His Devious Rule

His tongue was dipped in bitter soup, "If you could have managed, you wouldn't have tripped." He admonished her as though she was a little mischievous kid. Deep down he just wanted to make sure it wasn't severe as she would hide from him.

Seeing her pout, he lowered his voice, "Be good." It came like a warning. His long hand reached for her leg but she hugged her legs immediately. "I am not good. Go, I am fine." She knows to take care of herself else she wouldn't have survived so many years with a baby by her side.

He ignored her words and tried to reach her leg again. "Let me check." He was so mild that Anya took a second to confirm she heard him right. He gently held her ankle and removed her heels.

"Nope…. Alvin…" She tried to crawl away to the other side of the bed.

He saw her pressing her leg on the bed and  warned her to stay still, "Little Donut." The temperament of his voice dropped below zero. Her shoulders jerked, she stared at him with teary eyes that wavered him.

She pursed her lips. Her gaze was mixed with annoyance and pain. Unsurprisingly, this man doesn't understand the refusal either, what made her think he was different? She grabbed the pillow and hurled it at his face, "Jerk."

Alvin slapped the pillow away. He was just trying to make sure she was alright and treat her ankle, what's wrong with that? Couldn't she understand that simple thing? How did he become a jerk?

Seeing him get angry, Anya felt her heart beat faster and her throat dried up. Her fingers dug into another pillow cautiously looking at him, ready to throw it if he tried to hold her leg again.

"Fine, check it yourself." He crossed his arms and glared at her.

Anya brought her ankle closer and took a good look without knowing he had his eyes on her and examined her ankle. Her healthy fair skin had turned bright red and it was swelling. She gently pressed at the side to know if it was a muscle strain or deeper.

A faint hiss left her lips due to pain and he furrowed. "Dumb Donut." He chided her. She had slipped the stairs and her high heels lost balance and twisted her ankle. He was already surprised she was able to bear it so long but she was dumb enough to press on the painful nerve

'Dumb Donut!?' She pouted faintly, lifting her head to look daggers at him. She was thinking of shooing him away when he held her feet in both hands. With a quick motion, he twisted it that created a popping sound, sending a sharp jabbing pain pulse through her.

Anya cried out, "You heartless jerk." She grabbed the pillow and started hitting him. Though she understood why he did, couldn't he have given her a heads up? She would have prepared herself for the pain.

He gritted his teeth using his hand to shield himself. It was better to treat muscles in the heat of pain than leaving them for long and limp for days. He couldn't believe she was beating him instead of thanking him. It wasn't like he wanted her to be grateful.

"Little Donut…" He tried to stop her while understanding why women are called unreasonable. He helped her get rid of the long-term pain but she was focusing on the sudden and brief pain he caused.

"Little Donut… that's enough." He tried again.

"Enough!? Have you ever tried to consider others' feelings? You do as you wish all the time. What is right for you doesn't have to be right for everyone." Though she had decided not to be bothered about him, she couldn't stop herself from trying to teach him.

Though the hit of a pillow wasn't hurting him, it was tiring her. It was evening time in Narnia so the lunchtime at their current location was going to be their dinner. She has to control the radio room before sleeping. So he had no choice but to stop her by strength.

He shifted on the bed, caught her hands effortlessly. Before he could speak, she tried to pull her hand away, which caused his gaze to shift to the night lamp that she hit.

He clenched his teeth and his face suddenly darkened. He unawarely gripped her hand tight causing her to wince in pain.

Was he going to force her now?

Anya, who didn't notice his changes, growled, "Alvin Mat…" Her eyes widened in shock when he suddenly moved towards her. She crawled back on instincts looking at his gaze sharper than a knife. All she could think at that minute was she overdid it and she should have ignored him again and let him do as he pleased.

Alvin held her both hands in one hand and covered her lips with another hand. Due to her movements, he unintendedly pinned her against the bedpost.

Her eyes widened in horror, stared at him as though he was going to harm her any second. Her heart pounded against her chest with fear enveloping her. Her body turned cold to the tips of her fingers and shuddered by recalling what she had almost forgotten from her memories. She felt weak to pull her hands away while she didn't dare to take her eyes away. As if a second of her distraction could cost her too much.

Alvin's focus was on different crucial matters. He went closer to her which just brought unwanted memories back to her mind. He whispered near her ear with restrained anger in his tone, "There is a camera in the room." Hence he had to stop her before calling Matthews.

He was sure he didn't call her 'Anya Owen' and tried to recall if she called him Matthews.  She did call him 'Alvin Matthews' when they were at the door. But her voice was low so it should be fine.

Why would anybody put a camera inside the room? It was violating their privacy. And nobody could install cameras other than the ship's staff. He was planning to take a different room so that she could relax and take care of her work on the ship, but now he was even worried about leaving her alone in the room.

He furrowed realizing the manager of the trip and the captain of the ship probably doesn't know anything about Harper's plan. There might be another group on the ship that was conspiring with Harper and carrying out his plans.

This is not good.

Alvin hadn't expected the problem to be much intricate and deep. Thinking of speaking with her in a non-monitoring place, his focus shifted to Anya. He suddenly felt something amiss and looked at her.

For a moment, Alvin's words stilled on his tongue looking at her reddened eyes with moisture. A teardrop was hanging down her lashes. The pain had caused her nose tip to turn bright red making her look alluring, yet throbbing. However, she was pale. She was holding her breath and trembling like a drenched kitten. Her frightened eyes weren't focusing on anything.

Alvin clearly noticed her changes. He was pinning her hands and covering her lips but he hadn't crossed his line. He wasn't sure where exactly it went wrong.

He quickly left her hands down and brushed her hair strands away from her face. He unawarely urged, "Anya, breathe…" He wiped her tear when it rolled down on her cheek, cupped her face when she didn't react, "Anya…" His compelling voice was deep and sharp.

Anya suddenly jerked and tried to go back before realizing she was leaning against the bedpost. Though he didn't do anything that could evoke her memories, she still recalled it as if it was just yesterday.

'Oh god, why did I remember all that now?' Her body shook as if she was in pain.

She looked at his extremely concerned expression and tried to remember what he whispered by forgetting she was still shaking.

'There is a camera in the room.'

"Cam…" She quickly slapped her mouth with both of her hands.

Alvin didn't care about the camera. He just went by his instincts. He helped her drink water and left the glass aside. "What's wrong? Did I scare you?"

Anya had calmed down while drinking water and returned to her senses. She was surprised by his question and his panic. She promptly responded, "You always scare me." She carefully looked at him.

Alvin was momentarily speechless before holding her hands, "But you don't shake." Whenever he tried to frighten her, she glared back at him. Unlike others who cower around him, she was always certain he wouldn't hurt her.

So what changed this time?

Anya realized she was still terrified of the pain she went through. She curled up her fingers and took her hands away. Breathing slowly, she lied while looking at her hands, "I was shocked."

"A lie." He mercilessly said it on her face.

She pursed her lips and looked at him. That's the reason she avoids lying to him. Even if she says a bit or brief out the reason behind her reaction, he wouldn't let go of it so easily so she chose to stay silent.

He accepted she wasn't ready to say it. "Fine, we will speak about this another day." His ultimatum passed.

'We will never speak about this.' She thought to herself. And returned to the important topic, "And the thing you said." She kept her voice down to confirm what she heard was right.

He contemplated before tugging her into his arms. This time she wasn't scared but bewildered. Satisfied with her reaction, he whispered again slowly tucking her hair behind her ear, "The bedside lamp has a spy camera. I am not sure if there are more in the room."

Anya: "..."