“You’ve gotta stop rummaging through my things.”
Felix cleared his throat and looked away. “It’s my duty to ensure that you wouldn’t starve in the cold months. I only wanted to see how much hunting I’d have to do.”
“How gallant.” I replied dryly.
He nodded, pleased. “I’m glad you understand.”
I shook my head and took a sip of my drink. “Boohail’s been hit with a lot of things, but a food shortage has never been one of them. Even when it floods, there’s still plenty of fish to go around. What kind of hell-scape have y’all been living in?” I couldn’t even imagine not seeing the sun for a few days, let alone several months. When the demon’s pirate ship landed on our shores, I assumed they stuck around because Cin and Fallon were here. But maybe they just didn’t want to go back to whatever frozen wasteland they came from.
He looked down at the food spread out on the bench and shook his head. “A starving one, apparently. You’d never find this wide variety of food back there. To be honest, I don’t even know what half of this stuff is. Cinnamon just packed the basket and sent me out the door when I asked her for help.” He pointed to a cup of mango slices and shrugged.
“Oh, you poor baby. Not even the mangoes?”
“Especially not the mangoes. Fruit was rare, and normally too expensive to bother with.” He took a hesitant bite, then nodded in approval. “Damn that’s sweet.” He polished off another slice. “Wars would have been fought over this.”
I giggled and took a bite of the meat pie. “A war over mangoes? You can’t be serious.”
His expression turned grave. “Darling, I’m about to go to war over them now.” He popped a cracklin into his mouth and paused. “These crunchy things, too. If we rally all the demons in the area, we can take the South Side of Kinnamo within the year and divert all agriculture into mangoes and crunchy things.”
Laughter nearly made me choke on my food, and I covered my mouth to avoid spitting pie everywhere. “If that’s your reaction to cracklins, I can’t wait to see you try a boudin ball.” When he looked around, unsure, I pointed out the meaty treat.
He took one and made a show of inspecting it before taking a bite. His eyes closed, a long sigh escaping as he took in the flavors. I reeled in my giggling to take a sip of mead while I waited for his approval. “Well?” I asked.
Felix glared off into the distance. “I’m shaken, I’m dismayed, I’m plotting battle strategies. The South Side may not be enough. If this keeps up, we’ll just have to rule all of Kinnamo with an iron fist.”
“Cin’s cooking will do that to ya.” I said. My companion reached for a meat pie and I stopped him. “Hold on, are you alright with spicy food? Cin knows I like this extra hot, so that may be too much for you.”
Felix’s mouth quirked, and he gave me a challenging look. “So long as it’s not cheese filled, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Hun, I promise this isn’t a shot at your manhood. You don’t need to prove me wrong. That pie will burn your mouth if you’re not used to it.”
“Well, now I feel like I’ve been issued a challenge.” Before I could stop him, he snatched a meat pie and took a large bite.
I sighed and sat back in my chair to watch the show. Felix grinned triumphantly and kept chewing. Two seconds ticked by. Panic crept into his eyes, but he kept chewing, trying to save face. “Feeling the burn yet?” I asked.
He shook his head and placed his hands on his knees. Then leaned back again to thrum his fingers against the bench. Soon his eyes began to water, his face turned redder than a cayenne, and he could no longer contain his coughing fit. I took pity and handed him a flask of water. “Did she imbue it with the souls of the damned?” he sputtered around the flask. “I’ve been burned with fire less hot than this.”
“I tried to warn you.” I said, finishing off my pie.
He coughed into his elbow. “You made it look so easy.”
I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m sustained by the souls of the damned.”
His voice took on a concerned edge as I munched on my second pie. “Your ass is going to regret that later.”
“Eh, it can take a tentacle, it can take a pie.” I winced when I realized what came out of my mouth. My dirty jokes had earned the ire of my last two lovers and so I tried to avoid them on the first date. I could still see the disapproving hard line in Victor’s jaw. Nice body, but man, the guy could be a wet blanket.
Instead of a disgusted sneer, Felix laughed so hard the boat shook. I steadied my glass and trapped the bottle of mead between my legs so it didn’t tip over. “Well, at least our sense of humor matches.” I said, smiling.
His laughter died down and he refilled our glasses. “I should hope we match. We’re married after all.”
I couldn’t stop my eyes rolling if I wanted to. “Threatening some poor clerk into doing what you want is hardly a declaration of a love match.”
“Is that all I have to do to win you?” He asked. Felix’s eyes darkened and my heart skipped a beat. He kept his gaze fixed on mine and set down his glass. “If I shout how much I want you from the rooftops, will you fall into my arms?”
Did it suddenly get hotter?I swallowed and tried to tuck my hair behind my ear until I remembered that I put it up in a bun. “I…don’t think you have to go that far.”
“How far should I go then?” He whispered.
