But first he needed food and a break whether he wanted it or not.
“I don’t recall ordering room service,” he drawled, lifting a questioning brow above his smudged glasses.
“No, but I doubt you can recall the last time you had anything that resembled a meal,” Eno replied in the same tone.
“Of course I can.”
“Since you’ve been on this ship?”
Rayne’s mouth snapped shut and he narrowed his lovely jade-green eyes. Eno had him and he knew it. The prince’s advisor wasn’t outmaneuvered often, but Eno did enjoy those brief times when he could manage it.
“It’s time for a break. Come sit on the couch and talk to me while you eat,” Eno instructed, setting the tray on the coffee table. He crossed to the desk and grabbed the water bottle that was constantly at Rayne’s elbow and placed it on the table.
“Now really isn’t a good time.”
“It will never be a good time.” Eno crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Rayne. “Don’t test me, Lord Laurent. I will pick you up and carry you to the couch. From there, I will place you on my knee and feed you every bit of food myself.”
Rayne stared at him, and Eno nearly chuckled. There was a calculation to Rayne’s jade eyes as he likely weighed the odds of Eno doing exactly what he described.
“I’m not a child,” Rayne said stiffly, but he stood nonetheless and walked over to the couch.
“Maybe not, but you’re acting like one. You need to take better care of yourself. Caelan is depending on you.”
Rayne huffed and sat, still glaring at Eno. “That is a low blow.”
“That doesn’t make it a lie.” He smiled and claimed the open space next to Rayne, joy blossoming in his chest as he watched Rayne nearly inhale the salad before starting on the sandwich.
“I checked on Drayce. He and Caelan have fallen asleep. I think Cael is using the power of the Life Stone to keep Drayce from feeling sick.”
Rayne paused in the act of lifting the sandwich to his lips and stared at Eno. “Are you sure they’re sleeping?”
“They’re both snoring, and I think Drayce was even drooling a bit,” Eno replied with a smirk. “I’m giving them two hours. Then I’ll wake Caelan. I don’t want him overextending himself. The shield spell isn’t a constant drain on him. I’m not sure about this healing thing he’s attempting.”
“Good,” Rayne murmured and took a bite of his sandwich.
They didn’t say much more as Rayne ate his sandwich, and that was fine with Eno. It gave him the chance to simply watch Rayne, to be in his presence without having to worry about what others thought of him staring at the handsome man.
Rayne was unlike anyone else he’d ever been involved with in the past. The first difference being that he was a man. The people that had caught Eno’s eye before had largely been women. There had been a couple of men, but there had been nothing notable about them and certainly nothing that ranked on Rayne’s level.
He’d been enamored of Rayne from the first moment he’d set eyes on the man, but it had taken him years to figure out why. From the exterior, Rayne looked completely pulled together and controlled. He was the person who always had the answer. Always calm, cool, and collected. He needed no one.
But it was all an illusion.
Rayne needed someone to take care of him because he took such poor care of himself both physically and emotionally. All his needs came second, third, tenth to all other things happening in his life. He desperately needed someone to put him first.
And the scary part was that deep down, Rayne knew that to be true too. Eno had seen it in the flashes of gratitude that filled his eyes whenever Eno did any small thing for him. He was simply grateful that someone had thought of him after he’d spent a lifetime thinking about other people, or even thinking for other people.
Rayne glanced over at him, his eyes narrowed, as he reached the last couple of bites of his sandwich.
Eno smirked at him. “What’s that look for?”
“I’m confused,” Rayne admitted, which was a bit surprising in itself. Eno couldn’t recall ever hearing of anything that had baffled the man in the past.
“Why?”
“You’re not a caretaker,” Rayne declared.
“I think my job as Caelan’s bodyguard would argue otherwise.”
Rayne shook his head. “That’s a protector role. Not a caretaker. They are two entirely separate things. You keep Caelan safe. You’re not overly concerned with his eating habits or whether he remembered to pack a sweater.”
Eno sat facing Rayne on the sofa, his elbow resting on the back and his head against his fist. A smile was teasing his mouth again. “True.” It was a marvel to watch Rayne’s mind work. He could sit listening to him talk all night and never feel tired.