-Lara-
Where the hell did I go from here?
I knew where I had come from, so I wouldn't go back that way. I didn't want to risk running into Gabriel and Ace. I looked to my left then, thinking I would start that way. The king lived on the top floor, and I believed the other two did as well, just further down the hallway, but I wanted to know if there was another way down, or some window that might give me an easy way out, and not a long drop down to my death.
I looked into a couple of different rooms, finding both Gabriel's and Ace's rooms, the two places were so different from one another. Ace's barely seemed to have any furniture. Not even a real bed. It was just a mattress on the floor, and over in the corner, I could see chains attached to the wall. I didn't want to know, I told myself before I left the room.
Gabriel's on the other hand was messy, with clothes and books everywhere. I was surprised he could even read honestly, and I smiled to myself, as I closed that door as well. The two of them didn't live far from each other, but the king lived just around the corner of this hallway and then almost at the end of it. He said there wasn't really a distance between them, but I believed otherwise. The crown had put distance between them, which was kind of sad. These three were the last hybrids left in the world, and he couldn't even feel close to them, as Ace and Gabriel felt to each other.
I shook the feeling off me though. There was no time to feel bad or anything. So, I continued to quietly search the rooms on the top floor, finding mostly empty bedrooms or storage rooms, nothing interesting, not even on the next floor, except an office, which I believed was the king's, but I found no windows or balconies that somehow gave me an easy way out. There were a lot of balconies of course, but they only led down to a certain death.
It seemed like if I wanted to get out of there, I had to go all the way down to the ground floor and sneak out that way, but it was so easy to be seen on my way down. I would have to navigate through, not just hybrids but servants too, that hadn't gone to bed, and I bet this place had a sweet security system that filmed any activity happening outside and maybe also inside. This was going to be harder than I thought.
I walked back to the second floor, where the king was sleeping, but I had not walked up the main stairs, afraid to get seen. No, I had used a smaller one, that I bet when this place was built was meant for "the servants" and it led me to the hallway, where Gabriel and Ace lived, so when I was about to round the corner going back to the king, I saw them coming my way.
"Oh fuck!" I whispered as I went back the way I had come.
I looked for a place to hide, as they neared me. I wouldn't make it back to the stairs, so I chose a random door, forgetting all about which ones led where. I noticed as soon as I stood on the other side, that I had ended up in Gabriel's room.
"Damn!"
I looked around, not sure where the hell to hide, and then suddenly I heard him just outside the door, telling Ace he would have a rematch tomorrow.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck ..."
Just as the door opened, I chose to jump beneath his bed, hiding under there. I could just barely see his feet, some of the bedcovers going a little over the bed's side and making it harder for me to see where he was.
I hoped he would go to the bathroom, so I could make a quick escape, but instead, he sat on the bed, his feet right in front of my face. I placed my hand over my mouth, trying not to breathe so loud, and just hoping he would move already! But instead, he started to undress. I saw his shirt land on the ground, and my eyes grew big. His pants and socks followed shortly after, and then ... fuck, were those his underwear?!
I screamed internally, not wanting to see a naked Gabriel. Really, I knew he was handsome, even I could see that, but this felt like I was the pervert, stalking him under his bed, and it just felt really wrong. So, I closed my eyes, not wanting to accidentally get a view of his ass. I heard him walk away, and I was certain he was going to go take a shower. So, I just tried to stop shaking and hold my breath, as I waited for the sound of a door closing or the sound of water running, but nothing happened ...
What the ...
"Noo!"
I screamed, as someone grabbed my ankles pulling me out from under the bed and up from the ground. The whole time I struggled against the person while hearing this soft chuckle. My heart was racing, and I quickly noticed Gabriel in front of me. Shit, it felt like a bad memory had come to life, and I had really thought it was someone else but him.
"Well, well," he said.
I took a moment just blinking fast a few times and then noticed he was half-naked. He had wrapped a blanket around his waist, and I realized he knew I had been there the whole time. The show was clearly just to tease me. Damn him.
"You know if you would rather sleep with me, all you had to do was say so. There is always space for you, sweetheart," he said.
I put a hand over my racing heart. I wasn't exactly sure what had happened to me since I had gotten here, which was only a few hours ago, but his teasing really didn't scare me. He was just a charmer, but I also believed he knew when someone was off-limits, and I certainly was, considering who my mate was.
"Funny," I said, not sounding very happy.
My heart simply wouldn't calm down. All of this just reminded me of when my stepdad was drunk, wandering around the house looking for me, and therefore the whole experience just left a bad taste in my mouth.
"What are you doing in here?" he asked and crossed his arms, clearly sensing I was not up for jokes.
"Just ... eh ... you know, couldn't sleep," I said.
"As I said, there is plenty of space in my bed," he said with that smug smile.
"I can see that," I said and looked over my shoulder. "But I didn't want to intrude, so I ... I chose to sleep under it."
"Smart."