Page 30 of The Devil's Viking
So it was nothing but a shock when he smiled at her and said, “Yeah, OK, darlin’. Let’s go downstairs and put some coffee on. Now, Wolf didn’t say anything to me about you baking bread from scratch, but I guess you can, if you want.Doyou want?”
“You mean…” She blinked. “Are you asking me if Iwantto do something?”
“Yeah, of course. Do you like baking bread?”
“Huh.” She thought about it: nobody had ever asked her that before. “Well, actually… yes. Yes, I love baking bread. Muffins too.”
“Well, then,” Cain said. “Let’s go, darlin’. The kitchen awaits.”
**
Almost four hours later, Viking walked into Satan’s Bar to quickly check on Iris before his shift at Blue Dragon Ink. He was sure that she’d be a nervous wreck, seeing as it was her first day at a brand-new job. He imagined that she’d be going through some serious culture shock, having been in a cult for a year, and now surrounded by new people in a new place. The fact that these people were members of an MC would surely only add to her sense of uncertainty.
What he saw stopped his dead in his tracks.
Iris was standing at the bar talking to Cain, Dux and Drake. She looked a bit shy and quiet, but she was smiling at them. His brothers were sitting there drinking coffee and eating what looked like cake. Satan’s didn’t serve cake, was the confusing thing – it opened for lunch at noon and although Rebel never had a problem with whipping up breakfast, baked goods weren’t part of his culinary repertoire.
Perplexed, Viking walked over and Iris glanced up at his approach. When she saw that it was him, her face lit up and something in his chest responded to that look: she was smiling an open, genuine smile, and those stunning eyes glowed bright purple in her gorgeous face. The fact that she was looking athimlike this felt like a little gift.
“Hey, man,” Drake drawled. “Come and try Iris’ muffins.”
Viking looked sharply at him. The twins were notorious for their jokeydouble entendres, almost all of which had a sexual undertone. He didn’t usually mind – Dux and Drake were legitimately great guys, and they never intended any harm or offense – but he didn’t like the idea of them talking about sex around a woman who’d almost definitely just escaped a sexually abusive situation.
“What?” he said. “Iris, you bought muffins for everyone?”
“Nah, man,” Cain said. “She baked ‘em. The bread too.”
“You what?” Viking stared at the plate of a dozen muffins, at the three loaves of delicious-smelling bread sitting on the kitchen counter, wrapped in dish towels. “Youmadeall of this? When?”
“This morning,” she said shyly. “I woke up at five and asked Cain if I could do some baking.”
“Iris,” Viking said, strangely chagrined; he felt like she didn’t understand the expectations of her in terms of her new job. “You know, just because you work here, you don’t have to get up at some ungodly hour and start work five hours early.”
“Oh, I didn’t. It was four hours early.”
The twins snorted and Cain smiled behind his coffee cup. Viking blinked.
“OK,” Viking said. “But still…youdoknow that you don’t have to do this. Right? You can sleep in and relax and hang out and drink coffee before your shift starts. You’re not –” He broke off, suddenly realizing that saying something like ‘you’re not a slave anymore’ or ‘you’re not in a sex cult anymore’ probably wasn’t the most tactful way to get his point across. Thankfully, she seemed to know what he meant and she didn’t take offense.
“I know that I don’t have to,” she told him. “But in the Garden, the women-servants are up at five and straight to work. My main assigned task was the kitchen, so I’d start every morning in there, preparing my sisters’ tea and porridge, and the Guardians’ fresh bread. Even when I hated Gideon and I hated the Garden, I always loved my time in the kitchen. I’ve always cooked and baked, and I’d like to get back to it now – because Iwantto do it, not because Ihaveto. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, baby,” Viking said quietly. “It does.”
“OK, so…” She picked up the plate and offered it to him. “Blueberry muffin? Coffee?”
“Hell, yeah to both, but the coffee to take to work. Thank you.” He took a bite of the muffin. “This is awesome, Iris. Really delicious.”
She poured him a coffee in a to-go cup. “I’m glad. I wasn’t sure.”
“Why weren’t you sure?” Cain asked as he demolished half of his muffin in one bite. “Can’t you taste how great they are?”
“Oh. Oh, no. I don’t eat the muffins, or the bread. I’m not allowed.”
The men all stared at her and to a man, they were literally speechless. As expected, the twins recovered the power of speech first:
“Not allowed?” Dux repeated. “Not allowed?”
“Who the hell says so?” his brother demanded. “And where are they so I can kick their ass?”
