Add the twenty-five days without nourishment and the energy it must have taken his body to grow back all that gorgeousness. It was a lot. Which meant that my food shopping bill had just massively increased.
“I’ll bring some more food,” I announced, unable to move as my eyes watched his biceps swell with the weights.
“Great,” his voice came out strained, the effect of the heavy lifting stinging his voice out.
I stood there and watched him a full minute, unaware that the conversation had abruptly come to an end and that Gale was a lot more focused on not dropping five hundred pounds on his neck. My brain forced my steps away, already drowning in embarrassment, until Gale’s voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Muffin?”
Fuck. I should not have stopped, I should not have responded to the stupid nickname. Part of me wanted to walk away as if nothing happened, the other part knew I had already been ridiculed, so there was no point in hiding it.
“What?” I snapped.
“No matter how much I enjoyed pissing in a bucket, my bowels are going to start working again soon, so a proper toilet would be nice.”
I didn’t even think of that. I had to share a bathroom with him and there he was, on his first day of gorgeousness, claiming that right.
“There’s one in my room, you can use it during the day only.” I turned to him, prepared to explain my reasons but his attention returned to his task, ignoring me after granting his request.
It took me three hours to do another week’s worth of shopping and I spent half of my month’s wages on it. Planning to get nutritious things rather than canned goods, I went all out with my grocery bill. If the way to the faerie’s friendship was through his stomach, I would do my damn best to get him lots of the good stuff. Along with some other things I needed for myself, like chocolate, pizza and junk food.
My period was supposed to arrive in a couple of days, so I knew I needed lots of carbs. Especially if my nerves were to be tested on a daily basis.
Twenty-five days without food, the memory came to mind as I was struggling to haul all the grocery bags into the cart. I couldn’t even imagine the harm done to his stomach, to his entrails, how much his throat and muscles must have suffered. And he’d been iron bound as well.
What the hell did Gale do? Why were they punishing him so harshly, torturing him in such a rough and merciless manner? In all my years of training and experience, I had never seen anything like it. It looked to be some sort of a personal vendetta, something that PDD’s team was willing to put lots of funds into. Just to torture a fae male. Or maybe Gale had something they really wanted. Knowing the interrogation techniques, they must have tried everything in the book to reach the conclusion that Gale needed a reprieve.
“Are you going to help me with this or what?” I struggled to breathe after carrying the bags all the way through the scanning area, through the guards, and pushed them all into the room before the door sealed shut behind me.
Gale hadn’t even reacted, didn’t even look in my direction to follow the noise, preferring the company of his weights.
I’d been away for hours, and the guy was still at it. I had to admire his determination, but also started fearing that the food I’d brought wouldn’t be enough and the gods knew my wages could not sustain us both for a longer period of time.
“You seemed pretty angry when I touched your food before, muffin,” Gale remained seated, making no gesture to stand and offer his support.
“Well, that was because I didn’t know how hungry you would be. And I bought some more food. Which you would know if you were gentleman enough to come and offer me a hand,” I snapped, dropping two bags to the floor, unable to hold them any longer. Luckily, they were corn-starch made, so they did not rip apart at the first sign of pressure.
“Gentleman…” Gale’s voice trembled, a burst of annoyance flaring through his throat. “Not a concept fae are familiar with…”
“Because there aren’t any gentlemen where you come from?” my regard slipped to him, half curious.
A spark of longing painted his features, before he realised and cleared it away. He missed his home. But he would not admit it. Not to me and not to himself.
“Because it is a human concept,” he finally allowed his words to drop.
“Well…” I sighed, yanking the remaining bags to drop them on the small counter. “Let me explain it to you, then.” I did not care if he looked at me or not, I knew he could hear it and that was the only thing that mattered.
“A gentleman is a man who cares for others and likes to follow the polite rules of society. For example, when he sees a lady in distress, he instantly comes and helps. Or when he sees a lady struggling to carry something heavy, he offers to take the load off her. You know, the way it should be in a civilised society. The way tradition dictates it.”
“Is that so, muffin? Gale huffed, the rumble of his echoing snarl raising tingles down my skin. “Is that what you want? For me to follow tradition with you?”
“It would be nice,” I snapped again, turning my back to him and directing my attention to the bags filled with food. I started regretting my choice to buy so much for him when the bastard clearly did not want to put an ounce of effort into this.
“Would it now?” The warmth in his voice threaded across the room, filling the distance between us. “Is that what you want, muffin? You want me to be…traditional with you?”
I did not want to turn. I did not want to turn because somehow, I knew. However impossible it might be, I knew Gale crossed the room in a split second to situate his tall and muscly body right behind mine. Inches separated us but I already felt his warmth, the way his skin sizzled with fiery rage, how his muscles twitched from the continuous effort and the scent of his sweat…dripping down his torso. The mere image of those delicious beads pouring down his abs turned me liquid, my panties turning mush with need and instant desire.
“Tell me, muffin…” a finger caressed my arm, the bare skin under my t-shirt, causing a wave of goosebumps to take flight under this touch. “Do you know what fae males used to do when they first met a woman?” Another finger joined into the torturous caress and oh my goodness, my knees buckled, and my stomach clenched, hollowing out so much desire my thighs started shaking on their own accord.
