Maddox rested his hand on top of my head. “You may not realize it, but you help people as well. Your food comforts anyone who eats it, as though you infuse calming magic into every meal and every cup of coffee.” He smiled. “Every muffin.”
“I don’t have any magic. I’m just an ordinary guy who loves to cook.” Feeding people made me happy.
“All I know?” Maddox gently tipped my face up. “After a long, draining day, coming home to you and eating something you made soothes me like nothing else can. So perhaps, there’s a touch of magic in you after all.”
I swallowed the tightness in my throat and looked at Briar, who was still fast asleep, completely unaware of us in the room.
“Let’s get him ready for bed,” I said before kneeling down and untying Briar’s shoes.
Maddox helped me take them off before removing Briar’s pants and shirt. He then slid his arms beneath Briar and picked him up with ease. “Would you turn down that blanket?”
I nodded and pulled back the cover. Maddox placed him in bed, and my heart fluttered when he brushed aside a strand of Briar’s hair; his expression tender. That tenderness was then aimed at me, though there was a hint of humor in his eyes now.
“Your turn. Get in before I throw you.”
“You’d throw me? After the amazing orgasm I just gave you? How rude.” I slid between the sheets and snuggled against Briar’s side, tossing Maddox a look. “I’m in bed like a good boy. Happy?”
“Yes.” The corners of Maddox’s eyes crinkled. “I am.”
I knew he wasn’t just referring to me doing as he’d said. “Me too.”
Happy he was home safe and sound.
The mattress dipped as he settled in beside me, pushing one arm beneath my pillow as he spooned me. I loved when he did that. “He’s sleeping like a rock.”
“Yeah, he is,” I said before kissing the top of Briar’s shoulder. He was normally a light sleeper, so him not waking with us moving about was just further proof he’d been pushing himself too hard.
“Good night, muffin,” Maddox whispered at my nape.
“Good night, Captain Smolder.”
He breathed out a rough laugh. “Captain Smolder? What happened to Captain Ice?”
“You’ve graduated from that name. You need a different one.”
“So I went from ice to fire? Interesting. Well, the name isn’t horrible, I suppose.” Maddox grazed his lips along the back of my neck. “But the title I like the most? Being your lover.”
“You’re much more than my lover. So much more.”
All three of them were.
“You mean more to me too,” he said softly. “I may not understand the magic that made it possible, but I thank the gods for bringing you to this world. To me.”
I reached under my pillow for his hand and linked our fingers, loving how much bigger his was compared to mine. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Chapter Fourteen
Evan Gets Something Shiny
“I should fall off my horse more often,” Quincy said before taking another bite of the breakfast rice I’d made for him and the other knights in the medical ward. It was creamy and sweet with milk, butter, and honey. “I could eat this all day, every day.”
“And then you’d get fat,” Duke countered, sitting in a chair beside Baden’s cot. His orange-red hair fell freely and nearly touched his shoulders. “Forget falling off your horse. You wouldn’t even be able to pull yourself up into the saddle.”
Quincy sneered at him before eating more sweetened rice.
I had woken early that morning to get a head start on my baking for the day. After preparing several batches of cupcakes, cookies, and buttery croissants filled with jam, I’d left a note for Miles that said I’d be back that afternoon. It felt great to be able to rely on him, Peter, and Alice to handle things in my absence. I couldn’t have asked for a better team.
After kissing Lake goodbye—a kiss that had turned into me pecking kisses all over his face and neck, making his tail wag and a warm smile cross his handsome face—I had then traveled with Briar and Maddox to the castle.
