Chapter Twenty Six

The so-called firm resolve, and iron will that Julie had so long and painstakingly built did nothing at all to shield her from all the words that left Alex's lips. It was as if his words were fiery arrows. It did not pierce through her shield with force. However, they came like molten lava and they melted her shields, dissolving them down into a puddle of jelly along with her bones.

And she was helpless – utterly helpless, unnerved, and shocked. How could mere words bring about such great effect to her heart, mind, and body? She felt as if a spell had been casted on her – a lethal spell that made her body react in ways she had never felt before.

"Julie…" his head bent closer to hers. And since her hands were now covered over her mouth, he inclined his head, and she felt his breath against the rim of her ear. Another jolt. An even stronger one travelled like electricity in her every nerve. "I want to kiss you… let me taste your lips. Say yes, Julie."

His voice was so warm and husky and unbelievably sensual she felt like he was bewitching her. Desperation and desire seemed to be roaring under his breath. She never knew a desperate man sounded that seductive. Could anyone blame her if she surrendered? After all, he is her husband, right?

Julie felt the fire that had melted her shields now began to work its magic on her heart. And she almost heard her heart cracking open. The hands that were covering her lips started to loosen from its tight grip. She wanted to taste those lips too, would it feel even hotter than his breath?

She was shocked at that thought. How scandalous! Did it even come from her? And what was even more shocking was when she noticed that her hands were already partially down and no more putting up any resistance to Alex. She suddenly felt him jerk back and she slowly lifted her eyes to look at him, her heart thumping so hard that her brain felt light-headed from all the shock, sensations and emotions flooding her all at once.

But to her surprise, he was not looking at her. She realized he had jerked back to look at the door thanks to someone knocking on it.

A low exasperated groan came from him before he turned to look at her. Their eyes met and Julie's breath hitched. And then, he lowered his head while his hands were still stretched out against the wall behind her. He sighed and she noticed that his arms were trembling a little, as if struggling to control something within him.

"There seemed to be another serious trouble," he muttered after heaving a sigh, "so I'm sorry but I have to leave again."

His gaze smouldered over hers before they fell on her lips. But another knock echoed, causing his jaws to clench, hard. Then too soon, he pulled back and whispered. "You go rest first. I'll be back as soon as I can."

And with that, he unexpectedly but gently picked her up and laid her on their bed, after which he just spun around and left.

Silence crawled in every corner of the room as soon as the door was shut, and Julie slowly sank back into the luxurious bed. She absolutely could not believe what just happened. Somewhere in the chaos of her mind, she realized how easily he had seduced her, causing her to come undone. He did not even need to touch a single strand of her hair and yet… how could she…

She could only bury her feverish face in her palms and groan. She could still feel the remnants of the fire he had induced in her skin and the flicker of turmoil that he had awakened low in her belly. His bewitching deep voice still echoed and those… she didn't even know what to call the kind of words he had said to her. And then she remembered her response when he asked her to let him kiss her. She had relented. If that interruption didn't come that moment, she was certain she'd said yes. Because she was already prepared to do so and even already brazenly wondered how it would have felt to kiss him.

"Mother…" she uttered, helplessly. "What should I do? I can't seem to… I can't seem to hold on any longer… It's impossible. He's just impossible. What should I do?"

Everything still had a crazy feel even when Julie finally stretched herself out and properly covered herself with the blankets on the bed. Though outwardly she was fine except for a hot blush still adorning her cheeks, her thoughts were a complete mess. She tried so hard to stop thinking, she was tired, exhausted with all the thoughts that were like demons in her head. They said there was an angel and a devil on either side of one's shoulders fighting against each other to take control. But why was it that Julie felt that there was no angel but just devils whispering in her ears, eager to push her to fall into temptation?

...

A long while later, Julie finally dropped off to sleep. It was most probably due to exhaustion from all the overthinking and roller-coaster of emotions in the last few days and especially from everything that had happened in that short time Alex had appeared.

As the night deepened, Julie began to dream. She dreamt about Alex climbing onto their bed. He was bent over her and started to whisper the same words he had said before he left. Only this time, he had paired everything that he said with his actions. He brushed his mouth against hers over and over and did those things to her lips until she opened her mouth and let him in. And then, she was startled awake from her sleep, breathless and hot with shame.

She ran her hands over her face and sat on the bed for an interval until she had calmed down and the heat in her face has sufficiently subsided. When she looked towards the window, she realized it was already dawn. She eased back on the bed again and curled herself into a fetal position. How could she resist a man who could seduce her and make her feel all those things even in her dreams? Wanting her to resist her husband who oozes male sexuality when he puts his mind to it would be asking the impossible out of a normal lady such as herself.

Closing her eyes, Julie let out a shaky breath, realizing that she wasn't spared from him even when asleep.

But before her mind could descend into chaos again, she felt someone's presence in the room. Her heartbeat sped up and she whipped her head towards the door nervously.

"It's me," Alex's voice echoed and then he was right next to the bed.

Julie breathed out a sigh of relief, but she gasped when he suddenly reached out and lifted her into his arms.

"I'm sorry, wife. But we need to leave now." His voice was calm but urgent. "You need to get dressed quickly. Wear the thickest clothes you can find." He had brought them both into the dressing room as he was informing her on what to do.

"W-why? Where are we going?" she managed to ask while he was already digging around for the thickest coat in her wardrobe.

"Start dressing Julie, I'll explain to you later." He urged and Julie frantically obeyed, sensing the seriousness of the situation. "Here's the coat. Put it on."

The moment he turned to her to give her the coat, Julie was still wearing her night gown. "I…"

Realizing the look on her face, Alex ran his fingers through his dark hair and turned. "I'll wait outside." He said but without the tone of annoyance Julie had expected.

She hastily removed her night-dress. She was clumsily putting on her dress as she was not accustomed to dressing up without the help of the maids.

"Julie, do you need help?" she heard his voice just as she realized she needed some help to do up the buttons of her gown. As if he had read her mind, his voice came again. "I'm coming in." he warned.

He then entered through the door of the dressing room. Julie blushed but his speedy actions did not give her any chance to dwell on the shame she felt. He finished the job swiftly and with care. Once he was done with her buttons, he wrapped her with the thick coat.

"Wear this too." He said as he handed over a knitted pair of gloves as he pulled the hood of the thick fur coat over her head. Julie was surprised but she couldn't bring herself to ask for more details just yet for she could sense that they seemed to be in a massive hurry and have no time to spare.

He bundled her with another thick cloak and then the cloak that she had worn during their trip to imperial palace. The clothes were heavy but before she could ponder should she move with all these weight on her, Alex lifted her like she weighed a mere feather and then headed to the window.

Without a word, Alex pulled her hood further down until she could see nothing. The next thing she knew, she was clinging onto him for dear life. Her face buried in his strong chest; she could feel a very strong wind blowing all around her. Even with the many layers of coat that Alex piled onto her, she could still feel the chill on her skin. It was as if they were passing right through a violent storm. She could not even turn her head to the front because aside from the ruthless wind, Alex's palm was pressing her head against his chest.

She could only cling to him, unable to think. Because as time went by, it was getting colder and colder. She finally understood why he had wrapped her with all these thick and heavy clothes. It felt as though they were passing through a roaring icy blizzard this time.

More than an hour probably went by and the blizzard seemed to have let up somewhat. No. It seems that Alex had finally slowed down his travel pace.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, his palm which was cupping the back of her head loosened up a little but still not allowing her to turn around for a look. "Just a little while longer, wife. It's snowing so I can't let you look yet."

"Where… where are we going?"

"To a safe place. In Dacria."