Chapter 32
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Kraghol paused in the doorway, looking around the darkened bakery. “Shouldn’t the door be locked?” He didn’t know much about city dwellings, but he knew that much.
Krampuses never entered homes on Krampus Night. They roamed the streets and scared those outdoors but never attempted to go inside. It was like some sacred rule. Still, he’d been told that even if they tried to enter, the apartments were always locked.
“Well, it is locked. But not in a way you can obviously tell. Grady puts a spell on the doors that doesn’t allow just anyone to enter. It will keep out those who mean us harm.” Jasper lit several candles, which flickered into life. They cast a soft glow. “Are you coming in?”
Kraghol took a deep breath, nodded, and stepped forward. “I’ve never been inside a building before,” he confessed as he looked around the bakery.
Jasper’s smile softened. “Well, I’m honoured to be with you the first time you enter one.” He took Kraghol’s hand and led him inside. “Now let me give you a tour. This is the back area of the bakery. This is where we bake. Here is the pantry, where we keep lots of ingredients.”
Kraghol gazed at all the racks and bottles and jars, whose contents were unrecognisable to him. “You have so many ingredients. Do you really need all this?”
Jasper laughed. “We do. You’d be shocked at how much we need each day.
And over there is the oven and the stove.
You can see all the counters where we work.
” He waved a hand over the space. “Right now it is quiet and empty. But when we are all here, there is a lot of chatter and laughter.” His smile dimmed ever so slightly.
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing.” Jasper sighed. “It’s just since the accident and the sickness that followed, I’ve been more exhausted at work. I don’t talk as much or joke around anymore.” He paused. “The illness has strained my relationship with Leo.”
“I hadn’t realised you were so unwell.” Kraghol looked Jasper over.
He’d known about the illness, of course, since Jasper had told him. He’d been concerned about it. But he’d not realised the extent of it. Whenever Kraghol asked, Jasper always said he was doing well.
Kraghol couldn’t see anything obviously wrong with the human. He never appeared sick. But maybe he hid it well. “I did not know it impacted you so much.”
“It affects me more when you aren’t around.” Jasper pushed a hand through his hair. “When we’re together, I feel like my old self. The aches, pains, and exhaustion, they all fade away. But then when we’re apart…” He trailed off.
“I am so sorry, Jasper. I had not realised how bad it was.”
“It’s fine, Kraghol.” He gave a half-smile, but Kraghol could see the strain in it. “It will fade when the partial mate bond fades. I’m sure. So no need to worry.”
But that didn’t sit right with Kraghol. Not at all. “I will talk to my sister. She is a spiritual guide, and part of that involves being a healer. She might know why you are unwell.”
Although, Kraghol had his doubts. His sister only worked with krampuses. Never humans. But still, he’d ask her if it had a chance of assisting Jasper.
Jasper frowned. “Your sister knows about me?”
“Well…no. However, I could tell her.” The idea terrified him. She’d be shocked and repulsed to learn of their relationship. After all, she’d been disgusted that he’d just fucked a human in his cave. She might even refuse to help.
But Kraghol would try. For Jasper. “I will talk to her.”
Jasper shook his head. “Leave it for now.”
“But—”
“Please. No need to make a fuss. Especially since it will probably fade with the bond.”
Kraghol still didn’t like it. He wanted Jasper healthy and well. He wanted him flourishing. And he’d face his sister and her wrath, if it meant he could help Jasper recover.
But Jasper took his hand and squeezed it. “If the sickness doesn’t go away when the bond goes, then you can talk to her.”
Kraghol frowned. But he’d leave it for now if that was what Jasper wanted. “All right. But why has your illness affected your relationship with Leo?”
“It’s just…” Jasper sighed. “I don’t know. We’ve always gone through everything together. We grew up together, worked together, we lost our parents together. Everything we’ve experienced, we’ve experienced together.
“So I guess I’ve never really had to explain anything to him before. And if I did, he always got it immediately.” He paused. “This was the first time one of us went through something on our own. I did try and explain how I was feeling early on, about the never-ending yearning to go to the forest.”
Jasper rubbed a hand over his face. “I wasn’t great at explaining. And I’d get annoyed when he didn’t understand immediately or he suggested we go see the healer again. I’m not used to us being out of sync. It frustrated me and pissed me off. Then he kept worrying about me.
“Honestly, it felt so overbearing. I couldn’t handle it. And I couldn’t handle being the source of his pain. So I pushed him away.” Jasper gazed at the floor. “I shouldn’t have done that. But I did.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’ll talk to him soon. I’ll explain everything properly. I need to. He deserves that.” Jasper continued to stare at the floor. “And I have to apologise for being such a shit brother.” Then his frown morphed into a smile. “At least he’s happy at the moment. He is consumed with Percy.”
“That is still going well, then?”
Jasper nodded. “Yeah. They are all over each other. I’m glad to see Leo happy.” Then he took a deep breath. He clapped his hands. “Now how about that hot chocolate?”
Jasper lit the stove. Then he paused and removed his undergarments, which he said felt sticky and pretty unpleasant because of what they’d gotten up to in the alley.
After that, Jasper mixed different ingredients in a cauldron. Kraghol had heard stories of witches brewing potions. But in those stories, the witches had never been creating delicious hot chocolate.
“So this is you making magic?”
“Yep.” Jasper stirred the cauldron. “Right now I am pouring my intentions into the hot chocolate. Those intentions should impact how you feel when you drink it.”
“What are your intentions?” Kraghol knew they wouldn’t be negative like the evil witches in the stories he’d heard. Jasper wasn’t that kind of witch.
Jasper met his gaze. “I want you to know that I care for you and that this is one of the ways I show it to you.”
Kraghol’s chest clenched. He wasn’t used to being cared for in such a way. His sister cared for him. His grandmother too. But it had always been a hard and unbending type of caring. The type that often hurt. Nothing like this.
Then he thought of the words Jasper had called out as Kraghol had fucked him.
Yours. Just yours. Only yours.
His throat dried. But that must have been the sort of thing one called out during sex. Jasper couldn’t have meant it. Or if he had, he must have meant he was Kraghol’s only temporarily.
And Kraghol had called Jasper mine. Whilst he could pretend he’d been caught up in the moment, lost in lust, he knew that wasn’t the truth. He’d meant it when he said it. Or at least, he’d wanted it to be true. He wanted to claim Jasper as his.
But he shouldn’t. No matter his feelings, they still didn’t belong together.
Jasper poured the hot chocolate into mugs. “Let’s go out to one of the tables.”
They walked to the front area. Jasper placed a candle and the mugs down. “Customers can order at the counter, and then they can sit at one of these little tables.” Jasper took a seat. He gestured to the other chair. “But some customers just take their order and leave.”
Kraghol pulled out the chair and sat. He touched the white tablecloth. Then he looked around at the decorations and the tree. It looked even prettier from the inside. “It’s all so beautiful.”
“I’m glad you think so.” Jasper sipped his hot chocolate.
Kraghol did the same. The warm liquid slid down his throat. “Thank you, Jasper.”
“It’s no problem.” Jasper smiled. “I’m happy to make you hot chocolate anytime.”
“Well, yes. Thank you for the hot chocolate. But also for tonight.” He cupped the warm mug in his hands. “I have always hated Krampus Night. But tonight, I have enjoyed it, at least the parts with you in it. So thank you for that.”
Jasper reached his hand across the table. Kraghol took it.
Jasper rubbed his thumb over the back of Kraghol’s furry hand. “It is my pleasure, Kraghol.”
They drank their hot chocolate. Kraghol looked around the bakery, and he wondered if this would be the first and last time he ever sat in this room.