“Are you sleeping?"

His resonating voice echoed in the room, and Claudia tried to persuade herself that she couldn't hear anything.

ALL of a sudden, she felt a ticklish sensation on her face, almost coaxing her to open her eyes instinctively.

It wasn't long before she realized it was his finger tracing her cheek. The soft, warm trail left by his fingertip made her squirm.

"So, if you're asleep, you wouldn't know if I planted a kiss on you."

No sooner had he finished speaking than she could sense the familiar scent of him growing stronger.

In mere seconds, she could feel his warm breath hovering over her. Claudia, unable to keep up her act, jolted up, eyes wide open and blurted, "I'm awake!"

Bennett looked straight into her eyes. "That was quick."

His gaze bore into her, as if trying to read her thoughts. Claudia, face flushed, averted her eyes and stammered, “I'm I'm hungry."

Bennett stood upright.

“Let's go have breakfast then."

As he prepared to Leave, he gave her one more glance.

Such a shame! Why couldn't Claudia have prolonged her act?

Bennett shrugged it off, exiting the room.

Once he was out, Claudia sat upright in bed, her hands covering her heated face. It took a while for her blush to subside before she could muster the courage to Leave her room.

Bennett was seated at the dining table when Claudia finally made her appearance. He handed her a glass of milk as she approached.

“Thanks.”

As she sipped her milk, Claudia noticed a red blemish on Bennett's neck.

Was she responsible?

Her fear was affirmed shortly.

As this realization hit her, Bennett, seated across her, casually touched the mark on his neck.

“Does it look familiar to you?"

Hearing this, Claudia tightened her grip on the glass.

“Looks like a cat's done a number on your neck."