We both laughed, and for a moment everything felt easy, like the chaos of the evening had never even happened.
“Fine, but if you won’t devour my food, I want you to devour something else.” I gave him a small wink, already watching the way his expression shifted.
“Presenting me with my favorite meal?” he smirked, something wicked creeping into his tone. “I think I can oblige.”
Chapter 18: Octavius
SIX MONTHS HAD PASSED, and somehow everything had changed... and yet nothing had at all.
The council had been surprisingly easy to persuade. I had gone in fully prepared for resistance, for arguments, for drawn-out debates about law, tradition, and the very obvious fact that Kara was human and had entered Crescent Cove under circumstances that were, at best, questionable.
I had expected to fight for her relentlessly, but instead, they listened. And when I told them I loved her and intended to marry her, something shifted. It wasn’t exactly immediate approval. The council still had their conditions, their endless need to maintain order and uphold whatever fragile balance they believed Crescent Cove depended on. But in the end, they allowed it. A long engagement, they said. Time to observe us, to make certain this wasn’t some impulsive decision.
As if anything about Kara had ever been simple enough to be called impulsive.
At the time, the engagement had been a practical solution, just a way to keep her here. But somewhere between then and now, it had stopped feeling like an arrangement and started to feel real. I didn’t want to rush it, but I also didn’t want to pretend it wasn’t inevitable.
I leaned back slightly in my chair, my gaze driftingaround the cottage.
Our cottage.
I had officially moved in two months ago, though, in truth, I had been spending most of my nights here long before that. Slowly, it had become lessherspace and moreours. Before Kara, I had preferred quiet and structure. Now, I found myself craving the sound of her moving through the cottage, the way she filled it without even trying. The way she talked while she worked, half of it directed at me, the other half just her thinking out loud.
I shifted slightly in my seat, my eyes moving toward the kitchen where she had been stationed for far too long. When I finally glanced at the clock on the wall, I realized just how much time had passed, and that alone was enough to concern me.
“Do not come in here!” she called suddenly, as if she already knew I was about to get up and investigate whatever chaos she had created.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” I lied, settling back into my seat.
“Good, because it’s a surprise.”
“I am deeply concerned about what that means.”
“You’ll live,” she said confidently.
Well, that was debatable.
I leaned my head back, staring at the ceiling for a moment as a small smile tugged at my mouth. I focused on the sounds drifting in from the kitchen—the erratic movements, the clink of dishes, the occasional muttered comment or swear I couldn’t quite make out—and fuck, I adored this human.
“Okay!” she called out. “Youcan come in now.”
I pushed to my feet and turned toward the kitchen, only to pause the moment I stepped inside, because it actually looked... good.
I narrowed my eyes slightly, suspicion lingering. “What did you do?”
