Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 211: Close proximity

By the time the ship docked, Arabella had already recovered most of her mobility and only needed a helping hand in order to move around.

The journey back home was a lot quieter than the first.

Home... Arabella caught herself smiling upon realizing she’d thought of the Eleazar manor as her home.

Silas kept a watchful eye on her, mainly on the curls of hair that floated back and forth at liberty, swayed by the strong winds that blew bold at times and then timidly the very next second.

"How are you feeling?" the words escaped him.

From the chair upon which she sat, the young woman turned to him, "Quite alright, thank you Maste...Silas," freeweɓnøvel~com

His name in her mouth without the honorific that usually came first left him momentarily stunned.

His insides writhed with something that wasn’t pain, but of course, he let none of it show.

"Isn’t that better?"

"It doesn’t necessarily roll off my tongue," her already meek smile dimmed further, "But if it’s alright with you, I’d like to still call you Master in front of others,"

"Others?" he quizzed, "Such as who?"

"Anyone that stands close enough to hear us,"

The vampire wholeheartedly disagreed but voiced none of his complaints. The topic did not need any further prodding right then and there. The fact she’d managed to say it even once merited a celebration as it was. There was no use in pushing her already worn limits.

"Have it your way," he sighed.

"Thank you,"

The horizon line seemed like the most interesting thing to her as her gemstones simply refused to leave it. There were no odd spikes or sudden drops in her heartbeats. Looking at her from that angle evoked his mother’s image in mind. The posture, calm and grace by which she abided were very reminiscent of Persephone’s.

On one hand, he wished that confidence would never leave her, but on the other, her usual simpering and excitement were greatly missed.

It was by all means an integral part of her. One of the main reasons he’d fallen... What had he fallen into?

"Land in sight!"

The hollering stopped him from further pondering that thought.

Since Silas did not alert anyone of their timing or itinerary, no carriage or horse awaited their arrival.

Once the ship docked, they were pretty much on their own.

"In order to avoid any potential ambushes on our way back, I did not warn anyone about us leaving or coming back," around the end of his sentence he turned his back on her and lowered himself, "Climb on my back,"

"Pardon?" her right hand hovered over her mouth to conceal the gap left by her lips.

"You heard me right the first time,"

"I can walk," she stuttered.

"Not in your condition, you cannot," he turned his head slightly towards her, "Besides, the distance we have to walk is too great for you to handle,"

It was with a lot of hesitation that she finally neared him and put her arms around his neck.

"Hold on tight and wrap your legs around my middle," he ordered.

"Wrap my what?"

Things felt too slow for Silas and so, without any further warning, he gripped both of her legs by the thighs while ascending to his full height and spread them across his back.

Arabella took a sharp breath unsure as to what was worthier of her fear; the ground being robbed from right beneath her feet, the feeling of his hands on her thighs or the improper manner in which they were spread around him.

"I can keep holding them if you can’t muster the strength, but it’d be better if you wrapped your legs fully around my waist,"

The restfulness of his tone rattled her further, turning every muscle in her body to stone.

"Just breathe," he added calmly.

She tried her best, but having her chest plopped and rubbing against his back did not help with that task one bit.

Not to mention every other part of her body that... Rubbed against him.

Silas too worked his hardest not to let on more than he could explain, though the climbing heat emanating from her made his job harder as well.

He could, very well, have flashed towards the manor and cut their traveling hours, however, the vampire was all too aware Arabella’s heart would never take it, especially after everything it’d already been put through.

And right he was, as only ten minutes into their journey, her head fell, face nuzzling in his neck and it wasn’t long before he sensed her grip soften around him.

Her breathing had settled for a steady, quiet rhythm that reassured him at once. The worries and discomfort that had clung to her by the hair seemed to have melted in that moment which was convenient for some much-needed rest.

The cute little snores that escaped her from time to time did not leave him indifferent. Silas caught himself wishing to hear them every day.

The sounds of nature had lulled her into a deep and seemingly cozy slumber that lasted their entire path.

The moans and groans did not start arising with her awakening until the Eleazar manor came into view.

"Where am I...?" she’d muttered before opening her eyes.

"Calm down,"

His voice reverberated through to her chest because of their physical connection to each other, but his words did not have the coveted effect. On the contrary, instead of appeasing her it jostled her mind back into reality without any prior disclaimers.

In that instant, however, something seemed to rattle Silas more than her. Something only he could see and hear...

The vampire froze in place as his hands went around her legs.

"Get down and stand behind me," he ordered sharply.

No questions were asked. She did as told and clasped her hands around her mother’s pendant for extra comfort.

"Someone is coming towards us, and they are fast,"

Silas assumed a defensive position and braced himself. Once he took a deeper inhale, he added, "Wolf folk,"

"Is it Alpha Cynric?" her voice trembled.

"No, but whoever they are, they’re quite stupid to attack us here,"

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