DECEMBER 6, 2007

Better then Cake
By Misa Izanaki

Alec double checked the Christmas tree, making sure nothing fragile or semi edible could be snagged by the cats.   Well, one of them at least.  Link, the sleek, silver tabby that showed up on their doorstep a few months ago, was Valen’s familiar, so he knew better then to eat anything off the tree.  Max on the other hand was just a cat and about as dim as they come.  He was a sweet, fluffy boy, who loved his people to death but it was a good thing Link was around to keep him out of trouble. 

He stepped over the cats who were both sprawled on the floor, dozing and headed into the kitchen.  Alec caught sight of his pretty, blond lover puttering around the kitchen.  That made him grin.  Valen was a wizard and a pretty powerful one at that.  Working magic was as easy as breathing for him, but he still preferred to do most things without magic and that included the cooking.  Something about things always tasting better when they were hand made instead of conjured up.

Alec crept in behind his lover and slipped his arms around Valen’s slim waist. “I thought I’d find you in here.”

Valen leaned back and kissed Alec on the cheek. “I thought I’d make something for that office potluck of yours.”

“You don’t have too, I could have thrown something together…”
           
“Something edible, love.” Valen teased.

“Let me guess, you’re making that fat cake of yours aren’t you?”

“I wish you would stop calling it that… it’s a gooey butter cake, with bits of candy cane to make it more Christmasy.” Valen dumped an entire box of powdered sugar into the whipped cream cheese in his bowl.  “I promised Maggie and the other vet techs that I’d make it.”

Alec nibbled on a pale bit of neck teasingly. “You never make me fat cake…”

“No, because I know you’ll eat it all.” Valen shifted and held a finger covered in creamy, sugary goodness to Alec’s lips. “But you can have a taste.”

“Mmm, that’s good.” Green eyes fluttered closed as Alec sucked on his lover’s finger. “You still taste better.”

“But you can’t feed me to your co-workers, love.”

“No, but I could sweep you off to the bedroom and--” Alec whispered the rest of it, making Valen blush brightly.  Good lord, he loved doing that.

“Well, once I have this together we’ll have about 45 minutes to kill while it bakes.” Valen gasped as Alec’s hand slid lower, rubbing against his groin.  Half his crushed candy canes ended up on the counter instead of in the batter, but Valen was too distracted to notice. “Alec…”

“Sounds like more then enough time for a little fun.” Alec grinned as those sweet blue eyes glanced at him hungrily.  Oh, that got him going.   They weren’t going to make it to the bedroom. “Hurry up and finish your cake, so I can nail that pretty ass to the counter.”

Valen threw the rest of the mixture together and sprinkled the whole thing with more crushed candy before sliding it into the oven. He was about to rinse out his mixing bowl when Alec stopped him.  All that creamy stuff was too good to waste.

“Mmm, I’ll bet this would taste really good on you.”

“You are going to give yourself a stomach ache.” Valen complained, but it didn’t stopping him from getting naked, which suited Alec just fine.

Alec smeared a little batter on his lover’s bare chest and leaned in to lick it off. “Well, then we’ll have a good excuse for leaving the pot luck early, hmm?”

“Oh, I do like the way you think, love.”

 Valen’s Gooey Peppermint Butter Cake aka Peppermint Fat Cake

Cake:
1 box devils food cake mix
1 large egg
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), melted

Mix together cake mix, egg and butter and pat into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Filling:
1 package cream cheese (8 oz)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 box powdered sugar (16oz)
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), melted
1 cup crushed candy canes or other peppermint candies

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the powdered sugar and beat well. Reduce speed and slowly pour in the butter.  Fold in the candy bits.

Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly.  Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the edges are set but the center is still a little gooey.

Cool completely and cut into small squares.

Misa Izanaki is the author of the Taste Test: Familiar Magic. Take 15% off until 12-9-07 and explore this new author's work.