As Evie became more alert waking up, she realised she felt the slightly cooler air waft across her bare skin refreshingly, helping her to clear the vestiges of cobwebs from her brain. Then Evie's lips suddenly parted in shocked surprise the moment she realized she was already naked. Her face became red and her first reaction was to roll away and bury her face into the pillow, and hopefully perhaps bury her body under the covers as well. However, as luck would have had it, Gavriel had too firm a hold on her. Thus, preventing her from moving much anywhere other than a couple inches to her left or right.

Gavriel stilled for a moment but when he realized that she was just embarrassed, Gavriel loomed over her and his mouth moved towards the back of her ear. "Why still so shy my love?" he whispered in a husky voice. He barely held back the chuckle that was threatening to rumble out of his chest. This lovely wife of his was surely an entertaining little thing.

Evie made an adorable whimper and she turned her head to look back at him. "Y-you surprised me…" Evie's voice died down. That was because the face she saw the moment she turned to look back was not his usual mischievous and wickedly seductive face. What she was staring at was a face that was dark and cold as ice, and it gave her the shudders.

The warm temperature suddenly seemed to became incredibly chilly. What could have caused the sudden change?

Curious and a little alarmed, Evie was about to rise when Gavriel's cold voice echoed. "Who did this?" he asked and Evie could hear the rising anger in his voice. No, his anger was already over the top. His bright eyes were already filled with rage.

Blinking, Evie slowly sat up and faced him. Her long hair had draped over to covered her breasts. "W-what are you –"

"You said you weren't hurt, Evie!" his voice became loud and there was a tone of censure in it. Evie finally realize what he had seen.

"Tell me. Who did this? Is it Lorcan?" he hissed, his jaws and muscles working because of his anger. "I'll kill him!" he declared in rage and he turned to climb off the bed when Evie quickly hugged him from behind, stopping him immediately.

"Gavriel, this is just a small bruise. It's just a very minor injury. My skin easily gets hurt and that's why I always get bruises even if the impact isn't actually that hard." Evie rushed to give her explanation, hoping to diffuse his anger.

Gavriel inhaled deeply. "Evie…" he called her name in a firm and controlled voice. If she was the old Evie, she would be flinching by now. But she was not the old Evie anymore. "I don't care if it's just a bruise I –"

"Trust me, this is only very minor. I got this by bumping against the door right before Leon and I escaped." Evie explained, persistently tightening her grip around his waist. She did not want him to run off on a crusade because for some minor reason, and might end up really killing the emperor. She would not want him to act out in anger. And besides, she was truly fine. Her bruise was nothing serious at all. "Don't worry okay? This will definitely disappear on its own in a couple of days. I promise, it's not really a big deal. I was such a clumsy idiot and -"

"You are never an idiot!" his voicr hardened and Evie nearly smiled, seeing that he hated that she had called herself an idiot.

"I always fall and got bruises for no reason at all back home too, you know? That's why this is really nothing to me." Evie tried her best to coax him and when her words did not seem to be working this time, Evie's mouth suddenly landed on his spine.

Gavriel stiffened as if a deadly electricity just ran down his spine. She continued trailing kisses upwards until she reached the back of his neck. He was so shocked at what his wife was doing that he had even forgotten to breathe.

"Are you going to leave? I thought…" she whispered in his ear, letting her warm breath touch the sensitive parts, "y-you told me to prepare myself the moment you wake up." Evie knew that if she used this method, it would be a sure fire way to distract him from whatever he was focussed on at the moment. And she was a hundred percent on the money.

A helpless groan left Gavriel's throat and then he cursed up a colourful storm.

"F*ck Evie!" he turned and the next moment Evie was on his lap and he was on her, attacking her mouth as though there were no tomorrows.

Without any hesitation, Evie kissed him back, as wild as he gave. Then she opened her mouth, welcoming his warm and slick tongue as her fingers tugged hard at his dark hair, pulling him towards her. Her intensity surprised him – but it was a happy and thrilled kind of surprise. When Gavriel tried to pull his tongue out of her mouth, Evie drew it back into her mouth with an awkward suction movement.

A low and deep sound of surprise vibrated in Gavriel's throat. And what she did was the last strike that took down all other thoughts and emotions that was holding him back. All that was left now was her, his inexplicable desire for her and his love for her. Nothing else. His world was now just concentrated on them.

After the blazing kiss, Gavriel laid on the bed again. He turned Evie so she would be facing away from him. Then he started trailing kisses down her back. His lips lightly kissing the bruise on her back, as if trying to kiss away every little pain.

Moments later, they lay spooned together with Evie's hips tucked against him. Gavriel wrapped his arms around her as if he were protecting her.

He reached down and caressed her legs in a soothing manner all the while kissing her back. When he parted her thighs, Evie's eyes widened as she felt the pressure of the head of his sex against her entrance.

"Your back is bruised, love… so let me love you this way, okay?" he whispered.