AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her shoulders drooped. “That’s how it should be.”
“There is much risk in love, Tenah, but I won’t be frightened away from you,” he said, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. “Dinner.Please.”
Submitting to defeat, she glanced around his room and muttered, “What could you possibly cook here? Your kitchen sucks.”
“Just you wait. I have connections.”
She shook her head.Insufferable hunter.“And you’re able?”
“To cook?” He cocked a brow. “If you haven’t already fallen for me, you will after tonight.”
Chapter32
Tenah
Renton took her hand, lacing their fingers together as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He led her to her bedroom where she retrieved new underthings, not very apologetic that he’d shredded the ones she’d worn, before he took her down into the villa kitchen.
Most of the lights had been turned off, but Zia and Fen were still hard at work scrubbing down surfaces. Fen’s head popped up the instant the door banged closed behind them. He clutched a soapy sponge in his hand. Bubbles covered his forehead and just under his nose.
“Ren and coffee girl,” he exclaimed, throwing down the wet sponge with a plop and rushing to try to land a punch in Renton’s side.
Renton caught him by the head and spun him so his fists swung through air, bubbles flinging out to cover the prep counter.
Fen released a long groan, his shoulders dropping. “I’ll have to wipe that again.”
“What did I tell you about attacking our guests?” Zia scolded, never once turning around from scrubbing pans in the large sink. Her hair was unusually sloppy, piled atop her head in a messy bun. Her white coat sleeves were rolled up to her biceps, revealing the lean cut of her arms.
Eyes in the back of her head, Tenah thought.
Fen tapped a finger against the tip of his nose. “Don’t swing first. Wait for my enemy to come to me, then use their momentum against them.”
Zia whipped around, a hand snapping to her hip. Tenah couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. Zia’s mouth quivered, fighting back a smile.
“So you are capable of remembering things but only the things the Bogland hunters tell you, hmm?” Zia shook her head and wiped her brow. “And no, Ren cannot steal you away for more training this evening.”
Renton ruffled the boy’s hair, smirking when Fen swatted at him and missed. “I was actually hoping to borrow the kitchen. Just for an hour or two. I’ll replace the supplies and clean up after.”
Tenah expected to be chased out of the kitchen with the crack of a towel or the waving of a knife, but the cook’s posture softened as her eyes lowered to her hand clasped in Renton’s.
Zia held up a finger in warning. “You finish these dishes, and you get me more of that rare spice from whatever mysterious place you acquired it.”
“You got it,” Renton said.
Sighing, Zia popped the top button on her coat and tossed a final glance back at the heaping basin. “I didn’t want to finish those anyway.”
Fen climbed onto a stool at the prep table. “So what are we having to eat?”
He winced as his mother snapped her fingers. “Out with you, child. It’s well past your bedtime.”
The boy slumped down until his chin rested on the table. He blew at one of the bubbles perched there.
“You leave the ice boxes for Fennigan to clean in the morning,” Zia instructed, tugging her son out of the kitchen by an earlobe. They could hear the boy’s grumbles all the way down the hall.
“So you’re training him in combat too?” Tenah asked, turning to Renton.
But he was already sorting through jars of spices with endearing concentration. Selections made, he disappeared into an ice box and came back with a chunk of meat wrapped in thick, waxy paper.
“He wants to join the Embassy,” he replied, lining up his supplies in neat rows. Ground beef, rye bread, cream, eggs, broth, butter, onion, and green beans.
