Chapter 12 Pampered
Pampered
When my short but exhilarating ride ended less than a minute later, my disappointment eased at the view. Karim’s garden was a botanist’s dream.
“Holy freaking moly! This is all yours? And inside your home? Ah, I wish I were a plant so I could live here!”
The place wasn’t large, but it boasted a staggering variety of flowers and other plants, some of which I had never seen before.
All species looked to be thriving under Karim’s care; the lack of sunlight didn’t seem to be a problem.
Even the vine covering the ceiling in delicate pink flowers looked happy despite its root system coming out of a rock.
When I took my gaze off my new surroundings and refocused on Karim, I caught him watching me, a pleased look in his eyes.
He placed me ever so gently on the soft earth at the left side of the garden. I had so many questions about this place, but if I started asking them, we would never get to the task I was here for. So I stayed silent and watched Karim.
He brought the container with the edelweiss and some gardening tools, then filled a jar from a small pool, fed by a spring trickling from the nearby wall. “Is this all you need?” he asked as he sat on his heels beside me.
I examined the crystal-made tools, all expertly crafted, mysterious symbols etched into the pale-white surface. Nothing like the ordinary metal trowels and forks we were given in the gardens. “These are perfect. I still might need some assistance, though, because of my forearm.”
“Anything you need.”
Well, I needed his arms back around me, but he wasn’t offering that.
“Show me the spot you’ve chosen.” My voice grew steadier as I felt back in my element again.
He nodded. Using his long, well-shaped fingers, he outlined a square patch of soil at an arm’s length from me. “Will this work?” He sounded so serious, just like when we’d been uprooting the edelweiss in the forest.
He’d been more serious only when he’d been deciding what to do about the werewolves coming our way.
“I could not have chosen a better spot,” I assured him, once again touched by his care for a single flower.
Apparently, all it took to find a man speaking my love language was three apocalypses and getting snatched by elves.
“Still, it is the flower that will pass the final verdict. We’ll know by tomorrow.
Now we can only plant the little fellow and hope for the best.”
He nodded again and placed the container between us. “Let me know when and where you want my hands.”
I glanced his way. Did he have to phrase it like that? The answer everywhere on my body, came to mind. “Could you remove the container’s lid? Graciem.”
I took the droopy-looking flower out of its crystal prison with my good hand.
Throughout the process, I tried to block out the fuzzy feeling sparked by Karim’s eyes on me.
He must be watching my every move, worried I might mess up.
Definitely not because he was imagining my hands on him instead of the plant.
“Won’t you talk to it?” Karim suggested while I was making a hole in the dirt for the roots. “To ease its tension?”
“Mhm.”
It was me who needed release from the tension in this garden. No wonder, with him sitting so close and looking so delectable, the soft glow of numerous crystals accentuating his ethereal features. But maybe talking could help me as well.
“Hey, gorgeous. Are you feeling nervous? Happy to be out of that restrictive mountain crystal? I’ll tell you a secret: I’m nervous, too. After all, we are both doing something we haven’t done before.”
I poured several drops of water in the wide hole.
“But don’t worry. You aren’t the first flower to have made such a dangerous journey to a new home and survived under my care.
Besides, here it is beautiful and safe, and you will have not just anyone but a prince to pamper you.
” I sighed. “Who wouldn’t want that? Karim, could you–”
The rest of my request got stuck in my throat as I saw Karim’s expression at that moment. It was one of pain and longing all rolled into one, the look in his eyes haunted.
“Karim?”
He blinked and just like that, his usual serious face was back on. I was left wondering whether I’d imagined it, or had really gotten a glimpse into the raw emotions of this enigmatic male. But what could a prince long for that he couldn’t have?
“What do you need, Jasmine?”
“Uhh…” Focus, girl! “Could you hold the flower while I spread the roots into the soil?”
“Like this?”
“Yes, just hold it over the hole a bit lower. Yes, right there.”
Right there, indeed. He was so close to me that his shoulder was brushing mine, and I could smell the minty aroma of his shampoo.
Or whatever elves used to keep their inhumanly straight hair in pristine condition.
Watching his careful movements as he assisted me in burying the roots, I realized he was left-handed. Just like me.
I tried to hold in a chortle but failed.
“What is it?” His face was close enough for me to feel his warm breath on my skin.
I shivered. “It’s just that… People used to say that those left-handed are artistic, creative, and even masterminds. So with us both being left-handed, our baby here could not help but grow strong and one day rule–if not the world, then at least this garden.”
He went as tense as a pulled bowstring next to me, and I lowered my gaze to the replanted edelweiss, feeling my hopes deflate. “Who am I kidding? The poor flower will probably perish with so many conditions for its survival not met–”
A cool finger brushed my chin, making me meet Karim’s gaze.
“You did your best, as promised,” he said softly. “Whatever happens, you will not be held responsible, Jasmine. You already put your life on the line for this flower; there’s no need to do anything more.”
I simply nodded, his touch and gentle tone making me lightheaded.
“You will check on our baby tomorrow.” He smiled a bit as he used my words. “Now,” he added in his authoritative tone, “you need to rest and heal.”
I nodded once again. Rest sounded good. There was a dull pain in my bite wound, my ankle was throbbing in my sitting position, and I was also sleepy. The question was, where was I going to get the rest the Prince ordered?
Not wishing to hear an answer I might not like, I didn’t ask. Instead, I watched Karim wash his hands in the pool. Then I let him pour water from the jar on my hands and feet so that I too could clean up. And when he lifted me in his arms without saying a word, I kept quiet myself.
I got my answer when Karim effortlessly lowered me down on his moss. He was letting me spend the night here! My heart went pitter-patter at the sweet gesture.
My stomach chose that moment to growl. The loud sound echoing in the room made me wince in mortification.
“You are hungry!” To my surprise, Karim sounded mortified himself. “I’m such a hasinem to forget you humans eat during the day.” He moved away from the moss and toward the door we’d just come through. “I’ll prepare something for you. It won’t take long.”
“Wait!” That stopped him before he could leave. “Only if you’re going to eat with me.” A prince cooking for me? No, that was too much to ask. “Have breakfast while I’m having dinner.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, then an amused smile danced on his silvery lips. “Making demands and setting conditions now, are you?”
“Oh! I wasn’t–I didn’t mean it like–I was simply suggesting that–”
“That we share a meal,” he finished, the smile still on. “Which is even bolder, Jasmine.”
I gaped. “Could you forget I said anything and do whatever you see fit?” I blurted out. “I’ll keep my mouth shut from now on, promise.”
“What I see fit,” he said, sounding amused, “is that you do not keep your mouth shut. Firstly, because I’d like you to eat what I will bring you. And, secondly, because as I have already told you, I enjoy our conversations.”
What to say, what to say? A tentative smile was all I managed.
He nodded, visibly pleased. His gaze lingered on me for several seconds as I lay on his moss before he left in a flash of motion.
I relaxed back into the moss on a sigh. Today was unlike anything I had expected when I’d first set eyes on Mr. Perfect Feet. Never could I have imagined this turn of events where I would be in an elf’s bed about to be served dinner made by him.
I closed my eyes for a moment on the recollection of his strong arms under me, his chest against my cheek, his fresh scent filling my senses. Then the heartwarming feeling of planting a flower together, our fingers brushing for the briefest of moments, his breath tickling the side of my neck…
What would it feel like to have his lips there, teasing the sensitive flesh?
His long fingers tracing my collarbone and sliding between my breasts and continuing downward to where I wanted them most?
Having his weight on me, pinning me down on the moss as he took me slow and tender, every powerful movement of his body deliberate as he brought us both to a mind-shattering climax–
I opened my eyes on a needy sigh, only to discover the light of the wall crystals was dimmer and a green blanket covered me. What?
Confused, I looked around. Two crystal bowls lay on a dark-green tablecloth on the grassy ground next to the bed. One bowl was filled with a leafy salad and the other, empty but clearly used.
Karim was lying on the sofa. His back was turned to me, and his side was rising and falling steadily under the blanket of his long and thick hair. He was sound asleep.
I groaned inwardly. I’d sent him to make dinner and fallen asleep in the meantime. Leaving him to eat alone. Fabulous.
I studied his sleeping form. He looked relaxed and comfortable on the silvery cushions. The perished goose’s feathers apparently made for a good mattress.
I drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face and the image of Karim in my mind.