It was midnight when Rigel reached his bedchamber and found Lerna sleeping. The fire in the hearth spread a soft buttery glow in the room, imparting dancing shadows on the wall. His eyes landed on her and he couldn't help but be drawn to her like a moth to the flame.
Her hair was spread like ink over the pillow and her lips were slightly parted. Her arm rested over her forehead. She looked so innocent in her sleep that his heart squeezed.
Lerna had waited for him for the whole day and then the night, and when he didn't come, she decided that she was going to just ignore him. She was miserable at first. Then her misery turned in anticipation and, in the end, she was just... angry. She decided that she was going to create some boundaries between him and her.
When she heard his footsteps outside the room, her stomach filled with butterflies, but because anger got the better part of her senses, she punched those butterflies away. She reminded herself of the boundaries that she had decided to create. So, she closed her eyes and covered them with her arm, refusing to get swayed in his presence.
Mentally she commended herself saying, 'See, I don't want anything from you, not even your delicious presence.' She gave herself a mental pat on the shoulders.
As soon as she heard the door opening, she plucked a pillow and threw it beside her. A sigh escaped her lips as she waited. Every second looked like hours. Even though she pretended that she was sleeping, her heart was drumming in her chest. She was worried that her heart would give her away, so she tightly closed her eyelids.
"Lerna?"
She decided to breathe in and then breathe out, slowly. 'You are sleeping Lerna,' she said to her herself. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. But she couldn't help straining her ears to listen to his footsteps.
His footsteps grew nearer and then they stopped. She could feel his presence near him.
"Lerna?" he said, his voice a mere whisper.
She didn't make a move, hoping that her body didn't betray her. Several seconds passed when she tried her best to breathe like a sleepy person. She heard his footsteps and she knew that he was treading lightly near her.
When she didn't open her eyes, he said, "You look like a pumpkin on heats." And then he turned, sighing slightly.
She cracked open one eye, not liking him leaving. So she snuffed and chuffed.
Rigel turned back to look at her and she immediately closed her eye.
"And may I know why you are pretending to be asleep, Lerna?"
Now she just couldn't stop herself from laughing. So, in order to stop herself from laughing, she kind of made a show out of the whole situation.
"Where am I?" she asked as she blinked and rubbed her eyes.
"Lerna—" he came to straddle her thighs. That was the only warning she got. "Why were you faking the sleep?" And he started to tickle her.
"No. Ah! Stop!" Lerna laughed and giggled and snorted, as she tried to wiggle away. She brought her hands on her forearms, but he caught them and pinned them over head, still straddling her thighs.
For the first time in two days, Rigel smiled at her. No, grinned. His eyes were gleaming with joy and his features were glowing. Lerna forgot to breathe. She committed his cheerful face to her memories. But she quickly remembered what he did to her the last two days. "Please get off me," she said.
His eyebrows pulled together as his grin faded.
She had only one thing in her mind. She had to maintain her boundaries.
He frowned at her as his gaze never left her. He climbed off her and stood beside her on the floor. He watched her get up on the bed as her face radiated anger. She looked so breathtakingly beautiful when she was laughing and now— her anger puzzled him. He blinked at her, stunned at the sudden change in her demeanor. "You— we are—"
"I think both of us need some distance," she said, cutting him off, as her lips curled into a forced smile.
He stared at her, his eyes going wider.New novel chapters are published on