Her heartbeat thudded crazily within her the moment she processed what her mouth had just seemingly blurted out on its own. They held each other's gazes and noticed that both of them probably had the same look in their eyes.
But Alicia was the first to snap out from that trance they were caught in. She had already realised she had been falling deeper and deeper for Ezekiel every moment that she spent with this man. Even though she had already admitted to herself of her desire for him, she still had never used that word, until now.
She had never thought that it would actually slip from her tongue. But there it goes. It rolled out so naturally from her lips before she could even realize it. But it was not too much of a shock anymore – not for her at least. She had already felt that her feelings for him now had developed to a point that was much more than just simple lust, more than just plain desire. It was something which was stronger than that, something much more powerful.
There were no other words that could sum up and explain sufficiently what she was truly feeling for him now other than that word. She had fallen in love with him in such a short time that they had spent together. But did all this truly just begun since he touched her a few days ago? She could not help but wonder if what she felt towards him back then was nothing but admiration. She wondered if that was all she had truly felt ever since she first saw him with that fake face of his that day when she was assigned to spy on him way back before she was became the witch queen.
But she was not going to think of that right now, because her attention was all on him. Her heart was still thumping away loudly and as fast as she waited for his reaction. What was he thinking right now? What will he say back to her? What will he do? So many thoughts ran about in her mind, that it seemed as though she had set up a marketplace in her head. She told herself to remember to breathe and calm down as she waited for him to respond to her.
His lips finally moved but before he could form any sound, his attention was pulled away by something else and he whipped his head towards the door. Her immediate response to his actions was that her heart sped up even more – but this time it was not in a good way.
The way he had turned his head around and with that slight narrowing of his eyes tipped her off. That reaction was enough for Alicia to widen her eyes and subconsciously tighten her grip on him. Had their pursuers already reached them?! They were that quick?!!
Ezekiel calmly climbed off the bed, pulling her along with him as he stood up. His calmness made her sudden panic attack somehow die down. If that interruption truly was their pursuers, he would not be this calm, right?
She prayed and hoped with all her heart that it would be one of his men. An ally, perhaps? But then, she remembered that everyone was against him right now. So who could it be?
She could feel her head spin and hear her heart race when he opened the door.
As it swung open, there was a man standing by the door. As she took a peek from behind him, she saw that it was a… vampire.
"Good morning Your Highness," he greeted, smiling at Ezekiel. "I've brought all the things you had requested for yesterday."
Alicia continued peeking at him from Ezekiel's back. And it was then that Alicia finally realized it was already daylight on the outside. The sun was in fact already quite high up in the sky.
"Good. You made sure no one suspicious was trailing you?" Ezekiel double checked with the man as he accepted the bag from the vampire.
"Yes, Your Highness. Quite sure." He gave a sharp nod at Ezekiel's query.
"What about the new car?" Alicia tilted her head at this question. They had a new car sent over as well? She did not think that he was still so efficient even with so many others going against him. But then again, should she be that shocked? This was Ezekiel they were talking about right now.
"It's all ready, Your Highness." The man stretched out his arm with the keys dangling from his fingers. He then dropped the car keys into Ezekiel's open palm and Ezekiel threw him the keys to the other car they had taken to get here yesterday.
"You can go back now, Brandon. And don't come back to this place for the next seven days." Ezekiel reminded the vampire in a low tone.
The man nodded sharply and once he turned and stepped away, Ezekiel shut the door closed and immediately opened the bag. Alicia just stood there, watching him, wondering what he was up to now.
The Ezekiel she was looking at right now was so like the usual Ezekiel the instant he opened the door until the moment he closed it. There was not even a single sign of the quivering mess that he was just a moment ago when he was still lying in her arms. It was incredibly amazing how quick he could switch and mask his emotions in a seemingly effortless way.
With the blank expression he showed to others on the outside, and every inflection of his voice just now… no one would ever think that he had just went through something hellish literally just minutes ago. This man…
"You need to change into proper clothes now, Alicia. We need to leave this place instantly." He murmured to her in a low tone as he brought out clothes from the bag. She heard him clearly only because she was standing so close to him. Before she could reply to his instructions, he had already hastily but swiftly helped her to get dressed.
Once she was dressed, Ezekiel dropped and squatted before her. He took her hands and placed them on his shoulders before grabbing her ankle.