By nightfall, Edward had encouraged me to
soak in the bathtub while he prepared us some dinner. I didn’t want to be away
from him, but spending all day in bed and the litany of tears and sadness, the
idea of a long bath felt ideal. After an hour in the tub, I dressed in one of
Edward’s shirts and nothing else, walking down to the kitchen. Edward was also
freshly washed, obviously having taken a shower in the downstairs bathroom. Edward
had made something called pizza and garlic bread. “With as emotional as the
past few weeks has been, comfort food cures all ills,” he said, slicing up the
pizza. “This was my go-to for comfort food when I wanted to forget all of the
shittiness of the world. There was a pizzeria in Seattle, Serious Pie, which
made my favorite pizza. I did my best to recreate it here. I even made garlic
butter dipping sauce.”
“Sounds heavenly and smells even better,” I
said, sitting down at the breakfast bar. “And what’s this?”
“It’s an Earth alcoholic beverage. It’s
called beer,” Edward said, putting a glass of amber carbonated liquid in front
of me. “It’s the only thing that goes with pizza. If you don’t like it,
thought, I’ll get you whatever you want.”
I reached for the glass and took a tentative
sip. I expected it to taste sweet, but it wasn’t. There was a sweetness in the
after taste, but the flavor that exploded on my tongue was almost sour. It
wasn’t unpleasant. After a second sip, I found myself enjoying it more. “This
is good.”
“Excellent. While I finish up the pizza,
enjoy some of the cheesy garlic bread. We’ve got about ten minutes until I can
pull out the pizza from the oven,” he smiled, moving back to the large bowl
filled with various greens, vegetables and some more cheese.
“Ti’ane,
thank you for being there for me yesterday and today,” I whispered, nibbling on
the cheesy garlic bread. “Your support and love has made this most difficult
time a lot easier.”
“Bella, I’d do anything for you. I’m so sorry
that it was a member of your family that informed Alliance of your father’s
whereabouts, ultimately causing his death,” he frowned, tossing some more
veggies into the bowl. “Please take some solace that Liannette and Caius will
pay, ultimately, for their crimes. The Alliance has vowed to not come to
Cygnari space and from what my father has told me, may not be in existence for
very much longer.”
“I think my father chose you for me,” I
smiled sadly. “You are exactly what he would have wanted for me. Someone
strong, smart, handsome, funny and an effective, amazing leader.”
“I’m all that and I love you more than my own
life,” Edward said, taking my hand in his. “I can’t wait to start the next
phase in our relationship, Nirabelle. I want to put this ugliness of the war
and the battles behind us. I want only good things for you, for me, for our
people.”
“You have no idea what it means to me to hear
you say that,” I breathed, looking up into his vibrant green depths.
“What? That I love you?” he asked, his mouth
quirking up into a crooked grin.
My favorite grin.
I leaned forward kissing his lips, giggling
quietly. “I do love hearing that, but hearing you call the Cygnarian people as our people,” I explained, tracing my
fingers along his pink lips. He kissed me again, growling deeply from inside. I
moaned and deepened our kiss. I was growing more aroused and I wanted to beg
him to take me on the counter when the oven beeped. We broke apart, panting
heavily. “To be continued, ti’ane?”
“Oh yes,” he smirked, turning to take out the
pizza. He set it atop the stove and let it rest while he finished assembling
the salad. A few moments later, he cut me a slice and we ate our meal in a
comfortable silence, speaking mentally and teasing each other sexually with our
minds. Once dinner was done, we worked to clean up the kitchen and placed the
leftovers into the refrigeration unit. As I was washing the dishes, Edward slid
behind me and his arms wrapped around my waist. “You are a tease, Empress.”
“So are you. Walking around without a shirt on,” I giggled, pressing body back to his bare torso.
