Evie's eyes flew wide at Gavriel's statement as her cold cheeks suddenly burned hot. She could not quite respond to that and was stunned to her core. And before Evie could say a word, Gavriel reached out and began undoing the front fastenings of her gown.

Her heartbeat quickened, and the blood very quickly heated up in the veins she thought were frozen.

When his fingers moved rapidly to free the row of buttons, Evie felt like her heart was going to burst. And yet, no objections came tumbling out of her lips. She was still shivering with cold, and she felt like her toes had gone numb. Maybe, at that moment, her brain had gone numb as well due to the cold and was the only explanation why it was not screaming at her with its endless protests anymore.

Gavriel's hands paused before looking into her face, regarding her thoughtfully for a moment before finally freeing the last button. Something gleamed in his eyes as her gown loosened but when her shoulders shivered even harder, something seemed to have hit him, and he resumed his task with careful haste.

He felt her frail hands clutch at him for balance as he pushed the loosened gown down over her hips.

And then, he leaned down to remove her shoes.

Evie looked down, barely realizing that she was standing over him only in her undergarments. Her gaze locked on the tussled dark hair that looked thick and soft while allowing him to remove her remaining shoe.

The next moment, she felt his hand moving under her chemise and her frozen nerves seemed to have jolted awake. Her eyes were large circles as she stayed motionless while looking down at him. Even her breath seemed to have hitched and got caught in her chest.

When she felt his fingers touch the garter cinched around her thighs, her pulse raced so hard she began to feel slightly dizzy. The brush of his fingers against her skin sent a hot ripple through her and she shuddered as her breath rattled out – it was as if his fingers were the triggers to the latch that was keeping the air imprisoned in her lungs.

The thing that hit her the hardest was when Gavriel looked up and their eyes met, she felt like she was going to collapse due to the sudden weakness she felt from his earlier ministrations and those pair of deep seductive eyes.

"I'm taking off your stockings, wife." He spoke. Those words seemed to be a normal warning, but his voice resonated in her ears deeper and huskier than usual. It was all she could do to just hold herself up, much less respond physically or verbally.

He rolled it down, efficiently and carefully and… maddeningly slow, Evie's hand suddenly fell on his dark hair, clutching it.

Gavriel immediately stiffened. His eyes dilated and glimmered so vividly like the eyes of a predator ready to pounce on its prey as a strong and fierce and hot tension charged like a lightning bolt seemed to be running between them.

Warning bells ringing at the back of her head, Evie quickly yanked her hand from his thick silky hair and crossed her arms across her front, subtly feeling the gooseflesh that had spread and covered her skin.

His gaze fell and the tension seemed to break. "Take your bath now, wife. The water will warm you." He managed to say and when he stood, she realized he had already finished removing her stockings. "You can manage now, right? Or should I…" he lifted his hand as if attempting to take her chemise off.