Lift the punishment

Lucian had quickly sat up without thinking and reached out to her. He'd shaken her shoulders repeatedly while assuring her that what she was experiencing was a nightmare. It had taken a few minutes before her eyes snapped open, and she'd gazed at him with confusion before she reached out to touch his face.

Now that she was back to sleep as if she hadn't woken him up, and her breathing seemed steady, Lucian gazed at her sleeping form with a blank expression.

Outside the window, the day was already breaking through the horizon. He could hear the morning birds singing and see the purplish dawn sky. And while the room wasn't bright, he could see Ave's face and her form perfectly.

He gazed at her for a few moments without thinking about anything until his eyes fell on the red marks on her neck, which were now fading—the marks he'd left on her skin when he'd strangled her.