5
GABE
I’ll be honest,I wasn’t at all expecting to find his mouth on mine. Or his arms curled up around me, his hands pressing to the back of my shoulders, pulling me tightly against him. My hands on his broad chest are trapped.
He kisses without hesitation or question. He knows what he wants and apparently that’s to kiss me. His tongue moves in my mouth, tracing over mine and teasing me to respond and chase his into his mouth.
I’ve always enjoyed kissing, so it doesn’t take my lovesick heart long to become completely invested in this. The kiss is long, drawn out. My entire body is humming by the time I remember what I was doing and pull my mouth from his.
That doesn’t exactly discourage him. His lips trace over my jaw and down my neck when I let my head fall back, trying to contain the moan that’s working its way from my chest.
“I hope I answered your question,” he murmurs against my skin.
I shiver, gooseflesh making my skin feel tight all down my arms and back. “Yeah, I think I understood.”
He chuckles, his mouth still moving sensually over my skin.
“We should… eat. Before it’s cold.”
His kisses stop and I nearly take the words back. Like, I’m fucking close to saying screw breakfast, just keep touching me like this.
But Edries nods. “I worked hard on that fruit.”
I grin and step backward. Suddenly, I feel a chill. Which is ridiculous since I’m quite sure the small cabin is nearly 130 degrees. It’s so damn hot. Which is why I took a chance on offending him by parading around in just my underwear this morning.
Edries doesn’t move for a minute, but then asks, “What can I do to help?”
Turning back to the stove where I have my French toast trapped in a warm pan, I tell him to get drinks for breakfast. Then I begin plating. Two pieces each—they’re thick Texas toast so it should be plenty—topped with butter, dusted with powdered sugar, and then a healthy drizzle of pure maple syrup. For a little extra decadence, I add a dollop of whipped cream on the side.
To his bowls of fruit, I add a spoonful of Greek yogurt and then a healthy drizzle of pure wildflower honey. The cabinet has several kinds of honey. I kind of want to line them all up and see if I can find a difference in flavor. Just out of curiosity.
We sit at the table and begin eating.
“This is really good,” Edries says.
I smile around a bite. “I’ve spent the better part of a year mastering French toast.”Because it was Roux’s favorite.I don’t say that and I don’t allow myself to concentrate on Roux for long. He’s not here. He’s with his guys and he’s happy. That’s what matters.
“It’s amazing,” Edries says.
“Thanks. Your fruit chunks are exactly the same size. That’s impressive.”
He snorts. “I had an obsessive nanny growing up.”
We eat in silence after that. It’s not awkward, just quiet. The only sound being the usual eating clinks and the sound of the fire in the other room. When we’re done, we clean together, which I think is Edries’ excuse to keep accidentally on purpose pressing or rubbing against me. Though he doesn’t bother hiding it.
When we’re done, we just look at each other.
“So…” he says after a while. “Movies?”
I start to nod, but then I have a better idea. A grin takes over. “Come on.”
Edries follows me into the living room and I bring him to the back of the space where there are a dozen wrapped packages in brown packaging. “I know I paid for this room because these are specifically my requests,” I say, eyeing him in my peripheral vision.
He hums and glances at the tree. “I’m more than confident that at least some of those packages are things I’ve ordered.”
I shrug. “We can find out on Christmas. Choose one of these.”
“As you said, we can open on Christmas,” he counters.
