effort. They’d been talking about his ink work since starting a celebratory confectionary spree for finishing the last of her paperwork at o’dark in the morning. Now the time had come for a proper breakfast to go with the sunlight finally peeking through the trees.
Xander had tried to find ways to express what it meant to have her there, ready to stick it out until everything with Caleb got settled. Every time he mentioned it, it only reminded her how much time she’d be away from the office, and she seemed anxious even as she smiled. He’d decided to shelve the discussion and turned to cooking instead to show his appreciation.
It worked wonders.
“Dragon is a gender neutral term unless you’re talking about the matriarch of a clan. As I’m not destined for matriarch status I’ll never have to worry about the distinction; I’m just a plain ole dragon. However, since you were asking about preference, I prefer to be called by name.” Her deft fingers continued to slice the ripe peaches that would top the pancakes and be used for drinks later. Dumping a handful into the chilled bowl, she casually licked the sticky juice from her wrists in slow, thorough strokes of her tongue. “I’m not all that particular about the name though; Kryssa, Krys, Ryssa, boss, mistress, hey you, and on occasion baby girl if I’m related to the speaker or you’re Caitlin.”
It took him a moment to stop staring as she licked another line of juice. “So I can’t call you baby girl? That’s not fair. Caitlin gets all the BFF fun.”
“Caitlin’s got seniority.” She watched him flip the back row of pancakes on the griddle and then transfer the front row to a cooling rack on a cookie sheet. The cotton full front apron protected his bare skin from any splatter, but it left the rest of him decadently bare, and he smiled every time he caught her studying the play of light on his skin and the ink there.
“Do you always cook shirtless?” she asked. “Because it’s a really good look; jeans and an apron are all anyone really needs anyway.” She offered him a peach slice, and he sucked the juice from her fingers as he took it in his mouth.
“I should make all of our meals shirtless. Got it.” He started transferring the back row. “So when do I get senior benefits?”
“Is that what they’re calling it these days?”
He ladled batter onto the griddle and cringed. “I didn’t mean it like that, Krys. I wasn’t bringing it up again.”
“Hey.” She bumped him with her hip, distorting one of the pancakes as the ladle moved. “I didn’t mean it that way either. Well, I meant it that way, but I didn’t mean that you meant it that way.”
Xander laughed and shook his head. “It’s much too early because that made perfect sense.”
“Good.” She pulled out a previously opened bag of brown sugar and frowned. “Just a second, I have to break this up.” Her back flexed and bunched as she worked the hardened chunks of dried sugar in the bag with her hands.
Xander filled a measuring cup with water as an excuse to step closer and check her progress. The granules were nearly fine again, barely needing to be remoistened in the microwave. “If I were baking with that, I wouldn’t bother with the extra step.”
She smiled and set the bag and water side-by-side in the microwave while he removed the last batch of pancakes from the griddle. A minute later, with his part of the work done, he ducked out of the apron and set it aside, leaning on the counter to watch her pour the softened sugar over the peaches. “That you can break that up with your bare hands is kinda scary-hot, just for the record.”
Kryssa laughed and tossed in a good dose of cinnamon over the fruit and brown sugar, combining the mixture with her hands. “Yeah, you’re just turned on by the reminder that I could totally take you.”
Xander knew better than to smile too broadly, but it was hard to take that seriously from someone a head shorter than
Xander had tried to find ways to express what it meant to have her there, ready to stick it out until everything with Caleb got settled. Every time he mentioned it, it only reminded her how much time she’d be away from the office, and she seemed anxious even as she smiled. He’d decided to shelve the discussion and turned to cooking instead to show his appreciation.
It worked wonders.
“Dragon is a gender neutral term unless you’re talking about the matriarch of a clan. As I’m not destined for matriarch status I’ll never have to worry about the distinction; I’m just a plain ole dragon. However, since you were asking about preference, I prefer to be called by name.” Her deft fingers continued to slice the ripe peaches that would top the pancakes and be used for drinks later. Dumping a handful into the chilled bowl, she casually licked the sticky juice from her wrists in slow, thorough strokes of her tongue. “I’m not all that particular about the name though; Kryssa, Krys, Ryssa, boss, mistress, hey you, and on occasion baby girl if I’m related to the speaker or you’re Caitlin.”
It took him a moment to stop staring as she licked another line of juice. “So I can’t call you baby girl? That’s not fair. Caitlin gets all the BFF fun.”
“Caitlin’s got seniority.” She watched him flip the back row of pancakes on the griddle and then transfer the front row to a cooling rack on a cookie sheet. The cotton full front apron protected his bare skin from any splatter, but it left the rest of him decadently bare, and he smiled every time he caught her studying the play of light on his skin and the ink there.
“Do you always cook shirtless?” she asked. “Because it’s a really good look; jeans and an apron are all anyone really needs anyway.” She offered him a peach slice, and he sucked the juice from her fingers as he took it in his mouth.
“I should make all of our meals shirtless. Got it.” He started transferring the back row. “So when do I get senior benefits?”
“Is that what they’re calling it these days?”
He ladled batter onto the griddle and cringed. “I didn’t mean it like that, Krys. I wasn’t bringing it up again.”
“Hey.” She bumped him with her hip, distorting one of the pancakes as the ladle moved. “I didn’t mean it that way either. Well, I meant it that way, but I didn’t mean that you meant it that way.”
Xander laughed and shook his head. “It’s much too early because that made perfect sense.”
“Good.” She pulled out a previously opened bag of brown sugar and frowned. “Just a second, I have to break this up.” Her back flexed and bunched as she worked the hardened chunks of dried sugar in the bag with her hands.
Xander filled a measuring cup with water as an excuse to step closer and check her progress. The granules were nearly fine again, barely needing to be remoistened in the microwave. “If I were baking with that, I wouldn’t bother with the extra step.”
She smiled and set the bag and water side-by-side in the microwave while he removed the last batch of pancakes from the griddle. A minute later, with his part of the work done, he ducked out of the apron and set it aside, leaning on the counter to watch her pour the softened sugar over the peaches. “That you can break that up with your bare hands is kinda scary-hot, just for the record.”
Kryssa laughed and tossed in a good dose of cinnamon over the fruit and brown sugar, combining the mixture with her hands. “Yeah, you’re just turned on by the reminder that I could totally take you.”
Xander knew better than to smile too broadly, but it was hard to take that seriously from someone a head shorter than
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