Temporary Alliance

Chapter 29: Embrace

I rewrote this chapter too many times to count. Well, enjoy!

Happy reading :)

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I felt like I was wrapped in a warm blanket and I didn't want to wake up. Someone was gently caressing my back, tracing light, undecipherable swirls and loops. I hummed in slight annoyance as I wanted to continue to sleep.

"Angel?" The moment I heard that, I knew who it was immediately.

"Open your eyes," Alexander urged softly, his smooth baritone voice almost lulling me back to sleep. "Angel..." I felt my hand being lifted up and met with a pair of soft lips. The kiss lingered and even after he pulled away, I still felt his touch, making warmth spread throughout me.

As I was about to roll away from Alexander's voice, pain flared and I groaned. Alexander wrapped one arm firmly around my hips and he used his other to brush the hair away from my face. My body felt tender and raw so I gave up.

I opened my eyes and winced when the lights of the room blinded me. When I looked up, I saw Alexander's dark grey eyes staring back down at me. I looked over at him carefully and saw that there were slight bags under his eyes. He looked exhausted yet there was relief in his eyes as he met my gaze.

When I looked around in a daze, I found that I was on top of him, my injured leg thrown across his body and my head on his shoulders, almost buried in the crook of his neck.

"What?" I grumbled out as I lifted my head up slightly. "Why are you..."

There was amusement glinting in Alexander's eyes and I suddenly did not want to know what happened.

"The first time you woke up, you escaped the hospital room and found a shower for employees only. You locked all the nurses out and took a shower, getting all of your bandages soaked. They broke the door open and when they did, they found you all dressed and clean, sleeping on one of the benches in the room."

"No..." I moaned out in disbelief.

"It gets worse." Alexander let out a small chuckle and I felt him shake under me. "You escaped a second time and almost made it out of Phoenix. A doctor called me come over and calm you down because apparently you were trying to escape to find me. When I arrived, you were handcuffed to the bed, sedated. When you woke up again, you made me remove the cuffs and moved over to make room for me next to you on the bed."

"Seriously?" I buried my burning face into his shoulder, avoiding him altogether. That sounded absolutely mortifying. At least I was clean. "Where exactly am I?"

"Phoenix headquarters."

Silence fell upon us as he ran his hands softly through my hair again and again. His silence bothered me as I could feel his unsaid word floating around us. He had something to say, yet he was holding back his tongue.

"What did Wolf tell you?" I asked quietly as my heart started to pound a little faster in nervousness.

He squeezed me a little tighter and the hand that was running through my hair stopped entirely, holding my head to his shoulder. "Your capture, your escape, the hospitalization."

I stiffened and squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I realized how much he'd learned.

"If I had known, Angel, I would have-"

I immediately cut him off. "I know, Red. You would have dropped everything, come straight to the hospital to take care of me. That's the kind of person you are, at least to me." I tightened my hands into fists. "But I didn't want anyone to see me like that. Pathetic, useless, weak. I felt like a failure."