“Let me help you.” Asha made to leap up from her chair.
“Sit down,” he answered stubbornly, pushing on her shoulder until her ass hit the seat of the chair again. “I’m serving this time.”
“It’s your house. You shouldn’t have to do this,” Asha said uncomfortably.
“I want to.” He wanted to pile food in front of her until she could barely see over the top of the mound. She’d eat, and then she’d eat some more. He never wanted to see that look of longing on her face again unless it was sexual. And he’d be more than willing to satiate that need, too.
He piled the sandwich high, loading it with every kind of fixings he could find. After placing it in front of her, he placed a napkin beside her plate. Rifling through the cupboard, he started piling various boxes of crackers and chips on the table.
What else?
“What were you looking at when I came in?” he asked anxiously, ready to pile the whole damn refrigerator on the table.
“A chocolate cake,” she answered in a hushed and somewhat awed voice. “One with strawberries and slices of dark chocolate on top of the frosting.”
Kade grinned. “The chocolate-strawberry torte. My favorite. Mia picked it up at our favorite bakery.” He pulled it out and cut off two huge chunks and placed them on a plate, grabbed two forks and added the lot to the table. After pouring two tall glasses of milk, he finally sat, noticing that Asha was still staring at the food on the table. “Eat,” he prompted. “If you don’t devour that food yourself, I swear I’ll wrestle you to the ground and force-feed you. You’re never going hungry again. You’re going to walk around stuffed every minute of the day,” he told her earnestly.
Kade grinned as Asha put a hand to her mouth and stifled a giggle. “I can’t eat all of this,” she said, sounding amused.
Kade looked at the table piled high with food. “Eat as much as you can. That’s part of your job from now on. No more skimping on food. I’ll consider it an insult if you don’t eat. There are obviously still things in your past that you need to recognize as wrong and get over them. We’re resolving the food issue right fucking now.”
She took a healthy sip of milk and started in on her monstrous sandwich. Kade opened a bag of chips and started feeding them to her between bites of her sandwich. Halfway through the sandwich he’d created, she pushed the plate away and put a hand to her flat belly. “I’m full.”
Kade snatched the other half of the sandwich from the plate and pushed the cake in front of her. “Eat.” Picking up the fork, he put it in her hand.
Her eyes lit up as she cut off a tiny piece. “I haven’t eaten a lot of chocolate. This looks almost sinful.”
Kade grinned at her, catching her eyes and holding them for a moment. “It is. But sinning can be so much more fun than being good all the time.” He wolfed down the rest of the sandwich and started on his piece of cake.
He watched her while she ate, the rapt expression on her face almost erotic. She ate like she was climaxing every time she took a bite of the pastry, closing her eyes and savoring it before letting it slowly slide down her throat. His burgeoning cock twitched every time she let out a satisfied hum of pleasure.
I’m screwed. Every damn thing she does turns me on.
He yanked his eyes away from her, studying his own nearly empty plate. “Don’t do something like this again, Asha. If you need or want something, all you have to do is say so. What happened to you wasn’t right. You have to ask for what you want. I won’t deny you anything. It makes me happy to please you,” he said huskily.
“That confuses me,” she admitted, pushing her empty plate away from her. “I’m not used to it.”
“Get used to it,” he said, shooting her a warning glance.
“I probably could. Very easily.” She got up and started putting things away. “And I won’t be with you forever. I’m not sure I really should get used to it. Life isn’t easy out there, Kade. Not for a woman struggling to survive.”
She’d never be struggling again. She’d never have to worry about where her next meal was coming from or where her next job would be. He’d make sure of it. “Your life isn’t going to be like that again. You have family now. You have me.”
He got up and put the dishes in the dishwasher, banging them a little harder than necessary, trying to get a grasp on his instinct to grab her up and make her his until she was completely convinced.
“I’m glad I have friends and family now. But I need to be able to know I can rely on myself,” she answered stubbornly. “Putting my life into other people’s hands hasn’t been good for me.”