Alienus

Chapter Twenty Two

I swallowed as Rafe unleashed one of his brilliant smiles at me. But like his previous ones, they only lasted seconds and I was left dazed as he turned to continue leading me down the corridor.

I looked down at his fingers that were caught securely around mine and I wondered what was happening.

Were we the same people who, a month ago, didn't know the other existed?

I looked up at the back of his head. His dark perfect hair of silk looking beautiful in the light that reflected off it. My gaze trailed down his muscles back, his shoulder blades flexing with movement under his silver suit. My eyes trailed down and my face heated.

I should not be checking out someone's ass like some perv!

Then again, with the ass walking in front of me, it wasn't like I was-

No, Amour!

I cleared my throat and looked away.

"I can walk without you dragging me you know?" I muttered at him, walking a little faster so that I could stand by his side rather than behind him, our fingers intertwined between us.

He made a noise of acknowledgement at what I said, but didn't say anything else.

I looked at him with a sideways glance, but could read nothing on his carefully blank face.

"I feel like I'm going to get in trouble. Your father warned me that I would be watched," I muttered to him.

Rafe slid me a glance, "I will not let you get into trouble."

I stopped walking, causing Rafe to stop too, but only because he saw me stop or I'd probably have been dragged along because he was so much stronger than me.

"Are you hungry?" I asked him.

Rafe continued to look at me for sometime. I didn't know why he was considering me with such a serious expression, but I stayed still not saying anything.

"No, Amour. I am not hungry." He finally told me and I nodded.

"Are you hungry?" He asked me then.

I blinked, then shrugged.

"I don't really know." I admitted, "When we were in our cells, the most we had was a pill or two a day to provide us nutrients. So most of the time we were almost always feeling hungry. I guess I'm used to feeling it...I don't recognise it anymore."

Rafe stilled, his dark and fire eyes seeming to widen slightly. Then he leaned forward, his fingers capturing my chin again as he tipped my face up.

"I will never let you go hungry again." He promised me, the heat of his eyes searing me as warmth crept under my skin, spreading to the tips of my fingers and toes.

I swallowed.

"That's an awful lot of promises you've made today," I noted.

"And I intend to keep every one of them." He said, turning us to head in the direction we were going, again.

He then stopped, running his bracelet over an Identity Screen and allowing us access to a room.

I stepped inside and blinked.

This was a kitchen. An actual kitchen. With food cooking, broth bubbling, steam curling up and out of containers and smells wafting from everywhere.

There were four chefs inside, each governing over a different counter.

I recognised one of them from before, the short (relatively), plump C'Riel, who had handed me my pot and sponge and directed me to scrub before disappearing.