23. CHAPTER 23 #2
“Are you already addicted to my cum?”
In pure frustration I bite his bottom lip. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t.”
No I don’t.
“So… Do you want fish for lunch?”
I shake my head just to spite him.
“You’re cute when you’re being indignant.”
“And you’re an asshole when you think you’re being smart.”
Standing, Eden lifts me with him and walks us both to the kitchen.
Sitting me on the counter in the exact same place he did last night when he fucked my inner thighs raw, he uses both hands to smooth the hair back off my face, then kisses the tip of my nose and tells me, "Sometimes you have to deny yourself of something to make sure it’s what you really want.”
"That sounds like an excuse."
"It can sound like whatever the hell you want it to sound like, but it's my answer."
"I already know what I want."
He kisses me on the nose again. "I know you think you do," he tells me, lifting me back down from the bench. He barely steps back though, proving how stupid his reasoning is.
"I don't want fish for lunch."
"Neither." Turning me around so his still hard dick is poking me in the back, he moves me closer to the sink.
"So what do you want?" I sigh.
"I'm not really hungry anymore."
"Wonderful. You're making more decisions for both of us."
"Not everything is about you, Jin."
My mouth opens like it always does, ready to fire back at him, but I'm forced against the kitchen bench as Eden reaches over me.
Taking the second jar of sourdough starter that he refills first thing in the morning every three days like clockwork, he places it directly in front of me.
After putting the bowl we use for everything beside it, he walks away to the pantry.
Flour and salt are soon beside me, and Eden returns for a final time with a mug full of water from the stovetop. He pours it into the metal bowl then dips his little finger in it.
"It's too hot. You feel it."
I do as I'm told, and nod like I'm ever going to remember what this particular temperature feels like, as Eden fills up the mug with cool water from the filter.
"Here. Put some in. Not too much."
He watches carefully as I start pouring, and taps my arm when he thinks it's enough. Then he takes hold of the side of the bowl and swirls it several times on the bench.
"Feel it now."
"It's cooler, but I don't know what I'm looking for."
"It needs to be eighty degrees… It's still too hot." He shakes the water off his finger and nods towards the cold water. "A little more this time."
After I've poured the water in, I wait for Eden to take over again. And when he doesn't say anything, I spin the bowl then dip my pinky in. "I don't know what eighty degrees feels like."
He dips in his finger then flicks the excess in my face. "It feels pretty close to that."
Retaking his place behind me, he leans his hands on the bench by my sides.
"Now take the levain… The jar." He clarifies when I don't move.
Sliding it towards me, I unhinge the lid and bring the jar to my nose. "It's really sour."
"Did you seriously just say that?"
"Don't make fun of me."
"Did you hear what you just said?"
"I'm not an idiot."
"Maybe not. But you sound like one right now."
I step to the side and try to duck under his arm, but Eden just grabs me by the shoulders and pulls me back into position. "It's sour dough, Jin. What did you expect it to smell like?"
"The bread? I dunno. It's really strong."
"It doesn't smell exactly like the bread because it's not diluted with anything else yet… Now pick up the spoon and scoop some into the water."
The mixture is creamy and frothy, and a heap of bubbles burst as I scoop into the mixture.
"If it floats, it means it's ready. So put it all in the water."
With the jar in my hand, I scrape all the mixture out.
"There's too much water."
"You just told me to—"
"I know, but I don't have any measuring containers, so I do it by eye. So please take the spoon and scoop a little out."
Eden tells me when he thinks it's even enough, then takes a clean mug from the drying rack. "One and a half of flour."
I unroll the top of the large bag of flour, then grab the mug. "I never figured you for someone who'd know how to make bread."
"There's a lot of things we don't know about each other."
I dump the first mug full of flour into the bowl. "Still. I don't think anyone would pick it."
"And I wouldn't have picked you as a romance reader."
"You're the one who said you wanted to see me reading." I snicker, and force myself back against Eden.
His hand quickly wraps around my waist to stop me from pulling away. "It needs another half cup."
" I need another half cup."
Eden leans down so close that his whisper echoes in my ear. "You're starting to sound stupid again."
"That's because you're making me stupid. How in the hell am I meant to concentrate when you say one thing then do another?"
"Maybe you just need to be stronger."
"Maybe you need to stop being a tease."
His hand starts making its way up my stomach to my chest. "I'd say you're the tease, Jin. You walk around half naked all the time. I'm starting to think you've forgotten what clothes are."
"They're dirty."
"Only because you've been wearing them."
"Wh–what's that supposed to mean?"
"I think you know exactly what it means."