"Eve!" Ivan's voice thundered through the clearing as she let out a small cry in pain. Before the beast could sink its teeth into her, Ivan's vision went red. In a flash, he was at her side, his blade cut off the wolf's head in a single, powerful strike.
Eve's legs gave out, buckling beneath the exhaustion and the sharp pain burning through her shoulder. She clutched the wound and collapsed onto the soaked ground and pressed her lips tightly together as if sheer will could silence her cry.
Ivan rushed to her and held her by her shoulder, "Let me look." His voice carried a trace of panic which she failed to register as she tried to bite down the pain building up in her shoulder.
She shook her head weakly, "I..I'll be okay.." she whispered, as she struggled to speak.
"Don't be stubborn and let me take a look." He gritted his teeth in frustration at her resistance.
She lifted her clear blue eyes to him, her trembling lip whispered, "Why.."
"Why do you care?" she asked in clear defiance, as they sat drenched in the pouring rain, surrounded by a pool of blood and water. Evelyn questioned her own rationality at that point, just how could she ask something so ridiculous and to him of all people? Yet the earlier ugly feelings still clung to her skin, that she couldn't stop the words from slipping out. She didn't know whether to call herself brave… or simply foolish.
"Why? Are you seriously asking me this, while you sit here bleeding?" Ivan asked, with an incredulous look on his face.
"Yes.." she said, this time more firmly. "I told you, it's fine. It will eventually stop bleeding."
Ivan glared at her, his voice tightened, "Eventually stop bleeding? So you want to sit here and attract more beasts with the smell of your blood?"
Evelyn, who was unable to refute, glared back at him, "I'll take care of it."
"Let me see, Evelyn," he commanded.
"And why should I listen to you? I'm not one of those red haired women who would follow your every command." As she said those words, her temper spiked, making her eyes flicker golden, something that Ivan very well noticed this time.
His eyes widened in realisation, as it hit him all at once that Eve was behaving like this, because she was affected by Leah's words of referring her as one of the women who served him. He shut his eyes briefly as he recalled how he didn't really say anything to suggest otherwise. Getting a better grasp on the situation, he opened his eyes and spoke with a rare gentleness, "No, you're not Eve. You are not one of them..so let me help you."
Eve's heart skipped a beat at the way he called her Eve, something which only her mother used to call her. In that instant, all her anger and the storm of negative feelings washed away like rainwater.
Her eyes softened a little and she quietly removed the hand covering the wound on her shoulder. Ivan on seeing her finally complying, shifted his focus from her eyes to her injury.
He saw a set of deep claw marks tearing through her uniform, one gash deep enough to slice through her skin making her bleed profusely. His jaw tightened, teeth clenched hard at the sight of her blood. Then without another word, he sheathed both of their swords and in one swift motion, he lifted Evelyn into his strong arms.
Eve gasped at the sudden movement and squealed, "Your Highness! What are yo-"
Words got stuck to her throat mid-sentence, when he turned to look at her with an unfathomable expression. When she didn't protest any further, he closed his eyes briefly in order to sharpen his focus as he spread his senses through the surroundings.
While Ivan shut his eyes, Eve's eyes wandered around his alluring face. She saw how the rain water streamed down his sharp features, how it made those few strands of hair stick snugly against his forehead. How his thick lashes brushed against his cheeks, 'It should be illegal to look like this,' she thought to herself.
Then without a warning, Ivan leaped into the air, cutting through the rain at an incredible speed as they blurred past their surroundings. Eve buried her face in his chest, to shield herself from pelting rain and strong wind.
After ten minutes, when she stopped feeling any pressure of the rain, she opened her eyes slowly to find them completely surrounded by darkness. She tightened her grip on Ivan's uniform and asked softly, "Where are we?"
[Music recommendation: Sophie Hutchings -Secrets To The Sea]
Ivan set her down gently on a muddy but dry ground and replied, " In a cave, not too far from where we were earlier."
"Oh… how did you know it was here?" she asked, as she coped from the dizzying speed of their travel and the throbbing pain pulsing all the way to her arm.
"I let my senses pick up on the hollow wind and followed it." Eve felt astounded by his simple explanation to something that she knew was far more complex and couldn't help but marvel at his abilities as a pure blooded vampire.
Soon, she heard him move around the dark cave, as if he were collecting something, then with a snap of his fingers, she saw a heap of wood not too far away catch fire rapidly, casting a warm glow around them. She noticed how the cave was not deep but tall enough to let someone as tall as Ivan to stand comfortably.
Ivan walked to the cave's entrance, he rolled off a massive boulder effortlessly into place, sealing them both from any outside intrusion.
He then turned around as he ran a hand through his wet hair, pushing it back to reveal his sharp, smoldering eyes. The light from the fire made his features appear more defined. Eve's wide blue eyes followed his every move unblinkingly, as his gaze silently dropped to the shoulder that she was still clutching on to with blood seeping through the torn fabric.
Slowly, he walked back and sat on his knees before her, "You'll need to remove your uniform in order for me to inspect the wound."
"What?" she whispered as her heart started picking up the pace.
"Yes," he responded. "I will need to stop the bleeding…unless you want to quit the exam."
"No!" she exclaimed, her voice echoing louder than she intended to. "Sorry…I didn't mean to yell," she murmured softly, as she lowered her gaze.
His expression softened, and he said, "It's fine." Silence reigned between them before he added, "Why don't you turn around and let me take a look?"
She sat quietly for some time as she searched his eyes with her beautiful blue ones and felt an unspoken electric charge between them. When she couldn't continue looking at his intense eyes, she lowered hers. Seconds slipped by when she finally decided to comply, only to let out a hiss, and he murmured softly, "Move gently."
She gave him a small nod and slowly turned her back to him, facing the cave's wall. She lifted her shaky fingers to fumble with the buttons of her black jacket, undoing them one by one. After she was done with the last button, she slid the fabric down from her shoulder, pressing her lips tightly together at the sharp pain shooting through her at the simple motion.
Ivan saw her struggle and without hesitation, he lifted his long, elegant fingers to reach forward and help her gently peel the jacket off her shoulders. He guided it down carefully, letting the fabric pool around her waist
Once the jacket slid off, his gaze fell to the thin white shirt that clung to her curves like a second skin, almost see through from the rain. Eve drew in a shaky breath, her lashes lowering briefly as she gathered courage, before her trembling fingers began undoing the shirt buttons one by one. The faint sound of fabric slipping free was deafening in the quiet cave.
When she reached the buttons above her breasts, she faltered for a moment but eventually undid them, to slowly slide it off from her body, revealing the delicate strap of her white lacy bra pressed against her shoulder.
Her face burned scarlet, but she didn't dare to look back, yet she could feel it, his scorching gaze, tracing every line of her trembling figure. The air between them grew heavier with tension, with every passing moment. The dancing flames threw soft light across her bare skin, making her soaked body shimmer faintly under it.
Ivan's intense eyes roamed over her porcelain skin, with water droplets clinging to her like the morning dew on the leaves. But as his gaze traveled up to the ghastly gash left by the beast's claw, rage surged in his chest, making him want to hunt down the creature all over again. The wound was deep since the claw had torn through her skin and the bleeding showed no signs of stopping.
Finally, he spoke in his velvety voice, "I'll be needing to close the wound; it's too deep for you to continue like this."
The sudden sound of his voice in the quiet cave made her heart jump. She turned her crimson face towards him over her shoulder and asked softly, "Close it? How? Do you have any medicine with you?"
Ivan stared at her with an unreadable expression before saying, "No, I don't have any medical supplies with me…but I can still close it."
"Then..how?" she asked him curiously.
"When a vampire takes blood, we seal the bite by licking it, so that the person doesn't end up bleeding out to death." His words carried a weight, hinting at exactly what he needed to do.