“To whiskey and Warrior friends,” he lifts his drink in the air, “welcome to Knowledge!”
Our group salutes in cheers, pulling even more eyes from the tables around us as people look on in curiosity. We all grin and down our drinks without care, Alanna and the men from Warrior slamming their glasses on the table as they always do when they’re empty.
Our group is certainly the liveliest bunch as we move into the early night. We keep the drinks flowing and the conversation going, all of uslaughing and enjoying the dinner as we continue to garner stares from the tables around us. I find that I welcome the looks and half whispers as the night goes on, and take pride in our group of humans and Discerni, male and female, Knowledge and Warrior. Everyone at our table is just appreciating the company of the other, the ten of us just enjoying the moment without any expectations as to what ought to be.
“He skipped?” Sera laughs.
“Skipped,” I nod, my grin wide, “a few long steps. Even added a little twirl at the end before he fell to the ground.”
“I will kill you,” Cal groans into his whiskey.
“At this point you might as well own it and move on,” I shrug, “it’s only funny because I see how uncomfortable the story makes you.”
“Was it like this, then?”
Cal stands up suddenly, his big body towering over the table as he takes a few steps back. He hitches his legs in front of him and sways his arms at his sides, the full of him looking absolutely ridiculous but making our table burst out in laughter.
“Definitely more graceful tonight, I’ll give you that,” I smile as he sits back down.
“You’re sure he fights hand to hand?” Alanna leans towards Holis with a cool grin, “that guy?”
I snort into my ale as Cal sighs heavily.
“Who did I piss off in life to have the two of you ladies so prominent in it?”
I reach up and pat Cal’s shoulder, “better yet, where would we be in life without our big man friend who likes to skip?”
“I think I should like lessons,” Alanna pushes her shoulder into his with a grin.
“Kill you both,” Cal grumbles.
I laugh and look back up to the King’s table, my gaze instantly landing on Keane.
He’s watching me again, brown eyes finding mine with a mischievous glint flashing behind them. He sends me a smirk before bringing his own whiskey up to his lips, the curve of his smile drawing me in as I stare openly at him from my seat.
I sigh and bite the inside of my lip, hating that he’s so close and yet so far. I just want to touch him, to take him back to my room and show him just how much I’ve missed the two of us together.
Keane nods as if reading my sigh, his brown eyes piercing mine from across the room as he leans back in his own chair with a grin. He looks absolutely regal tonight, the full of his presence and his dark attire giving him the air of a King. His broad and sculpted chest still peeks out from that cut in his satin shirt, and I can’t stop from biting my lip again when I see the hint of his black chain hanging low around his neck. He looks too damn good here, sitting in Bardot’s Court as a Warrior and the rightful heir of Disce. I can’t tear my eyes off him.
Keane stares back at me and runs one of his fingers around the rim of his whiskey glass. The movement is slow and deliberate, teasing me from afar as I envision that finger on my back as he does in Gaumond. I shift in my seat and watch him chuckle in response, the Prince knowing exactly what kind of effect that single movement has on me right now.
Damn him.
I tear my gaze away from his glass and hold his brown eyes in challenge, a smirk of my own playing at the corners of my lips. Keane’s eyes widen just slightly when I bring a hand daintily up to my chest, my own fingers grazing softly over the curve of my breasts as if I’m adjusting my dress.
Trouble,he mouths.
I give him the smallest of nods and watch him cover his next smirk with his drink. I dip my fingers lower and grin when his eyes follow their trail down the middle of my dress. Keane grips his whiskey tight when my hand disappears beneath the table, the intensity behind his gaze making me shiver and press my thighs together. I can feel his desire from across the room, can see the narrow look in his eyes that tells me he wants to take me away. Every angle of his body is pointed directly towards mine, and I have no doubt that if anyone followed where his eyes are now resting, they’ll see me angled just the same at him.
I take a steady breath and avert my eyes with difficulty.
If only…
If only the situation of him was different and I could have him next to me, his hand and arm snaked around the back of my chair as his fingers played against my skin. If only we were in Gaumond where he felt comfortable enough to touch me, regardless of whatever our relationship may be.
To be fair to Keane though, he did have Desmond warn me. We were no longer traveling and no longer in his Court, and he had to play Prince Heir tonight.
But damn,if only.
