Chapter Thirteen #2
“Time for dessert, I think.” I stood from my chair, eager to escape the room and take some much-needed breaths away from a certain demon lord.
“You made us dessert?” Quincy asked with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. My silly knights acted like I hadn’t baked for them in years.
“Yep. Fane helped too.”
“I had no part in the making of that atrocity,” Fane responded with a scowl. His eyes, however, crinkled as he looked at me. “The praise belongs to you and you alone.”
I smiled at that. “Be right back.”
And please don’t kill each other while I’m gone. Leaving my men alone with Lord Onyx might not have been the greatest idea. A quick dash to the kitchen and back wasn’t enough time for too much bloodshed though.
Right?
Best to hurry. I rushed from the room and sped toward the kitchen. Steps sounded from behind me, and Fane chuckled as he caught up, keeping pace beside me as we moved down the corridor. The gentle knock of his shoulder against mine made me smile.
“Coffee too?” he asked once we’d reached the kitchen and I’d taken the beans I had grinded earlier and started preparing a pitcher.
“Yep. The hints of cinnamon I infused will pair well with the honey cake.”
Fane helped me sort dessert plates and mugs on a tray, along with vessels for cream and sugar, then he added a fire rune to the decanter of coffee. I grabbed the cake and nodded to him in a ‘let’s do this’ kind of way, which earned me a blank stare and tail flick.
He loved me. Even if he tried hard not to show it. Tried very, very hard.
Back in the dining parlor, I exhaled a breath of relief at seeing everyone was still in one piece. No blood or mayhem. Sure, they weren’t talking much, but progress was progress.
Lord Onyx slumped in his chair, one hand resting near his mouth and eyes meeting mine as I entered the room. His gaze dropped to the platter in my hands. “Is that…”
“Honey cake,” I said, setting it in front of him. Fane set the other tray in the center of the table. “My dad offered you a slice when you met. I thought it fitting that I do the same. Symbolizing good will between us. And new friends.”
Lord Onyx’s normally cool expression fractured, revealing something tender underneath. “Is that what you wish to be? My friend?”
More, actually. But I couldn’t tell him that. Not yet at least.
“Why not? You can never have too many friends.” When I grabbed the knife to cut into the cake, my hand trembled. “And you’ve been good to us. Helping when you didn’t have to. Making sure we’re taken care of. I hope to repay you for that kindness someday.”
Our gazes held for a moment. Ruby eyes caught the glow of the lit hearth and ignited a fire in my core. Holding me prisoner. That ache inside my heart that yearned for him grew more restless. Almost painfully so.
“The cake is a nice start,” he finally said. “I look forward to eating a slice.”
Tiny flutters danced around in my stomach as we shared a smile. The mini-Evans had set aside their tap-dancing shoes for butterfly wings.
Fane helped me divvy out pieces of cake and cups of coffee. Rowan and Maddox took theirs black, while Lake liked more cream than sugar. Briar was the opposite, preferring a touch more sugar. And Callum added a heaping amount of both, turning the coffee so pale it wasn’t even coffee anymore.
How did the demon lord take his?
Remembering what he’d said about thinking coffee too bitter, I added a dash of cream and sprinkle of sugar before handing it to him. With his red eyes flickering to mine again, Onyx brought the mug to his lips and took a drink, watching me over the rim.
After a sip, his brows lifted. “This is quite good.”
“If it’s still too bitter, I can add more—”
“I find it pleasing as it is,” he said. “Just as you gave it to me.”
The soft knocking returned to my chest. I served myself last and sat back between Callum and Maddox. Callum rested his hand on my thigh. My hand found his instantly, and our fingers linked. His skin was so damn warm, like he really was the sun. A ray of sun who had a dimple to die for.
Maddox lifted the mug to his lips. Just like with Rowan earlier in the kitchen, his expression wavered after taking a drink. He said nothing, but it was there in his blue eyes: the pain of missing home.
“Come here, ya beauty.” Duke rubbed his hands together before grabbing the slice of cake and biting off a huge chunk, forgoing a fork.
The rest of the men around the table followed. Varys took a small bite, then nodded his approval.
I tried not to be obvious about it, but I watched the demon lord from the corner of my eye as he took his first bite. When he said nothing and gave no reaction, my insides jumbled with anticipation.
Did he like it? Was it too sweet, not sweet enough, or maybe Fane had been right and it was too dense?
“You have a real talent, lad,” Varys said after wiping at his mouth. “Elias burned everything he touched in the kitchen, but he loved eating sweets. He’d steal this entire cake if he were here.”
I smiled, feeling a wobble in my sternum.
“Elias would have to get through me first.” Lord Onyx looked at me. “Varys is correct. This is delicious.”
Heat touched my cheeks. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Pastries and desserts can be your responsibility from now on. Coffee as well.” Onyx took a drink. “You may have converted me.”
Fane softly smiled as he organized items on the tray.
“I’d love that.” Happiness flared in my belly. “I’ll report to the kitchen first thing for breakfast.”
The knights had started training again, and Briar had found a place in the clinic.
Lake had taken on more whittling projects and enjoyed being outside without fear, socializing like he’d never been able to do, and it looked like he’d start gardening again.
And Rowan seemed to be enjoying all his cat naps and freedom.
“You can find happiness here, if you open your heart to it.”
Fane’s words settled over my chest. Although still homesick, the ache of that loss didn’t feel nearly as deep. The Shadow Realm wasn’t the home we knew, but maybe we really could find happiness there. Eventually.
Later that evening, after my men and I returned to our room, we took turns washing up from the day.
The tub wasn’t big enough for all of us, unfortunately.
We’d need one of those Roman bathhouses for that.
Or a trip to a hot spring. The five of us then made ourselves comfortable around the lit hearth, not yet ready to sleep.
“Lord Onyx couldn’t take his eyes off you tonight, little treasure.” Rowan reclined on the window bench, one foot in the sill as he looked outside.
“Aye.” Callum nodded. “I noticed as well.”
I sat on Maddox’s lap on the small couch, with Briar on the cushion beside us. Lake and Callum sat on the rug. Oreo lay between them, slowly wagging his tail as his eyes closed.
“When will you tell him?” Lake asked. “That he’s one of us.”
His question caused a furrow in Callum’s brow. Briar seemed contemplative too. When I’d told them all about Onyx being my fated mate, they’d expressed concern over my safety but had accepted it.
But were they really okay with me being with him?
“He doesn’t have to be one of you,” I whispered. The words hurt more than I thought they would. But I’d rather keep that hollowness in my chest and live with the ache than upset any of them. “Just because fate brought Onyx and I together doesn’t mean I have to—”
“Yes, you do,” Maddox softly interjected, wrapping both arms around me. “I may not have the ability to sense your emotions like Lake does, but I hear the ache in your voice. I see it in your eyes when you look at Lord Onyx. I see it in his as well, when looking at you.”
Tears prickled in my eyes. “But—”
“Must I say it again?” I felt Maddox smile against the shell of my ear. “You could love a hundred men, yet I’d know that a piece of your heart belonged only to me. Why should he be denied the joy of loving you when none of us were?”
“Our captain’s right, love.” Briar grabbed my hand and threaded our fingers together.
“I’m sure if any male not among your fated mates were to make advances on you, I’d think differently, but I feel no jealously or resentment toward Lord Onyx.
It’s as though a place in my own soul recognizes him as well.
A bond that connects all of us together. ”
Lake nodded to himself.
Callum breathed out. “I still fear that he will hurt you in some way, Ev. Though, I suspect that fear comes from the years I spent believing him to be our enemy. It’s hard to take him out of that box and put him in another.”
“I get that,” I told him. “Honestly, he’s a mystery to me too. I hardly ever know what he’s thinking. But I sense a kindness in him, Cal. I don’t think he plans to hurt any of us.”
Albeit faint, a dimple showed in his cheek. “If you trust him, I’ll try to do the same.”
“He’s not sleeping in our bed,” Maddox grumbled. “I’ll throw him outside with the thief.”
Rowan scoffed. “You’ll be the one thrown outside, you gluttonous bastard.”
I smiled at their banter. They had, in not so many words, given their blessing for me to act on my feelings for the demon lord. But would Lord Onyx return those feelings? Hard to say for sure.
A while later, we settled in for the night and slid into bed.
“I ate too many mashed potatoes and cake tonight,” I mumbled once we were tucked under the covers, our bodies pressed together. “I’m stuffed.”
“Such a shame,” Maddox said in a deep tone that made my insides tremble in the best way. He glided his teeth down my neck. “I hoped to fill you even more.”
“I take it back,” I quickly said. “Hobbits have breakfast and second breakfast. Nothing says a muffin can’t have two desserts.”
With a low, rumbling chuckle, Maddox grabbed me by the jaw and slammed his mouth to mine, kissing me so deep my toes curled.
Lake moved farther up my body, having been resting in his favorite place with his head on my lap, and licked up the middle of my rib cage.
Briar lay to my right and found the weak spot beneath my ear, nibbling me there.
I sensed the others around me too, each of them closing in. Pulling me more into their orbit. They alternated kisses, caressing my chest and sides with each pass of their mouth. Peaches. Vanilla bean. Black cardamom.
Each set of lips came with their own taste, and I sought more of each of them. Love filled my heart. A heart that beat for the five men in my bed.
And the one not yet with us.