It was simple, and sexy, and elegant all at once. And I loved it.
After tucking the food Diora had left me beneath my arm, I crossed the room and slid my hand into Espen’s to let him know he could turn around without surprising him or anything.
He opened the door when my hand slid into his, and then we crossed the hallway together quickly.
Back in his room, he let me in first. I walked to the kitchen and set the food I’d brought on the counter before turning to find the man—and found him with his back stiff against the door, his eyes burning into my skin.
“Fuck me,” he bit out.
My eyebrows shot upward. “Excuse me?”
His ears were bright red, his olive skin flushed a bit on his cheeks. “Not—I didn’t mean—fuck.” He hissed a curse as his eyes closed. I recognized the tense expression from the day before, and knew it meant he was trying to regain his hold on the moon and his magic.
I unwrapped the food I’d brought, sitting down on the barstool nearest to me as I pulled out many more items than I expected.
Three long, thin loaves of bread, each wrapped individually as well.
A small jar of butter.
An identical small jar of some type of jam.
Four different types of wrapped blocks of cheese, sliced thinly.
A container of honey, twice as large as the jars of butter and jam.
Diora had brought options for me.
My throat swelled at the thoughtfulness—and the kindness.
And the fact that there was more honey than any of the other items. I’d spoken about honey multiple times in the prison; there was a plethora of it in the solar fae kingdoms, and stars, how I had missed it.
I doubted the night court’s honey would taste exactly the same, but I hoped it was similar enough to transport me back to the happy days I’d spent sitting on the bench in front of one of my bedroom’s large windows, basking in the sun’s warmth while eating warm bread drizzled with the salty-sweet honey of my land.
Stars, I missed those days.
Despite my illness, my parents had always done everything they possibly could to give me a good life. And despite everything else, they had succeeded.
“I wasn’t asking you to fuck me,” Espen finally clarified, pulling me from my melancholy thoughts as he regained control of the moon to the point where he could speak again. “You just look really fucking incredible, and it surprised me.”
“Thank you for the sweet compliment,” I drawled. “It’s so nice to hear that I shock people when I actually manage to look nice.”
He grimaced. “Shit. That was—I didn’t mean—”
A soft laugh escaped me. “I was teasing you, Espen. I know what you meant.”
Relief crossed his face, and he picked up the jar of honey. “Wow. All this for three loaves of bread?”
My cheeks warmed a bit. “Diora knows I always loved honey as a little girl. I think she was trying to be thoughtful.” I broke off the end piece of the first loaf of bread and unscrewed the jaw, drizzling the honey over the bread.
“The solar kingdoms are said to have better honey than anyone else,” he remarked.
“I’ve never tried anyone else’s, but yes.” I set the jar down when my bread was properly soaked, and lifted the bread to my lips.
The first bite was blissful.
The second hit me with even more of that melancholy than I’d expected.
My emotions were rising, and I tried to keep them under control so my eyes wouldn’t sting again. I’d already cried far too much in front of Espen.