Chapter 161 - Coming Closer!

Abigail pov

"There must be around a dozen." he replied as I felt the footsteps of theirs and I nodded, we would be shredded to pieces and even our parts would not be able to be recognized if they would see us or even feel our presence.

"Do not move, your highness," I said , hugging him tightly. He stiffened in my arms out of fear.

"Your.." I wanted to comfort him that we would be fine, when he covered my lips with his palm.

"Do not speak either, control your breaths too." he whispered in my ears and I nodded but his hands still stayed there. I just closed my eyes to let the moments pass.

We could hear the breaking of trees and their loud roars, we were so close to another catastrophe.

So, this was how he had faced the attack in his last life. I had to admit that the plan was perfect. No matter how much the reason was searched, it would come under natural death.

But then how did the man survive? I was sure he was killed after my engagement with Gerard.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, bringing me back to reality.

"The rain had started again, would it affect the smell of the tree?" he whispered and I shivered but shook my head.

"With air and water, it will only increase.'' I replied in a low voice and he took a deep breath on my skin. I could feel his hot breath over my skin. 

With rain, their footsteps subsided and I finally took a breath of relief. I tried to move away, but he held me there.

"What are you doing?" the question that was on my lips was robbed by him.

"I am trying to move, so that we can leave this area and find a way back home." I replied the obvious but he shook his head like I was a fool to even think of that.

"I do not think we will manage to pass the rain, I can't even see at a distance." he replied, looking around. "Moreover, we did not know in which direction the beasts left, I did not want to run towards them, did you?" His voice was taunting and I glared at him and then tried to look out of the branches to see if I could see anything further but as he said, the rain was too heavy and the woods were too dark. 

It was already evening, so finding a path would be difficult.

I sighed as I knew he was right, but we did not know how much time would it take for others to find us in this dark.

I nodded and turned to look at him. Only then did I notice he was not looking at my face but.. His eyes were fixed on my lips. I coughed to get his attention as my face turned red suddenly.

He averted his gaze from me and looked at the distance, "but the knights don't know where we are and it will be difficult to find us in the rain, everyone thought that you will ride towards the palace." 

"Then?"

"Then nothing, they will follow the footsteps of the horse or look around. It will take hours, as it is difficult, so it is better that we keep hiding there. When the rain would stop only then we could start moving. Or you want to be the food of the beasts?" I shook my head as I wanted to live more. I would not die before destroying and killing the villain of my life.

Since we could not do anything better, we spent time talking so that it would distract me from the closeness we were sharing. This morning I wanted to ask him about hunting.

"You don't like hunting, your highness"

"No. Actually, I do not like it very much. I do not enjoy killing."

His face was dark as he spoke. I was interested, there seemed to be something behind that. But then I didn't think we even had the kind of relationship to ask directly. I didn't want to have something more entangled than this for him because I heard a strange story that would otherwise have been hidden.

The distance between him and me was just right like this. There was so much more to know about each other, and we were a little closer than strangers and much more distant than family members.

My body had turned frozen and my teeth had started gritting. But then I raised my head up and looked at the sky. The thick raindrops pouring from the sky were still strong. No signs of a stopping motion could be seen, if only it was increasing every passing second.

He reached out and cupped my face with his hand as he gently wiped away the water from my cheek with his thumb. He slowly moved his face closer to me and gently tucked my hair behind my ear at the same time. How much time had passed, when he moved his hand away, it felt like an eternity had passed, the cold started increasing suddenly, maybe because I missed the warmth his hands were providing to me.

I shivered as the rain turned torrential, my clothes were already wet, and the cold was slowly seeping in.

I could see him moving closer to me. His hair was wet, his clothes drenched and what was even more amazing was that I did not see his usual cold face, but was concerned and cared. His eyes were serious, still cold but devastatingly more beautiful than ever. He was like a dark angel who just emerged from the ground under the rain.

Slowly he moved his hands and touched my waist. He took me in his arms from behind, and started rubbing my hands, to give as much warmth as possible to both of us.

"I think it is fine now." I said trying to move, but his grip on my body tightened, and I jerked back.