Chapter 226:
Alicia couldn’t fully comprehend what was happening, but her lips had already responded to his. Their mouths moved together instinctively, and their tongues intertwined, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The sensation felt so real.
Alicia began to wonder if she was truly in the afterlife. Caden took a sip of water and gently fed it to her, repeating the gesture with care, again and again.
Her lips soon grew numb, and her face began to ache. Only then did she try to pull away. As soon as she did, Caden playfully bit down on her soft skin, showing his displeasure. She let out a small whimper from the pain.
At that moment, the realization struck her—she wasn’t dead. The memories she had before were just a dream. Once the glass was empty, Caden wiped his lips and looked at her.
“Do you want more?” he asked.
Alicia shook her head, feeling satisfied. She had come to terms with the fact that she was still alive, but one thing puzzled her.
“How did you know about my dream?” she asked. How did he know she had dreamed of hell?
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Caden set the glass down and smiled teasingly. “Because you were talking in your sleep,” he replied.
Alicia was shocked.
Seriously? She talked in her sleep?
The revelation took her by surprise, and she found it hard to believe. “That can’t be true,” she muttered.
Without a word, Caden pulled out his phone and played a recording. Her own voice filled the room.
“I like you… a lot. You’re handsome, fit, and exceptionally skilled in bed!” Alicia was mortified.
The voice in the recording was unmistakable, too clear to be sleep talk. Worse, Caden wasn’t just listening; he was conversing with her.
“I love having sex with you. It makes me feel incredible,” the recording continued.
Alicia’s heart sank as the words kept playing.
Realizing what was happening, a surge of adrenaline coursed through her. She pushed herself up, reaching desperately for the phone, but Caden skillfully moved it out of her reach.
“I love being in your arms. I love the way you fuck me, the way you look at me and kiss me.”
Before the sentence could finish, Alicia’s panic overwhelmed her.
“Caden! Stop it! Turn it off now!” she shouted.
Caden didn’t bother turning it off, but her shout drowned out the last word.
The recording came to an abrupt stop.
Alicia’s face flushed red with embarrassment. She glared at him. “How could you do this to me?”
Caden wore a sly smile. “Did I force you with a knife to your throat to say those things?”
Alicia had no response.
She wanted to argue back but couldn’t find anything to say. Without another word, she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
Caden casually toyed with his phone. “Looks like I’ve got more leverage on you now, Alicia.”
Instead of losing her composure, Alicia found an odd sense of calm in her embarrassment.
She gathered herself and countered, “Leverage? If anything, I was just being honest. You are good in bed, aren’t you?”
Caden’s smile widened. “And you just admitted that you’re into me.”
Alicia fell silent. Acknowledging her feelings felt more humiliating than any talk of their physical connection.
She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of a response.
After they finished eating, the innkeeper arrived to change her bandages. When Alicia removed her clothes, she discovered dark bruises scattered across her body from the fall down the mountainside.
Her shoulder was fractured, and the pain in her back suggested possible spinal injuries.
After Caden left the room, Alicia turned to the innkeeper.
“Was he hurt badly?” Alicia asked.
The innkeeper raised an eyebrow, looking slightly amused. “You mean that man? Isn’t he your boyfriend?”
Alicia looked down, shaking her head. “No, he’s not.”
“Is that so? Then why’d you go through so much trouble to save him? When I found you two, he was on top of you, practically smothering you in the snow. You were barely breathing. How far did you carry him? Your bones are broken, you know.”
Alicia paused, trying to piece together the hazy memory of what happened right before she blacked out.
At the time, nothing else mattered. Her only thought had been to save him. She had acted purely on instinct, but now, looking back, it felt a bit foolish. In a low voice, she whispered, “Please don’t tell him about this.”
Before the innkeeper could respond, the door creaked open, and Caden stepped inside.
He held a clean set of clothes in one hand and glanced between them. “Don’t tell me what?”
Alicia was caught off guard. “It’s nothing.”
Sensing the tension, the innkeeper smiled knowingly and excused herself from the room.
Caden handed Alicia a freshly laundered shirt. “Here, put this on.”
Without a word, she slipped it over her head. Caden had borrowed the clothes from the innkeeper’s husband, who wasn’t around.
The three of them were the only ones in the small, quiet inn.
Alicia gazed out at the pitch-black sky, watching as the snow continued to fall. “Did you manage to get through to the rescue team?”
“I did. They know we’re safe, but the snow has blocked the road. It’ll take about a week for them to reach us.”
Alicia blinked in surprise. “A whole week?”
However, with the injuries they both had, the idea of resting here for that long didn’t seem so bad.
As the night wore on, Caden took a bath, though the effort nearly drained him. When he finally emerged, he went straight to Alicia’s bed and settled in without hesitation.
“You’re staying here?” Alicia asked, feeling tense.
Caden saw no reason to complicate things. “There’s no room anywhere else. Unless you don’t want me here,” he replied.
Alicia placed her hands firmly on his chest, trying to create some space between them. “We shouldn’t share a bed. I’m a woman, you’re a man. It’s better if we sleep apart to avoid any unnecessary situations.”
She didn’t say it outright, but Caden easily understood her hesitation.
Ignoring her protest, he pulled her into his arms. “Have you ever heard of the Moss family from Averibon?”
Alicia, still in pain, could barely respond. Her voice came out muffled as she said, “I have.”
“The Wards and the Mosses go way back. For generations, we’ve been tied together, both through friendship and business. Over twenty years ago, Dorian Moss was at the top of the scientific world, and his daughter, Yolanda, inherited that brilliance. I need her expertise for something important.”
Alicia paused for a moment, suddenly recalling the business card Yolanda had given her.
Caden continued, “Yolanda has nothing to do with me romantically. She’s just working for me. Do you understand that?”
