Chapter 50 Tasted and won
All he wanted desperately was to taste Lucas’s lips again. He was already too close, his breath warm against Lucas’s face as he murmured, low and urgent, “My Lucas… I’m craving to taste your lips again.”
The words barely left his mouth before reality struck. Just as he leaned in, instinct overrode desire. With visible effort, he stopped himself. His body protested, his heart pounding hard, but he managed and pulled back as a shaky breath slipped out. “Oh dear, Lucas” he whispered, almost to himself.
His gaze dropped at once, and suddenly, he felt shy. So deliberately he avoided Lucas’s eyes as if looking into them would undo all the restraint he had fought so hard to summon.
Struggling, he muttered under his breath, “Hey man, control yourself. Don’t scare him away. Find out why he was holding back last night.” Alex cautioned himself.
His face remained down because he knew staring up into Lucas’s eyes in his current emotion would be a problem. His eyes always got him enchanted. So if he dared to take one look into those beautiful eyes of Lucas, they would definitely disarm him and he would lose whatever control he had left. If he dared, he wouldn’t stop, and wouldn't be able to hold back from claiming his lips.
Yet just as Alex battled himself, Lucas was losing his own mind. The instant their foreheads brushed, Lucas’s breath hitched. His lashes fluttered closed, surrendering without thought, condemning himself to whatever might happen next. His heart raced wildly, his body leaning in on instinct alone.
But then Alex whispered his name, soft, aching…and the words that followed it got Lucas’s eyes opened slowly.
Confusion rushed in as he pulled back, just a fraction, enough to breathe, enough to think. The words echoed in his mind, “craving to taste my lips again?” The unexpected words sent his thoughts spiraling.
Lucas just sat, completely speechless. Those few words had undone him, leaving him caught between longing and uncertainty. His pulse still racing, his lips tingling with the expectation Alex had fought so hard not to keep.
He could only see Alex’s hair; his face was hidden from view, just out of reach. The words echoed relentlessly in his mind…Craving to taste your lips again.
This was the second time Alex had said something like that. Yet Lucas couldn’t remember them ever being together before. Not once. A cold ripple of doubt slid through him.
Could there be someone else? Someone who looked like him—someone Alex was confusing him with?
The question burned on Lucas’s head, but courage failed him. He couldn’t bring himself to ask. He felt like running his finger through his hair but the courage wasn't there.
Alex took a deep breath, visibly gathering himself. When he spoke again, his voice was calm, steady, controlled—as if nothing dangerous had almost happened. He smiled, and said gently, “Rest for a bit. I’ll handle everything else, okay.”
Lucas nodded.
Slowly, he lifted Lucas’s face and pressed a soft peck to his forehead.
And just like that, Alex turned and headed out. Lucas watched him go, his heart racing now for entirely different reasons. “Why do I feel this weak around you, Alex?” he whispered to himself.
But the mystery gnawed at him. The kiss. He needed answers. His thoughts spiraled as he searched his memory, grasping at fragments…anything at all, but nothing surfaced. Just blank spaces where moments should have been.
He stood and began pacing the room, confusion tightening in his chest.
Then something clicked.
His breath caught. One of those days…could it have been one of the times his father had spiked his drink?
His heart skipped violently.
“Club Unite,” he murmured aloud. Alex had said he met him there, but Lucas couldn’t remember seeing Alex at all. The memory shifted, unlocking another detail. Emily, his sister, had mentioned that a man spoke to her that night, someone who knew about his condition and helped him.
His pulse thundered. “It was a man. Could that man have been Alex?”
The realization slammed into him all at once. “Oh my goodness,” he whispered, sinking back onto the bed. “Did I really kiss him? Then why… why can’t I remember it?”
His thoughts raced back and forth, colliding, unraveling. Eventually, exhaustion overtook the storm in his head. He lay back, staring at the ceiling…still searching his memories until sleep finally claimed him, leaving the questions unanswered.
Meanwhile, outside the infirmary, Alex had paused at the door as his pulse raced violently against his ribs. He stood quietly, his back resting on the door. He closed his eyes, and forced himself to breathe…slow, measured inhales, steady exhales…over and over until his heartbeat evened out, just enough to function.
“Get it together, Alex,” he whispered, then turned and headed back to the kitchen.
The moment he stepped in, the familiar chaos welcomed him…orders flying, pans clanging, voices overlapping. He scanned the room sharply, making sure everything was in order. It was. The kitchen was running smoothly, disciplined and alive.
A few hours flew by in a blur of motion and commands before his phone rang. The secretary’s voice cut through the noise, crisp and unyielding, reminding him of an important meeting he couldn’t postpone for an hour.
With a tight nod, Alex made his decision. He handed over authority to Lizzy…another head chef, trusted and competent, second only to Zenith.
Zenith did not take it well. Alex caught the shift in him immediately as his shoulders stiffened, his stare darkened, with barely concealed irritation. Zenith’s displeasure hung heavy in the air. Alex met it with indifference. His own expression hardened, his jaw setting. Zenith wasn’t finished, he knew it and neither was he.
Before Alex left, Lucas had returned to the kitchen and slipped back into his rhythm. He tried and avoided looking Alex in the eye but was working efficiently with Alex at his side. Alex noticed but didn't bother because that helped him to focus. For a brief moment, everything felt… right.
When Alex finally walked out for the meeting, the kitchen continued to run smoothly. It seemed as if nothing had changed. But one could feel the quiet tension simmering beneath the surface, waiting for the next move or reaction.
Then suddenly the rush hit, harder than expected. A late VIP order came in, and it was complex and precise, with no room for error. The kind of order that could make or break a service. Zenith saw it before anyone else did.
“Perfect, he whispered to himself. Chuckling that it was time to ruin Lucas’s courage and bring him down.
Since Lizzy and Henry were busy and Zenith was not allowed to run it, He lifted the ticket and walked straight to Lucas’s station, placing it down with deliberate calm.
“Table twelve,” Zenith said evenly. “Special requests and tight timing. Can you run it?”
To his surprise, Lucas glanced at the ticket once and nodded. “I’ve got it.”
Zenith arched a brow. “It’s… ambitious. Are you sure you don’t want help?”