“Like you are missing something?” He stopped in front of me, leaving only a breath between us. I tilted my head to keep my eyes on him, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from his even if I tried. I felt trapped under the weight of his stare, alight with fire.
“I understand the feeling,” he murmured, lifting his hand to brush my cheek. “But I know what I am missing. Do you?”
My skin prickled from his touch, from the heat of his hand. “I think I do,” I said quietly, sucking in a breath. “I think…I need my mates. But they…”
Damon’s eyes finally left mine, flickering down to the collar.
The thing keeping them away. The thing keeping me at arm’s length.
“When they look at you, when they seethis—”his fingers brushed the cool metal of the collar, sending another shiver down my spine, “—they see their failure to protect you. But do you wish to know what I see, wife?”
My lips parted, mouth suddenly dry as he dipped his face close to mine, the smell of honey stronger. “What?”
“I see your strength,” he murmured, hand moving to cup the back of my neck. “I see your power. That despite this one bit of his control, you somehow defy him at every chance. That it does not matter where you are: you are still the Queen he hates to admire, the one thing standing in his way.”
Damon’s lips were a breath from mine, his heat burning through me. My heart raced the closer he got, anticipation swelling within me.
I had to wonder what my magic might think of him being so close. Would it be telling me to run, to put distance between us? Would it tell me to put the ancient male on his ass for daring to get so close?
Or would it urge me to take what he is offering?Would it want me to kiss him and finally answer that burning question? Would my magic want him to be mine?
For a moment, I thought he might kiss me. Might take his chance and claim my lips. When his lips brushed mine so lightly, an explosion of pure need rushed through me, a desire to feel more than just the pain, fear, and frustration I’d been rotating through since escaping. I knew with Damon, I could escape that.
But he pulled away sharply, inhaling so deeply I wondered what he was scenting.
And then he was gone, striding away from me, scooping up his forgotten glass as he did.
I hada craving for honey and darkness, but I instead settled on orange juice.
Too bad we didn’t have any.
Through the butler’s pantry was a single door that led out to a fully blooming garden. At some point, an earth witch must have been here to bless the soil and ensure that whatever was planted would grow regardless of the weather, because we had everything one could think of.
Including oranges.
Thea would have a field day with this, I thought, looking around the small jungle of plants. Zucchinis grew outside of their planter boxes, longer than my forearm. Tomatoes bigger than my hand dangled precariously from an arch. There were pumpkins in a patch in the centre of the greenhouse, as well as potatoes, cucumbers, and an entire row of bushes dripping with berries.
It was my favourite little secret that none of the others—aside from my shadow, Thor—knew about.
“Take this,” I said, handing him the old wicker basket I’d found stashed in the pantry. “I’m going to load it with some fruits. Think you can hold onto it for me?”
Thor’s eyes were filled with amusement as he took thebasket from me silently. Not for the first time, I wished I could help him speak—or at least communicate with him another way. It must have been frustrating not being able to respond.
But he held the basket for me as I reached for the low hanging oranges. “These can be a little tart,” I explained, dropping a couple in the basket. “I’ll juice them, but you can eat the insides. I wouldn’t recommend trying to eat the skin.”
From what I’d seen in the cages, he’d been fed a different diet to my slop: raw meat and gruel. Neither of which had looked appetising. So, he probably had no idea about the wonders of fresh fruit.
“These are apples,” I added, picking a few that were huge and weighing down the branches. “You can eat the skin of these. My mom used to peel them for these little apple pies she’d make, and instead of throwing out the peel, she’d put them on a plate and call them apple chips to make my little sisters eat them.”
I shuddered at the memory of Kerry. All the resentment I once had towards her fled me as I dropped the final apple into the basket.
Clearing my throat, I moved towards what looked like a pineapple bush. “Goddess above, I don’t know how it’s possible to have so much in such a small space,” I muttered, twisting one of the pineapples off the plant. “But here. Now we have some good fruit to try.”
Thor smiled, one of the few genuine ones he’d managed since shifting. The scars pulled, especially the ones closest to his lips, but he didn’t seem too bothered by them.
As I went to put the pineapple into the basket, my hand brushed his.
Pretty, a voice said, deep and husky, the sound filling my head.Smells so nice.
