Twilight Requiem

Beautiful Dream

After they left the bar, they walked along the streets. Since they already had a few drinks, Nyx was slightly swaying as she walked, and Ivan was there to keep her steady.

Nyx giggled every time she almost tripped, but Ivan was quick enough to wrap his arms around her and save her. Ivan was just smiling ear to ear, happy to have his mate in his arms.

The two of them ended up going to the Doctor’s Garden, a park with beautiful hedges, many benches, plenty of lights, and even ancient ruins.

While they were walking, the chilling breeze made Nyx wrap her arms around her bare arms. Ivan noticed, and then he took off his jacket before draping them around his mate’s shoulders.

“Thanks,” Nyx said, and Ivan smiled at her.

Her thick British accent made her really adorable.

“Have you seen the city?”

Ivan looked at his mate when she asked a question. In his mind, he wanted to answer yes since he had visited the city in the past when he was traveling.

“No, not yet,” he answered instead.

“The city is really beautiful. For me, it's kind of underrated since most tourists go to Rome or Paris,” she said.

Ivan nodded his head.

“This city has its own charm,” he responded.

Then they sat on one of the benches there in the park, right next to the Monument of the fallen medic. The monument is a truncated, four-walled pyramid made of polished grey granite blocks. It is topped with a stone sarcophagus.

The two of them sat there quietly, and Ivan was grinning so much that he couldn’t contain how happy he was that he found his mate. Even in that silence, he was delighted to be with her, just hearing her breathing and heartbeat. But that silence was broken by the continuous pinging of Ivan’s phone. Ivan huffed and pulled out his phone from his pocket.

Ivan looked at his phone and saw dozens of text messages from Zack and the other members of his team. Ivan huffed once again and put his phone back in his pocket.

“Girlfriend?” Nyx asked.

Ivan whipped his head towards her, alarmed by her question.

“No!” he exclaimed, and Nyx was taken aback.

Ivan was rattled by her sudden question, and his reaction was a bit over the top. Nyx giggled and waved him off.

“You don’t have to be so defensive,” she said.

Ivan shook his head profusely.

“No, it's not like that. It's my teammates. I left them in the bar; they are just looking for me,” he explained.

Nyx looked at him with a smirk.

“Yeah, right,” she teased him.

Ivan turned to her. He felt like he needed to explain and didn’t want his mate to think wrong of him.

“I don’t have a girlfriend; I never had one,” he blurted.

Nyx stared at him in disbelief.

At that moment, Nyx thought that it was impossible for someone as handsome as him not to have a girlfriend. Ivan heaved a deep breath and leaned back.

“I know it must sound like I am lying, but I am not. I just don’t like playing with relationships. I wanted my first girlfriend to be the last, and so far, I haven’t found the right one…” Ivan trailed off, and then he looked at Nyx.

“Until now.”

Nyx stared at him. She felt her heart skip a beat when she heard Ivan say it. Her hand unconsciously went to her chest as she felt her heartbeat. She also felt her face heat up as the feeling of elation engulfed her.

She couldn’t explain it, but she felt happy at that moment. She shook her head, thinking that it must be the alcohol in her system. Despite repeatedly telling herself that, the attraction she felt towards the handsome stranger sitting next to her was something she couldn’t just ignore.

“How about you? Do you have a boyfriend?”

Ivan asked, hoping that she would answer no.

“I don’t. I don’t think I have time for them. I need to focus on myself, free myself.”

Nyx spoke, sounding like she was in deep thought. She said those words absently, and Ivan noticed it. He thought his mate must be going through something.

“What do you mean?” he asked, trying to pry more information from her.

Nyx just smiled, which didn’t reach her eyes.

“It's for me to know and you to find out, darling,” she said, almost slurring.

Ivan grinned, loving the sound of that endearment coming from his mate’s lips, but couldn’t get past the feeling that she was going through something.

Ivan was about to ask her further questions when he noticed that his mate was looking at him intently.

Nyx stared at his handsome face that was illuminated by the moon. Nyx felt the attraction intensified that she just found herself leaning closer to him. When Ivan sensed movement next to him, he turned to look at his mate, but he was surprised to see her so close to him.

“Nyx?”

Nyx then shushed him, and Ivan furrowed his eyebrows. He looked at her intently and noticed the glassy look in her eyes. He figured that she was already drunk. He let out a soft sigh and stood up.

“It's late, and we already had a few drinks. Maybe I should take you back to your hotel,” he said.

Nyx looked at him. She looked at him as if thinking about what she should do next. Ivan thought she was just sleepy, so he held out his hand for her to take.

“Let’s go. It’s getting cold,” he told her.

Nyx looked at his hand and placed her hand on his. The moment their hands touched, Ivan wrapped her fingers around her delicate, small hands. Nyx stood up, and then Ivan led her to walk out of the park.

While they were walking, Ivan asked her where she was staying. She told him the name of her hotel, which was conveniently just two blocks away from where they were.

They walked towards the hotel, and while on their way, they continued to chat while admiring the city streets.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the hotel. Nyx asked Ivan to escort her up to her room when he was about to bid her goodbye, while they were in the hotel lobby.

“A-Are you sure?” Ivan asked.

Nyx smiled at him and nodded her head. At that moment, Nyx suddenly felt dizzy, and Ivan immediately wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her.

“Are you okay?” Ivan asked her.

“Yeah. It must be the alcohol,”

Nyx answered.

“Alright. You should really sleep.” Ivan told her, and then he helped her to her room on the tenth floor.

When they finally arrived in front of her door, Nyx looked at Ivan.

“It was nice meeting you, and I really enjoyed our time together.”

Nyx spoke while looking at Ivan. The way she spoke was a little bit flirty, and Ivan found her adorable.

“I feel the same,” Ivan replied to her with a smile, and his Lycan was jumping and wagging its tail.

Nyx’s cheeks flushed, and she looked down shyly.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Ivan asked, and then Nyx looked at him. Ivan noticed something in her eyes seemed to be troubling her. Before he could speak again, Nyx surprised him when she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down before pressing her lips against his.

***********************************.

The next morning.

Nyx opened her eyes and abruptly sat up when she remembered what had happened the night before. She looked down and saw her bare chest as the white silk blanket fell around her waist.

She gathered the silk sheets and covered her nakedness. Then he looked towards the right side of the bed and saw the handsome stranger she had met the night before, sleeping next to her, and just like her, he was also naked, with only the silk sheets covering his lower half.

Nyx mentally scolded herself, rubbing her palms against her face. She was horrified by what she had done.

‘Niccola, what have you done?’

Nyx asked herself.

She was never the kind of girl who would go on a one-night stand with a stranger. She never even had a boyfriend, so she was wondering why she did what she did last night.

Then he put her hands down and reached for her phone on the nightstand. Her eyes widened when she saw the time. She’s going to be late for her flight! She scrambled out of bed, gathered her clothes scattered on the floor, and ran into the bathroom.

Good thing she already prepared everything last night before she left. The clothes she would wear for the day were neatly folded on the bathroom sink counter. She quickly brushed her teeth and took a shower.

Once done, she got dressed in denim pants, a simple T-shirt, and tennis shoes. She dried her hair and wore a baseball cap over it. She went out of the bathroom and stuffed her clothes into her luggage along with her toiletries.

She made sure all her stuff was packed and ready before she turned towards the sleeping handsome stranger on the bed. While looking at him, Nyx found herself walking closer.

Her attraction towards him was something she couldn’t comprehend. She just felt so attracted to him; being with him made her happy, and last night, though everything was foggy because she was under the influence of alcohol, deep in her heart, she wanted it to happen; she was happy when it happened, and she felt like she was on cloud nine.

Even though she was happy being with him, she still had to go. So, she walked over to the mahogany desk and grabbed a piece of stationery and a pen. She wrote a note for the stranger and left it on the nightstand.

Then she sat on the edge of the bed and leaned closer. She pressed her lips to his forehead before pulling away.

“Thank you, my beautiful dream,” she whispered before getting up from the bed.

She then grabbed her sling bag and luggage before leaving the room to go to the airport.