that I know you can eat food as well”—he grinned—“that you have a sweet tooth, I thought I’d share a few of my favorites with you for dessert.”
His grin morphed into an uncertain smile that didn’t just make her legs feel funny, it made all of her feel weak and shaky. “Heh, so that’s why you taste so good? Your dessert addiction,” she said, trying to tease him, to not show how his small gesture made her dead heart feel as if it had expanded in her chest.
He didn’t need to do this, any of this. No one ever had before. And as for surprises, she’d only ever had the bad kind.
Yet here they were, on a rooftop, with a table covered in treats for her, after flying through the night sky in his arms.
Gunner had grown still, and when her gaze hit his, his nostrils flared and his amber eyes glowed.
She quickly looked away. “So, uh…what do we have here?”
He came around and pulled a chair out for her. She sat, and he drew the other seat close to her and sat as well. “I thought we’d start with a cream puff.”
He pulled a plate closer. It had a pastry on it, covered in powdered sugar and obviously filled with cream.
“Have you had one before?” he asked.
“No. Spencer used to occasionally buy me chocolate bars when he bought food for…” She cleared her throat. She didn’t want to say his name, let alone think about that bastard right now. Her stomach cramped, a craving starting to grow just from having him in her head. How could she want his blood so badly when it hurt her, when it made her sick? Why did she still want it?
She shoved that fucker from her head. “Before, I knew if something was sweet, but my senses were so…narrow that I couldn’t really taste it. That’s changed since I’ve been here, with you.”
“So everything’s new?”
“Yep,” she said, trying to sound okay, to be okay, when the truth of what she’d missed, what she’d been through, hurt like hell.
He shifted in his seat. “So not just taste?”
She licked her lips, forcing herself to look him in the eyes when she wanted to look away, to run away. He must think she was such a freak. “Um, no. Touch and scent, and temperature, too.”
He made a rough sound as his fingers curled into a fist. “Azel, his blood, that fucker messed with you, love, in a lot of ways.”
He had. His blood was poison. He was poison.
Gunner’s big frame shifted again, and he slowly uncurled his fingers, in obvious effort. “So what do you like? Now that you can experience those things?”
She smiled at him, thankful he’d changed the subject, and took the lifeline he’d offered. “I like to be warm, and I like sweets,” she said, motioning to the table. “I like soft things, like this sweater.” She grabbed one of his rough-skinned hands and brought it to her shoulder to feel. “See? So soft.” Gunner ran his hand over it, over her shoulder, and down her arm, then took her hand. He squeezed her fingers. “And I like touch. I’m surprised, honestly. I never did before. It used to make me feel…” Sick to my stomach. Like she wanted to stab someone. She shook her head and forced a smile. “When you touch me, I don’t feel the way I used to. I like it. I like the way it makes me feel, here.” She pressed her hand to her chest. “And here.” Then her stomach. “And I get goose bumps.”
Gunner had gone still again. He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing, and his smile was tight. “Glad as fuck to hear that.”
Silence fell between them, and his gaze moved over her face. After several long seconds, and desperate to break the tension, Luna reached for a pastry.
Gunner swiped it away from her with a gritty laugh. “Hold up, Miss Sweet Tooth. We’re sharing this one. I might be a nice guy, but I’m not that nice.”
He was that nice. He’d proven it from the moment he pulled her from the basement and brought her here. He tore it in half, shoving his portion into his mouth. She expected him to hand her the other half, instead, he held it to her lips. “Try it. The cream is lightly sweetened.”
The scent was most definitely sweet, but also slightly salty, and there was no missing the richness of the cream. So, so tempting. Without thought,