EPILOGUE
PAMELA
The next morning, I drag myself out of bed early to get a start on deep cleaning the kitchens.
At least, that's the plan. The reality takes longer because we can't keep our hands off each other.
I blush as I get dressed, distracted by Toghar's roaming fingers and the kisses he showers on me.
When we finally part, it's later than I wanted, but I'm in such a good mood I don't care.
The kitchen is as disastrous as I left it, and there's a faint tinge of sex in the air, but that could just be my imagination.
I soak the dishes and pull out the cleaner bots, trying to figure out how to change the settings on the scrubbers.
Eventually I give up and decide to do things by hand.
I bleach and wash the counters twice, humming as I work.
There's a delightful soreness deep between my legs that speaks of the fantastic night I had, and my mood is lighter than air.
There's no leftover food from the guards' feast. That's not surprising.
After we'd had sex in the kitchen, Toghar and I had hastily cleaned up the worst of the mess and then set the vegetarian feast out on a table out in the mess hall for the guards.
We didn't bother to let anyone know. Instead, we raced up to my room in the staff wing of the va'Rin estate and got back into bed together.
Toghar treated me like a princess all night long, adoring me and showering me with lavish attention.
Since the food was left out all night, I'd expected to toss out the leftovers, but every plate has been cleaned down to the crumbs.
There's not even a solitary noodle left behind in the soup pot.
Maybe the men need a big home-cooked feast every now and then to remind them that they're appreciated.
Mentally, I start planning the next big meal. Soup Sundays, perhaps?
But for tonight, I think I'll make a roasted vegetable pie for Toghar. Something with nice crispy edges and a bit of char on the roots—
The door to the kitchen opens, and Lord va'Rin sweeps in, long robes trailing on the freshly washed floor.
His silver-covered horns gleam and his long, dark hair looks like a waterfall down his back.
I can't help but compare his erudite elegance to Toghar's shorn head and blunter features, and decide I like Toghar's type much better.
He feels a bit more lived in and comfortable.
Rough but handsome. The sight of the distinguished lord in my kitchen makes me nervous.
I immediately straighten, brushing away a few wispy strands of hair that always seem to escape my braid.
The mesakkah lord always looks impossibly refined, reminding me that I am not. "Lord va'Rin. How can I help you?"
He glances around the kitchen, which is in the process of being tidied. "I am looking for Toghar, actually."
Oh. A blush creeps over my face, and I wipe my hands on my apron, even though they're clean. "I saw him not too long ago. He went to go help Vaxar with one of the air sleds. Something about rotating some...part?"
He'd explained it to me, but he'd also been kissing me at the same time. Toghar's lips make it difficult to concentrate on, well, anything.
Lord va'Rin nods and then gazes at the half-cleaned kitchen. The heat in my face grows the longer he stares, and I wonder how keen his sense of smell is. "This is quite a bit of cleaning," he comments. "Do you require assistance?"
"I'm fine. I swear. I've got it handled, but I appreciate the thought." Thank god he didn't ask me why I'm bleaching the counters.
The elegant mesakkah lord watches me, and I swear I feel like a naughty child. "Did he finally speak up?"
"Hm?"
"Toghar? About his feelings? I take it he finally said something?"
"Oh. Uh. Yes." Did he talk to Lord va'Rin about me? Has he been planning to speak to me for a while? How many others know about his feelings for me? Has he been telling everyone?
Why does that make me so giddy inside?
A hint of a smile curves the lord's mouth, and he seems just as pleased as I am. "About time."
I couldn't agree more.