Chapter 21 Chapter Twenty-One
This was it, the scent I’d been chasing earlier--rich, savoury, enough to make my stomach twist painfully in remembrance when it was my turn to be served.
Right on cue, my stomach growled. And I froze.
Aquila snorted, and it took everything in me not to crawl under this table and hide.
I shot him a fiercer glare and he threw his hand up in mock surrender.
“Nothing to be embarrassed about, my dear. I’m quite hungry myself.” his coarse tongue peeked through his lips as he licked his mouth.
“Aquila.” Asher let out a low growl that sounded like a warning and Aquila huffed.
“What? I didn’t say I was going to eat her.” he paused. “I mean, unless she wants me to.” his easy grin turned into something flirtatious as green eyes bored into mine. Even from across the table I could feel the heat he radiated. A strong sexual heat that made my skin burn.
“I think I’ll pass.”
“You stay away from her, Demon.” Miridath shook her head as she stepped back. “You should eat before your stomach starts arguing with you again,” she said to me.
“Aw, come on. You lot make me feel like a menace.”
“That’s because you are.” Miridath shot back. Their dynamic was an interesting one. More like a family and less than a hierarchy. I caught myself smiling, but I wiped it off when I noticed Asher was staring at me. Or, at least I thought he was behind that mask.
How did he plan to eat with that thing on?
I wondered until I realized there was nothing on his plate.
Was he not going to eat?
“Honestly, Mrs. Haimon, I have no intention of hurting the girl.” Aquila huffed, I could almost hear that edge of frustration in his voice as he leaned back, waving his hand around. “Besides, if I tried that, Asher would burn me.”
My eyes snapped back to him and I frowned. “Excuse me?--”
My stomach growled again, and this time the sharp pain went straight to my head.
“Eat.”
The word cut through the room and I slowly lifted my gaze and met Asher’s.
Something about the way he said that made it feel like less of a suggestion and more like an expectation, and something in me bristled.
I didn’t like being told what to do. At least not like that.
But then again, my stomach twisting painfully warned me to hold my tongue, and I let out a quiet breath.
“Fine,” I muttered under it, more to myself than him.
I picked up the fork.
Took a small bite of the diced beef.
And immediately regretted not doing it sooner.
The food was ridiculously good in a way that reminded me of the days my mother would make beef stew with steamed rice for us when I was much younger.
Warm, rich, seasoned in a way that almost brought a tear to my eye as I swallowed.
Fine, maybe I could tolerate being told what to do…just this once.
I took another bite. Then another.
I was just about nearly done with the large plate of food when I realized the room had gone silent and all eyes were on me.
Aquila and Asher. I hadn’t even realized Miridath had left.
I swallowed the last bite of the food in my mouth, then set my fork down carefully, meeting their gaze head-on this time.
“Would you like some more meat?” Asher spoke. His voice was steady and smooth, like velvet over steel.
Did I want more?
I looked down at my plate. I wanted to say yes. But I didn’t want them to see me like some kind of glutton. But before I could say no, Aquila beat me to it.
“I’ll go ask Miridath for some more!” Aquila chirped as he pushed his chair back and took long strides towards the door. Yapping about how delicious the meal was.
“Aquila.” Asher tried to call him back, but the Demon was already gone and my feet went cold. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he looked a little bit too excited to leave the room.
The door closed behind Aquila with a sharp thud and my whole body went frigid.
I didn’t realize how much space he’d been filling until he was gone. Not it was just…us.
My fingers curled lightly in my lap. I tapped my foot nervously against the ground. Being watched by this man didn’t make the feeling any lighter though. It felt like a weight pressing down on me.
He hadn’t moved an inch from his seat. If it wasn’t for the subtle rise and fall of his chest, I would have thought he was carved into the chair itself. The other thing that gave him away was his eyes.
Still on me.
This was ridiculous. I grumbled in my mind.
If hr wasn’t going to speak, then I would.
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” I said, my voice steady despite the tension curling in my chest as I lifted my chin just enough to meet his sharp gaze properly. “, But you’re the man from the auction, yes?”
Silence.
For a second, I thought he was going to ignore my question. I knew it was direct, but I just had to know. Our eyes had only met for a fraction of a second before he disappeared. I wondered if I was just imagining him, but he was real. He is real. So, I had to know.
“I am.”
He finally spoke. Relief washed over me, because I was glad my mind hadn’t made him up, but something bristled in me too, because why was he there?
“And you were there to…buy human slaves?” The question sounded wrong.
“Of course not!” he snapped, surprising me for a moment. “It’s…barbaric.”
“Then why were you there?”
“I had…other business to attend to.” his answers were as evasive as his personality.
“And saving me was part of it?"