HIS VIRGIN LEECH (19)

"I think you should lay down a bit," he offered after the painful twinge on my head had subsided. He looked genuinely worried and upset. His mouth was set on a grim line.

"Thank you, but I think I should go home now." And I should call Arthur as soon as possible. He still hadn't replied to my text messages. I needed to know what happened last night.

"You can rest here, I have prepared the spare room along with everything you will need," he said in a reassuring tone.

He prepared... what? He said it as if I would live with him for a period of time.

"It's more comfortable sleeping at my own apartment," I tried to decline politely.

"Do you live alone?" he asked quietly, his skeptical gaze bored into me.

"Yes, but my apartment is safe," I insisted, a little offended. "And I'm perfectly fine, I only need a series of continuous naps over the weekend and I'll feel better on Monday."

For a moment he considered what I had just said to him.

"You can do your... series of continuous naps here and I can take care of you until you feel better," he suggested with a small smile.

A sigh escaped against my will. What's the point of arguing with a man who couldn't take a 'no' as an answer?

I would stay for a bit until dinner and go home after that.

"Do you live alone?" I threw back his previous question to him.

"Yes." Sebastian got up, his hand was still holding my empty glass. He put it on the nearest coffee table.

He lived alone in this massive mansion...

I tried to picture Sebastian walking around this spacious yet empty home alone at night. His relaxed figure sprawled over his sofa while he drank his vintage wine and gazed over the magnificent sceneries of San Francisco at night.

Somehow... his image that popped into my head felt a little bit lonely.

"Aren't this place too far from your office?" I asked again.

"Sometimes I spend my nights at Magnus. Let's get you into bed. You can take a nap while I prepare for dinner." He offered me his hand so I took it before getting up from his sofa.

So he slept at Magnus too... well, that made sense. The atmosphere at Magnus was definitely a stark contrast compared to this place.

Sebastian led me to this house grand staircase, his hand was still clasping over mine. He looked more relaxed now that he took off his coat and suit.

We passed a long hallway and some doors before finally stopping on the last door at the end of the hallway. He opened the door and waited for me to get inside.

It had been a long day. Now that we'd talked about naps, my body felt more tired and heavier. I guess I really needed some naps.

"Oh, I can help with dinner," I offered to him. A small yawn escaped from my mouth.

A trace of a smile grazed his lips. "I think I can manage to make dinner alone. Just rest, Ludmila. I'll call when the food is ready."

"Alright," I smiled back sincerely. "Thank you... for taking care of me."

From the nearest window, I could see the sun was setting beautifully over the city of San Francisco. It glowed orange red and then quickly sank and left the sky in pre-moon darkness.

The leftover glow illuminated Sebastian's broad back. I didn't know why but his figure and the dim red glow from the sun made him look like Lucifer. It almost made his amber eyes smolder like fire.

He probably came from the underworld to take me to hell with him... that thought made me smile a little.

Why did this Lucifer treat me so nicely? What a shame that this would be over in seven nights...

"Are you going to stare at me or do you need me to tuck you in?" His amused gaze was now directed at me.

"Nap! Right." I slithered inside quickly and turned back to wave slightly at him.

"Have a good nap," he said with a crooked grin that made my heart race madly inside of my chest.

Calm down, heart.

"Good night," I whispered back before closing the door and sighed deeply to calm myself. Being alone with him almost made me forget about my main purpose and the nature of this... affair.

I needed to control myself—

My mouth gaped widely when I saw the room I was in. It's almost as big as my whole studio apartment. Everything was either in light beige, or white, or gold.

This room even had its own fireplace and a crystal chandelier hanging on its ceiling.

But like the rest of this house, this room also had the scent of emptiness. Everything was sparkly clean but it felt like nobody ever stayed in this room.

I didn't mean to judge because I lived alone too but my cramped apartment never felt this... lonely.

I yawned again and crawled into the bed. Sebastian was right. The bed at this house was pretty comfortable. Maybe I would nap for an hour, just a bit...

***

Sebastian must have put some drug on the tomato juice because I slept like the dead. When I opened my eyes again it's almost eleven PM.

"Oh, shit!" I scrambled down from the bed and at the same time, I heard the buzzing of my phone from my bag.

I pulled my phone and saw several text messages from Arthur and an unknown number.

I opened the ones from Arthur first. He was worried about my condition and tried to call me but couldn't get through.

He said that he was indeed the one who sent me home last night and helped me get into my apartment.

But Arthur also said I came out from Phillip's study with Sebastian and... Nicholas Shaw, when he asked them, they said they heard me fall and found me drunk inside the room. Arthur didn't question them any further because he had to send me home.

Why did Nicholas Shaw come to the party last night? I thought Phillip had always hated lawyers and prosecutors.

But first thing first. How. Embarrassing.

Just... why. Why did I always get caught up in an embarrassing situation every time I meet him?

I closed my eyes for a moment, basking in my embarrassment, before opening the text messages from the unknown number but it turned out it was from Phillip. He was asking how I was feeling and wanted to meet up for lunch tomorrow.

Guess he already heard about my fiasco last night.

I erased the text quickly and threw my phone into my bag.

"Fuck my life, everything is a mess," I cursed softly in the middle of this quiet room. I read an article about how cursing was good for your health when you felt frustrated and angry.

"Fuck! Fuck this and Phillip!" I cursed louder.

Huh, it did feel good. I took a deep breath and tried once more. "And fuck Sebastian Moran too—"

"Oh, don't worry, Ludmila, you will."

Suddenly I heard a low voice from behind me. I whirled around in surprise and dropped my bag when I saw Sebastian leaning on the door. I didn't hear him come in.

He had changed his clothes into grey silk pyjamas and a black robe, his dark hair was disheveled and still damp from the shower. He looked so devastatingly handsome it almost hurt my eyes to stare at him.

I, on the other hand, must have looked like a bear came out from hibernation. I wiped the corner of my mouth quickly to check if I had been drooling in my sleep.

"I.. I..." I opened my mouth helplessly. Me and my mouth, always got me in trouble.

"I'm flattered by your enthusiasm, but it's time for dinner." His smile was sardonic, yet his eyes held a glint of humor. "I was waiting for you to wake up."

I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded sheepishly. "Sorry, I'll come down in a bit."

The smile on his face widened into a grin. Still leaning on the door frame, he replied to me. "It's okay, take your time."

I hurried into the en suite bathroom and closed the door quickly. "Fuck," I cursed again for the last time and went to the sink to wash my face.

After feeling refreshed I leaned closer to the mirror to check my complexion. I felt great after napping so hard, and I did look great too. No paleness... and no more bump on my head.

I stared at my reflection and frowned. Where did my bump go? I spent a full minute touching my head and searching for any pain or throbbing feeling, but it's gone.

"What the..."

I pulled my blouse down to check on the bruises... but I couldn't find any bruises. They were gone too.

There's no way the bump and bruises would heal this quickly. It was definitely not normal. Was it because of that nasty tomato juice? Did Sebastian put some kind of drug into it?

It didn't make sense. No drug could heal injuries this fast.

Part of me wanted to ignore this, but my instincts told me that something was amiss.

I had been feeling weird since this morning like my brain was trying to tell me something but couldn't remember what.

What... What exactly did I forget?