“Thank you, Meadow.”
Meadow.
I shiver when I hear him say my name. It sounds like honeyed syrup just rolling off his tongue in a way that I’ve never heard before from someone else. I sneak a peek at Jaak when I reach for plates in the cupboard the house opened for me. He has a knife in his hand and it looks like he was about to cut in the chicken but he stopped mid-slice. He stopped because he’s watching me. The way he’s looking at me is…interesting. It’s different from how he’s looked at me before, even when we were on the bench earlier.
He looks at me like I’m prey. I’ve never been hunting but I did volunteer in the library on Fridays when they played approved nature documentaries for free. After hundreds of Fridays, I recognize exactly what a predator looks like when they’ve locked onto something they’d like to eat.
Gods, does he want toeat me?
I grab a set of plates and think about that. Would I mind Jaak eating me? I mean, if it was in the strictest sense of the word, yeah, I’d have beef with that but I don’t think that’s the hunger I saw on his face. The house pops open a drawer to my left andI see silverware inside. I grab the utensils we need, a knife and fork each for us, while I shake my head and scold the house.
“This doesn’t make up for what you did. I don’t care if you thought you were helping with a love connection.”
I turn back towards the island in time to see Jaak’s eyes still on me. I almost drop the plates and silverware I’m holding when I see his eyes flash silver, but before I can make sure I wasn’t imagining it, Jaak looks away from me.
“Did you find what you need?” he asks, face down and eyes on the chicken he’s carving.
I nod and then answer him because he’s still not looking at me. “Y-yes. The place really is fully stocked with everything we need.”
He looks up then, face completely calm and eyes a deep brown color. “Wonderful. Come here and I’ll serve you,” he sounds calm too, definitely not like a sex potion is eating him up from the inside. Maybe I imagined the silver?
“Thank you.” I cross over to him and put the plates down for Jaak to serve us dinner. It’s when I’m up close that I see the sweat beading down his neck. The collar of his shirt looks like it’s glued to him. Matter of fact…I tip my head to the side and look him over.
His shirt is less romantic and mysterious and more sticking to his body because of how much heat and sweat he’s putting off.
“You feeling warm?” I ask.
His hands tighten on the knife and serving fork. “It’s to be expected.”
“Right.”
I sit down across from him and Jaak puts the plate in front of me and hands me a set of silverware. “You should eat before it gets cold. You’ll need your strength soon enough.”
I take the silverware and I’m not ashamed to admit that I make sure my fingers brush against his. “Oh, for what?” I ask,giving him a sunny smile. I’m aiming for innocent but even I heard the breathy sound in my voice.
Jaak’s eyes drop to my mouth. “The battle,” he reminds me before looking back up. “We have much to do to locate the head mage.”
I bite my lip. “I’d much rather work up an appetite doing something else,” I tell him and settle onto my stool. “And I wish you wouldn’t pretend that you don’t feel it.”
“It’s not that I don’t feel it, I feel it too much, my heart.”
I sit up straight in surprise and put my silverware down. Dinner isn’t important once he says that. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that the last time I experienced a potion like this the effects were not nearly as strong or fast-acting. I thought–I thought to take it slow so that you would not be at a disadvantage under its sway with it affecting your behavior.” I blush. I know what he means. He means me wanting to wrap myself around him until I can’t breathe. “But even then I thought I would be able to withstand much of its influence. I’m finding now that’s not the case.”
I watch Jaak as he plates his own food and sits down beside me with a weary sigh. “I’m doing my best to stay civilized. To remain in control of this form but my hold cannot be trusted. If I tell you to leave me tonight, do it.”
“What? No. I’m not leaving you.”
“I never meant for it to go this far.”
I turn in my stool to look at him and grab his hands so that he turns to face me. “I don’t-what do you mean this far? We’re married. We’re tied together right at the soul. We have this,” I say, holding up my wrist and summoning the bond to yank it “I think things have gone about as far as they can go, don’t you? Why would you want me to leave you just because the house gave us a sex potion.”
“Because I will not be able to hold this form, Meadow. Do you understand what I mean when I say that?”
Desire, anticipation, adrenaline. All of it mixes together into a cocktail that makes me feel more on fire than whatever the house gave me. I do know what he means.
“Your Minotaur,” I say.
