Raina North was wrapped in a bathrobe, drying her hair as she walked out. Google seaʀᴄh noᴠelfire.net
When she opened the bathroom door and saw the man standing there, she paused for a moment, then realized that it was definitely Quinn Thorne who couldn’t wait to bring him back.
Even though she wasn’t prepared, it seemed just fine this way.
Raina looked at the man in front of her, her pink lips curling into a bright smile, "You’re back?"
At this moment, Elias Hawthorne still wore that silver mask, revealing only his elegantly contoured jawline and those piercing dark eyes.
Perhaps because he saw her, his eyes showed a mixture of surprise and something she couldn’t comprehend.
Maybe it’s because she had been too busy lately, or maybe because she had been away from The Umbral Zone for so long, gotten used to comfort, and now, after being back, was forced to deal with all the chaos, which she was inherently unaccustomed to. Seeing Elias now, she had only one impulse, which was to throw herself into his arms.
But Raina ultimately didn’t act on it, suppressing this impulse by turning to grab a bottle of red wine from the side cabinet.
Originally, Raina just wanted to quench her thirst, but the more she drank, the thirstier she felt.
Surely she hadn’t drunk enough.
Raina picked up the bottle and poured herself a large glass of red wine. Just after taking two sips, her wrist was grabbed.
Raina looked at Elias in confusion, "What’s wrong?"
"That’s enough, you’ve had a lot already."
Raina glanced at the still half-full bottle of wine, "It’s not much; I only had a few sips. Elias Hawthorne, you can’t be so stingy that you can’t bear a bottle of red wine, can you?"
Elias sighed helplessly, "Am I reluctant about the red wine?"
"Isn’t it?" Raina suddenly leaned closer to Elias, stopping just as her red lips almost touched his thin ones, "If it’s not the wine, then is it because of me?"
The sudden closeness caught Elias off guard.
Seizing that moment of distraction, Raina used her other hand to grab the wine glass and downed its contents in one gulp.
"Raina!" Elias couldn’t help but lower his voice.
"Alright, alright, I won’t drink anymore." Raina let Elias take the crystal glass and wine bottle far away. She turned to take out a hairdryer from the cabinet and handed it to Elias, "Help me dry my hair."
Elias didn’t refuse, taking Raina’s hand and guiding her to sit on the sofa. He stood behind her and began tending to her hair.
The freshly washed Raina hadn’t put on Orion Rivers’ disguise.
Her hair still cascaded down to her waist, belonging solely to Raina.
Taking a dry towel, Elias wrapped it around her hair, gently pressing it dry, repeating this process several times before turning on the hairdryer and slowly drying her hair.
Amidst the roaring noise, the man’s slender fingers swept through her black locks.
Raina let out a small hiccup, squinting her eyes in comfort, looking just like a cat enjoying being pampered, almost flattening herself for whatever one would wish to do.
Initially, she merely wanted to find something to break the coldness in Elias’s eyes, not expecting to receive an unexpectedly delightful reward.
The Hell King Hawthorne’s skills were truly impeccable.
Suddenly, the hairdryer stopped, and the man’s hand withdrew.
Raina turned her head, a puzzled look directed at Elias, her face asking, why stop?
"Oh." Raina felt a pang of regret and internally debated if washing it again, no, twice, at least three times would be too much.
However, before Raina could figure it out, Elias had already turned away.
Not expecting Elias to leave so soon, Raina couldn’t hold back any longer. She jumped up from the sofa, pointing at Elias, "Elias Hawthorne, you stand right there! Don’t you dare leave!"