Page 48

My scowl deepened, and I stood. My fists clenched at my sides.

Namir crossed the room, capturing my wrist in his hand. “Here, Love. Feel.” He lifted my hand to his head, tilting it down so my fingers could slide into his hair. It was wet and a bit cold, but the way my hand brushed his scalp made me shiver a bit. “Your hair didn’t feel soft, but the fact that my hands were touching your head, that you trusted me to braid your hair, and that I was doing something for you that you could’ve done for yourself, made it feel nice.”

Oh.

I withdrew my hand from his hair, and he released it. “Do you believe me?”

I nodded in response, stepping back, and his expression relaxed.

“I’m glad you enjoyed cooking. I’d like to teach you to read and write, if that’s okay with you—I want you to have those abilities, should you ever need or even just want them.”

The words surprised me, but not in an unpleasant way. “I would like that.”

His lips curved upward slightly, his smile satisfied. “After dinner every day, we’ll practice in here.”

I nodded again. “That’ll work.”

“Good. Will you be cooking again tomorrow?”

The fact that he asked, and that he left it as an option, made me feel better about our strange relationship. “I’d like to learn something else tomorrow. The chefs said there are people who create ceramic dishes in the city—I’m going to find them, and ask them to teach me. Considering my relationship with you, I doubt they’ll turn me down.”

He flashed me a grin. “Finally, you’ve realized the benefits of being fated to a well-loved king.”

I snorted. “Hardly. I just want to try things, now that I’m not locked up anymore.”

His grin vanished at the mention of my past. “I’ll ask someone to take a note to the ceramicists after dinner, to get it set up.”

I nodded. Lavee was going to do my hair in the morning, but I didn’t think the haircut and sex conversation would take that long. I did know the basics, and since Lavee did hair professionally, I couldn’t imagine she was slow when it came to a simple haircut. Akari had told me of the wild things some fae did with their hair—changing its color, adding more colors, lightening some strands… it was hard for me to imagine.

“Let me grab food, and then we’ll start our first lesson.

I flashed him a small smile. “I’ll wait here; I ate after I cooked.”

He squeezed my hand—I hadn’t noticed him take it, surprisingly enough—and then slipped out of the room, through the shadows.

They closed behind him, leaving me staring after him for a moment before I finally turned to survey his space. It was the first time I’d been in there alone. Curiosity nudged me to go through all of his things, to see what he valued enough to keep in his personal space.

But I ignored that curiosity, instead making my way into his kitchen. Opening the fridge, I looked for food, and found only something thin, brown, and rectangular, wrapped in thin, dark brown paper. I pulled it out, unwrapping the side to peer at the food.

It was smooth, and hard.

Hmm.

It almost resembled the chocolate we had used to cook in the kitchen that day, and that shit had been delicious.

I lifted the package to my nose, and sniffed it. There was a slightly sweet smell, but it wasn’t strong.

Using my fingers, I snapped off a small piece at the end, and lifted it to my lips. My eyes closed as the thick, sweet taste coated my tongue.

Fuck.

It was the same as the chocolate in the kitchen, but better. So damn much better.

I opened the fridge again, looking for more of the chocolate, but didn’t find any. I wanted to devour the rest of the candy I’d found, but didn’t want to anger Namir by doing so without asking.

So, with heavy eyes focused on the chocolate, I rewrapped it and stuck it back in the fridge.

My feet were slow and my mood wistful as I made my way over to the couch to wait for Namir to return.