E

    I couldn’t help butugh at Alexander’s deration about cooking all of my meals. The man who had barely shared a meal with me, let alone set foot in our kitchen during our entire five–year marriage, was now nning to be my personal chef for the remainder of my pregnancy.

    “Alexander,” I blurted out, “When was thest time you actually cooked something?”

    He paused in the doorway, one hand on the frame. There was no hiding the way the tips of his ears reddened slightly. “Define… cooking.”

    “Making food. From scratch. With ingredients.”

    “Well…” He ran a hand through his red hair, looking almost sheepish. “I can make coffee. And toast.”

    “Toast.”

    “Really good toast,” he insisted, which only made meugh harder.

    “Alexander, you don’t have to do this. Lilith can keep cooking for me, and we’ll just figure out where the mercury came from—”

    “No.” The intensity in his voice took me by surprise. “I need to do this, E. I need to know that what you’re eating is safe.” He paused, and for a moment, the air was tight. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever seen him bso/bb… /bprotective of me.

    It was for the baby, of course. But it was still sweet.

    “But you’re right,” he admitted. “I’ve never had to do much cooking for myself. As an Alpha, there were always servants around, people to take care of things like that.”

    There was something almost vulnerable about the admission, and it made myughter turn into a quiet

    smile.

    “I’m determined to learn, though. For our baby. For you.”

    The sincerity in his green gaze made my wolf purr with satisfaction. Lilith’s hand tightened around my arm, and when I met her eyes, I thought I saw a hint of something that looked like a halfway point between amusement and tenderness there.

    A few minutester, I found myself perched on a stool at the kitchen ind, watching Alexander stare at a collection of ingredients. He’d rolled up his sleeves in that way that I always liked, and was furrowing his brow. He and Lilith had both tried to get me to rest on the couch, but I couldn’t help but want to watch.

    “You’ve been staring at the spice rack for fifteen minutes,” I snorted.

    Alexander shot me a sideways look. “I’m just… formting.”

    “Formting what, exactly?”

    “Pasta.” He picked up a box of penne. “How hard can pasta be?”

    “Famousst words,” my wolf chuckled. I held back augh in response to her quip as I watched him fill a pot with water and ce it on the stove.

    “You have to add salt to the water,” I offered.

    “Salt?”

    b“/bbIt /bseasons the pasta while it cooks. Makes it taste better.”

    Alexander nodded seriously and grabbed the salt shaker, dumping what looked like half of it into the pot.

    “Luna’s teeth, Alexander, not that much!” I started to get up from my stool, but he waved me back down.

    “I’ve got it under control.”

    “Right. And I’m the Alpha King.”

    He shot me a look that was half annoyance, half amusement. “Sit down, smartass.”

    That time, I couldn’t help but let out augh.

    For the next twenty minutes, I watched Alexander cook. He managed to get the pasta cooking without any major disasters, and moved on to what he imed would be a “simple” tomato sauce.

    “Simple,” I repeated, watching him open four different cans of tomatoes. “Uh–huh.”

    “Cooking shows make it look easy,” Alexander muttered.

    “You’ve been watching cooking shows?”

    His cheeks reddened again. “It’s a guilty pleasure.”

    My eyebrow cocked at that. “I didn’t know you even had any guilty pleasures.”

    “Doesn’t everyone?” He crushed a garlic clove with the t side of a knife and dropped it into a pan.

    I shrugged. “You just never struck me as much of the ‘guilty pleasure‘ type.”

    “Yeah, well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

    “Tell me about it,” I muttered, although Alexander didn’t hear me over the sound of sizzling as he dumped a can of tomatoes into the pan with the garlic.

    Unbidden, my mind flitted back to what Liam had said earlier about doing something daring, thinking of myself for once, and just fucking talking to Alexander.

    And for a moment, I almost did. It would have been easy here, in the heart of the home, watching as Alexander moved around the kitchen.

    But it was iso /ifucking scary. And in a stupid way, I hated the thought of potentially ruining this little bubble of domesticity with a conversation that could end poorly.

    Watching him like this… It was another bone /bof those dangerous fantasies that I kept finding myself slipping into. The one where this was real, where Alexander actually wanted to take care of me because he loved me,

    not because I was carrying his political heir.

    Maybe, just for a little while longer, I could just enjoy the fantasy.

    “Okay,” Alexander announced after a while, turning to face me with a wooden spoon in his hand. “I think it’s ready.”

    He’d ted the pasta quite nicely, even adding some fresh basil that he’d found in Lilith’s herb garden. It looked quite delicious.

    “It smells amazing,” I admitted.

    “Don’t sound so surprised.” Alexander picked up the fork and twirled some pasta around it, then held it out toward me. “Try it.”

    I leaned forward to take the bite, but instead of handing me the fork, Alexander kept hold of it, bringing it to my lips himself. I parted my lips and let him pop the fork into my mouth.

    The pasta was delicious. Rich and vorful and perfectly cooked, with just enough garlic and herbs to make my mouth water for more.

    “Holy shit,” I said around the bite of food. “This is actually really good.”

    Alexander’s face lit up with pride, and the sight of his face cracking into a grin made my traitorous heart thump wildly in my chest. “Really?”

    “Really. I’m impressed.”

    Still grinning, Alexander twirled a second forkful of pasta and popped it into his mouth. His eyes widened slightly as he came to the same conclusion I had. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as I watched him chew and swallow, and without meaning to, I began to lean forward–but not for another bite.

    For something else.

    I wanted to kiss him.

    The mate bond hummed to life between us, that electric current that I’d been trying so hard to suppress. It pulsed with warmth and want and something that felt suspiciously like affection.

    Alexander’s eyes dropped to my lips, and I found myself leaning closer without even realizing it. The fork was still in his hand, forgotten, and his free hand came up to cup my cheek.

    I couldn’t think of a single reason to pull away. Not when he was looking at me like that. Not when Liam had urged me to do the things I always wanted to do.

    And right now, this… This was what I wanted more than anything else.

    So instead of remembering all the reasons why this was a bad idea, I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips to his.

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