Jonathan caressed Anneliese''s cheek and said, "You seem to have lost a bit of weight. Did you miss me?"
Anneliese huffed and tilted her head to the side as she nuzzled against his palm.
"You are just like Grandma," she said. After all, their first concern when seeing her was that she had lost weight. She felt that Jonathan was truly raised well by his grandmother-the priorities were the same.
As she thought about it, she felt warmth in her heart.
She knew very well that only someone who truly cared about her would notice something like this first.
Jonathan raised an eyebrow and said, "Making fun of my motherly nagging, are you now?"
Anneliese smiled and suddenly reached out to hug his waist, pressing her face against his chest and rubbing herself against him.
"I just missed you. You have to take responsibility for it!"
"What?" Jonathan instinctively asked. In that split second, he stiffened slightly, and the smile in his eyes was momentarily frozen with surprise.
Hearing that she had answered his previous question, admitting that she missed him, Jonathan almost doubted his own hearing.
After all, just a week ago, he had spent a lot of effort-practically pestering her just to prevent her grandmother from cutting things offpletely with him.
They hadn''t met all week, and their contact had been minimal. He had even worried that Anneliese''s grandmother might have brainwashed her by now. His expectation for this meeting was simply to maintain what they had. He hadn''t expected this delightful surprise from her.
Hearing him y dumb, Anneliese felt her cheeks heat up, and she gave his side a yful squeeze.
"What kind of reaction is that?! That''s just awful!"
Only then did Jonathanugh under his breath. In that split second, he bent down abruptly and carried her legs. Anneliese instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and looped her legs around his waist, hanging onto him.
Their eyes met, and their breaths intertwined.
Jonathan''s Adam''s apple moved as he stared at her flushed face.
Anneliese felt a little uneasy under his intense gaze and instinctively wanted to turn away.
"Don''t move," the manmanded huskily. "Let me take a good look." Blushing, Anneliese blinked.
"Look at what?"
"To see if someone has swapped out my wife. How did she suddenly turn into such a big sweetie?"
Hearing his words, Anneliese pouted and red at him. "What do you mean by that? Was I bitter before?"
Jonathan studied her animated expression and nodded thoughtfully. "Weren''t you bitter that time when you chased me out of Maple Bay?"
Back then, her eyes had been swollen from crying, and her face
was still marked with ps from her
grandmother. She looked utterly
dispirited. He hadn''t even had the chance or the right to stay andfort her. He had been so worried and helpless. He never imagined that she would greet him like this
after a week apart.
"You are the bitter one! I''m going to bite you!" Anneliese rolled her eyes and actually lightly bit his jaw.
Jonathan didn''t move and watched as she made a cute little fuss.
He lowered his gaze, thinking how adorable she looked from above.
Anneliese left only a faint mark on his jaw before pulling back. The next second Jonathan leaned down and bit her neck—not too gently, but clearly with a mere intense and possessive hunger.
Anneliese whimpered softly. Her hands twisted into his hair, tugging lightly as if in pain yet unable to resist.
Jonathan inhaled her scent deeply and released his bite. Yet, he didn''t lift his head. Instead, like an addict, he buried himself in her neck, greedily inhaling the sweet scent.
"Baby girl, I''m so happy," he said in a deep voice.
Jonathan was happy that she was more certain of her feelings. He was even happier that her heart belonged to him. Initially, he had always been secretly jealous of Zacharias since Anneliese had once done so much for Zacharias that she hadn''t done for him. He felt that when with Anneliese, he was always the one forcing her to love him.