The apartment was quiet when she left the bedroom, but in the absence of the demon prince was an honest-to-God, silver-domed plate of food waiting for her in the kitchen. A handwritten piece of card leaning against the dome simply read ‘Eat. All of it.’ in swooping letters.
“Alright then,” she mumbled, taking a seat at the kitchen island. While she wasn’t weak from his energy sucking this time, her stomach did make insistent noises about needing to refuel.
Under the silver dome lay five pieces of toast, a large chunk of glossy, yellow butter, a tub of jam, slices of smoked salmon decorated with lush fronds of dill, four poached eggs, and roasted cherry tomatoes still on the vine. All arranged around a perfectly rare T-bone steak.
Georgia snorted a laugh at the huge chunk of red meat residing in the midst of the more expected breakfast items. She was 90% sure he’d researched human eating habits while she slept and tried his best to follow whatever guidelines he’d found—but then also been a demon about it and apparently found the lack of meat unacceptable.
At least he’d scaled the amount down from the twenty-person buffet. Granted, there was still enough food to feed five very hungry bodybuilders, but it was several steps in the right direction.
So far as weird demon habits, his wild overestimate of how much a human could eat was kind of… cute. Now that she was relatively certain he wasn’t fattening her up to eat, anyway.
The food was delicious—though she didn’t touch the still-mooing steak—but she stopped long before the overfilled plate was even halfway empty, pleasantly full. She covered the leftovers with the silver dome and took them to the fridge—but paused when she saw what was already in there. The entire thing was stuffed to the gills with some sort of huge, bumpy-skinned, crookneck-looking squashes in bright orange.
“What the…?” What in the world did a demon who didn’t eat need with that many squashes?
The answer came as she pulled a few out to make room for her leftovers. She found several sticks of butter and bottles of cream shoved in the back, too, and when she turned to place the squash on the counter, because she couldn’t fit back in the fridge, a printed-out recipe for pumpkin pie drew her attention.
Was he…?
She wasn’t prepared for the flush of warmth that spread all the way from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair as realization set in. He’d not only remembered her throwaway comment that she really liked homemade pumpkin pie, he’d also found a recipe and gone shopping for it. Or, likely, sent someone shopping for it. But the thoughtfulness was all his.
The amusement at the mental image of the huge demon trying his hand at baking scattered when she heard the front door open and heavy footsteps announce the prince’s return, but she was still smiling when she turned to greet him.
Instead of the expected monster, a tall, black-haired human man rounded the corner, and for a split second, she froze in confusion. Then she remembered what had happened last night, before she’d sunk into unconscious sleep—how the demon had transformed, morphing into a handsome man with deep, regretful eyes.
She gave him a cautious once-over. He was shorter than he’d been, and not as wide, but still… absolutely huge. Almost as if there was too much mass to fit into human proportions. His eyes were still black, but the sclera was visible around the irises now. “Kesh?”
“Yes, little one.” He walked over to her, cupped her cheek, and tipped her head up, those black eyes zeroing in on the silvery mark on her forehead. “How do you feel? Any pain?”
“No, I’m fine.”
He rumbled an approving noise, then ghosted the tips of his fingers over her new brand, as if to make sure everything was in order. The touch sent a shudder through her, a tingling sensation crawling down her skin. Not entirely unpleasant.
She stared up at him, trying to mentally align his smooth skin and handsome features with the monster she’d come to know. There was an echo of recognition in the angles of his face, but it was his eyes that allowed the softness of familiarity to settle in her muscles. She gave him a small smile. “I think I’m gonna miss the horns.”
“Hmm. Have you eaten?” His eyes flickered to the squashes she’d not been able to fit back into the fridge, a small frown marring his forehead. Choosing not to answer her quip about his horns.
“Yeah. Thanks for breakfast.” She quirked a grin at him. “Listen, the ingredients in the fridge? Are you going to bake me a pumpkin pie? I didn’t think you cooked?”
To her amusement, a touch of pink tinged his cheeks. “Yes, well, you made it clear you want your baked goods homemade. If it will make you eat, I’m sure I can figure out how to mix ingredients together following a set of simple, written instructions.” His voice was stiff, some of the insult toward the supposed simplicity of baking lost in the embarrassment at doing something as adorable as trying to make her favorite food from scratch.
“Well, at least you have enough squash available to try a time or two,” she teased. “Y’know, seeing how spoiling me with homemade pie is seemingly as important as that war you keep telling me I’m getting in the way of…”
His cheeks turned redder, a disapproving frown pulling his brows down in a way that didn’t seem nearly as intimidating now that he didn’t look like a huge, horned beast, and she couldn’t help it. The intimacy of last night came back, mixing with the sweetness of his intention of learning to bake for her. It filled her from the inside with warmth, and before she realized what she was doing, she’d raised up on her tip-toes and pressed her mouth to his in a soft kiss.
His eyes widened at the unexpected contact, but then fluttered closed. Strong arms wrapped around her waist as he bent his head to deepen the kiss.
Pleasure sparked down her chest and up her spine, heat thundering in her veins. His tongue slipped past her lips, stroking deep into the cavern of her mouth.
Georgia groaned, low and deep, her entire body lighting up from within. She fisted her hands in his shirt, surrendering fully to the sweet rush. A rush that only intensified when he ran his large hands down her back, to her ass, and lifted her up on the counter. Her knees parted willingly for his hips, excitement fizzing through her veins and burrowing deep into her pelvis.
Without thought, she reached for his belt.
He groaned into her mouth at the first brush of her fingers over the front of his pants, the sound vibrating through her, tightening her nipples.
Panting, she pulled back from their kiss, needing a smidge of brain power to undo the button, excitement making her fingers tremble.
“Georgia.”
