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I smiled and waved when Farley caught me looking. He smiled back, giving me fang.

Desire crawled through me with no prompting and no physical contact. Looking at Prince Robin conjured thoughts of sex that led to a single inevitable outcome. Looking at Farley sparked a profound sense of contentment and rightness. Desiring him was the kind of longing that I would move mountains to satisfy, especially knowing he longed for me too. Thinking of his fangs exploring my neck almost made me burn the bacon.

I turned the griddle off before he entered the kitchen. He kissed me soundly, not even noticing poor Peace sitting at the table. I could have stopped his tongue, but didn’t want to. He finally pulled away and handed me the flowers. My giggle surprised us both. The effect he had on me was indescribable and unexplainable.

Farley was mainly a vegetarian, so I didn’t offer him any bacon. I’d held back a perfect apple this morning and handed that to him instead.

“Should I call you Eve now?” Farley asked, raking the apple off my palm.

“Maybe. Should I call you Adam?” I asked with a grin as I put the flowers into a large glass jar I’d found under the sink.

Farley sighed. “It’s better than you calling me Junior,” he said, making sure I saw his fangs as he took a bite of the crisp fruit.

Another giggle escaped me. That happened to me a lot when Farley was around. “Princess Peace and I were just about to have breakfast.”

Farley swallowed and turned to look at Peace, who tiredly waved at him. “Good morning, Princess. I didn’t see you there.” He turned back to me. “Where are your other guests?”

“Since Prince Robin can’t come inside the inn in centaur form, they are having breakfast in the stable.”

“Okay. I’m going to go check on Paul’s progress.”

“Do not go to the stable, Farley.”

“I won’t. Dad helped me figure out a way to control my response. I’m a grown bear. I don’t want to upset you again. I can control myself.”

“Except when you’re with me. Losing your control will be okay then,” I said, winking at Peace as I set her plate in front of her.

“Yes—except when I’m with you,” Farley promised as he headed to the front door.

Peace sighed and pushed her food around on her plate. “What is it like to be loved like that?”

I set my plate down and took a seat. “I’m not sure what I feel is love, but whenever Farley is around, I feel happy to be close to him.”

Peace nodded. “Fairies don’t seek happiness. They don’t know contentment. They seek power over others and themselves. There is no room in a fairy’s life for a man to bring her flowers he personally picked. There is no passionate kissing in a princess’s kitchen. There is only endless politics and deep discontentment.”

“I think I would seek intimacy as an escape from the dullness.”

“It doesn’t work that way. Sex is nothing more than a perfunctory act. It’s like eating bad food at a conference. Also, the good males aren’t always interested.”

Peace crunched a piece of bacon and frowned. “If I were happy, I would not be eating this disgusting food. I would be eating what you sent to the stables.”

“Hey now,” I said, glaring at the fairy. “I’m not that bad a cook.”

Peace sighed. “I did not mean to insult your preparations. All your food is delicious, but this fare is not healthy for a fairy. Does that sound better?”

I reached across the table and snatched a piece a bacon from her plate. I ate it while she watched me with wide eyes. I waved the last bite at her. “This is me saving you from your miserable foodie self.”

I laughed when she covered the rest of her food with one hand.

Peace looked at what she was doing and laughed. “You are so very strange. I admire you so much. If you were a fairy princess like me, we would be the best of friends.”

I chuckled as I finished my breakfast. “So what are we, if we’re not friends?”

Peace sighed and blew out a long breath before speaking. “That is what I need to talk to you about. I hope you will consider using me as a temporary employee. My mother says I owe you a month of service for emotionally wronging you. She insists I manually work off that debt. She would hear no arguments about it.”

I waved away her speech. “The only help I need is currently fixing my front porch. Please tell your mother that we’re all doing well. Without your mistake, I wouldn’t have gone to prison, or been put here, or met Farley. You already know I hate working for The Baba Yaga for free. Why would I accept free labor from you? That’s not fair. While I’m not always a good person, making you my lackey is a bitch level I’d rather not stoop to. It would make me feel like Ethan.”

Nodding, Peace ate more of her food. “You are a good person, Selene, but Mother was adamant. Worse, I am not permitted to use magic to complete the tasks you assign to me. Yet I have no practical skills. I do not cook. I also dislike cleaning. However, I can certainly see that you need help with both these things.”