I will never be the same without you...

Chapter 25

Song: Feist, "My moon, my man"

I could feel something tickle my nose and swatted at it, unwilling to open my eyes.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. I'm hungry. You need to feed me, or you'll become breakfast."

The tickle turned into a nip, and I yelped, laughing.

"Ouch!! Who dares awaken Our Highness?? Peasant, are you a man or a dog? You will pay for this outrage with your life."

Moving faster than he expected me to, I pounced on him. I covered him in kisses, licks and nips until he could barely breathe from laughing so hard. It's like the years that had passed melted away. He looked like the lovely boy I had fallen in love with; he was just more beautiful now. Maturity and confidence had given him depth and edges, making him even more fascinating.

"I surrender, Lord Saifah. I offer you my deepest apologies for the offence of awakening you. I will be your loyal kitchen servant if you condescend to get up and cook."

I couldn't help laughing with him at this silly banter. I kissed his nose, relenting, for I was starving too.

"Very well, I am a magnanimous ruler and will spare you."

I kissed him again, and to my delight, he gave as much back. Eventually, we calmed down. I got up and chuckled when he blushed at seeing my naked body. I winked, and his colour deepened. I put on my shorts and t-shirt and looked for what I had lent him the night before. I held the clothes above him, slightly out of reach, forcing him to show himself down to the waist. I leered at his body and licked my lips. He flicked my stomach, grumbling.

"Perv! Stop teasing."

He was smiling as he grabbed everything from my hand and started dressing up. He looked so endearing in the oversized clothing that I would have thrown him back to bed if my stomach hadn't growled in objection. I turned away before my hunger for him won over and walked to the door. A tiny body hugged me from behind, and we awkwardly stumbled to the kitchen, laughing again. I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest from sheer delight.

Once in the kitchen, I put rice in the cooker to prepare porridge and took out ingredients from the fridge.

"Sai, what would you like me to do?"

"You can start making coffee. Then I'll get you to chop some of the veggies."

I told him where to find everything, and we worked companionably in my small kitchen for the following hour to prepare our meal. He brushed past me intentionally, touching me every chance he got. I slid behind him and kissed his head or his neck in return just as often. The domesticity, the ease with which we interacted was surprising but fitting. I just hadn't realized until now how much I yearned to share those simple, lovely moments with someone else. For the first time, I didn't feel lonely.

"Earth to Sai!! Stop daydreaming, or you're going to burn everything."

Whoops... enough thinking you dolt!! Concentrate on not burning your love's breakfast instead. YOUR LOVE?? You've just barely reconnected, and you're already dashing ahead of yourself!!! Saifah, stop you crazy thinking. You haven't even asked him to date you, for f*ck's sake.

Lightly scorched onions and garlic brought me back to reality. I turned my attention back to cooking. Zon had finished his tasks and slid behind me to wrap his arms around my waist and rest his face against my back, fulfilling one of my deepest and cheesiest fantasies.

"Hmmm, I've always wanted to do this. I'm so happy to be free to hug you whenever I want."

Zon mirrored my thoughts so perfectly that if I wasn't cooking, I would have dragged him straight to bed and loved him until we were too exhausted to move. But we were both starving, and there would be time later to get him naked, so I just turned around in his arms and kissed him thoroughly.

"Please don't hesitate to do so, I don't think I'll ever get enough of it."

I turned back to my pan, mischievously enjoying the blush that had spread on his face all the way up to his ears.