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Cora stared at Signy, and then, because she didn’t know what else to do, she laughed. “And they say romance is dead.”

Signy smirked. She reached one hand out and hooked her pinky around Cora’s. “Is that a yes?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Cora said, baffled but grinning. “Yeah, it is. Definitely. Definitely, yes.”

Chapter 783 Cora, Cypsela

Cora plugged an old memory stick into her tablet and began to pull up recipes for dinner. The memory stick wasn’t hers, originally, and neither were the recipes. At first, she’d changed nothing about them and followed every measurement to the letter, but as time had gone on, she’d gotten comfortable freestyling, and besides, her kitchen was different than the ones these recipes came from. Like everything else, you had to adapt.

She also kinda thought that changing a recipe was maybe the best way to give a mental thumbs-up to the person who’d given it to you, because after all, they’d gotten that recipe from someone else, who’d gotten it from someone else, on and on and on, all the way back to the first time somebody stuck a bug on a stick over a campfire. Something always drifted, when you copied it. That was just the way of things. And any sort of activity that made you really feel that chain reaching way back behind you—those were the things Cora relished.

Interstitial

Sautéed chicory greens

Boil a pot of water.

Chop 200 grams or so of chicory greens.

Boil the greens for 10 minutes. Don’t overdo it!

Strain the pot. Leave the greens in the strainer over the sink and let them drip while you go to the next step.

Mince 2 cloves of garlic. Or more, if you’re feeling bold. Measure with your heart.

Combine the following in a saucepan over medium-low heat:

2 tablespoons of cooking oil

Minced garlic

¼ teaspoon of salt

¼ teaspoon of red chili flakes (if you have them)

A squeeze of fresh lemon (if you have it)

Sauté until the garlic turns golden. Don’t overdo it!

Turn the heat down to low. Add the chicory greens to the pan and toss them around with the seasonings for a few minutes. DON’T OVERDO IT!

Best hot, but can be served cold.

Chapter 27 Signy, Fortune

It had been a good while since Signy brought someone else into her bed. She’d been in other women’s beds, or beds purchased for an evening, but those weren’t her bed, her space. Normally, she didn’t do things this way. She didn’t like having people over. She couldn’t say why she’d done so with Cora. Maybe it was because she’d already shared something of Cora’s space, up at the stables. Maybe it had just been convenient. Signy didn’t know, and really, it didn’t matter. They were here now, and here was good.

She sat back and took in the portrait of Cora lying undressed against the faded plum sheets, hands resting palm-up to either side of the pillow, breath shuddering through parted lips. Their legs were braided together, their thighs dewy where the other had rocked. Signy’s breath came heavy, too, as she let her fingertips explore the hills and hollows of breasts, stomach, hips. Cora was trim and lightly muscled, as a woman of her profession would be, but she was curvier than the way she dressed had suggested. Signy liked that discovery.

There were other surprises, too. Cora had ink all over—arms, legs, shoulders, back. Pilots’ tattoos were something Signy had heard of, but she didn’t know what any of the symbols meant. There was an implant in Cora’s abdomen, too, a flat dock of flexible plastic unobtrusively set below her left ribs. She had freckles, here and there, just as she did on her nose. The curls under her arms were pretty, and the gap between her front teeth was, too.

“Are you okay?” Signy asked. Something nameless had crossed Cora’s face, enough to invite a pause.

“I’m . . .” Cora tried to focus through her want. “Um . . .” She blushed deeper than she already had. “I’m a little nervous,” she admitted. “It’s . . . been a while.”

Signy tilted her head. “Would you like to stop?”

“No. Sorry, I—”