Alicia was surprised to see that they had materialized back in the wooden cabin they just left this morning.

She had never thought he would bring them both to return to this place.

Was it a conscious or unconscious decision? She wondered about it.But that was the least of her concerns at this moment.

Because even though Ezekiel's darkness had lessened, his one eye was still dark.

So dark that you could not see any whites in his eyes at all."Are you… okay now Ezekiel?" Alicia asked him gently.

Their position was still the same as right before they disappeared from that lonely forest road.He did not speak for a long time.

But she knew that he could hear her and see her.

The fact that his hold on her tightened as she spoke to him told her so.She was glad that the terrifying bloodlust coming from him was gone but she could not quite help but feel worried and uneasy because there were still no signs of his one fully black eye returning to normal."You are…" he finally spoke.

That sinuous voice made her heart race, but it was not due to fear.

It was never fear."Hmm?" she hummed, waiting patiently for what he was going to say."You are doing that again." he spoke slowly.She blinked.

Unsure on what he was talking about until he lifted his hands and held her wrists."Oops…" she finally realized that she was still pinching his cheeks, and a smile curved on her face as she quickly let go of her punishing grip on him.

"Sorry…" she tiptoed and kissed his cheeks that were slightly reddened due to her squeezing them, ever so gently as if to soothe him.

When she pulled away and looked at him again, Ezekiel was very still.

She waited for him to speak but he just stared back at her before he tore his gaze off her.His gaze fell on her hand and his face darkened.

It was then that Alicia noticed all the wounds and slightly dried up bloody streaks that the vampire's sharp nails had caused.

It was also then that she realised that those raised welts were somewhat stinging.

But she ignored the pain."I'm fine." She reassured and immediately smiled at him.

"As you can see, they're just little scratche –"Alicia could not even finish her sentence because Ezekiel had already bent his head and started to lick the blood.

She involuntarily stiffened at the damp and slick feel of his incredibly hot tongue gliding against her skin.

It was as if every single one of her nerves were at attention and were extremely sensitive to his touch.Yet she could not bear to open her mouth and tell him to stop.

She allowed him to lick up the blood, sighing as if his every lick helped release the coiled-up tension from her shoulders.But all too soon, he stopped."Heal your wounds, Alicia." He said in a low voice."But –" Was she not supposed to use any spells? Why was he telling her to do it then?"I am fine.

Now, please…" the plea in his voice prompted Alicia to immediately listen to him.

And she speedily recited a healing spell that would take care of all her wounds.Once her wounds were healed, Alicia surveyed him.

A few minutes had already passed and yet, his one eye still remained black.

Why was it like that? Was there something wrong with him?"Ezekiel…" Alicia uttered his name.

"Are you really okay, now? You're not going to suddenly weaken again, right?" she was worried as she had cast the spell and must have drawn some of his powers from him."I'm fine now, Alicia.

That won't happen again." he sounded so reassuring as he said that."Why did you choose this place? Didn't we just leave this place?""Because no one would think that we'll return here.

They would not think that we would come back to a place we had already left.""I see… but they're going to come at us again very soon, right?""Not now.

They'll most probably come at us again in the next few days.

They need to wait for me to weaken again first." He shook his head as he explained.Alicia wanted to ask more about this.

She had a lot she wanted to ask about.

But right now, she did not want to talk about those serious and depressing things.

At least not for now.

Because she was just so happy to hear that the vampires will not be coming at them for the next few days.

That means they would have some time to be together without worrying that their pursuers will suddenly come at them."Few days…" Alicia echoed.

"After four to five days, they'll come at us again?" she hazarded as guess on the number of that 'few days'.

"Two to three days." He replied.Alicia bit her lower lip.

She was thinking that two to three days were just too little! But… she would take whatever she could get.

Even if it was just one more day, she would take it.

It was better than nothing at all!"Ezekiel…" she uttered his name again, looking up at him with an expression of someone who was about to confess.

Her hands reached out for his face again, but this time she caressed his cheeks so gently with her thumbs instead of pinching him.Her heart was drumming up a beat so hard that she knew he could clearly hear it.

But Alicia swallowed and her eyes glimmered as she held his eyes, not minding that unusual one eye that could scare anyone.Then she tiptoed once again and planted a quick kiss on his soft lips before she parted her lips to speak."Can you give yourself to me fully during these two to three days of reprieve that we've got? I… I want to have you… I want to love you… even if it's just for a couple of days."