Arrange Marriage at Sixteen

Part 7

By the time we reached his car, I felt tired. 

"Thank you, Leo," I say quietly as he opens the door for me of his car. 

A small smile plays on my lips as I look towards the entrance of the zoo. The fond memories I hold of the place will never be forgotten and the memories of today will also be added to those wonderful memories. 

"It's been a long time since I've come here and, frankly, my mind feels at peace right now. I don't know how or why I feel peacefulness, but thank you for bringing me here," I say as I turn to look at him. I suppress a giggle when I see that Leo's face is that of shock and......admiration. 

After a moment, he seems to recover and gives me a grin which I return with a smile. 

"You don't have to thank me, Angel. I did this because I wanted to spend time with you," he replies and motions for me to get into the car. 

Once I settle down and put my seat belt on, he closes the door and runs to the driver's side and gets in, quickly turning on the car and driving away from the zoo not before taking my hand in his. 

I feel him give my hand a squeeze which in turn makes my heart beat faster. Why? Why do I respond like this towards him when I barely know him? We barely met yesterday for goodness sake! Not even twenty four hours! 

My eyelids feel heavy as I think of this, but I stop thinking. I am too tired to keep on thinking over the matter. I feel myself drifting off to sleep as Leo drives and give his hand a squeeze which he returns. Before I close my eyes completely, I look at Leo one more time. 

He is handsome and very attractive, but can I trust him? Can I let a mere stranger who will soon turn into my husband into my heart? Can I truly depend on him? 

I try to analyze the possible answers to those questions, but I can't. My mind is not letting me dwell on such matters and instead is focused on one thing. The feeling of his hand holding mine. It is so warm and so reassuring. It makes me feel calm when I should be uncomfortable with the situation. Our hands fit perfectly together and with that in mind I let sleep take over as the movement of the car rocks me to sleep. 

I feel the rock of the car stop, but I do not wake up entirely. It feels lik I am between waking up and going to sleep and I can still feel what is happening around me. Leo tries to wake me up by shaking my shoulder and calling my name. I groan and snuggle into the car seat more and sigh. He chuckles and opens his door while swiftly removing his hand from mine making it feel cold. He  closes the door behind him and opens mine carefully. Leo puts a hand under my knees and the other around my waist, slowly but carefully getting me out of the car. 

Unconsciously, I automatically snuggle into the crook of his neck and Leo tenses before relaxing once more. I put my arms around his neck. 

"So comfy," I mumble in my state of sleep. 

Leo just chuckles and starts walking towards which I assume to be the front entrance. I could not even pay attention to my state of vulnerability and instead let him take me wherever he was taking me. He quietly orders a servant to open the doors for him and then gives a quick thanks before walking away. 

He quickly but quietly takes me towards, I'm guessing, the room he gave me and a maid quickly opens the door for us. She is asked to change my clothes by Leo as he places me gently into my bed. However, I did not feel like unwrapping my arms from around his neck as he tries to pull them off. Keyword, tries, but then chuckles and gets close to my ear.

"You're so vulnerable when you're asleep, Angel," he whispers into my ear and an involuntary shiver runs through my spine at the sound of his husky voice.