Page 51 of Warlord’s Empire

“Have you eaten?” he asked. “You slept through supper.”

She shook her head. “Not yet, but I’m still pretty tired. I’ll probably grab a snack and go to bed.”

He nodded.

An awkwardness came over her as she tried to sort out how to ask what she needed to ask. As a straightforward person, she hated this feeling of shyness. “Uh… so… I was wondering…,” she began, mentally shaking her head at herself.

“You can say anything to me,” he assured her.

She straightened in his lap and looked him in the eye. “Now that we’ve had….” Oh, sweet Jesus, this was so hard! “Now that we’ve been together, I was wondering about… about… our sleeping… I mean…” Fuck, just spit it out! “Should I start moving your stuff into my room? I can move into your room, but mine is objectively the better room. It’s bigger, it has the giant bathtub in it, it’s decorated….”

She saw the denial in his face even before he spoke. The sense of awkwardness crippling her tongue got even worse and she quickly scrambled off his lap.

“Saskia,” he said, reaching for her. “I can’t – ”

“Forget I said anything,” she said quickly. Too quickly. Words spilled out of her in a humiliating jumble. “Of course, it’s far too soon. We barely know each other. It was stupid of me to think you’d want… just… just because we… we….” Oh god, was she about to add insult to injury and start crying? The moisture gathering in her eyes told her it was true. She walked backward away from him, hurrying when he stood and reached out. “I’m going… going to grab that snack and head to bed. See you in the morning!” She bolted, muttering, “Idiot!” to herself as she rushed down the hall to the kitchen, swiping at the tears that insisted on leaking out.

She was half afraid he’d come after her, but thankfully he didn’t. Maybe he sensed her desire to be alone with her shame. Though she had nothing to be ashamed of, she still felt the sting of his rejection.

Which definitely called for ice cream.

Nonna had long abandoned the kitchen for the night. Saskia could feel it in the dark coolness as she entered. When Nonna was around, it was always warm and bright.

Leaving the lights off, she opened the fridge. There was a plate of food with a tea towel over it and a sticky note with her name on it. Lifting the edge, she saw a plate of rice and veggies.

Nope, healthy wasn’t going to cut it. She needed some serious sugar.

Opening the freezer, she sighed happily, grabbing a container of vanilla mango ice cream. Even better, it was homemade by Nonna. She’d told Saskia it was easier to make it herself than to try to have some shipped in.

Grabbing a spoon, she sat at the breakfast table in the darkened kitchen to enjoy her treat. It would hopefully dispel the weirdness she was feeling after her run-in with Radik.

Of course it was too soon to share a room. Wasn’t it? But why else would he bring her there and declare her his woman? Maybe he was worried about having her too close in case he had a PTSD episode.

As she thought it over, she realized that was probably the issue. It likely had nothing to do with him not wanting to share his space with her. Feeling better, she ate with gusto.

A few bites in, a sound at the kitchen door leading out to the garden caught her attention.

Heart hammering, she sat frozen as the door creaked open.

The lights filtering in from the garden illuminated Nikka’s face as she crept into the kitchen, closing the door carefully behind her.

“Looking for a snack?” Saskia asked, giggling when Nikka jumped and whirled around.

“What’re you doing sitting here alone in the dark?” She flipped on a light, causing Saskia to blink rapidly as her eyes adjusted.

“Eating my shame,” Saskia replied, then pointed at a chair. “Join me?”

“Yeah, okay. I could use some ice cream.” Nikka got herself a pint of papaya ice cream and joined Saskia at the table. “Why are we eating away shame?”

Saskia pondered the question, then decided to answer truthfully, or as truthfully as she could. “Uh, Radik and I… we… slept together.”

Nikka’s eyes widened and she leaned toward Saskia. “You had sex with the big guy? Wow, I always wondered…”

“Stop wondering,” Saskia said quickly. “He’s mine.”

Nikka laughed. “Not that. I wondered if any woman could thaw him. In the years I’ve known him, he’s never looked twice at any other woman. Why are you ashamed? Were you bad at it?”

“What, no!” Saskia started laughing.