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Annie practically beamed at him. He was actually sort of joining in the conversation with his estranged son! Way to go, Red!
She looped an arm around Merlin’s substantial bicep and patted the rock-hard muscle.
“Big meat for big men,” she cooed. “You know, you two look so much alike. And with your immortal youth, you could be brothers.”
Wolfe and Merlin glanced briefly at each other, then quickly looked away again. It was hard to tell whether they were pleased by the observation or not.
Rui leaned over and added under her breath, “Big men with big meat. Aren’t we lucky.”
Annie barked out a startled laugh, swiveling around to look at the woman, who faced forward as if nothing happened, her face as placid and cool as an iced-over lake.
You gotta look out for those quiet ones, Annie firmly believed. They often had the most…unexpected revelations.
But very true, as she could attest to herself.
She beamed even more brightly at Red, her grin taking on a hint of naughtiness.
He arched a dark brow at her and quirked those firm, full lips beneath his beard. Oh yeah, he knew exactly what she was thinking about.
But they were in public at the dinner table, so she couldn’t tear his clothes off and appreciate his “meat” up close and personal. So, she turned back to the group at large and asked what everyone felt like having.
Rui picked out a salad with a side of shrimp. Both Wolfe and Red got their Tomahawk steaks with baked potatoes heaped with garlic butter and green beans cooked with bacon. Arthur chose a T-bone, and Lancelot chose a fish. Annie ordered a large salad and soup for herself, and they shared a few appetizers amongst them so that the immortals could try new dishes.
Annie was now immortal too, thanks to being mated to Red. But she didn’t feel any different. She didn’t get pimples any more, which was a relief. She didn’t get sick either, though she’d always been healthy as a horse. She recovered from wounds much faster, and she didn’t have to chug down a giant carafe of coffee to wake up in the morning.
Otherwise, she was exactly the same. She supposed she’d consider herself “human” for the rest of her days. Well, a human who was also a fire witch.
Conversation didn’t exactly flow across the table, where Red and Wolfe sandwiched Annie and Rui in the middle of a long booth, and Lance and Arthur sat across from them, plenty of distance separating the two men.
Annie always preferred to sit next to Red instead of across. She never understood why couples did this before. When she’d been “dating,” she thought that it would be most logical for a couple to sit across from each other. The better to have a conversation, looking into each other’s eyes, instead ofawkwardly looking sideways and crowding into each other’s space.
But now that she was forever mated to Red, she had no concept of personal space anymore. She wanted to touch him all the time, whether a clasp of hands, or hugging his arm, or snuggling against his side. She saw that Rui was the same, though the other woman made everything appear more nonchalant, more elegant, not like she was trying to climb her mate like a tree.
Meanwhile, Arthur and Lance’s body language made them look like two fiercely attracted, oppositely polarized magnets who were forcibly trying to pull away from each other. The laws of nature would make them one, but they clearly didn’t agree with those laws.
It looked like an exhausting, futile endeavor.
Annie did her best to keep the stilted dialogue going, and when all else failed, she chattered happily about random topics that caught her interest. Funny tidbits about Mayfair that she looked up on Google. Commentary about their food and the variety of flavors. Asking about how Arthur and Lance liked their jog around the surrounding area.
“So, you made it to the Thames and saw Big Ben!” she chirped, delighted.
“I had that on our agenda to do tomorrow, first thing. And the parks look lovely in the hotel guides. I thought we’d do all that in the morning, have a late brunch, and tour the Victoria and Albert Museum in the afternoon before dinner in Chinatown.”
No one at the table objected to her plans.
“That takes care of day two of our trip. What would you all like to do after that?” Annie tried to solicit input from the group. She could be flexible with their itinerary.
Silence reigned for a while, but just before Annie was about to jump into the gap again with recommendations, Arthur said, “I am curious… I have been listening to audio books about my age, the Dark Ages, as it is dubbed by many, though I would object to this labeling. The facts are bare. I am surprised by how historians have interpreted past events. I would like to visit Caerleon if we could. See with my own eyes how the people have fared.”
Annie was astounded at first by the length of Arthur’s monologue. Then, thrilled to have his participation and input.
“Of course! Ben gave me a download about his trip to the past to find the Stone Heart. I want to see the fabled Camelot too, in whatever form it exists today.”
Arthur frowned slightly.
“Camelot…the name is used in many stories. It is a fantasy. I stopped listening when they wove such egregious falsehoods around my sister Morgan and my w—”
He cut himself off abruptly, his expression darkening like a thundercloud.
