Bound to Him

Chapter 4: The Distance Between Them

Miranda spent two full hours in the bathroom before finally coming out.

For someone as delicate as her, her daily skincare routine was sacred. Morning and night, not a single step could be skipped.

Before Cedric went to Australia, they had lived together for a short period, so he knew her habits well.

Without question, she was the kind of extreme beauty lover who, even if she fainted from anemia, would first force herself to put on a full face of makeup.

Beautiful.

And shallow.

At this moment, Miranda had changed into a misty-blue silk slip dress. Her arms and calves were bare, her figure slender and balanced.

Her long, dark, glossy curls had been blow-dried until they were soft and full. As she walked barefoot, her hair and the hem of her dress swayed together, carrying a faint mist from the bathroom.

There was innocence in her appearance.

And a little bit of temptation.

Cedric glanced at her.

Perhaps because this decorative vase was too pleasing to look at, two seconds later, he glanced again.

“What are you looking at?”

Cedric let out a soft laugh but did not answer.

Miranda did not know what she was guarding against. She kept her eyes on him as she sat on the edge of the bed, lifted one leg onto it, then the other. Seeing that he made no move, she pulled the blanket up and lay down, covering herself tightly.

Only her pretty, slightly fierce face remained visible.

“Turn off the light,” Miranda said. “I’m sleeping.”

Cedric said nothing more. He turned off the floor lamp.

In the darkness, their breathing came one after the other.

After a while, the rhythm became almost the same.

It had been two years since Miranda had shared a bed with anyone. She was not used to it. She turned to the left, then to the right, always feeling that something was wrong.

Cedric was much more proper.

Once he lay down, he did not move again.

A faint woody scent lingered in the air.

Fir, perhaps.

Fir trees on a cloudy day.

When Miranda was half-asleep, she suddenly sensed something close.

Too close.

The feeling carried a quiet aggression.

When she opened her eyes, Cedric was already above her.

His arms were braced on either side of her waist, trapping her beneath him.

The room was dim. She could vaguely see the sharp line of his jaw. Below that, his Adam’s apple moved slightly. Above it, his dark eyes were calm, but beneath that calm, desire was rolling like a storm.

It had been a long time since Miranda had been touched like this.

Her reaction was slow at first.

Only when his teasing made the strap of her nightdress slip from her shoulder did sensation finally rise through her body.

Outside the window, moonlight drifted like water.

The unhappiness before sleep was quietly pushed aside, left stranded for the night.