“Hi,” she responded to my back. “I like you in my kitchen,” she murmured.
“Oh?” I felt smug.Me too.Mainly because I liked being here too. It was crazy how quickly I’d become comfortable in this house. How little I wanted to leave. But I owed all of that to the witch hugging me from behind.
I’d be here as long as she wanted me to. A month wouldn’t be enough time with her. I knew it now. Especially after last night. The bond I’d felt strengthening between us with each movement…
Rubbing my hand over my heart, I gave a deep, contented sigh. I’d never felt more peaceful than I did here, with her in my arms.
“Hmm?” Willow asked, but I just shook my head.
“Shall we eat?”
She grinned, grabbing my hand and leading me over to the table. “Gods yes.”
Willow sat down at one end of the table, guiding me into the seat directly next to her. Part of me liked that I was close enough to press my knee into hers, that I didn’t have to lose contact for even a moment. It made my body purr, the prolonged connection between us.
Willow quickly devoured the pumpkin pancakes, barely taking a break between bites. I finished my plate fast as well, having worked up quite an appetite from last night’s events. If we were going to keepthatup, I needed to feed her properly.
“Ohmygods,” she moaned, her mouth full of pancake. “This is so good.Whatthehell.” She swallowed, taking a deep drink of milk before speaking again. “Where did you learn to do this?”
I shrugged. “When you’ve lived as long as me, it’s hard not to get bored.” I propped my chin on my hands, watching her dig in. “Every decade, I picked up a new hobby to keep things interesting. I learned to play the piano. Dance. How to paint—though I’m not very good at that.” He wrinkled up his nose. “I just ended up with more paint onmethan on the canvas.”
She giggled. “I’d love to have seen that.”
“Most things from the human world make their way over to ours. Your culture. The demons who are working here bring it back, and, well…” Running my hands through my hair, I stared down at my empty plate. “Cooking was enjoyable. I was good at it. Never quite got the hang of baking, though.”
Willow’s mouth was hanging open before she recovered. “That’s okay. You don’t like sweets anyway, right?”
Leaning over, I took her mouth into mine, slipping my tongue inside. She tasted like pancakes and syrup andWillow.I practically groaned at the way she exploded onto my taste buds.
She blinked as I pulled away, her eyes glazed over in a haze. “What was that for?”
I licked my lip before running my thumb over the corner of her mouth. “So sweet.” I smirked. “Maybe I do like it, after all.”
Her cheeks flushed as she took another bite.
Part of me knew I should get up and start cleaning, but I just kept watching my witch eat instead. Satisfied, I let my chest rumble as she shoveled another bite into her mouth.
“What should we do today? I’ve been wondering what else you have left on yourfall must-doslist. How much education do I have left?”
Willow stared up at me, and I rubbed my chest again.
Fuck. Was it that loud?I couldn’t control it. Part of my shape-shifting abilities was being able to change forms at will, but the instincts came with the territory. The purring came whenever I felt especially content or fulfilled. I’d hardly ever experienced that level of satisfaction before this, though. Before Willow.
“Well, what do you think?”
She blinked. “Sorry, about what?”
“About our plans for the day. I was thinking we still had those pumpkins…” I grinned, pointing at the two perfect pumpkins waiting to be carved. They’d been sitting on the counter staring at me over the last few days, and I felt taunted.
Sure, I’d experienced a lot of things from human culture, but we didn’t carve pumpkins in the demon realm. And if it meant more time with Willow, I’d gladly take it.
Even if I was ignoring Zain’ssummons. My mission seemed less important now, knowing who exactly sat at my side. My brother could wait a little longer.
“Oh.” Willow’s green eyes lit up with excitement. “Yes!”She clapped her hands. “We definitely need to do that. I have to go dig out the box with the tools from the attic.”
“I’ll come with you,” I said instantly
“No, it’s okay.” She shook her head, wincing. “It’s pretty messy up there. All of my parent’s stuff, well… I’ll get it.” She kissed the side of my head as she rose from her chair.