The morning rays of the sun peeked through the large window and smiled upon the sleeping face of the woman. She stirred in her sleep, turned so that she was now facing the figure lying beside her. The lines on Gaia's forehead displayed while her eyes was beginning to open to the welcoming view of a man lying before her. Taken by surprise, the woman abruptly gasp and climbs off the bed. Heracles remained asleep, showing no signs of being disturbed by her sudden action. Her gaze laid on the creature with a look of oblivion over her face. Her scattered hair over her face was being slightly blown by the cold breeze swirling in the room. It seemed she had forgotten for a moment why she was in that room. So it had come as a surprise to her when she awoke to the view of another man who was not Vincent. Slowly, she sat at the edge of the bed staring intently at the man with his hair scattered over his face. A sudden urge came upon her to brush the strands off to have a clearer look at his fine features. A few minutes had passed since she woke up and did not realize she had been staring far too long at the man.
"For how long do you intend to keep staring at me?" Heracles hoarse voice sounded, pulling her form her from her chain of thoughts. She stared down at bright sapphire eyes staring back at her. Her lips parted but no words came out. Gaia watched as the man rose and started for the bathroom. She let out a sigh, let herself fall back on the bed, and stared long at the ceiling.
Not long after, the door to the bathroom opened and Heracles walked out with only a towel wrapped around his waist. A frown formed on his face as he noticed the distant look on Gaia's face. What could e occupying her mind? He wondered.
"Gaia." He called. Gaia's gaze turned from the ceiling to the door and suddenly felt her jaw dropped. She was staring at a flawless body with an impeccable abs that only screamed of beauty. Her greedy eyes travelled from his long built legs to his torso , his long arms, his shoulders and then finally to his perfectly crafted face, but her prying eyes and mind did not stop there. She gazed down at his sensual lips. At the way they looked moist with his wet hair only adding more quality to his features. His body to her was utter perfection, sinfully luring her into a realm of temptation. As hard as it was to admit, the way she was fantasizing about this creature was nothing like what she did with Vincent. Vincent! His thought came in mind. How could she be here lying on the same bed with another man and dreaming so lustfully about him? She mentally berated herself, peeling her gaze form the man. Heracles grinned mischeviously, knowing fully well how overwhenlming his presence was to her.
"You should get some bath and have breakfast." Heracles said, grinning at her. He watched in pleasure the way the woman nodded frantically at him and rose with her gaze falling everywhere but on him as she made her way to the bathroom. Gaia could feel the man's gaze on her and it felt like he was staring right into her soul. She wanted to immediately disappear from his sight and hastened her pace but she soon lost balance and found herself falling to the floor fast. The woman shut her eyes tight, afraid of the pain to come with the hard fall but she was caught just in time by Heracles. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest as she clutched unto his strong arm and shoulder tightly. Their faces were so close that Heracles could feel the hot breath of her nose on his cheek. Shutting his eyes tight for a moment, he opened them with a sigh and helped the woman stand observing her critically to see if she was hurt.
"Are you okay?" Gaia nodded briskly, pulling her hand from his grip and examining herself. She worriedly caressed her belly, feeling concerned for her baby.
"It's doing okay. Don't worry." Heracles assured drawing the woman's attention to himself with a look of surprise.
"How did you… know that?" She frowned. The man only smirked and pointed to his ear.
"This." He said and walked off.
"Huh?" Gaia felt confused. Did he mean he could hear her child? She turned to him. "Can you hear it?" She found herself asking. Heracles chuckled and gestured for her to move to the bathroom.
"Do you need any assistance? I could call in the maids for you." Gaia shook her head and stared for a while at him before walking away.
.....
Heracles walked in the hallway heading to the kitchen for breakfast for Gaia. His long legs strode towards the kitchen on the red carpet laid on the floor but abruptly halted at the sudden materialization of someone. It was Lord Asmodeus, standing all poised and mighty with a look of displeasure over his face.
"I have been told you've brought in a human." The lord went straight to the point. Heracles' expression turned to a frown.
"News travels fast." He simply said.
"I have my ears everywhere. Don't forget. Who is she and why is she here?"
"A woman I helped along the way. She was unconscious and I didn't know where to send her so I brought her here." Lord Asmodeus stared intently at him, clearly displaying he was not convinced.
"She's human Heracles. We can't have her knowing about us." The lord said and inched towards the man.
"She just one little harmless fly."
"A harmless fly that can spill a lot about us. How can you be this careless?" Silence reigned. Both men glaring into each other's eyes.
"Heracles. If I let this one slide, the next you know, another person would bring in a human as well and another and another. I can't afford to risk the safety of this kingdom. Send her home."
"I wish I could but unfortunately, she can't remember much due to the accident." Heracles lied. At that moment, it felt right to say tha lie for Gaia's sake. Of course, lying to the Lord was not he wisest thing to do but how was he supposed to tell him he found his mate in the very woman he tasked him to look after? Lord Asmodeus would burn the palace to ashes if he found out. Heracles sighed, shrugged and felt exasperated at the thought. Things were becoming complicated for him by the minute. "I know you will probably ask me to send her back where I found her but I swear to you that place is not safe. Some rapist attacked her and I certainly can't send her back to a place where she was nearly assaulted. Also, she can't even remember much. You don't expect me to send her wandering about on the streets in an unknown place, do you?"
"Alright, Just a week. That's all the time you have. After that time, if she still can't remember anything, you send her back where you found her. I don't care what harm befalls her; after all, she's not supposed to be here. The lord explained.
"Yes my lord." Heracles voice came out low.
"Until then, you are responsible for her safety here in the palace. I don't want to ever see her wandering the walls of this palace nor smell her presence. The others will only hurt her if they spot her." Lord Asmodeus explained and teleported from sight.