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“Do you think you can have a bit of food? I brought some soup since it might be easier to swallow.”
“A little,” he grunted.
To his surprise—although he should have stopped being surprised a long time ago when it came to her—she started spoon feeding him the broth.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I told you before. You deserve a little bit of kindness in your life.”
“That doesn’t explain why me. Why risk coming here to help me when we never knew each other before?” He knew he should stop with his questions, but he needed to know.
How could someone simply help another without asking for anything in return? Maybe he’d become too jaded after what he’d experienced, but he knew that people never did something just for the sake of it. They certainly didn’t do something for a stranger without exacting a price for it later on.
“We might not know each other, but I know of you,” she answered in that same soft, melodious voice that did wonders to his mood. “I know you share your food with those who need it, that you stand up for those weaker and that you’re always increasing your workload to help those not capable.”
The sound traveled to his brain, enveloping him like a fine glove and sending all the right signals to his pleasure receptors. Despite the state he was in, he felt better just by letting himself be consumed by the sound of her voice.
“But my question is, Raf… Who helpsyou?”
He licked his lips as he swallowed the sip of soup, the warmth of the liquid doing wonders to his stomach.
“You?” he asked playfully, though he quickly sobered up as he realized he didn’t want to come across as ungrateful. “That is to say… Erm…” he stammered. “I really appreciate what you’re doing for me, Lucero. You’re very kind.”
“I wish you’d be kinder to yourself,” she sighed.
She fed him more soup, dabbing the corners of his mouth when some spilled over his chin. When the bowl was finished, she put it aside and gave him a sip of water.
“I’ll tend to your injuries now,” she spoke out loud, announcing she was going to touch him. “I’ll have to cut the shirt off your body, but I brought you something in case you’re cold at night. Is that okay?”
“Anything you do to me is okay,” he murmured softly.
True to her word, Lucero cut the shirt off his body, taking all the strips off him as best she could without causing him more pain. Then she applied that special ointment she’d bragged about all over his skin.
There was a stinging tingling at first before numbness seeped in, the pain slowly fading until it became nothing more than a dull thrum at the surface of his skin.
“It really does work wonders,” he chuckled, wincing when he noted it did nothing for his internal injuries.
But it wasn’tjustthe cream that had such an effect on him. It was the combination of her touch and her voice, the way she tended to him as if he were precious to her.
“I told you,” she said, and he felt a smile in her voice.
He wondered if her lips were smiling too.
A groan escaped him as he conjured her lips in his mind. Once more, he was straying in dangerous, dangerous territory. His treacherous mind recalled all of the instances in which he’d thought of her over the last few weeks, and the things he’d pictured. God, but her voice alone had been a recurrent melody in his head.
“Lucero,” he rasped. “Do you have a man?”
“W-what?” she asked, taken aback.
“Are you promised to anyone?”
“No,” she promptly replied. “I am not. Why are you asking that?”
Had her voice gone up a notch on the last question?
Rafaelo hated that he couldn’t see her, but in his mind’s eye he imagined her blushing.
“I want to kiss you,” he suddenly stated. His voice was serious, confident.
