Beneath The Shadows (BXB)

Chapter 41

Liam's POV

I woke at the earliest hours of midnight when I felt the space beside me had gone empty. I thought I heard Ryder's voice in my sleep and I rubbed my eyes before sitting up.

"I'll be here the moment you wake up."

Now where was he?

"Ryder?" I croaked out before crawling out of bed. I took the blanket and cloaked it around my shoulders because it was cold.

I went outside the room in order to find him and saw that he was sitting in front of the large window, looking outside. He immediately turned his head when he felt my presence.

"What are you doing up?" He stood from the chair and sauntered towards me. The top buttons of his shirt was undone and I blinked as he wrapped the blanket around me tighter.

"You weren't there." I put my arms around him, encasing us inside the cover. He smiled and tipped my chin up to kiss my lips before guiding me in front of the fireplace and heating it up with some wood.

I scooted closer to it and rubbed my hands together.

"I'm sorry if that woke you. I just needed a drink." He showed me the glass of whiskey in his hand as he sat down.

"Is something bothering you?" I asked because he only drinks when he has something on his mind. I turned sideways and watched as his eyes roamed my face.

"You know me too well." His brows were set in a frown and the warm hue of the fire highlighted the angles of his face, which made him look even more handsome.

"Tell me." I prodded and hugged my knees up to my chest before resting my chin on top of it.

He took a drink from the glass before staring into the fire.

"There's this...feeling in my chest after what you told your parents."

"I don't know how to describe it but it's something that I felt when I was still human. It's pleasant and..." He looked at me and the corner of his lips tugged upward.

"Warm." He lifted a finger to touch a piece of hair on my forehead and I followed his hands before looking up at his eyes slowly.

"It's called happiness, Ryder." I told him and smiled warmly when he tilted his head, thinking.

"Happiness?" He asked again and I kept on nodding as he repeated the words over and over while staring at me.

"It's what I feel everytime I'm with you. This here..." I took his hand and placed it on top of my beating heart.

"It beats so fast and so hard that it hurts. It's aching in the most pleasant of ways when I feel you next to me." I leaned my body closer to his and let him feel the erratic beating of my heart.

"It's no longer warm, but burning. It's so intense that breathing would be so hard. It feels so good that I want everything to just...stop." I whispered and looked right at his very soul. There was tenderness in his expression as he stared at me, and suddenly the atmosphere felt too warm and every gesture turned too intimate.

"Do you know what's it called?" I asked him softly and moved a leg on the other side of his body so that he was directly under me. I raised myself up using my knees and stroked his cheek with my thumb.

A long and comfortable silence settled over us before he replied.

"What?" He swallowed and looked up at my eyes. I felt him going nervous and his hands found my waist to ground himself at this moment.

"It's called love, Ryder." I touched our foreheads together and spoke on his lips the words that found its way from the bottom of my heart.

"I love you."