“Egg… muffins?”
“Yep. You haven’t heard of them?”
Briar shook his head. “No, but I’m intrigued. I’ll gather bowls for the oats.”
When he returned with them and touched the small of my back, a tingling warmth trickled through my veins. Not the blazing inferno like I’d felt when Maddox kissed me, but rather a low simmer with a comforting heat. I was kind of crushing on both of them.
Did that make me a bad person?
After dishing out a heaping serving in each bowl, I cut up some apples and added a few slices on top of each one. I then placed the egg muffins on a large plate. Briar helped me situate the bowls on a tray, along with the plate, and helped me pass them out to the knights.
“What is this?” Duke asked, studying the muffin.
Quincy shoved half of it in his mouth and paused in his chewing, eyes falling closed. “Dear gods. That demon must’ve killed me after all, for this tastes of paradise.”
The other knights complimented the food. Seeing their pleased smiles as they ate made me feel good.
Maddox had woken and stood beside his cot, fastening the buttons on his shirt. The sight of him caused little flutters of excitement in my chest. Nerves too. After our kiss, how would he act? Would he regret it? Treat me coldly and pretend it never happened?
“Hey, you,” I said as I approached him with a bowl and a muffin on top. My voice shook a bit. “Should you be up and moving right now?”
He glanced over at me. “Is that your subtle way of telling me to sit back down?”
“Yep.”
“I must refuse.” Maddox faced me. “Duty calls.”
“Duty can wait until you’ve eaten breakfast,” I said, having to tilt my head to meet his gaze. Our height difference thrilled me. He was just so freaking huge. “I cooked it myself.”
His blue eyes lowered to the food. “Poison?”
“You asshole.”
That earned me one of his rare almost-smiles. He grabbed the spoon, and with his eyes still on me, he took a bite of the oatmeal. Surprise flickered across his handsome features. “It’s delicious.”
“Don’t sound so shocked. I’m not totally useless, you know.”
Those deep blue eyes softened. “I never said you were.”
My heart fluttered. “Try the muffin too.”
“That looks like no muffin I’ve ever seen.” He picked it up and took a bite anyway. “Egg and peppers?”
“Yep.” I tried to hide how much it pleased me when he stuffed the rest of it in his mouth and chewed. “Um. So about last night…”
“What of it?” After swallowing the muffin, he lowered the spoon back to the bowl and took a second bite of the oatmeal.
Oh crap.Had it really been the healing tonic that made him act that way toward me? He’d said his mind was clear, but the lust-driven kisses and gropes might’ve been triggered by the medicine.
“What do you remember?” I cautiously asked. Because if he didn’t remember kissing me, I wanted to avoid the mortification of bringing it to his attention.
“Very little.” He grabbed his cloak from where it lay draped across the chair beside the cot and clasped it to his armor.
“Oh.” I kind of wanted to disappear.
“Evan.” Maddox reclosed the small gap between our bodies and rested a hand on the side of my neck. “There is one thing I do recall. You.” He angled his head down a bit. “Specifically, your taste as we kissed.”
The flutters in my heart? Yeah, they shot straight to my dick. “I’m, uh, glad you remember that.”
