IMDD CHAPTER 34 [NOVEL] (Patreon)

“It’s good that you are smart enough to realize that.” Eva nodded once as her eyes narrowed a little on him.

He gave a short and amused laugh. Then he turned and face her.

Eva did not like it because that looked pretty intimate for him to lie there and turn around to face her. She quickly fixed her gaze to the ceiling. She dared not let her own eyes wander in case it drifted over to him.

“Why… I mean… is there a reason why you want someone to warm your bed every night?” she asked. She needed to fill the – in her opinion – awkward silence or she might start getting nervous or do something silly.

“Hmm… it makes me sleep better.” Gage threw out an excuse.

“You mean you can actually sleep without someone warming up your bed first? I actually thought that you can’t at all and thought you might even have some condition or trauma about this. Well, I have read and heard about some stories on chronic insomnia and other sleeping disorders. And this usually occurs among businessmen and top execs like you… So this doesn’t really sound weird to me at all.” Eva could not help but chatter on due to her nervousness.

She waited for his response, but nothing came so she was forced to turn around to check, only to see him already seemingly asleep next to her.
Eva’s brows creased. What?! That could not be, right?! How could he be sleeping already? This man… he must be feigning sleep, right?! She was not going to fall for such…

She blinked. She stared closely at his eyes. The movement of his eyeballs and those shallow breaths… s-seriously? He was truly asleep?

Eva could only stare at him, mouth slightly parted. She was really at a loss for words. She never thought that someone like him could actually fall asleep that quickly. Or could it be that he was just too tired… but she did not see any signs!

She allowed her eyes to drift close and let out a soft sigh. Why was she even thinking so much into this?! She was tired and sleepy as hell herself because of the mere few hours of sleep she had last night.

When she opened her eyes and stared at that ridiculously handsome face that was even more so, now he was in sleep, Eva absentmindedly reached her hands out. Her eyes are getting heavier. What a face… how could he be so handsome?

Darn… when will her alarm clock go off? Maybe she should leave now since he was already asleep?

Her body suddenly felt heavy and her hand that had been lightly touching his cheek finally dropped to the bed while her eyes fluttered and closed at the same time.

And Gage’s eyes slowly opened.

He had decided to feign sleep to help her relax. Because he really could not stand how tense she was. And also, he could see how tired and sleep deprived she was.

However, he had not expected her to touch him like that and break the rules stated in their contract.

Then her alarm clock finally went off, vibrating at her side. When she did not wake up by the second vibration, he carefully reached out and turned it off.

“Since you’ve failed the condition – again – I will use the corresponding punishment request for this. You are now to sleep here in my bed tonight.” He whispered as he pulled the heavy comforter up and silently covered her, tucking her in to ensure she would not get chilled. He did not want to disrupt her rest, so he scrapped the idea of carrying her back to her bed. They had slept together before once already, so he thought that this would not make her come at him like a tiger tomorrow. She should not be bothered about this, would she? Well, probably. Right?

His gaze softened and a small smile tipped gorgeously at the corner of his lips as he shook his head. “You work too hard, Eva. Way too hard. If you insist on keeping this up, you will only end up breaking yourself,” he commented lowly and then he sighed, retracting his hand that was about to touch her satiny soft cheek.

…

The next morning. The sun was spilling through the crack in the curtains, and it seem to be a bright and cheery morning from the fresh breeze that blew in from the windows. The day seemed to be starting out nice and clear and crisp.

However, Eva was frozen to a standstill the moment she realized that she was hugging someone. Her hand was draped over a solid and rock-hard torso which she knew belonged to no one else but Gage.

She could smell his unique masculine scent that she had already identified as belonging to him alone. That wonderfully pleasing scent was something she could never mistake for someone else’s. What in the blue blazes had happened?! Did she fall asleep in his bed?! And her alarm?! What happened to her goddammed alarm?!! She remembered setting it! Oh my god, Eva! She was already screaming and having a nervous breakdown in her mind, just stopping short of doing the same thing out loud. The only thing holding her back was that she was physically still frozen.

Her face was gradually turning redder as she tried to peel herself off of him because she just could not believe the way she seemed to be clinging on him. She was not a baby koala clinging desperately onto its mother! UGHH!!

But before she could even lift her arm, she stiffened and suddenly caught her breath. Because Gage had just moved and turned to cover her arm with his, as if to stop her attempt to escape from his grasp and his bed.

Eva: “!!!”