Page 14 of A Vow to Set the Virgin Free

“I do not understand why you won’t take dinner with me.” She thought she’d push there at least once more.

“Because this is not a dinner party, lass,” he said, firm, uncompromising. “And I am not... I am not your host.”

“No indeed. You are my captor.”

She only drank a bit more of the wine, because it began to make her feel fuzzy, and she did not wish to be fuzzy in the surroundings.

“There was dessert,” he said. “In the kitchen. A tart.”

“Well, I shall have that.”

She got up from the table and walked into the kitchen, where she saw many modern conveniences, and a glorious-looking fruit tart sitting in the center of a stone countertop.

The pieces were already sliced, and she took one and put it on a crystal plate that was sitting there beside the serving dish.

“This looks wonderful.”

“Yes. All the food here is.”

“Do you make it?”

“Yes. I do.”

She hadn’t expected that.

“I...”

“I also have a garden on the grounds, which I tend myself. That which I do not grow is brought in for me once every few months by helicopter. But there is a joy to self-sufficiency. Or if not joy, perhaps a deep practicality to it that I appreciate.”

“Oh.”

“This castle is run entirely on a combination of wind and solar panels.”

It was so cloudy here she couldn’t fathom that. “How can it possibly run on solar?”

“The panels are not here. But they are directed here by a grid.”

“Oh. That is... Interesting.”

“Like I said, I do strive to self-sufficiency. Now, I have enough money to have made it so. Though I envision a future where it will not take access to the resources that I have to live the sort of simple life.”

“You consider this simple.”

She picked up her fork and took a bite of the tart. “Oh. This is delicious.”

“Thank you.”

In spite of herself, she smiled. He had thanked her.

“I have never shared this with another person.”

There was something raw in his voice then. Just a hint of something less...controlled, and she felt it resonate in her like a low note vibrating through a song.

“You’ve never cooked for anyone?” she asked.

There was a pause.

“No. Never.”

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