Flame Touched

Chapter Five - Matteo

Matteo stayed with Rei for a long time inside the tube slide. He was pretty sure she fell asleep curled up against him, which couldn't have been comfortable for her. She was safe there, and that's what mattered, and while she rested, he watched dutifully over her in the off chance her parents or someone else came by to cause trouble. The whole situation made him sick. His father was far from perfect, but he'd never try to harm any of his sons no matter what they might do wrong. He certainly never became so irrational he refused to listen to reason. What was wrong with her family? I don't want her to go back.

The temptation to pick her up and carry her back to the palace and never let her leave was great. It'd be so easy. Special circumstances allowed for the rules to be bent. This seemed like a pretty special circumstance to him. He couldn't force her to do anything she didn't want to, though, so the question had to wait until she awoke.

"What time is it?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes slowly.

He checked his cellphone display. "Close to sunrise."

"What?" She sat up abruptly and smacked her head on the tube ceiling.

"Careful!" He winced.

Rei glowered for a moment, shaking her head. "My parents are going to kill me."

"I hope you don't mean that literally," he said, his gaze narrowing. He clenched his hands into fists. "Because if that's the case, I'm not going to let you go back."

She lowered her gaze, her lower lip raking between her teeth. "They'll just be frustrated that I came in so late. Then again, they might have gotten so drunk they passed out and then they won't notice I'm alive for a day or two. Which is fine by me. I have food in my room, so I'll stay in there and keep quiet."

"You don't have to go there," he said.

"Where else will I go?" She laughed sourly. "Back home with you?"

Matt shrugged. "Why not?"

"I don't know where you live. I don't know much about you at all," she said quietly. "I just...I don't know. This should be a no-brainer."

"Yes, it should," he mumbled.

Rei adjusted her position so she could slide to the bottom. "They'll cause problems. Call the police, the Royal Guard. They'll tell everyone you kidnapped me if you don't go through some kind of official channel or buy me from them." She scowled. "That's why they get so mad when I'm out, you know. They think I'm...you know...with you...or someone else and that it's going to taint me and then I won't be worth anything to anyone who can keep enabling them."

"You said it yourself. They get mad when you come home," he pressed.

"Because they hate having to be responsible for me." She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. He hated seeing her so defeated. Why was she even bothering to fight him?

He slid down behind her, putting his arms around her again. "I can make it go away, Rei. Do you trust me?"

"I want to," she whispered.

Her answer hit him hard in the gut. "That's not a yes."

"It's like, eighty-percent yes," she offered, her voice still quiet.

"Not a total yes," he pointed out.

She let out a heavy breath. "Like I said, I don't know where you're from, or much of anything about you. I still love you, but—"

"You love me?" he asked. Those three words took away a great deal of the sting.

A small blush crept up her cheeks. "Well, yeah. I don't make it a habit to meet up with just any strange guy I meet. We've been doing this for a year, Matt. I want to know something more, and then I'll know for sure you're not just trying to play me."