"Are you alright?"
"No." A simple truth. A devastating admission. "I'm sorry. I.... can't."
Disappointment flickered across his face, replacing the desire that had consumed him a few moments earlier.
“Ok.” He sighed, taking another step back, as if he didn’t quite trust himself to be near her.
“Ok?” Alex stammered. She had never seen a man be ableto just turn it off like that. To not get angry or demand she follow through.
Davin watched her as she battled with her emotions, giving her time to process it all.
“I am not in the habit of forcing women into my bed, nor have I ever needed to. If you say stop, we stop.”
Relief flooded through her. He wasn’t angry. He seemed to be one of the rare gentlemen that she had often heard about, but rarely met.
“I am sorry.” She spoke, her voice laced with her regret. “I thought I was ready, but I just can’t.”
“Is there someone…” Davin started, only to be interrupted by a loud crash in the next room. Alex jerked her head in that direction, eyes wide. Bringing her finger to her lips in a silent bid for him to remain quiet, she leaned closer to the connecting wall.
"I thought you said this was her room." The gruff and annoyed voice obviously coming from beyond the shared wall.
"It is her room!"
"Well then, where the fuck is she?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know?"
"Because it was your job to watch her!"
"Well, her shit is still here, so she has to be here somewhere. Let's go back downstairs and find the little bitch."
Two men. Inherroom. Looking for her?
The arguing faded as they moved down the hall, realization dawning on Alex quickly. She needed to get out of there and fast.
"I have to go. I have to leave now."
Davin’s commanding expression said enough. "Wait. Stop. Who the hell are you?"
"No one who matters. There's no time for this anyway. I've got to go. Now."
"If you won't answer me, then I'll have to come with you."
"No, you will not, you'll only slow me down." Alex already had the door open, the hallway clear.
Davin’s voice was closer than she wanted, his hand gripping her arm. "The longer you argue with me, the more time you’re wasting. Every one of those patrons downstairs saw you come up here with me. How long do you think it'll take before they turn on you, a stranger, for an extra coin? How long do you think it will be before whoever the hell that was comesherelooking for you? Stop being reckless and climb your ass out that window above my bed before whoever those men are realizes where you are."
She didn’t bother responding to him, just jerked her arm out of his grasp and dashed for her room, praying that they hadn’t taken anything. Thankfully, her pack was right where she left it, her stuff laid out next to it, drying.
The Bound Queen had somehow been salvageable after her impromptu swim. It was most likely due to being wrapped in her cloak but somehow not even the pages were warped. She jammed it all back in unceremoniously and swung it on. Alex climbed up onto her own bed and assessed the size of the window, pulling herself up by the ledge.
She may not have wanted to admit it but Davin had the right idea. Rough hands shoved at her legs and she almost yelped in surprise. Of course, he was still there. Fine. She didn’t have time to argue, and he’d likely not fit through the window anyway, so she’d let him help her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Runaway Questions
Alex
