Page 61 of Baking and Angels

She smiled as her lips tried to wrap around her mouthful, taking in his shocked expression. “What? You’ve never done this before?” she chided, shaking the can. Then she offered it to him to blast some in his mouth for him.

“No, thank you,” he said, pulling his head away. She only pouted for a second before redirecting the nozzle back for another hit, filling it up again with white cream.

His pants grew tighter at the visual.

Swallowing, he looked back into thecupboard.

He reached up into it and pulled down a jar of rich, golden honey. Palming the jar, he looked at her and lifted his eyebrows in a suggestive way. She giggled around her whipped cream, catching the implications. Painting her with that honey, then licking it off her was a something he needed to add to his list of things he wanted to try.

He reached for a package of dried apricots and a box of graham crackers required by Yosef’s recipe. But he couldn’t focus; Helena was being so distracting.

While he rooted around amongst the ingredients, she opened the honey jar, pulling the lid away revealing a small honey dipper attached to the underside. It trailed a thin glob of honey, which she lifted over her head and spooled into her mouth. Strands of honey clung to her cheek and dripped down onto her blouse.

“Oh, shoot, that was dumb,” she said, realizing it.

As she tried to look down at the mess, he thumbed up the honey escaping to drip just below her collarbone. She went still at his touch and watched as he brought his thumb into his mouth. The honey tasted of sunshine and warm days. Some part of him wanted to believe it also tasted of her.

Helena watched him, her eyes running calculations. “Do you miss sharing tasteswith me?”

That wasn’t what he thought she was about to say, and his sharp flinch conveyed it.

She flinched in response, screwing the cap of the honey back on. “I mean, I’m sure you don’t miss not being able to taste anything and being at my mercy for some scrap of it, but it’s like… there’s some connection that we used to have that we don’t really anymore. At least, that’s how I’ve been feeling. I don’t know. So much has changedso fast.”

Lifting her fingers to her mouth, she went to suck off the sticky, but he caught her wrist. Leaning forward, he did it himself, locking his gaze with hers as he did. Her finger made a loud smack as his lips slid along the digit, then released at the tip. “I still feel very connected to you,” he assured her in a husky voice. “But yes, I do sometimes miss sharing tasteswith you.”

“I suppose there are all kinds of advantages when demons make deals,” she said, reclaiming her hand sadly, and suddenly, something that hadn’t occurred to himyet… did.

“Did you… make a deal with her?” he demanded, alarmed, his heart revving up.

“What?” Helena asked, her eyebrows knitting,confused.

Rafferty let the cupboard doors he had been holding drop and they banged closed, reflecting his anger. “Did you make a deal with her? With Scarlet? Is that why you’re trying to use your power on her behalf?”

“You mean like ademonwould?” Helena asked, her eyebrows shifting to anger as she realized whathe meant.

“Did you?” He knew this trick, answering a question with a question. He wouldn’t let herdeter him.

“No!” she exclaimed. “I’m just trying tohelp her.”

“Like you tried to help Cindy?”

She huffed. “Yes, okay, I get what you’re saying, but it didn’t work. I don’t even think I helped Cindy. I’m going to need to call her and make sure she’s okay over at Charlie’s as it is. Why are you getting so angry at me?”

“Because I can’t understand how someone as wise and smart as you keeps insisting on doing things that will cause them harm. Spending what little power you have doing favors for every broken person in your life will only drag you back there.”

She looked questioningly. “Back where?”

“To hell!” he shouted, which forced her to press her hands to his mouth to shush him, glancing anxiously at the closed kitchen door.

“Keep your voice down! I don’t want Scarlet to hear,” she hissed.

She huffed a breath. “It’s not like I’m doing anything wrong trying tohelppeople. I haven’t done anything I wouldn’t have done before. Maybe how I’m doing it, but it’s only been a sliver of power, if at all. And for that matter, how is it any different when you usedyourdemonic powers tohelpme?”

“I was trying to get your soul!” he growled, but she waved her hand at that.

“No, you weren’t, not even a little bit, and we both know it,” she replied defiantly. “So why are you thinking I would do the same thing?”

“Because it’s the game,” he said.

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