Chapter 56 First Hug
The next day, Isabella woke up earlier than she usually did. Maybe because she had been sleeping for like forever, her eyelids no longer twitched.
Pushing her back to rest on the headboard, she rubbed her eyes to clear her blurry vision.
'Ah!' She screamed, shocked to see Anya sleeping on the couch across the room.
Anya who had barely closed her eyes to take a nap, instantly jolted awake to Isabella's scream.
"What are you doing here?" Isabella's tone rose angrily. She still hadn't forgiven Anya. She played with her life and that wasn't worth forgiving.
Anya quickly rose to her feet and approached the bed, she kept her distance, her eyes red and voice cracking as she spoke, "I know that you do not want to see me again. But I just wanted to see you one last time before you leave with Nikolai. I am deeply sorry that my actions caused you a lot of pain. I heard from the maid that you were down and had to recover your health. I'm not going to force you to forgive me but I just wanted to thank you for spending time with me. I know it's bullshit to your ears and might sound fake.
I'm not going to stand here and lie or coerce you to forgive me. The days and time we spent together although little, reminded me of someone I've lost," Anya chuckled, a weak laugh slipping past her lips.
"Thank you, Isabella." Her eyes turned red in an instant, tears stinging at the back of her eyes as she forcibly held her tears at bay.
The words felt so emotional yet distant to Isabella. She didn't even know what to say, when Anya had mentioned that she once lost somebody, her heart seized, fingers clenched on the bedsheet.
Why was she even being hard on her? She apologized and she came to say goodbye... Wait goodbye?
As if hit with a certain part of her words, Isabella parted her lips, "What do you mean leave with Nikolai?" Her brows drew together in confusion.
Nikolai didn't say a word to her yesterday.
She didn't want to leave!
"As a result of my actions, Nikolai said he is leaving with you at dawn. I just came to say goodbye. Nothing more." Anya revealed, she wished to still keep in contact with Isabella even when she wouldn't be around anymore.
Funnily, Isabella reminded her of her elder sister who was no more and had lost her life trying to save her from a fire.
She closed her eyes, pushing the painful memories behind and opened her eyes with a sigh of relief.
Noticing Isabella's eyebrows furrowed and her face tensed, she knew she had overstayed her unsolicited visit and reached for the door.
Isabella's shoulders slumped, as she dragged in a slow steady breath, "I forgive you." She said in a breath.
Anya froze on her spot, colour appearing on her face and she turned to face Isabella.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, I am. I forgive you, Anya. Just don't try that again. I almost thought I was going to die!" She complained.
Anya giggled, ran and embraced Isabella tightly, the latter was shocked but she returned the hug.
"My goodness, Bella. Thank you. Thank you."
Isabella was experiencing this for the first time and didn't know what to say except two words 'you're welcome,' which sounded empty to her.
A friendly feeling blossomed in her chest. Aside Serah, had she truly found a strong friend?
Natalya was still there but they hadn't bonded closely.
"That means you won't be leaving, right?" Anya prayed for a negative reply.
"No, I wouldn't. I wasn't even going to leave. Nikolai had dictated my life with that dickhead of his. Ah! So annoying! I'm not someone who would sit idle and let him push me around. Fucking psycho!" She replied through gritted teeth.
"Never knew I had another name, Isa."
Isabella shivered, the deep resonant tone she recognized painfully too well made her heart skip a beat.
Anya was quick to pull away from Isabella, a dread hovering over her head. What if he decided to kill her now?
Oh no! She wished she had left earlier. But if she did, Isabella wouldn't have forgiven her.
Nikolai's presence right now was too consuming and overwhelming.
Anya didn't even need to look across her shoulders to feel the hairs on skin rise in assured panic.
"Leave us." One word from the dominating man and Anya scurried away leaving Isabella with Nikolai to fend for herself.
"What are you doing here?" Isabella asked sternly, making her tone appear higher and tighter to avoid giving out her shaking breath.
A wicked grin appeared on Nikolai's lips as he walked closer.
Isabella pulled the sheets up to her chest for some kind of protection.
"You think that will keep me away from you?" He asked, entertained by her actions.
"It could at least try... You haven't answered my question."
Still ignoring her question, Nikolai sat close to her, leaning into her neck just to see her recoil as if disgusted by his actions.
"What's this behavior?" His eyes darkened.
"What behavior, I didn't do anything. Stay away from me Nikolai. I'm still recovering." She shot back, not turning her eyes down as she stared right back at him.
"Recovering you say. Yet you embrace another's hug."
"I did. It was just a friendly hug." She noticed the hint of jealousy that glinted in his eyes.
Is he seriously jealous of Anya right now?
"Friendly you say?"
"Yes."
"Then give me one."
"What!" Isabella's jaw dropped.
Her dress was very thin, she couldn't possibly hug him, when her chest—breast—would rub on his chest.
Anya was a woman so it didn't count but Nikolai was a cave man who turned every situation into a way for him to do sinful things to her.
"I'm waiting, Isa. Should I take it myself?"
"No!" She blurted.
"I will do it but first you need to answer the reason why you're here and why you said we're leaving when we're not."
"I asked for one thing, you asked for two. Pretty unfair to me, baby. Why don't you give me a kiss. Two for two, right?"
Nikolai caught how her cheeks were quickly painted in bright pink. She wanted it to.
Isabella felt the warmth spread across her cheeks to the top of her ears.
She should be angry that he had requested such since he promised he wasn't going to claim her lips.
"But you promised that—"
"I haven't claimed them have I? I just simply asked you to initiate the kiss. It's different when you do it. I'm not claiming, you're giving it freely."
Isabella's eyes went wide with his way of words and the worst part is that he wasn't wrong.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat, her skin prickled with desire, eyes darting to Nikolai's inviting pink lips and for a moment she imagined how much they would feel against hers, even just a mere second of it was tempting.
She threw her gaze to the side, swallowed the clog in her throat and said, "No."
Clearing her throat properly, she continued, "It's already bad enough I'm going to hug you. You wouldn't be getting a kiss from me."
"Fine then, you pussy it is."
"What!"
"I'm still waiting for the hug, Isa." His voice dropped into a low growl as if he was close to snapping loose.
Isabella felt it coil around her chest, "You still haven't answered my question."
"I'm a man of my word, Isa." He replied, the air around them suddenly getting hot and Isabella found no use for the sheets anymore.
Breathing through her parted lips, she maintained her position, elongating her arms she reached for Nikolai's neck and wrapped her arms around it.
Despite not allowing her chest to meet his chest, she could still feel her heart drumming loudly in her chest, butterflies erupting in her stomach.
Just as she was about to pull back, she heard Nikolai say, "That's not a way to hug someone, baby girl." Then his arm went behind her back and pushed her closer towards him.
Her chest—breast— rubbing against his chest.
She felt his strong muscled chest against hers and she was certain he was definitely feeling the size of her breasts because of the thin night dress she wore.
She cussed herself for picking out that dress! When she felt Nikolai was not ready to let her let go, she tried escaping his tight embrace just for him to hold her tighter, his other hand holding her head in position.
Still hugging her, he leaned in and whispered against her ear, "I don't care whether it's a man or a woman, you don't hug anyone again!"