Chapter 16 Buns In The Oven
BUNS IN THE OVEN
“You’re a shitty liar, Math. I read the truth just as easily from your lies,” Titan said drily. “And you haven’t lied about the important things.”
Mathlin hunched his shoulders. “I guess you’re right.”
It didn’t soothe his unease, though.
“I promise I won’t lie to you again,” Mathlin said. “At least, I’ll make an effort to try.”
“Sounds good to me,” Titan rumbled. When Mathlin peeked at him again, the alpha wore a pleased smile.
That made him all warm and gooey inside.
The car slowed down, pulling up behind the bakery—where the ‘magical healing cock’ banner was still hanging above the back door.
“That’s a terrible place to hang that banner,” Mathlin blurted. “Why would you put it right above the back door?”
Hamilton cackled. Titan’s face turned pink.
“Where else would you hang a banner about a cock?” Hamilton wheezed.
Mathlin groaned. He got out of the car and opened the door for Titan, then unclipped Jannie from her car seat. She stirred when Mathlin shut the doors.
“Have fun baking, children,” Hamilton cried, waving a frilly handkerchief. “I shall retreat to my bed for some beauty sleep.”
“Thanks, Ham,” Titan said.
“Read each other some pickup lines!” Hamilton yelled as he sped off. “There’s more in there!”
“More...?” Titan eyed his bakery as though it had suddenly grown teeth. “I don’t feel ready.”
Mathlin laughed. “But you’re a big strong lawyer alpha! Can’t you just lawyer the pickup lines into submission?”
Titan snorted. “Those pickup lines? They defy all logic. They can’t be lawyered.”
“I can’t believe there’s something that can beat a lawyer,” Mathlin said, shaking his head solemnly.
Titan nudged Mathlin’s side, smiling softly. Mathlin’s heart skipped.
Hurriedly, he stroked the keyhole on the back door. “Hey, it’s me, Titan’s new minion. Please let us in?”
The keyhole curved into a smile; Mathlin inserted the key and opened the door.
Inside, the bakery was dark and still. He turned on the lights to chase away the shadows, gently placing Jannie in her playpen so she could go back to sleep. “Okay, what are we doing first?”
“Cupcakes,” Titan said, his gaze soft as he watched Mathlin arrange the stuffed toys around Jannie. “We’ll start with a small batch. When I’m satisfied with them, we’ll move on to frosting, and then do a few bakery essentials.”
“Okay,” Mathlin said, straightening his shoulders. “Let’s do this.”
Actually, before they got down to baking, Mathlin made Titan sit so he could push some healing magic into Titan’s injuries.
“I’m going to focus on your broken bone,” he said. “It needs less work to heal completely, and when it does, you’ll have an arm to do things instead of having none at all.”
“Thanks,” Titan said.
It was slow going to make bones knit back together.
They healed slowly because there was less blood flow to them, and Mathlin had to convince Titan’s body to pump more blood to his arm so it would have the nutrients to patch up the breaks.
But he also had to pace himself, so he would have strength to bake afterward.
“Hey,” Titan said when Mathlin pulled his hands away. “Sit down and eat something.”
Mathlin frowned. “But the baking—”
“You just spent a lot of energy healing me,” Titan said, gentle but firm. “You fainted on me yesterday; we’re not doing that again.”
Chastised, Mathlin nodded and went to the fridge for some leftover bread and jam. “Do you want some, too?”
Titan grinned. “Why don’t you be my hands? I’ll teach you how to make some great toast.”
“Deal.”
“Grab that loaf and slice it up with the bread knife. A little thicker than that. Yeah. Cut off the crusts if that isn’t your thing.”
Mathlin gaped. “Cut off the crusts?!”
“It makes the sandwiches delicate. The bread becomes cloud-soft in your mouth,” Titan said. When Mathlin continued to stare, the alpha frowned. “You’ve never had that? Sweetheart, stack some slices together and remove the crusts. Let me show you a world of deliciousness.”
Mathlin was doubtful, but he obeyed Titan’s orders. He preheated one of the ovens and popped several slices of bread in there—some with butter, some with sweetened condensed milk, and some with black pepper and sliced cheddar.
When the toast came out of the oven, their toppings had dried out. Mathlin eyed them again.
“It concentrates the flavor,” Titan said, nodding at them. “Take a bite of each.”
The buttered toast was crispy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside. Mathlin moaned, cramming the rest of the slice into his mouth. He tried a slice with sticky condensed milk next—it was sweet and amazing. And the toast with pepper and cheese—that was the most delicious of all.
“Oh gods,” Mathlin whimpered, drooling and grabbing another slice. “Where has this been my entire life?”
“Have I gotten you hooked on finger sandwiches?” Titan grinned.
“I feel so bad about cutting off the crusts, but... it’s like you said. I’m eating little pieces of cloud heaven; they’re so good.”
Titan rumbled, propping his hip against the counter.
“Do you want a slice?” Mathlin held up a piece of toast.
“Give me the one you like least.”
“But I like them all.”
“Give me some of the crusts, then.”
After Mathlin had spent all that time moaning over the toast, it was unthinkable to give Titan only the discards. He grabbed a cheesy slice and held it out. “I want you to have this.”
Titan’s eyes lit up. Carefully, he took large bites so the toast was no longer in Mathlin’s hand. “Eat, sweetheart. Don’t leave your belly empty.”
“It’s not empty anymore. You saw me eat all those slices.”
“Well, I would like you to be stuffed,” Titan said.
“You didn’t just go there with food,” Mathlin spluttered. At Titan’s shark-like smile, Mathlin ducked his head, stuffing his mouth with buttery toast. He popped more bread into the oven, and when those slices were done, he topped them with new condiments from the fridge.
Through it all, Titan watched him, his expression almost... indulgent.
“You’re having fun watching me,” Mathlin blurted. “Like I’m a... a rat or something, hoarding food.”
Titan snorted. “No, I’m having fun watching you try something new. It’s like my first time, all over again.”
“Wow. And here I thought you couldn’t make food sound more like sex. The next thing I know, you’ll be telling me to use butter as lube.” Only then did Mathlin register the words coming out of his mouth. “Oh gods, that would break so many health codes.”
“Not if you bring it to the office,” Titan said mildly.
Mathlin choked. “We’re not doing that!”
He peeked at Titan, only to find the alpha grinning handsomely. No, Titan was too dangerous to look at. Mathlin wrenched his gaze upward, and—
A scroll was pinned open on the ceiling, that hadn’t been there the day before.
When you open your eyes, I fall into them like a man into a well. When you open your mouth, I’m enchanted by your flapping tongue. When you open your legs, I trip and land in your hole—It’s like quicksand. Wait. I can’t get out. Help! 911! This hole is eating me alive!
“What kind of pickup line is that?” Mathlin groaned, cringing with his entire body.
Titan followed his gaze and grimaced. “Ugh. I can’t believe someone actually wrote that.”
“I can’t believe Hamilton stuck it on the ceiling,” Mathlin whined. “I can’t reach it to take it down!”
“Let’s pretend it isn’t there,” Titan said sagely.
Mathlin nodded. But he couldn’t help glancing up, just to see if those words would make him shudder again.
They did. “Ugh!”
“Math,” Titan murmured, his lips twitching. “I think you’re done with the toast. Let’s get started on the cupcakes.”
Mathlin hurriedly fed Titan more toast, because surely an alpha his size needed more food. Titan purred and ate whatever Mathlin gave him, before instructing Mathlin to dump the crusts into a baking pan.
“We’ll turn that into bread pudding later. When we’re done baking for Twin Buns.”
With more patience than Mathlin expected, Titan guided him through the baking process.
Mathlin couldn’t heft the sacks of flour and sugar; he had to cut them open and scoop the ingredients into mixing bowls, weighing them on a scale.
Then he whisked together the wet and dry ingredients, until Titan was satisfied with the batter.
When the cupcake liners were filled, Mathlin popped them into an oven.
“Now we’ll get the bread ingredients ready,” Titan said.
Mathlin was measuring out some sugar when the timer went off. He startled; sugar spilled everywhere.
“Oh no,” he said in dismay.
“It’s okay,” Titan rumbled, his voice low and calm. “Let’s get the right amount of sugar in there first. We’ll deal with the mess later. There we go. Now, time to check on the cupcakes. Grab a toothpick.”
The toothpick came out clean when Mathlin poked a cupcake with it, so he pulled the tray from the oven.
“It smells so good,” Mathlin moaned.
“I don’t want you burning your tongue,” Titan said. “Let it cool for a few minutes.”
Mathlin swallowed his drool, turning back to his mixing bowl of ingredients.
Slowly, the bread dough began to take shape. Mathlin panted when he tried to knead it.
“The stand mixer will be here later today,” Titan said apologetically. “For now, I think you’ll find it easier to lock your arms straight, and use the strength in your back to help you knead.”
It took Mathlin a while to understand what he meant. But after that, the kneading became easier.
“Set it aside to proof,” Titan said. “Let’s taste a cupcake and decide if it’s good enough for frosting.”
Mathlin sliced a cupcake in two, feeding Titan the first half. Titan closed his eyes and chewed slowly. He looked so handsome that Mathlin leaned in, transfixed by his face—
Titan opened his eyes. Mathlin jerked backward, suddenly realizing how close they were.
“Is it good?” he yelped, his voice high-pitched.
Titan grinned. “It’s perfect. Try it.”