“Ah, yes. The oven.” Onyx chuckled. The sound, like the times before, settled over my heart. Lovingly plucked at the strings. “I remember your excitement when first seeing it.”
And I remembered his reaction to that excitement. How he’d stared at me with a tenderness that made my chest ache. Much like it did now as we stood staring at each other while the rest of the castle slept.
“Do you wanna join me for a slice? It should be done soon. The inside’s starting to bubble.”
“You do know the hour, yes?” Onyx regarded me with amusement. “Long past midnight. Much too late for sweets.”
“Says who? Haven’t you heard of a late-night snack?” I grabbed an oven mitt and neared the stone oven. “Besides, like I tell Rowan all the time, it’s never too lateortoo early for dessert. Same goes for coffee. Which you can also have if you stay with me and stuff your face with pie.”
“Cobbler,” he corrected in that playful way he’d only shown once or twice. I liked this side of him. A lot. “Not pie.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I flicked a hand at him. “Look who’s being a pest now. Be gone, demon.”
The air suddenly stirred beside me, followed by a woodsy scent that made me weak in the knees. My stomach dipped as our gazes met and held. Slowly, he leaned in closer to me, and my heart rate skyrocketed as I felt his breath on my lips.
He snatched the oven mitt from my hand.
Wait… what?I blinked a few times, confused.
“Allow me.” He turned toward the stove. “You’ll burn yourself.”
“I can take a cobbler from the oven, Onyx.”
“I’d rather not take the risk,” he said, still playful and kind of dangerous because of it. That danger being to my freaking heart. “Consider the gesture as me earning my slice. And that’sLordOnyx, little bird.”
His lighthearted tone told me he wasn’t actually bothered.
I smiled. “Yes, milord. I won’t forget again.”
“Good.” He removed the cobbler and set it on the countertop. Steam wafted upward, filling the air with the smell of freshly baked pastry and warm spices like brown sugar and cinnamon. Even still, his scent was stronger. One I wanted to bury myself in.
“I’ll get the whipped cream.” I scurried over to the refrigerator, hoping he didn’t see the slight stumble in my retreat.
He definitely saw it judging by his expression as I returned to the counter with the bowl of whipped cream. Damn demon.
“Mind telling me why you’re down here making cobbler instead of being in bed with your lovers?” Onyx watched me so intently that it made my insides wobble. “Surely, your sweet tooth isn’t the only reason.”
“It’s a big part of it,” I said in my defense. “Lake and Koga brought in the apples before the rain hit earlier, and I’ve been dying to make something with them. This was a test cobbler to make sure my recipe worked. My first time using the stone oven for anything other than bread too, so I needed to make sure I had the temperature right. I plan to make another for everyone else tomorrow. Well, I guess it’s today now.”
“Another ramble.” He brushed the bangs from my face. His featherlight touch sent a flutter through my veins. “What of the other reason? You said your sweet tooth was partly to blame.”
“You,” I found myself saying on impulse. That one word hung in the air between us, a mere echo within the silence that followed. Although less confident than I’d like, I rested my hand on top of his on the counter. “I didn’t see you much today. Not even at dinner. Were you avoiding me?”
And there it is.The main reason for me rolling out of bed in the middle of the night and coming downstairs. When my thoughts spiraled, baking helped calm me down.
“Quite the arrogant assumption for you to make,” he said, pulling his hand away from mine. His mood dropped several degrees, turning frigid. “Believing my every thought revolves around you, and in turn, my actions. As the ruler of this realm, I had business to attend to. You played no part in it.”
“Fair enough.” Even if he was a big, fat liar. My gut told me I was definitely the cause of his absence. “So tell me, as the super busy ruler of this realm, why areyoudown here this late?”
“Haven’t you ever heard of a late-night snack?” He was back to his playful self.
I snorted. His mood swings gave me whiplash, but I was beginning to expect them, which helped my recovery time. Onyx was both hot and cold: not one or the other. Predictable in that he wasunpredictable.
“Looks like you’re in luck then. This cobbler won’t eat itself.” I grabbed two plates from the cabinet, along with silverware. He watched as I cut into the dessert and added a generous blob of whipped cream to both our slices. “Do you want some coffee to go with it?”
“I suppose so.” Onyx took our plates to the table.
“Don’t sound so enthused,” I mumbled, pouring a cup for him and refilling mine. As I turned back around, I caught a trace of his smirk. He’d been dismissive on purpose.
