“You are hungry!”To my surprise, Karim sounded mortified himself.“I’m such ahasinemto 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 donotkeep 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.Theperishedgoose’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.
– 13 –
Dick
The next time I opened my eyes, Deidre was sitting cross-legged on the grass next to the bed.Her hands toyed with the dagger in her dress-clad lap.
“Heya.”
“Hey,” I replied hesitantly, instantly wide awake.
Deidre was smiling, but it was nothing like the friendly smile she’d given me before.This one seemed dangerous.And not just because of the blade she was expertly balancing on a finger.There was a glint in her eyes that promised trouble.
“Sleep well?”
“Umm… Yes, thank you… My forearm barely hurt during the night, and my knee was resting on the soft–” I shut my mouth before I could babble further.Judging by Deidre’s glare, my explanationswere making things worse.Especially when she started tossing her dagger in the air, flipping it by the blade and catching the handle over and over.“I wanted to thank you for your help, I know you–”
“I bet you slept well,” she cut me off.“How could you not, when you’re on Karim’s moss?”
“Look, I–”
“Is it soft and fresh and just the right amount of moist against your naked skin?”She was now flipping the blade at a dizzying speed.
“Yes, but–”
