It took a whole day until Lylas returned to the island. During those hours of waiting for him, Alana and Mena explored the island. The two woman, with both hearts in turmoil, had distracted themselves by playing at the beach and trekking the island's mountain.

Alana was in turmoil because she wondered what was taking Lylas so long. While wondering, she also worried for different reasons. One of her worries was how the ghoul couldn't be contained and was stronger than Lylas had bargained and so was giving Lylas a hard time. However, surely Lylas was powerful enough to defeat that ghoul as he did before.

And so this birthed her second worry; the ghoul had hurt Karla and so it was difficult for Lylas to return because he was tending to her friend.

Although Alana was deeply worried about her friend's safety and state, it was a comfort to know Lylas had a healing place set up just for Karla if she ever got hurt. However, even though she comforted herself this way, she had anxiety about him changing his mind once he saw Karla.

Alana's anxiety consisted of this; they've known each other for three years, and during those three years Karla had forged a special place in his heart. If it was so, then once he saw Karla in danger he would do anything to prevent her from getting hurt. By doing so he would realise his feelings for Karla. Those feelings would then over take his need for Alana.

Do you forget you have an important thing he must use? Her inner voice questioned. Of course, that important thing, she had an had immortal womb.

Alana was suddenly shocked to realise this wasn't enough for her. Last night, she thought and felt he could love her as well. Now that she thought it through, it had been her wishful self overanalysing his actions.

She shouldn't have hoped for something that was impossible in the first place.

This anxiety was most gritting. Even though she told herself time and time that his feelings wouldn't be more than what he could give her. This morning she had thought him smiling meant he was accepting her request of pretending to love her when she eventually conceived.

She now realised what the key word in that promise was. Pretend.

"Alana, Karla will be fine, Master is more than capable and even if she's hurt, most of that ghoul's foul energy was purified after spending years in Master's crystal seal. And so, she wouldn't be affected and even if she was hurt, Master would personally attend to her injuries."

Even though Mena was trying to reassure her, Alana's was focused in her insecurities. The words she focused more in that sentence was, 'personally attend to her injuries.'

Alana hated the fact that she was so easily prone to jealousy. It was demeaning.

Despite knowing better Alana asked Mena, "Am I really such a hindrance to him?"

Mena was taken aback by her words and as she regarded Alana, she smiled whimsically at the mortal's minor insecurities. At that moment, Mena was reminded of her mistress and the same concerns she used to have back in the fairie realms when she was trying to catch Lylas's heart.

"I'm sorry," Mena apologised to her. "I shouldn't have said it like that." Mena playfully stroked Alana's cheek as if she was trying to comfort a child. She used the same actions and tone as she had used in the past with Naala.

"What I meant was, if we had went to Master's realm you'll have distracted him from defeating that ghoul. Not only would he have worried about saving Karla but he would also have been even more at wits end if you got hurt." Mena reassured Alana.

It was odd how Mena's actions and words comforted her so much. This familiarity made her feel at home. Alana hugged Mena to thank her. Afterwards, she sat up straight on the beach chair and looked at Mena meaningfully.

"Ah, I know what you want to ask." Mena looked away shaking her head. "But I can't talk about him, I hate to talk about him."

"But you still love him." Alana said.

Mena flinched and looked back at Alana in shock, "Is it that obvious?"

"I'm now prone to tell when a person loves someone, I know it well because I see myself in them." Alana explained.

Mena nodded, surprising Alana that she easily accepted that explanation.

"Then do you think he was telling the truth when he said they were forcing him to marry and conceive an heir?" Mena looked at Alana worryingly. Surprising Alana even more by confiding her worries to her.

"I'm not 100% sure, you know him better than I do. I mean, it could all be a ruse to try and make you give in to him, or he could be genuinely telling the truth and so he had wanted to encourage your decision to go with him." Alana shrugged.

Mena frowned but nodded. Alana then felt she had said something wrong, and so, she decided to give Mena the advice of what she would do in that situation.

"Mena, I know you're loyal to your mistress and would never betray her even if it means sacrificing your heart. But, if it were me, I'd follow what my heart tells me." She said.

Mena shook her head. "I'd follow my heart too but I'm too frightened. He abondoned mistress before, his own twin sister, so whose say he won't do the same to me in the long run. Plus, I'm still not ready to forgive him about that."

Gosh. Alana thought. Didn't this woman realise that by continuing to punish him this way, she was also punishing herself?

"At the end of day he broke your trust, I understand that. So it's up to you whenever you are ready to forgive and trust him again..." Alana began.

"...I am not an immortal, so I don't understand the concept of having all the time in the world and so in my short life, I wouldn't want to live with regrets. I wouldn't want to prolong a hate that only festered and made me bitter about, not just the person I hate, but myself as well." Alana was shocked as well as Mena, about the sudden wisdom in her words.

Alana earned a confounding respect from Mena at that moment. Here was a mortal whom will only live her brief life in this earth knowing her days were numbered and without knowledge of what after death was like. And yet despite all of this, despite knowing how brief her impact would be on the person she loved, she still chose to follow her heart.

Despite knowing the repercussions of getting that heart hurt in the end, she still wanted to live without regrets. She still wanted to live with the person she loved most.

Mena at that moment finally saw the difference between Alana and her mistress. Although she felt there were some similarities between them, Alana was more strong-willed about her love. She knew what she wanted and would go for it despite unfavourable circumstances. And to her, no one was going to stand in the way of achieving her love, even her own self.

Mena lamented at that moment and wished somehow she had this knowledge before. Maybe then, she would have advised her mistress on it. Maybe then, it would have saved her life. Maybe then, her mistress would have still held on to her last hope.

"Alana?" Mena called out.

"Mmhmm?"

"About today, about the fairie king, don't tell Lylas he was here. If Lylas knew he would cause a riot in the fairie realms again. They have an unspoken rule about not crossing each other's territory."

Alana made a motion of zipping her mouth. "Don't worry your secret is safe with me. If you don't want me to tell him, then I won't tell him."

Mena had smiled appreciatively at her, before they made their way back the mansion to prepare for lunch.

***

"Did you miss me?" Alana felt a voice whispering behind her ear, before she was engulfed in strong arms.

It's been hours since Alana and Mena called it a day. Mena took the guest bedroom, while Alana returned to the master bedroom.

During the day, she had replaced the sheets of that bed to a creamier colour. She had draped on Lylas t-shirt—as it was the only change on clothes she had—and hugged herself to sleep inside fresh sheets. Along with the scent of sandal wood lingering in his shirt, Alana had fallen asleep this way...too tired to wait for him.

Alana moaned when he buried his face on her neck and sucked deeply upon the skin. It was this awakening sensation that made her lucid as she suddenly remembered that she was angry at him.

Alana sat up, withdrawing completely from his prying arms.

She crossed her arms on her chest and frowned poutingly at him.

"What?" He asked, eyebrows raising.

"I was worried and you didn't send word. How was Mena and I to know nothing bad had happened? We waited for hours." She reminded him.

Lylas sighed as he leaned against the headboard. One arm was behind his head to support it, while the other was splayed across his naked torso.

"The ghoul was easy to handle. I had given it a chance to lament on its sins by entrapping it in that seal, since I'm so merciful. However, it still wanted to take the route of evil and so I eradicated it. Karla was shaken up and she didn't want me to leave her sight until she calmed." Lylas explained his absence.

Alana frowned suspiciously at the last part. Whether Karla had genuinely been shaken up and or had acted shaken up so Lylas wouldn't leave, she would never know.

However, Alana knew her friend and deeply suspected the latter. Hadn't Karla mentioned she was accustomed to such creatures? How could she be suddenly shaken up about something she encountered on a regular basis? Wasn't she also the one that more or less released the ghoul? Had it been to draw Lylas's attention away from Alana after finding out he was spending time with her?

"So you stayed with her the whole day?" Alana inquired, failing to hide the bitter jealousy in her tone.

Lylas frowned at her tone. "Yes, I owed it to her for her safety."

Alana frowned disagreeing. "But she was the one that acted on impulse and recklessly released that ghoul. Lylas, do you know that she actually—no never mind."

"She actually what?" He inquired.

Alana shook her head. Even though she truly wanted him to know Karla's intentions, she wouldn't do that to her friend. She wouldn't reveal the feelings of someone else. That would be a sketchy thing to do. And besides Alana already felt like a shïtty friend to Karla. She had broken the promise and was planning to keep on breaking that promise.

Karla, I'm sorry. But you have to understand that the heart wants what it wants. And beside, what I'm doing for Lylas, it benefits him more than it does me.

Seeing as she won't reveal more, Lylas decided it wasn't important and so he moved to place his hand on her neck, drawing her closer to kiss him.

Alana quickly withdrew again in reproach. She shook her head.

"As punishment for making me wait, you're not touching me today. And besides we can't do it, not when Mena is right next door." She told him.

There was a dangerous smirk playing in his eyes.

"Mena has returned back to my realm." He told her as he moved his fingers to probe the buttons on his shirt, revealing her chest.

Alana slapped his palm away. That slapped resulted in sharp intake of breath from him. A glint of desire played in his expression and seeing that, made Alana shiver with pleasure, she squeezed her legs together to hold in her desire.

"Still you have to receive my punishment. No touching." She insisted.

Lylas pouted disappointedly. "Not even a kiss on cheek to praise me for doing well today?"

Alana shook her head. "The only good thing you did today was getting rid of that ghoul and saving Karla. The rest you are to receive punishment."

Alana then crawled toward him and sat astride him, her bare thighs cinching his waist. She instantly felt his reaction straining on his jeans in response to her movements. He placed his hands on her thighs, Alana slapped those hands away.

"I meant it. No touching." Her eyes fluttered dangerously at him, making him move both hands behind his head.

"If you're tempting me like this, how then am I not to touch you?" He pouted.

Alana had to admit that pouting Lylas had a deadly effect on her heart. If she was not careful, she would have given in quickly. Nevertheless, she told herself to be resilient. Today she was in control and he would receive her punishment.

Alana placed her hands on his torso, her fingers gentle stroking north of his body. She felt him trembling in response to her touch and the heated look in his eyes intensified.

"Alana!" He cried out, closing his eyes painfully as both of her fingers teased his nipples.

His erection strained harder beneath her thighs, desperate for release. Alana descended her body to face him.

"This is your punishment. Today, I touch you but you don't touch me." She smirked before kissing him senseless.

Halfway through this burning kiss, Alana felt like she was losing her own senses. Lylas took advantage of her weakened state and suddenly grabbed her face with one hand. While his other hand began moving under the shirt to reach her naked waist. For a brief moment, she crumbled upon his touch, before her senses retuned just as he about to slid a hand up to her breasts.

"No. The more you touch me, the more serious your punishment will be." Alana quickly pried those hands from her body.

She took off the shirt, revealing to him how naked she was beneath it. Then she used that shirt to tie both his hands together above his head.

She was eyes to eye, nose tip to nose tip as she smirked at him. Then she kissed his jaw and started moving down to his neck. Her body was pressed against his as she ran her naked body along his torso. Then her mouth made her way down from throat to his sternum.

She heard him muffling a groan and this reaction encouraged her to continue on her ministrations.

Alana licked each of his nipple, the tip of her tongue teasing those hardened nubs until he begged for mercy. Smirking she moved downward the ridges of his abs, toward that sexy v line until finally, she reached her goal.

He groaned when she unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, roughly prying his hardness free.

Alana admired his length in awe. So this was what a man looked like.

"Alana, I know you want to punish me, but this, ah—" he made an effort to protest when she suddenly grabbed his hard shaft and began slowly stroking him.

While her other hand fondled with his velvety balls, she kissed the tip of his length making him hiss a breath.

Seeing his fixated expression, eyes filled with anticipation and lust sorely on her, Alana took him in her mouth while holding his gaze.

Lylas' mouth slackened, haziness overtakaking his eyes as she ran her tongue up and down as far as she could.

"Argh!" He cussed. "You wound me!" He commented in a strained tone, his hips thrusting upward to meet her smooth wet mouth.

He groaned, the deep throated moan sending tingling sensations all over her body. While still fondling with his pair, she sucked him deeply. Alana was enjoying his taste and feel. Enjoying how weakened he was under her. Enjoying the power she felt over him.

As her ministrations quickened, Lylas cried out her name in warning, but Alana continued torturing him until finally he couldn't hold on any longer. He released his seed inside her mouth and Alana swallowed every last salty liquid to the very last drop. Her tongue continued licking him just so he wouldn't lose his erection.

However, this was Lylas we were talking. Even after ejaculation, he still remained harder than ever.

"Can I touch you now?" Lylas's husky voice asked as Alana rode him stride again after discarding her panties.

"No yet. Your punishment is not finished."

"Punished with pleasure," Lylas commented smiling. "You're tempting me to continue to anger you in the future just to receive this sweet punishment."

Alana tsk before leaning down to his level. "If you dare to anger me in the future, these punishments would turn more sour than sweet."

She kissed him again, and he willing opened his mouth to allow her entry. As their tongue met, they danced playfully and teasingly together. Under them, Alana ran her sweetness against his shaft. Her wetness coated his length and the sound of it melted her heart more than it did him.

Alana was so aroused, she wondered whom was being tortured more between the both of them. He felt so good she felt that building sensation of her body quickening. Just as he was leaning to kiss her throat, Alana withdrew quickly and under them she buried him inside her sweet folds.

They moaned in unison.

"You feel exquisite, Alana." Lylas panted below her.

"Mmmh." Alana closed her eyes as she rocked her hips up and down.

Soon enough she lost her senses entirely. Halfway through this torture, he overtook her by sitting up and using magic to easily discard the shirt binding him.

It finally occurred to Alana that all this time he had been very much capable of using his powers to break free from her bondage. The fact that he didn't warmed her heart even more. That warm fuzzy feeling returned tenth fold when she realised he had willingly let her do as she pleased.

Lylas kissed her deeply, one of his hand pulling her closer to him so that they were chest to chest. He licked her lower lip before running his tongue down to her jaw and neck. Then his other hand hooked on her hips, encouraging her to rock harder against him.

As he took over this way, Alana quickly exploded under him. Feeling as her walls were tightening around him, it was very easy for Lylas to follow her as they shattered together.

Alana hugged him close, breathing in his scent as she came down from a high. She didn't want to let him go. She didn't want this weekend to be over. If only weekends were as long as weekdays, then she would stay like this with him forever.

She wished to stay in his arms for eternity. Because at least in that dream of hers she felt she belonged there in his arms and nowhere else.