“Show-off.”
She held her hand up to her ear. “Oh? Is that jealousy I hear, Sam?”
I snorted and poured the peppermint icing onto the brownies as she cut and egg-washed the cookies. “Would you crush the candy canes for me?”
“Yes, sir!” She slid the cookie tray into the oven, set the timer, then used her magic again to make the perfect peppermint bits to sprinkle on top. “Those look delicious.”
We started cleaning up while the shortbread baked and the icing solidified. While she was preoccupied, I ran my thumb across the lip of the icing bowl. “Hold on, you’ve got a little something on your face.” I wiped it on her cheek, then went back to cleaning with a straight face.
She gasped loudly, maybe a little dramatically, and before I could look her way again, a poof of flour hit me in the side of the head. A smile made it past my defenses. I grabbed a fistful of chocolate chips, turned up the heat in my hand, and reached for her hair just as she squealed and ducked. She ran across the kitchen and I followed, the dragon inside me lifting its head as it sensed the chase.
By then, we were both laughing, and I caught her just in time to slip in the flour on the floor. I gripped her tight and turned instinctively, landing on my back with Lexi on top. She lifted her head, eyes glowing with glee, and every bit of my resistance dissolved. I pulled her face to mine, forgetting for a moment that I had chocolatey hands, and kissed her.
I was starting to get used to how much I loved kissing her. It wasn’t something I’d done very often before; it felt too personal. Too complicated. With Lexi, all of those emotions came with just being in her presence, but never from her lips. The whole world simplified when we were together like that.
And fuck, if I didn’t find myself wanting to keep it that way. For the first time since I’d escaped Abaddon’s chains, I found myself thinking the unthinkable. What if I didn’t want to go back? Or better yet, would she come with me? If I retook my throne from the betrayer, would she stay by my side?
Lexi anchored her knees on either side of me and I gave way to my desire, almost ripping her chef coat trying to get it off of her. She threw it across the kitchen and mine joined a second later. Our flames pushed and pulled at each other and it was the most addictive sensation I’d ever felt in my long life. She was living wildfire and I was Hellfire.
“We’re still in the bakery,” she whispered against my lips.
I was beyond caring at that point. “This is where sweet things belong.” She froze and pulled away.
What?
“What did you say?” The corners of her lips were trembling as she fought back a smile. “Did you just call me sweet?”
I debated freezing time to curse myself out, but it wouldn’t have done me any good. Instead, I owned it. “I did. Am I wrong?”
Her response was peeling her tank top off. The ever-growing hunger for her raged through me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close, flicking my tongue across her nipple.
“Very sweet.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but it turned into a moan when I took her into my mouth. Her back arched, and she pulled my hair tie out so she could bury her fingers in my loose hair. The taste of her skin was more exquisite than I would admit to her. Lexi was a drug I would happily overdose on.
I released her breast and pulled her mouth back down to mine, my other hand getting a firm grip on her ass. She held on tight as I got my feet under me and stood. I carried her into my office, clearing what little was on my desk with a wave of my hand, then set her down on it.
Lexi bit her lip, a wicked gleam in her eye. All around us, candles started popping into existence. On top of my filing cabinet. On the computer tower. Even some hovering in the air.
“Do you mind?” she asked, winking. “For ambiance.”
The lights went out as all the candles flared to life, casting the room in an orange glow that somehow made her hair brighter. Her face lit up as she looked around at our handiwork. She reached for the waistband of my pants and pulled me close again.
“Now set me on fire, too,” she whispered against my lips.
She didn’t have to ask twice.
Chapter 14
Lexi
The more time I spent around Sam, the harder it was to focus on my classes. My professor droned on and on about Christian and pagan belief systems and my thoughts tended to wander. It was stuff I already knew anyway; I’d grown up around it. They just wouldn’t let me test out of this one like my foreign language requirement.
As promised, he’d stopped asking for another date, but the guilt ate at me. I wanted to go out and do things with him, or even stay in and have a movie night, but it terrified me. Even Sophie told me I was being extra paranoid, but I was really starting to care for him. My three-date curse would devastate me if it drove him away.
We were still sleeping together, and things were going really well on that end. I was actually surprised at how easily he’d gone from man-whore to monogamous, though I wouldn’t ask him to stop his flirting. But sex wasn’t the only part of the relationship I wanted. So I’d decided I was going to take the plunge today.
I was going to ask him out for date three.
