Chapter 7 THE SOFTNESS AFTER THE ROUGHNESS (2)

GALLAHAN'S POV

“There is no getting out of this talk, I know. But why don’t you get to the bath I have prepared for you before it gets cold? Then we could talk about this over the food I have cooked for the both of us. I believe we still have a few hours before another wave of your heat strikes.”

“You cooked?”

“Is that so surprising?” I asked with a light chuckle. “But that is beside the point. The point is… I have prepared for you a warm, bubble-filled bath that is, by the way, getting colder the longer you stay on this bed.”

Willa stared at me silently for a second before saying, “Right… First of all, I don’t even know where the bathroom is.”

“It’s that door, sweetheart,” I answered, pointing at the unassuming arched polished door a couple of meters away from my wardrobe.

“Thank you,” she said as she gave me a wry look. “Second, do you expect me to walk there stark naked while you’re still in this very room?”

“It's not like there is still something I haven’t seen, touched, and kissed before.”

She gave me a deadpanned look, one that made me want to pinch her cheek, ruffle her hair, and maybe kiss the expression away.

I almost did so, but then she suddenly said with an austere tone, “Out.”

“Alright,” I replied, raising my arms as an act of defeat. “Damn. So feisty. Couldn’t you ask a little more sweetly, sweetheart?”

Willa smiled, all tight-lipped and dripping with feigned saccharine. “If you want someone sweet, then I am sorry. You will only be disappointed. I have no sweetness to offer you, Han.”

“Liar. I did lick my finger clean, remember? It was quite sweet. Perfect sweetness, in fact.”

I watched with pure satisfaction as a pretty shade of red bloomed on her neck, creeping up until nearly her entire face was blushing at the sexual innuendo.

“OUT!” Willa yelled, throwing a pillow at me and clutching the blanket tighter towards her.

Laughing, I easily caught the pillow, which I then brought up to my nose. “Smells sweet too. Extra sweeter actually, considering it is mixed with-”

I didn’t get the chance to finish my teasing remark, because Willa had encroached my personal space and placed a chaste kiss on the corner of my lips.

“Do you want me to be in that bath you’ve prepared or not?”

Right.

The fucking bath.

And the fucking food.

Both were getting colder the longer I lingered in her presence. But really, I didn’t think I should be blamed. Her presence alone was addicting. It was as if she was a cosy and warm hearth on a wintry night, or a familiar bed that I could burrow myself in for all the days of my life. Or… or my mom’s hearty soup she would cook when I get sick.

She was warmth, security, comfort rolled into one. She felt like home, the way none of my houses across the Midland Continent had ever felt like one since my mom’s and sister’s deaths.

I didn’t think I could afford to lose her when I had been granted this chance by the universe.

Ugh, ew.

What was I becoming?

Suppressing a shiver over my sappy thoughts, I leaned over to Willa and claimed a proper kiss.

She granted me access to her mouth, and I eagerly grabbed the chance to explore the hot cavern.

Lips on lips.

Tongue against tongue.

I couldn’t help but cup her cheeks, tilting her head a little for a better angle.

Gods… I could get lost in the taste of her mouth, and I wouldn’t even mind. Fuck the world and reality. She was even better than any other sweet dream.

Still, I managed to pull away a little, murmuring against her pink and mildly kiss-swollen lips, “That’s a proper kiss, sweetheart. Remember that.”

Making my remark as my parting words, I left the room to give her the privacy she wanted.

I dutifully stood outside my bedroom with my arms crossed against my chest, waiting for the faint clicking of the bathroom door as it opened and shut.

When the sound came and went, I waited a few seconds more before re-entering my bedroom. I worked swiftly in cleaning the room and changing the sheets and the pillowcases, dumping the used ones in the hamper by the laundry area at the very back of the cabin. I did the same to her unsalvageable clothes that I had torn earlier in the heat of the moment.

After airing the room by sweeping the curtain to the sides and opening all the awning windows, I left for the kitchen to retrieve the bed tray of food that had been left to wait for far too long.

I brought it to my bedroom and set it at the center of the bed that was now wrapped in fresh linen.

I paced around the room, itching to see Willa again.

She didn’t run away through the window, did she?

I inhaled deeply, stopping the paranoid thought from spiraling further.

I didn’t have to make any other effort than that because Willa finally emerged from the bathroom, donning my favorite dressing robe.

I bit my lip and surreptitiously pinched the side of my thigh before my cock could even get the idea of standing erect in attention at the sight of her wearing something of mine.

Damn it. What was wrong with me? Why was I being so randy like I was a teenager again? Maybe it was simply the novelty of having my fated mate with me, and soon enough, this sensitivity and irrational reactions would ebb away in time.

But it wasn’t as if I thought that this fiery connection between us would ever wane. Perhaps I would simply get better at controlling myself. For one thing, I was entirely sure that, in my current state, I would go completely ballistic if a man ever dared to breathe too near her.

“Han?”

I blinked at her, repeatedly for good measure, as I snapped out from shamelessly gawking at her.

“You look good,” I complimented like an utter fool.

Willa’s brows furrowed. She looked at me as though I had grown a second head. “Are you okay?”

“Perfect, actually.” I cleared my throat and gestured at the simple meal for two I had cooked. “Anyway… Shall we eat?”

“In bed.”

“Yes, in bed.”

“I am not fond of eating in bed.”

“Humor me just this once.”

“Why should I?” Willa asked, but she was already walking to the bed, her eyes glued to the food.

“Because,” I answered, slightly prolonging the word needlessly. “If our little chat goes south despite the good food, then I could at least trust in letting our bodies talk again to salvage us.”

Willa merely rolled her eyes in reply. She settled herself comfortably on the bed, resting her back on the plain wooden headboard and criss-crossing her beautiful legs.

I wasted no time sitting across from her, the bed tray of food perched between us.

“So,” I drawled. “This war…”