Max stood disheveled and dusted in rosemary, contemplating some of the worst spaghetti bolognese in the world. She was wondering whether it would affect her pay if anyone actually died from her cooking. It had been sprung on her that everyone took a night to cook, with no exceptions. Despite her assurances that there
would
be food poisoning, she had not been able to get out of it. Grey had found her a recipe for spag bol and had told her it was 'the easiest thing in the world to cook' and that 'no one could get it wrong'. He was about to eat his words.
In the week following her arrival at the house she had gone to Jess for help finding clothes and been emphatically turned away - Jess did not enjoy shopping although Grey had leapt at the chance to spend a little of Gabriel's money. She'd brought more clothes than she'd ever owned before, along with some fun new toys including a new set of her beloved lock picks. Max had fallen into a routine in the house, mostly avoiding Gabriel, and spending vast amounts of time in the forest.
Being a city slicker her whole life meant that she had missed out on the whole outdoors experience, and was now making up for lost time. She climbed trees, explored tunnels, hunted animals (although she had yet to kill anything), and ran like a crazy thing through all the trees. She was pretty sure she looked like a big dope, but she really didn't care. She fully intended to be back in the city before the end of the month - although for some reason she had not told Gabriel to go ahead on replacing her apartment.
"Cheese makes everything taste better." She decided.
She would cover everything in cheese, it would cover up the overcooked pasta, and the odd burnt minty taste in the sauce. She wasn't entirely sure how the mint got in there but had decided it was somewhere between dropping the entire box of dried rosemary onto her head, and realizing there shouldn't have been any eggs involved in the pasta sauce (everything was a bit fuzzy in-between those points.)
Serving it up on the table she noticed everyone looked as perplexed as she felt by the meal. Except for Gabriel. He was looking at her like he wanted to lick her clean and then eat her. At that thought she felt her knees go a little weak. She distracted herself by passing out plates.
"Why does it smell minty?" Michael asked uneasily.
Max sighed. "I really don't know. I did warn you..."
She probably didn't help matters by only grabbing a tiny portion of pasta and mince, and covering the entire concoction in cheese. The others followed her lead, Grey and Gabriel optimistically opting for a slightly larger portion. The meal was as bad as it smelt, and no one ate much - Christina only took a small mouthful of the minty sauce before excusing herself to 'find something edible'.
Looking around the faces at the table (most were trying valiantly to suppress their amusement) she grinned.
"Please don't eat it.. Its awful. How about banana splits? I'm good at those... No mint..."
"Ok!" Jess exclaimed immediately clearing her plate.
Gabriel, Michael, and Grey looked relieved, and they all followed her to the kitchen, dumping the plates of uneaten food in the bucket for the compost heap.
"Kitten I really didn't think you were serious about how terrible you are at cooking. I'm more than happy to give you a few lessons." Gabriel grinned suggestively at her.
"Ah, no. How about we don't. What if I just didn't cook? I can do the dishes every night - I don't mind." Max reasoned - there was no need to spend more time with Gabriel than she needed to.
"Nope we have a system... Everyone cooks." Grey piped up looking pleased with himself.
Max privately thought the system sucked, and was likely to get someone killed. She kept that to herself as she made desert for everyone.
Jess, Grey and Michael took a seat at the breakfast bar, and she sat up on the bench facing them to eat her ice cream. To her annoyance Gabriel leaned against the counter next to her, his hip resting against her leg. She stubbornly refused to move, or even acknowledge the heat seeping from his body into her leg.
As they ate Gabriel informed them about his cousin Rider and the woman under his protection - Alexia Devon. Alexia was a member of the royal family, but was declared illegitimate when her mother was found out having an affair with a Theris. The Theris family had lead and almost won an uprising against the council and Devon's, and now Alexia was at risk of being culled with the rest of them. Rider and Alexia would be coming to stay at the house in an attempt to keep her away from the council - although no one was sure if she was actually a target yet.
One by one the others left the kitchen, but for some perverse reason Max stuck around. She told herself that she was just going to finish her ice cream, but even she didn't believe that.
"What do you mean by the fact she's under Rider's protection?" Max asked, intrigued by the phrase and wanting to know what Rider and Alexia's relationship was. If nothing else she was nosy.
Gabriel dropped his plate into the dishwasher and did the same for hers. "He was acting in a sort of a bodyguard/ older brother role with her I think. Although they never really got along and her main bodyguard was looking after them both. It sounds like Jeremy has had to return to the court in Aruba to try keep her hidden on that end, and Rider has taken over main bodyguard duties here in Dartmouth.
"I'll bet he's having loads of fun too. Alexia doesn't listen to anybody except Jeremy, and she's got one hell of a temper... She could give me a run for my money in a fight - she's not as strong but she's crafty. And Rider's just as stroppy when it comes to her."
Gabriel frowned for a second remembering his phone call with Rider. "Actually he's always had a bit of a thing for her, but I don't think..."
He shrugged "Nah. Would you like to come for a run with me?"
Max paused in the middle of sliding off the bench. Being alone with the big bad and sexy cat wasn't the best idea. Probably.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow at her and slid his tee shirt over his head. "The forest is beautiful this time of night..."
That decided it for her, it hadn't occurred to her to play in the forest at night... Living in the city had had its effect on her obviously. She followed Gabriel to the main back door and dropped her clothes in a pile on the deck, changing quickly before he could turn to see her nakedness. For some reason she was feeling a little shy about her body with him.
She waited while he slipped out of his pants and shifted to his cat form in front of her. He was bigger, with those same intense eyes, graceful strong body, and inky hair. Instead of setting off immediately, he explored her in her cat form, crowding her, circling her, taking in her scent, even lapping at her face, and rubbing his large side down hers - absorbing the feel of her and taking on her scent. She tried to evade him, but in the end gave in to the insistent large cat.
Once Gabriel had memorized her he led her into the woods. She was gorgeous as a cat. He'd seen her on that first day crouched above the street and playing in the woods from a distance but had given her her space - despite his curiosity.
