cheeks was especially dazzling.
Rowan’s breathing grew heavy, a dark surge of lust pooling in his eyes. But, not wanting to scare her off on her first night, he kept his voice deliberately casual. “Maybe it’s a coincidence?”
“Oh.”
Elissa knew it had to be a coincidence.
He wasn’t psychic; there was no way he could have predicted which set she would grab.
Downstairs, Mrs. Garrett and the staff had all gone to sleep. Ian and the others were hanging out in the basement rec room.
Because of that, the entire house was completely silent.
It was so silent that being stared at by the man in front of her suddenly made Elissa incredibly nervous. She gripped the doorknob tightly. “I-I’m going to sleep now.” “Yeah, go ahead.”
The man’s response was low and steady, entirely devoid of hidden intent.
Feeling like she had just been granted a pardon, Elissa twisted the knob and darted into her room.
Watching her act like a startled deer, Rowan stared at the tightly closed door, the harsh lines of his face softening into a faint, tender smile.
She hadn’t been this terrified of him in the past.
Who was the one who used to sprint into his bedroom in the dead of night, clutching a stuffed animal every time there was a thunderstorm?
Perhaps he manifested it, but just as Elissa fell into a deep sleep, a massive crack of thunder jolted her awake, sending her heart hammering in her chest.
Outside the window, a rare, torrential autumn downpour was raging. Thunder boomed, and lightning occasionally sliced through the sliver of space between the curtains.
Trembling, Elissa pressed a hand against her chest while her other hand fumbled out of the blankets to flick on the lamp.
Warm light flooded the room.
Staring at the familiar objects from her childhood, the tight, panicked knot in her chest slowly began to loosen.
After all these years.
She was twenty-five years old, and she was still terrified of thunderstorms.
Memories from her childhood suddenly flooded her mind. She found herself instinctively trying to remember which floor and which room Rowan slept in. Could she still run to him for comfort, just like she did when she was little?
But she had way too much pride for that now. She absolutely wasn’t going to go. She sat propped up against the headboard for a moment before kicking off the blankets.
She was thirsty.
She would just go get a glass of water and come back to bed.
However, the moment she pulled her door open, still groggy from sleep, she saw the man ‘coincidentally’ walking past her room.
Before she could even speak, he turned to look at her, a mixture of helplessness and deep affection in his eyes. “Still scared of storms?”
“Yeah.”
Elissa nodded.
Even though she wasn’t as terrified as when she was a kid, it still messed with her sleep.
Rowan ruffled her hair and pressed a warm glass of milk into her hands. “Drink this. It’ll help you sleep.”
Elissa froze.
He…
He wasn’t just walking by.
He knew she was afraid of the thunder, and he knew she always wanted a drink
when she woke up in the middle of the night.
So, he had warmed up a glass of milk and waited for her.
Elissa took a sip, and the warmth spread down her throat, settling into her bones. Her entire body relaxed.
She looked up at the man beside her and finally voiced the thought that had been lingering in her mind. “Can you sleep with me tonight?”
She had clearly just woken up. The collar of her pajamas hung slightly askew, revealing the delicate, elegant line offer collarbone.
of milkclung to her soft, pink lips, making her look incredibly innocent and sweet.
The man’s throat bobbed. A raging fire ignited in his dark eyes. “Are you… sure about that?”
Elissa was still a little sleep-addled and didn’t catch his underlying meaning. “Is there something to think about?”
He was the father of her baby.
Sleeping in the same bed was perfectly normal.
“Yeah.”
Rowan suddenly leaned down and pulled her tightly into his arms. “Little Nine is right,” he said, his voice husky. “There’s no need to think about it.”
They had always been meant to be together.
Living together, eating together, sleeping together.
Rowan had never imagined that something as simple and mundane as this could fill
his chest with such overwhelming, suffocating happiness.
It was so full it felt like it was going to burst.
Breathing in his familiar, intoxicating scent, Elissa realized she wasn’t afraid of the
booming thunder outside anymore.
His embrace…
Had always been her ultimate safe haven.
“Mmh…”
Elissa sat on the edge of the bed and finished the milk. The exact moment his large hand took the empty glass from her his mouth came crashing down on hers.”