Burn (Heat #1)(23)

"I have to work Tuesday." I correct him with a tap of my fingers on his chest. We're both still nude, our bodies tangled together as we work to catch our breath. "Thursday is my next day off."

"I changed the schedule. I want you to go to the garden with me."

I rest my chin on my hand as I study his face. "Why are we going to the garden? Is there a new harvest of Marglobes you need me to sample?"

He runs the pad of his thumb over my brow. "I want your input on a few things."

I eye him, trying to decipher what the words mean. After Brendon left Axel with his tail between his legs, for the second time, I thought we'd talk about it. I tried, but Tyler changed the subject to the raspberry coulis that one of the sous chefs had prepared the night before during service.

He was unhappy with it, his nostrils flaring with controlled anger when he told me that the pastry chef in charge of that station had failed when they approved the coulis and it made its way onto several dessert plates. When the complaints inevitably started inundating the kitchen, Tyler had slammed his fist against the counter.

It was a powerful, intense sound meant to jar everyone in the kitchen to attention. It worked. We all stood in silence as he tasted the foul mixture before he asked the sous chef at fault whether she thought it was acceptable.

She visibly shook as she confessed she hadn't sampled it. When the pastry chef admitted that he hadn't either, Tyler took them both to his office. I expected neither to come back to the kitchen but they had. They reworked the coulis and when Chef sampled it, he complimented them both on a job well done.

"You've been improving, Cadence." He rubs his fingers over my bare shoulder. "Not in bed. I don't think there's any room for improvement there. Fucking you is incredible."

My face warms with his words. He hadn't complained when I took his cock between my lips when he first got here. Between clenched teeth he told me to stop as he neared his release. I sheathed him myself this time, taking care with his cock, stroking it hard before I rubbed the tip against my clit.

He took over then, his fingers digging into the flesh of my hips as he f*cked me relentlessly.

I nuzzle my face against his chest. "Fucking you is just as incredible."

He kisses my forehead, the touch light and tender. It's the stark opposite of his kisses earlier when they were needy and intense, his teeth as aggressive as mine. The bite mark on my shoulder is lingering proof of the strength of his desire.

"I want to show you something." He arches his back off my bed. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" I ask past the sudden knot in my stomach. "Are you leaving?"

"I'm putting my pants on." He steps into one leg of his jeans. "I don't want to step out of your bedroom in the nude and scare your roommate."

Sophia wouldn’t be scared. She'd thank me if she caught a glimpse of Tyler naked. I can attest to that as I stare up at his body. His back is turned to me. The man's ass is solid, his back evidence of time in a gym.

"Don't move, Cadence. I'll be back in a flash." He leans both hands on my bed as his lips sweep over mine. I taste myself on his lips before he pulls away.

***

"How long have you had this?" I stare down at his tablet.

"This particular one?" he asks as he tugs my back into his chest. "I've had it for six months, but I've been jotting down recipes for more than ten years."

I'm stunned, not by the fact that he has such an extensive collection of recipes, but that each has notes, and pointed details about the preparation of the dish.

I'm essentially looking inside his brilliant mind. There are recipes on this tablet that I know would blow the culinary world away, yet not one of them is on the menu at Nova.

"Why aren't we serving this?" I look into his face. "This sounds incredible, Chef."

He glances at the tablet's screen and the recipe for seared duck breast. "I'm not completely happy with that. It needs some tweaking."

I scan the list of ingredients. It's extensive, yet it's obvious that each adds a complementary element to the dish. "I'd love to taste this."

"We can cook it together." His hand glides up my bare thigh. "You'd be the first person, besides me, to taste it."

He can't know how much that would mean to me. I know he views me as a junior chef who works for him, but I want more. I want him to see my talent for what it is. I want him to value my opinion as much as I value his.

"Keep this for a day or two, Cadence." He taps his finger on the edge of the tablet's screen. "Choose a few recipes you want to cook with me and then we'll do that, together, just promise me that you won't share it with anyone."

I smile as the room is engulfed in a comfortable silence. This is it. This is the moment when I know he trusts me as much as I trust him.





CHAPTER 24


I'd woken in a state of bliss. I'd fallen fast asleep after we'd made love again. It had been intense and slow. Tyler had tugged the tablet from my hands after I pointed out three recipes I wanted to cook on the spot.

He kissed me as his fingers ran over my cleft. I'd fallen into his touch, and under his spell, as he brought me to orgasm before we f*cked slow and easy. Our lips touched, our breath mingled. It was beautiful, softer than the other times and when I was drifting off to sleep he told me we make a good team.