Page 7

CHAPTER 7

“ H ow were the cookies?” Cas asked as Graal approached the counter in the bakery.

“They were delicious,” Graal said in his low, gravelly voice.

Cas smiled as pleasure filled him. “You liked them? I knew you would if you gave them a chance.”

Graal reached for his pouch. “I’d…a…I’d like to buy some more.”

Cas’s wings flapped as he rose above the floor. “That’s wonderful. Which would you like?”

Graal looked along the line of different-shaped and -coloured cookies behind the glass. He scratched his beard. “Ah. Maybe you could choose.”

“I’d be happy to.” Cas picked up a box.

“And could I have the ones you made?” Graal added softly.

Cas opened his mouth. Graal wanted cookies made by him. It felt…strangely intimate. Which was silly. Everyone ate Cas’s cookies all the time. Still, to ask specifically for them …

“All right.” Cas thought back to Lacy’s suggestion of having some fun with Graal. He glanced at the giant orc. He imagined placing his hands on those broad shoulders, stroking those thick arms, and feeling all those muscles.

And those tusks! Cas had never kissed anyone with tusks before.

Cas bit his lip. Of course, Cas wasn’t ready for anything serious. His heart still lay a fractured and crushed mess in his chest. But some sexy times with this orc would be something he’d definitely be interested in.

“Only if it’s not too much trouble,” Graal rushed out.

“No. No trouble.” Cas shook his head and reached for the cookies. “No trouble at all.” He carefully selected the cookies, packaged them in the box, and wrapped them with the red ribbon. “I hope you enjoy them.” Cas slid the box across the counter.

Cas leaned forward, giving a slow smile. “Anything else?” he asked, lowering his voice to something more seductive. He batted his lashes.

“Brick bread,” Graal said. “Four loaves.”

Cas let out a breath. He nodded and reached for the horrid loaves. He wasn’t disappointed. Graal was eating his cookies. And he had enjoyed them yesterday. Still, the orc needed sustenance. And apparently, he needed the sustenance to be the worst bread they made.

“Unless…” Graal trailed off.

Cas’s hand froze. He raised his eyebrows. “Unless?”

Graal licked his lips. “Maybe different loaves. They need to be filling. But if you think something else might be—” He paused, gesturing with his hand. “—nicer.” The last word came out uncertain.

“Oh! Yes!” Cas could easily find nicer loaves than brick bread. “We have so many different types. Some of which are so delicious, unlike the brick bread. We have this nut-and- seed loaf, very filling and hearty.” Cas pointed to a dark loaf. “And it tastes quite yummy.

“This onion and basil is nice. I don’t make any of these. Bread isn’t my speciality. Not sweet enough for me.” Cas laughed. “But I enjoy them sometimes. And this cranberry-and-walnut bread is yummy. It’s a little sweet.”

“I’ll take two of each,” Graal said.

Smiling, Cas took the loaves and wrapped them. “I’m so excited you’re trying these. I don’t like brick bread a lot.”

“It’s not the tastiest.” Graal smiled. “Not like your cookies.”

Cas laughed, pleased to see Graal smile again. “That’s an…” Movement by the large glass window at the front of the bakery caught Cas’s eye.

A trim figure walked past. He had horns, hair of jet black with streaks of gold, dark wings tucked back, and a tail that swayed casually behind him. Cas would recognise the incubus anywhere.

Xavier.

Hope flared inside his chest. Xavi had returned. He’d returned to Cas!

His mind started to spin. Would Xavi come into the shop? Apologise to Cas for everything? Would he say he’d made a terrible mistake, beg Cas’s forgiveness, tell Cas he still loved him, and ask him back?

Cas’s stomach fluttered along with his wings.

Then Cas saw who was walking beside Xavi. The dryad. The dryad who’d had his legs spread as Xavi shoved his cock into him. The dryad’s cries of pleasure in between calling out “Xavi” still rang in Cas’s ears.

No one else called Xavier “Xavi.” It had been Cas’s thing. Xavier had specifically asked Cas to call him that. It had made Cas feel special, loved. Had Xavier asked the dryad to call him that too ?

Hope darkened and crumbled into nothingness inside Cas.

Xavi would not come back to Cas. He would not tell Cas he still loved him. Because Xavi clearly didn’t.

And in that wretched moment, Cas could not deny the truth. If Xavi had apologised and asked him back, even after all he’d done, Cas would have taken him back.

It was pathetic. It was beyond pitiful. Cas should be done with Xavi. And until that moment, Cas could have lied to himself and believed he didn’t want the cheating incubus back. But for that split second, when he’d thought Xavi still wanted him, he knew he would have forgiven Xavi everything.

Fuck. I still love him.

“Are you all right?”

Graal’s words pulled Cas back.

Cas tore his gaze from the window. He couldn’t even see the two anymore. How long had he been staring at the empty window?

Cas shook his head. “I’m all right. Never better.” He let out a weak laugh. “It’s just…the incubus is my partner. I mean, was my partner,” he corrected. He blinked rapidly, eyes stinging. “The dryad and he are together now, I guess.”

Cas licked his dry lips. “It was mutual,” Cas lied, not meeting Graal’s eyes. “Together for three years, and then our relationship just ran its natural course. You know how it is.” Cas shrugged, trying to pretend his heart wasn’t convulsing with pain in his chest.

He glanced at Graal. Graal frowned at him, clearly not fooled.

“Sorry. It’s just seeing him again.” Cas lifted his chin, trying to appear composed. “But I’m not going to let it ruin my Christmas. I’m the Christmas pixie, after all!” His lips spasmed as he tried to smile .

“At least I’m working at the Christmas markets tonight. It’ll be a good distraction. We run a stall there. We have an oven, and we bake our bread fresh at the markets. But we bring cookies, tarts, truffles, and other goods from here. I love the Christmas markets so much that it doesn’t even feel like work.” Thankfully, Cas’s voice sounded cheery and not like he wanted to cry.

“My favourite things are all the giant decorated Christmas trees. Also, the magicked globes that glow. And the food. And the drink. Actually, everything is my favourite.” If Cas could just focus on the Christmas markets, then maybe he could get through the next few minutes without breaking down into sobs. “What’s your favourite thing about the markets?”

“Umm.” Graal scratched his beard. “I’ve never been to the markets.”

“What? Never! You’ve never been to the Christmas markets?”

Graal shook his head. “Never.”

“Well, you have to come! Tonight! You have to!” Cas’s voice sounded too loud to his own ears.

Graal shook his head. “I don’t think so. Not my sort of thing. And I don’t really have anyone to go with.”

Cas jumped on the opportunity. “Come to the stall! I’ll take a break, and we can wander around together. I can show you everything I love about the markets! You’ll see how wonderful it all is.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Graal said.

“I want to do it!” Cas reached out and gripped Graal’s hand. “Please! I could use a distraction. It will be so much fun.” It would get his mind off Xavi, and Cas would introduce Graal to the wonder of the Christmas markets. It sounded like a perfect distraction .

And if he and the orc could have some fun times, it would be perfect.

Graal stared at Cas’s hand resting on his. “All right.”

Cas squeezed Graal’s hands. “You won’t regret it! We’ll have fun. I promise.” Cas leaned even closer.

I’m being too intense.

Cas pulled back and dropped Graal’s hand. He was acting unhinged.

“I’ll see you tonight, then,” Cas said. “And we’ll have a great time together!”