Page 69 of Enchanting the Elf
I can’t help but feel like I’m home. This house. This kitchen. This male. It feels right. It feels like mine.
Meow.
“Sir Purrington!” I exclaim, carefully extracting myself from Adelbert’s arms and making a beeline for the cat. I fall to my knees in front of my fluffy friend and stroke his fur as he rubs against me with a contented purr resounding from him.
“You must be hungry. Let me get you something to eat.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get it. I think Sir Purrington deserves a special treat tonight,” Adelbert says with a soft smile as he looks at the cat.
I flick my gaze between the pair, picking up on the new energy between them, then do a double take.
“You just called him by his name. Not ‘cat.’ I’m not complaining, but did I miss something?”
Adelbert’s expression turns melancholy for a second, his eyes focused on the cat as he says, “Sir Purrington is the one who alerted me to your whereabouts during the storm. I was so busy wallowing in my study that I didn’t notice that you weren’t in the house. I’m so sorry.”
“Is that true, Sir P? Did you help Adelbert find me?”
Sir Purrington rubs harder against me and I take that as confirmation.
“Thank you, my friend,” I whisper to him and scratch under his chin in the exact way I know he likes.
Adelbert places a bowl of salmon in front of Sir Purrington and I swear the cat looks at him with approval before wolfing it all down.
“Where did the salmon come from?” I ask Adelbert, knowing I haven’t seen any in the fridge or freezer before.
Adelbert clears his throat and the apples of his cheeks pinken in the most adorable way.
“I, um, may have, um, placed a special rush order with Pixie Parcels as a special treat. To say thank you and all.” He rubs a hand through his hair and the pink spreads to the tips of his pointed ears.
“Babyyyy.” Butterflies return to my stomach and warmth spreads through my chest. The fact that Adelbert is showing this unguarded side of himself to me makes my eyes prickle and I blink furiously to will the evidence away.
I place a peck on Adelbert’s cheek and wash my hands.
“What’s the next step?” I ask him and pretend I’m not falling deeper in love with him with every second that passes.
Adelbert bends and places a kiss against my temple and guides me through the steps.
Together, we make the most delicious torn pancakes. He teaches me how to beat egg whites until they’re stiff, or until my arm gets so tired that his mage hand has to take over. I marvel at how Adelbert uses his magic to whisk those egg whites until they’re stiff enough that he can hold the upside-down bowl over my head and nothing falls out.
We talk and laugh and touch. We share kisses and cuddles and I know I’ll never grow tired of doing this exact same thing every day for the rest of my life.
We don’t talk about the bond and we don’t talk about his presentation. I also don’t allow myself to look too far into the future, choosing to revel in the present and getting to know this unencumbered version of Adelbert.
Arms coming around me, Adelbert helps me sprinkle confectioner’s sugar over the pulled-apart pancakes.
I feed him the first bite and go to lick some of the stickiness off my finger, but Adelbert reroutes my hand and puts my finger in his mouth instead, licking it clean.
“Delicious,” he purrs.
I return the favor.
Soon, we’re feeding and licking, until Adelbert decides he’s had enough of theKaiserschmarrn, and hoists me up on the counter, drapes my legs over his shoulders, and eats me instead.
It doesn’t take long until I come undone and Adelbert’s name echoes off the walls as I scream in pleasure, trembling with waves of bliss rolling through me.
When my soul returns to my body, I find Adelbert hovering above me, gently brushing stray hair from my face.
“You’re so incredibly beautiful,” he mutters.
