Chapter 264: Chapter Two Hundred And SixtyThree
She slowly turned her head and stole a quick, suspicious glance at Damon. She looked at his rolled-up sleeves. She looked at his bare forearms. She saw a tiny, faint spot of white flour near his elbow.
Camilla thought to herself, her internal voice bewildered.
"What is he doing in the kitchen?" Camilla thought, staring at his arm. "He is a military commander! He fights wars! He does not cook! And they actually allowed him in there?"
Her instincts flared to life.
"Something unusual must definitely be going on," she concluded in her mind. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the food in front of her. "Men like him do not just wake up and decide to bake pastries. This is a trap."
The maids finished serving the food. They placed a small plate in front of Camilla. The plate held a piece of warm bread, some sweet fruit, and a slice of roasted meat.
Damon watched her suspicious face. He gestured his hand politely toward her plate.
"Have a taste, my lady," Damon said softly. His deep voice was calm and encouraging.
Camilla looked down at the food on her plate. Then, she looked up at Damon.
She slowly shook her head from side to side.
Camilla thought to herself. Her internal voice was highly alert.
"I won’t take a single bite," She promised herself firmly.
She stared at the roasted meat. She remembered a very specific, very terrible morning from weeks ago. She remembered when she had forced Damon to eat a bowl of porridge.
She laughed internally. It was a knowing laugh.
"You think you can poison me?" Camilla challenged him silently in her mind.
"I know exactly what he is doing," her thoughts continued, analyzing his supposed plan. "He wants to take revenge. He is taking revenge for when I flooded his morning porridge with half a jar of salt! He wants to make me sick today just like I tried to make him sick."
She glared at the innocent-looking food.
"Ha!" Camilla scoffed in her mind. "I won’t make it easy for you."
She looked at Damon and smiled a sweet, polite smile.
"I am sorry, my lord," Camilla spoke out loud. Her voice was gentle and apologetic. "I won’t be able to savor the beautiful dish you prepared for me."
She raised her hand and placed it gently over her stomach, pressing slightly against her dress. She put on a face of mild discomfort.
"I do not feel good in my stomach today," Camilla lied smoothly. "I think I need to rest it."
Hearing her complain about stomach pain, Mr. Murry quickly stepped forward. The old housekeeper’s face was filled with concern.
"Are you fine, my lady?" Murry asked worriedly, wringing his hands together. "Should I send a fast rider to the capital city to call Doctor Aris immediately?"
Camilla shook her head slowly, keeping her hand pressed against her stomach to maintain the act.
"I am fine, Uncle Murry. It is just a minor ache," Camilla reassured him.
Damon stood up slowly from his chair.
He walked around the edge of the table. His tall, broad body cast a shadow over the polished wood. He walked to Camilla’s chair on the left side.
He stood right beside her.
Before Camilla could ask what he was doing, Damon reached his hand out. He picked up the fork resting next to her plate.
He dipped the fork into her food and picked up a small piece of the roasted meat that had been placed on her plate.
Damon lifted the fork to his own mouth and took a bite of her food, chewing the meat slowly and swallowed it. He did not flinch. He did not gag. He did not show any signs of poison.
He kept holding the fork and looked down into Camilla’s wide, shocked eyes.
"Don’t worry," Damon spoke softly. His voice was slightly amused. "It’s not poisoned."
Camilla stared at him. Her mouth dropped open slightly.
He had destroyed her excuse. By eating the food off her plate, using her own fork, he had proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that the meal was safe. He had called her bluff entirely.
Camilla quickly tried to save her face. She could not let him know that she actually suspected him of poisoning her.
Camilla chuckled. It was a soft, nervous, tight sound.
"My lord," Camilla said quickly, shaking her head. She forced her polite smile to grow wider. "Please refrain from such strange jokes. How could you think like that?"
She placed both hands on her lap, sitting up straight.
"I would never suspect you of poisoning me," Camilla lied, her voice dripping with fake sincerity. "I was just so deeply moved by the amount of work put into the preparation of this meal... that I felt a sudden, slight pain in my stomach from the overwhelming emotion."
Damon did not walk back to his own chair.
Instead, he crouched down right beside her.
He bent his legs, lowering his body until his face was level with hers. He was so close that she could see the tiny, faded white scars on his bare forearms. She could smell the clean, sharp scent of his soap.
Damon picked up the fork again. He stabbed a larger cooked piece of the roasted meat from her plate.
He held the fork up, offering the food toward her lips.
"Then try the roasted meat," Damon urged her softly. His dark brown eyes were intensely focused on her face. His voice was gentle, almost pleading. "I heard from Uncle Murry that it is your favorite."
Camilla looked at the piece of meat on the fork. Steam was still rising from it. It smelled good. Her empty stomach gave another tiny, silent rumble of desperate hunger.
Camilla closed her eyes tightly. She prepared herself for the worse.
She leaned forward slightly, opened her mouth and took the bite of meat from the fork he was holding.
She closed her mouth, chewed slowly, waiting for the terrible taste to hit her tongue.
But the terrible taste never came.
Instead, an explosion of rich flavors flooded her mouth. The roasted meat was tender. It melted instantly on her tongue. It was seasoned flawlessly with savory herbs, a hint of sweet honey, and just the right amount of salt. It was not dry. It was not burnt. It was just delicious.
Camilla’s eyes snapped open immediately.
Her eyes widened in delight.
She chewed the meat quickly and swallowed it. She stared at the plate in front of her. She could not believe what she had just tasted.
Without waiting for Damon to offer her another bite, Camilla quickly reached out her own hand. She grabbed her knife and a second fork. She cut another large piece of the roasted meat.
She put it into her mouth. She took another bite. It tasted just as perfect as the first.
She did not stop. She reached for a sweet honey pastry. She took a bite of that, too. Then she took another bite of the meat. She ate rapidly, completely abandoning her polite noble manners. She was starving, and the food was genuinely just too good.
Camilla looked down at Damon, who was still crouching patiently beside her chair.
She chewed her food. She stared at him and thought to herself in surprise. Her internal voice was filled with amazement.
"So," Camilla thought, her mind changing its opinion of the man beside her. She looked at the way his shirt stretched across his chest.
"He is not just some rich, strong, sexy, and handsome man," Camilla analyzed internally, listing all of his positive qualities without any hesitation.
She took another bite of the delicious roasted meat.
"He also knows the second best way to a woman’s heart," Camilla’s thoughts continued, feeling incredibly satisfied by the meal. "Food. He knows food. And he is very, very good at it. This is absolutely amazing."
Damon looked at her chewing the food happily.
A wide warm smile spread slowly across his face.
He whispered gently, feeling a bit ashamed. " I only made the orange juice. The rest were so hard to do."
Camilla smiled, she swallowed and spoke, " Is that so? I hope it won’t disappoint me."
Damon’s smile widened even more but that smile was soon about to fade.
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