Page 19 of A Clash of Embers

His brows raised slightly as he realized I was giving him permission. He gripped my hips, pulling me closer to him and I wrapped my legs around his waist instinctively. He studied my face, stopping and lingering on my lips. His breath drifted on my lips, but his focus was on me.Only me.

I tilted my head towards his mouth, grazing my lips to his. I felt his heart racing in his chest. I pressed my mouth into his slightly before reaching above his head and shoving him into the water. I laughed and started to swim away as he came up for air yelling at me to get back there. I reached the side and climbed the water’s edge to the waterfall.

The air in my lungs was ragged as I hid under the falls waiting for him to find me, but Iwantedhim to find me. Leo's figure was shadowed through the falls as he slowly approached me, and my heartbeat quickened with every second. His curls were wet and strewn across his face, with his clothes outlining every part of him. The white shirt clung to every dip, curve, and bulge.

"Why did you run away?" he asked me curiously.

I shrugged, pressing my back further into the wall as I eyed him. He gripped my waist and lowered his head, "May I kiss you?"

It was him. It was Madok.

"Why do you look like you’re gonna cry?" he asked me, studying my face that he held in his hands.

I sighed, "I'm not ready for this. I just... can't."

Leo nodded and moved his hands from my face withholding something he truly wanted to say.

"Well, let's get back to the castle, shall we?" he asked.

I grabbed his hand and he led me back to my isolation.

"Shit!"

I heard the scream and the metal clanking all the way from my room. I sat up, throwing the sheets off of my body, and ran to the noise just in case something terrible had happened.

My steps slowed as I noticed Leo with a mess all over the kitchen counter and a stench of burnt sugar. I smiled. "Don't you have people that do this for you?"

He looked up at me and laughed. "You're hilarious. Yes, but it's the day of rest for our people, therefore, I am trying to cook us breakfast."

I walked towards his side of the counter to assess the damage he had caused. "Well, I think it's safe to say that you are the worst cook in this entire Kingdom."

He chuckled and turned to face me, placing his hip against the counter. "Oh really? You can do better?"

I narrowed my eyes on him. "Yes, of course I can do better." I swung my hips into his to push him out of the way. "Now move so I can cook breakfast because obviously our precious prince doesn't know how."

I gathered the materials on the counter, making do with what we had left. I felt his presence behind me as his hands caged me into the island. My eyes wandered down the folded-up sleeves exposing his corded forearm muscles.

"What are you doing?" I chuckled nervously.

He sighed, "I'm learning from the professional. I want to make sure that I don't disappoint you in the future."

I hummed, not wanting to respond to his statement about the future. I mixed together batter for a breakfast cake and prepped the sugar to make a caramel drizzle. Eventually, Leo stepped back allowing me room to cook in his kitchen. He watched me diligently without saying anything.

After I made the plates for breakfast, I sat them at the table in the dining room with glasses of water. He followed me into the dining room, and before I could turn back into the kitchen, he grabbed my wrist.

"Don't clean right now. Let's sit and eat." He smiled and gestured to the table.

"Fine, but only because I'm hungry," I replied.

We sat and ate our food together, talking about nothing of importance. I laughed, truly laughed. It was the first time I had forgotten about Evander, though he was always there. Lurking in the depths of my mind. Waiting. Listening.

"So, what would you like to do today? We can go into the village or we can do something else." He questioned me as we started to pick up our plates. I moved too quickly and my foot caught the edge of the table causing me to fall to the ground along with the plate.

Once I hit the ground, the plate shattered in my hand, splintering the clay pieces across my hand and floor. Luckily, I only had a slight cut on my thumb from one of the shards.

"Here, let me help with that." Leo reached out to my hand and pulled me up off the ground. He held my injured hand up to his face and leaned down kissing the thumb softly.

He gingerly licked his lips before saying, "I'll grab a bag to put the pieces in if you want to go ahead and start picking them up."

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