Minutes melted into hours—hours that felt like a dream Ayla didn't want to wake from.
Reality would catch them eventually.
She glanced at Alexander.
Why wasn't he eager to leave?
Was he waiting for someone—or waiting to turn on her?
Either he planned to stay, deceive her, and ensnare her, or he'd abandon her once they finally emerged from their shelter.
She needed answers—and the cave wouldn't give her any.
Time had blurred while they clung to each other, but hunger and danger were still waiting outside.
Time slipped by until she realized the saying was true- time flies when you're having fun.
They lay tangled on the makeshift bed, but something in her had gone tight and watchful.
The light at the entrance had faded again.
They'd lost a full day in the cave.
Ayla had always planned to wait long enough for the hunters to give up—then slip back to the city.
She didn't know Dominic and his men had returned to the falls and searched outward all day.
All he wanted was to hold her close and feel her warmth, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that something was troubling her.
"Ayla… can we talk? Something's changed."
Ayla stared at the dark.
"Talking means deciding," she said.
"And I'm scared of what we'll decide. Once we leave… do you go home? Is someone waiting for you? I don't even know you."
He swallowed.
"No one's waiting for me," he said. "And I don't want this to end with us walking away. Let's talk—slowly. We can decide together."
They were both starving and wrung out, but staying hidden wouldn't feed them—or save them forever.
When they finally rose, it felt like choosing daylight over a safe lie.
Looking at her, the woman he had run after through the wild, who never stopped no matter what she faced, stood ten toes deep against every challenge he saw her come to, jumped feet first into the dark unknown, wasn't just that.
She now held a glimmer of fear in her expression over him, of opening up to someone after being alone for so long.
He looked forward to discovering who she really was and what had shaped such a captivating soul.
"Where are you from?" she asked.
"Well, that's a hard one, but I like to say I'm from wherever I lay my head at night. Elaborate more about your question".
Alexander wasn't sure what she was looking for when she asked, so he wanted to know how to give her what she wanted.
"No, your answer is perfect. It means more than you think. So, if I wanted to stay with you, would anyone object"?
This was a roundabout way of her asking again if anyone was waiting, and she hoped he wouldn't pick up on it, but he wasn't as clueless as she thought.
"Nope, it's my roommate in the apartment and me," he said.
As he spoke, he noticed her eyebrow lift slightly, "and I might have to stop him from hitting on you, but that's about it," he added with a smirk.
Ayla looked a little concerned.
"Your roommate would hit on me," she tilted her head.
She couldn't understand why anyone would do that.
There wasn't anything special about her- she saw herself as just a simple, ordinary girl.
Her question amused him.
"Oh, absolutely. You have an amazing body, with all the right curves in all the right places, and the face of an angel. Whether you stay or not, he'd need to know you're off limits."
His words didn't miss her.
'Stay or not. What does he mean by that?' she thought, shaking her head slightly.
A smile began to form as she replayed his words.
"So, you want me to stick around, huh?"
Alexander smiled back at her.
"More than you know. I don't know much about you, but I can tell you need protection. I can protect you. I'm a bodyguard- it's what I do. It only makes sense for me to stay with you and keep you safe, doesn't it"?
She nodded, her smile widening.
'What am I thinking? Did I just tell him that I want to stay with him' she wondered.
'Well, I do,' she admitted to herself.
He really could help protect her- more than that, it seemed like he wanted to.
"What about you? Do you live with anyone I should worry about? A pet missing you? Or a man I need to fight for the right to save as the damsel in distress, because he is clearly failing at his job?"
The idea of him wanting to fight for her filled her with a deep warmth.
'How could he ask if a man was waiting on me if he knew I hadn't been with anyone,' she thought.
She giggled, "No, no. I live alone, if you can call it that. The only men in my life are the ones who keep trying to kidnap me. My home is wherever I choose to lay my head at night. Why ask if anyone waits for me if you knew I had never been with anyone"?
His expression turned curious.
"What does that mean? You think you live alone, but someone else doesn't? And, for the last part, I just knew, unless..."
He looked down, recalling the blood from the very beginning, "I just knew."
Alexander wasn't sure how to take her words, and his own came out wrong.
Her face froze as she replayed what she'd said.
"No, no, I've stayed under the radar for so long that I never really settled anywhere. I don't have a traditional home. I'm more of a gypsy if I had to put a title to it. There is no one, swear," she admitted, shame coloring her tone.
"Ohhhh," he said, "Got it. I'm sorry for how I may have sounded. I shouldn't have lost my cool. I don't ever do that".
Ayla realized he didn't appear to be judging her; he was judging himself.
"I thought if I had one stable place in my name, it would make it easier for people to find me. Unfortunately, that's also meant no friends for as long as I can remember. To answer another of your questions, that also includes pets unless you count the strays in take under my wing".
Her words nearly knocked him back, and he couldn't hold in his feelings, so she didn't feel bad about how she'd been living.
Was pitying her worse than anything she thought he felt?
Ayla didn't like the weight pressing on her chest after his most recent discovery.
It didn't take long for him to respond.
"Do you want to stay with me, or do you have other plans for tonight?" he asked, giving her autonomy.
She was confused, wondering if maybe he got scared.
"I don't have to stay with you if you don't want me to. I'm fine on my own and always have been. We should both be leaving soon, though, while we can," she said, glaring at him.
She knew it was only a matter of time before someone would discover their hiding place.
Ayla knew deep inside that he was trying to distance himself from her.
Then he started shaking his head, reaching for her, and pulled her close.
"You misunderstand me," he said as he kissed her forehead.
She raised an eyebrow, barely able to see his chin until he looked down.
He knew he was on a tightrope as he spoke again.
"I know you're nervous because we have been here too long. Stay with me, I want you to. It goes both ways. You have to want to. I never want you to do anything that you feel pressured into or don't want to. You have been through a lot alone. This will be a big change, and I don't want you to think that I forced you. It has to be your choice- one hundred percent".
For some reason, this was important to him.
Alexander was making sure she chose for herself for the second time, without him taking that choice away.
Somehow, she felt a boulder lift from her chest.
How did so few words make her feel so much better?
She was looking at him with adoration and respect.
"I appreciate that. I would also love to try staying with you. I can't promise it will work. What I can say with certainty is that I want to try," she said with a devilish grin.
Before she could stop herself, she was back in her previous mindset of passion, landing a kiss on his perfect lips.
The thought of anything else, like sleep or food, or even safety, was washed away by the words of the man holding her close now, almost afraid to let her go.
She was a different kind of hungry now.
As she lay into him, exuding heat and willingness, he didn't dare deny her.
Ayla was warm, wet, and willing, pushing him back until he was lying on the bed of leaves.
Her kisses became deeper, becoming more sensual as she desired him more and more, straddling him.
The heat began to burn her alive as the hand that wasn't stabilizing her upper body began to travel the contours of his requisitely defined body.
It traveled down the V crest of his pelvis, making him grow, even more than the passionate kisses that she was drowning him in.
Before he realized what was even happening, she had grabbed his cock and was stroking him, making sure he was ready for her.
Just as ready to pounce as she was, so was he, as Alexander went to flip them, she used her feet to grab his legs just below the knees and pull him back down.
This was her show, and she was running it.
Ayla's show of control turned him on just a bit more and sent him nearly off the edge, and he lifted her and placed her over the top of him at the perfect angle.
Just as he did, she put him at her entrance and slid her folds open, allowing him to penetrate her, slowly sliding down his shaft.
Heaven, it felt like heaven, as she continued to slowly move up and down, gathering speed little by little with each bounce.
She was intentionally driving him insane as she continued.
As they reached the end, her Goddess-like form slumped gently against him, and the sound of his stomach rumbling broke the moment.
"Ayla, you told me yourself that we needed to get back to the city while the coast was clear. As much as I loved every second of that, we need to get moving," he said.
"You could have told me no," she teased with a playful smile.
"Why on earth would I ever do that?" he replied, pulling her closer.
"Apparently, you wanted to go for a ride, and I wasn't going to deny you the pleasure of that".
He wore the widest, proudest grin she'd ever seen as she ran her hand down his face.
"Stop it, you're embarrassing me. Plus, either they are there, or they aren't. We should get going, though."
"Who am I embarrassing you in front of? No one's here. You can be as wild and fun as you want to be," he said, still holding that larger-than-life smile.
Her shy smile came back as she cupped the side of her face against his warm, bare chest.
Ayla sighed.
"I can't with you. Are you always like this? Please tell me it's just because you are delirious from lack of food, sleep, and being stuck in a cave with me".
She was on the fence as to whether she was asking for a real answer or not.
The way he was talking both scared her and warmed her to the core.
He laughed a little.
"I would never intentionally do anything to make you uncomfortable. That being said, I am starving, and you need to eat. Only when I eat and sleep will you know what I'm like afterward," he chuckled.
Ayla and Alexander both needed to take care of themselves.
Being stuck in the cave wouldn't allow them to do either of those things.
"Let's go together," she said, "We can see if it's safe, and either come back here, or return to your home for a shower, food, and sleep".
He looked at her for a moment before speaking.
"Ayla, would you like to leave this sex cave and return with me to live in my apartment? There, I can provide for you and protect you until all those who are trying to find you are gone".
He had officially asked her to leave with him.
Alexander had mentioned going to his home before then, but he hadn't actually said it out right.
Was this one of those blind leaps of faith she was supposed to take again?
"Yes, I would love to have you as my protector, among other things," she said, smirking, as her eyes fell before rising again.
She had to bring herself back to the conversation so she could continue.
"As long as you will have me, I will be your partner in this mess. I only ask that you are honest with me, at all times," she finished.
They eased out of the cave and into the trees, moving fast and silent—until Ayla's fingers found Alexander's hand and squeezed.
Someone was ahead—just close enough to hear.
Her heart dropped, heavy with dread and anticipation.