43. Taurex #2
Taurex considered it superior as well.
Then came chocolate ganache, which was extremely rich.
“Delicious.” Terra licked her lips in a way that Taurex found distractingly erotic.
He smiled.
“I know how much you love chocolate. But do you think all our guests will feel the same way? This cake is extremely rich.”
She frowned, playing along.
“You’re right—it might be too much for some people.”
“Well, we can do different flavors for different layers,” Marcia said helpfully. “Depending on how many layers you want?”
“Just two should be enough,” Terra told her. “We’d doing a small, intimate ceremony—just close friends and family.”
“Small ceremonies are lovely,” Marcia said smiling.
Terra gave Taurex a look he couldn’t interpret.
“Yes…yes, they are.”
Their eyes held for so long that Marcia cleared her throat meaningfully.
“Not to rush you, but I have another tasting coming in soon. Would you like to try the other flavors?”
“Oh, of course. Sorry.” Terra’s cheeks went red, and they went back to the cake.
They tried red velvet—Terra liked it and Taurex did not.
“It tastes artificially red,” he said.
Terra stared at him.
“Are you saying you can taste the red food dye? What does red taste like?”
“This.” He pointed at the cake.
Marcia laughed.
“Well, we’ll mark that one off the list. Try this instead. No food dye at all—I promise.” She slid the lemon raspberry plate toward them. “It’s our bestseller.”
Terra took a bite first and her eyes rolled back in her head for a moment as she moaned with pleasure.
“Oh, yumm.”
Taurex had to shift in his seat to accommodate his suddenly hard shaft. Gods, she looked so beautiful when she was enjoying herself!
“Now that face is different,” he remarked in a slightly strangled tone.
Terra looked at him.
“What face?”
“The one you make when you genuinely like something.”
“Well, it’s really good.” She pointed her fork at him. “Try it—you’ll see.”
Taurex nodded and took a bite. Bright citrus flavor came first, sharp enough to cut through the sweetness, followed by the raspberry filling and a lighter cream than the other cakes.
It was so good Taurex stopped chewing and just let the flavors all melt on his tongue.
Terra watched him, smiling a little.
“Well?” she asked.
He swallowed.
“This one. This is the one.”
She laughed.
“See? I told you.”
“You were right,” Taurex said. He looked at Marcia. “This is the cake we want.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “You haven’t tried the others.”
“They are irrelevant.”
Marcia grinned.
“Well then, I guess we have a winner.”
Terra shook her head.
“Wait—we have to at least try the coconut. I love coconut.”
“No.” He shook his head.
“Taurex…” She frowned.
“I have made my decision.”
Terra shook her head.
“You can’t just choose a whole wedding cake after only one bite.”
“I just did.”
She burst out laughing and Taurex found himself laughing along, though he wasn’t quite sure what was funny.
“Fine,” she said at last. “But I get a vote too.”
Taurex sobered instantly.
“Of course you do. I didn’t mean to imply that I would be the only one whose opinion counts. You should have an equal say.”
Something about what he said seemed to make her pause. She looked at him uncertainly.
“Do you really mean that?”
“Of course,” Taurex said. He gestured toward the lemon raspberry cake. “Do you genuinely like this one?”
She nodded.
“Yes. It’s really good.”
He frowned.
“Are you sure you’re not just agreeing because I chose it?”
“No, I genuinely like it. I promise,” she said.
Taurex nodded.
“Then it is suitable.”
Terra’s brows drew together.
“You really do care what cake I want.”
“Why would I not?” he asked, confused.
“I don’t know.” She looked down at the plate.
“It’s just…Jackson didn’t. When we got married, we didn’t have much of a ceremony, but we did have cake.
I wanted lemon cake, but he said nobody liked lemon and picked vanilla because that was what he wanted.
” She shrugged. “His mother agreed with him, so that was the end of it.”
Taurex stared at the little slice between them.
“You wanted lemon and he knew that, but he deliberately chose something else?”
Terra gave him a wry smile.
“It was no big deal—it was just cake.”
Taurex frowned.
“If it mattered to you, then it was a big deal. It sounds to me like your ex-mate never put your happiness before his own.”
“Well…no. He didn’t. But that’s why he’s an ‘ex,” right? ” Terra tried to laugh, but there was real pain in her eyes.
It struck Taurex again how human men had truly failed her in so many ways.
He couldn’t imagine treating a mate the way Terra’s ex had treated her.
He wished with his whole heart that he could heal the wounds the other male had left.
That he could shelter and protect her and provide for her and give her every desire of her heart.
Then Terra touched his forearm.
“Lemon raspberry,” she said softly. “That’s our cake.”
Marcia continued with the remaining samples anyway, though none displaced Taurex’s preference. By the end of the tasting Terra had eaten enough bites that she announced she never wanted to see sugar again.
Marcia began writing notes.
“So lemon cake with raspberry mousse and vanilla buttercream for both tiers?”
Terra nodded.
“Yes, that works.”
They discussed decorations after that, eventually settling on simple ivory frosting with fresh flowers rather than the elaborate sculpted designs Taurex found unnecessarily ornamental.
Terra chose something understated and elegant, which did not surprise him at all—his fated mate had excellent taste.
What did surprise him was how easily he could imagine the finished cake standing at the edge of a room while Terra walked toward him in ceremonial clothing.
Again, he forced the image away. This was not real, he reminded himself. Later, Terra would call to cancel the cake—they were never going to really eat it at a Joining ceremony.
He needed to remember that.