“Fascinating,” she replies as she snuggles closer, and I gradually become aware of the gathering shared heat growing between us.
Once again, I am not merely siphoning off her heat as I would normally do around human prey. Instead, I am contributing and sharing within it. The experience leaves me breathless with rapt fascination.
“It is,” I agree, though for an entirely different reason. This moment between us is of far more interest and value than a magical berry for me.
Shawna brushes her fingertips down the webbing of my wing, her fingernails scratching delicately enough to send a tremor through me. She studies my face as she subjects me to this erotic torture and smiles. “Is there something particularly special about eating these berries?” she queries in a soft voice.
I nod eagerly, though I suddenly cannot recall what they do. The memory is evasive, but I fight back my growing ardor to sharpen my focus on it. It escapes me several times before I am able to pin down the thought.
I gasp audibly as she traces a fingertip close to the knuckle of one of my wing’s long fingers. I never realized that particular spot was so sensitive!
“Jak,” she says, practically singing my name, and she smiles playfully at me. “Are you okay?”
I nod again, the movement far jerkier this time, and a small, pitiful sound escapes that sounds mildly painful. Shawna winces a little at the groan but giggles sympathetically as she removes her hand.
“A little intense, huh?” she asks, and her cheeks dimple with that impish grin returning once again. “I forgot how much my body heat affects you.”
“It is fine,” I reply hoarsely and shake my head to clear some of the fuzz from my mind. Now that I have some space to breathe, some clarity seeps back into my mind and I am able to refocus on her previous question. “You asked about the berries. Outside of being called winter berries, we also call them fire starter berries because eating them can send bursts of pleasurable warmth through you. The feeling fleeting, and not nearly as satisfying as the Feast, but consuming them is universally enjoyed by frost demons.”
She leans forward, her eyes bright with interest. “And this is what we are doing today?”
“After breakfast,” I confirm as I climb from the bed, my tail flicking the air with barely contained excitement. I have never shared this with another being since I was a youngling running with my siblings. I am suddenly excited that I will have Shawna to share the winter berries with. Truthfully, it is not enough. I have been alone so long that I am eager to share everything and entwine her closer to me to brighten and warm my lonely existence. Not only that, I yearn to bring her happiness for the rest of my days. “Although today is the only day we may find them, it will not be until later in the afternoon. We have plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast before strolling through the woods.”
There is certainly no hurry to reach them. Getting to the berry patch deep within the forest will not make them ripen any quicker.
Her mouth downturns with disappointment, but the prospect of food cheers her quickly enough so that she is following eagerly out into the kitchen. Contentment stirs within my breast as I lead the way to the stoves. My skin prickles at her proximity, and though it goes against everything I was taught about concealing our magic, I openly strike up their magical fires without a second thought. I can feel Shawna watching me and I gather that the way that I actually use the stove is not one Shawna expected. Her startled gasp as a plate of fluffy crepes drizzled with a berry sauce rising from the large cauldron on the stove confirms this. Her obvious appreciation and my simple, yet powerful, joy in sharing this with her as well sends a spike of warmth careening through me. I intentionally snuff the flames of the spell fire so that she sees the entire process from beginning to end, and turn to her with a smile.
“What the hell? Jak, is this how you normally prepare all the meals?”
I glance at her over my shoulder, my eyebrows rising. “You do not truly think I actually cook all of that food with my own hands, do you?”
A blush brightens her cheeks, and I chuckle despite my good intentions and desire to save her pride. I grin at her playfully.
“I suppose that I do use my own hands, in a manner of speaking, but only to work the magic,” I clarify. “Frost demons are talented at conjuring things with raw elements at our disposal. We have long benefitted from a relationship with certain metalsmiths among the fire demons to lend us the elements we need to open the pathways to conjure delicacies from the human world.”
“How does it work?” Shawna peers at the cauldron curiously as she creeps forward. “You always just seem to have food magically ready whenever I’m not looking. It never occurred to me to ask how you do it.” She squints at me. “Why is that?”
I shrug my wings as I push away the small niggle of guilt creeping over me. “The same reason that you ignored much of everything else initially. The spells set on the cabin encourage you to ignore how the cabin works. That includes the activity at the stove. You probably would never have even questioned it if you had not been standing beside me at this moment to see it.”
And I had intentionally revealed it to her. Even though I had no plan to do so, some part of me just cannot help bringing her more and more into my world rather than letting her enjoy the illusions that my other prey enjoyed. I don’t want her to pass through my life as a visitor.
I want her to stay.
I tremble at the revelation, but I push any thoughts of it away to keep my attention on the moment.
“Can you show me how it works?” she asks as she peers over my arm at the now cold cauldron.
I nod wordlessly, not trusting myself with speaking at this moment, and stretch my hand over the cauldron, gathering the energies once more beneath my claws. They come to life in the form of a spinning spark of flame that is uncomfortably hot to wield. I ignore the pain because this is just the necessary sacrifice required for the magic that all frost demons take upon themselves to bait their traps. I swallow and force a whisper from between my lips.
“I just form a picture in my mind of what I want and then I gather the elements of the flame and magic within the air to open a doorway,” I reply hoarsely as I draw my fingers together.
The spinning flame slowly expands until it is a glowing portal of burning light. Biting back my groan of pain, I plunge my hand into the spinning disk of fire and withdraw a large bowl of steaming eggs. and set it aside next to the crepes.
“Some establishment or family will be missing the food, but they will discount it as an error and remake it,” I continue to explain as I focus on the next dish, but I am unable to stop the hiss of pain this time as I reach back into the cauldron.
Shawna’s eyes shift to me in surprise, concern flickering in their depths. “Does that hurt?”
“A small matter. Just a brief pain to accomplish exactly what is needed,” I reply as a platter of bacon joins the other food.
