He swallowed, not knowing how to respond. "Then it's good I prepared plenty." He scooped a generous portion onto his plate.
"Indeed." She twirled more noodles around her fork. "Are we supposed to leave some for your roommates?"
He shook his head. "They are not coming back tonight."
Tula arched a brow. "Oh? Where are they staying?"
"With their dates for tonight." Esag filled his mouth with pasta to give himself a moment. He was too nervous to taste what he was eating, but when he was done chewing, he twirled more noodles on his fork. "They are quite popular. There is a highdemand for unattached immortal males in the village. The clan ladies are all over them."
"What about you?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are they all over you as well?"
He chuckled. "They would have been, had I given them a chance, but I stay away from the bar where all the activity is happening."
"Why?" Her eyes were boring into his. "You are a bachelor."
He put his fork down and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "At first, I was obsessed with carving figurines of Khiann, Annani's mate, hoping to induce a vision about his whereabouts. She suspects that he's not dead but in stasis, and that the witnesses who testified to seeing Mortdh behead him had been compelled by Ahn to incriminate Mortdh."
Tula nodded. "She told Areana about her theory, but I doubt her father would have done that to her."
"Ahn was a complicated god. He often put politics, or what he regarded as the greater good, before personal needs. He could have decided that getting rid of Mortdh was more important than his daughter's feelings."
Tula sighed. "We've gotten off topic. So, you were obsessed with carving figurines of Khiann, and couldn't find time to visit the village bar and flirt a little?"
He held her gaze, letting her see the desire he'd been carefully banking all evening. "Perhaps I was waiting for you without knowing that I was waiting."
Tula's breath caught, but then she laughed. "You were saving yourself for me?"
"It would seem so."
"Based on visions and dreams?"
He shook his head. "I didn't expect anything of the kind after seeing you in my visions. I thought that you just needed my help." He put a hand over his chest. "I felt that you needed me. I just didn't know why and for what."
Tula regarded him for a long moment. "You waited for me in the submarine."
He nodded. "I thought you would appreciate seeing a familiar face, even if it was of someone you hated."
She chuckled. "I hated you for hurting Gulan, but I don't hate you anymore."
"I would hope so, or my seduction plans for tonight are misguided."
She put her fork down and leaned back. "Seduction plans. That sounds interesting. I don't think I've ever been seduced. It has always been me doing the seducing."
The air between them crackled with sudden tension.
"Then you are long overdue." He leaned forward and took her hand. "Let me show you what it's like to be with an immortal male. I can give you pleasure you've never experienced before."
"That's quite a promise," she said. "You sound very confident."
"I don't make empty promises. I have five thousand years of experience to be confident about." He smiled. "But I'm also nervous."
"Why?"
"Because this matters. You matter. You make me feel like a nervous boy again, desperate to impress, terrified of disappointing."
Her fingers tightened around his. "I know that you are not going to disappoint me." She met his eyes, and there was warmth there, and trust, and a hunger that was barely held in check. "But you need to stop talking and start delivering on those promises."
Esag laughed, the sound rough with desire. "So impatient." He stood, still holding her hand, and drew her to her feet. "And so direct. I love it."
