She stepped toward him. “My silence was not an indicator of a dislike for cake.”
Ever so gently, he placed his hands on her hips. “What is it an indicator of, then?”
“Of how much I like you.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, his grip tightening on her. “We could skip the cake.”
She grinned, resting her head against his chest. “No. Let’s have tea, and cake. Let’s sit by the fire and talk. Let’s do all of it, while we can.”
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “That’s a good thought, too.”
When the cake was finished—burnt on the outside and somehow still runny on the inside—they sat down by the fire and ate it with their bare hands.
“It’s terrible,” Des said, wincing. He looked like he wanted to spit it out, but she shook her head.
“It was an experiment, that’s all. Next time we’ll turn the heat down and cook it for longer.”
He swallowed and winced as though he immediately regretted it. “Is that how you handle your failed experiments?”
“Of course. What’s the alternative?”
“Giving up? Accepting the fact that we’re not good bakers?”
Aurelie smiled. “That’s not how science works. And I’m guessingthat’s not how baking works, either. How many things in life do we get right the first time?”
Des was quiet for a moment. “The only thing I’ve ever tried to be was an Iron Guard. And I was good at it from the beginning.”
“Hmm. I’m guessing you had a lot of failures along the way, though. Surely you didn’t win every fight, especially when you were small.”
“I told you, I was never small.”
Aurelie knew that wasn’t true. He may have felt big compared to others, but he’d been a child, once. Someone had held him, helped feed and dress him. Perhaps he couldn’t remember it, but no one grew up all on their own.
Still, she wished he knew what it was like to be held. She scooted over to him, kneeled behind him, and draped herself over his back.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his face just inches from hers.
“Holding you.”
He chuckled, a rumbling throughout his entire body. “Hardly. You’re like a heavy blanket, at best. One that only covers a quarter of my body.”
She sighed and sat back on her heels. “I’ll have to think on this one. There has to be a way for me to make you feel as safe in my arms as I feel in yours.”
He reached around and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into his lap. Breathless, she looked up into his eyes, which were so warm in the glow of the firelight. How could she have ever thought them cold?
Gently, he brushed her hair out of her face. “Aurelie, you do make me feel safe.”
“How?” she asked, genuinely confused.
“No one has ever put themselves in harm’s way for me before. Not even when I was a child. From the time I could speak, it was my sworn duty to protect every citizen above myself.I’mthe last line of defense, Aurelie.”
She reached up to cup his jaw. “Not anymore, Des.”
He kissed her with exquisite slowness, and when he finally pulled away, his eyes were gleaming in a way that suggested tears.
At the sight, her heart swelled until it burst, a sensation that felt a little like ecstasy and a little like dying. She kissed him again, her hand finding its way beneath his tunic to the smooth muscle above his heart. It beat wildly against her palm, an echo of her own.
Without thinking, she took his hand and held it to her own heart, so he would know how she felt. He sighed into her mouth, cupping her breast so tenderly that she pressed into him, craving more contact.