He smiled proudly. “You could drink with the best of them, my lady.”
The sound of a man’s deep laughter settled around her like a favored blanket. Michael appeared at the doorway and gazed at her lying in bed. “What more will I learn about you in the days to come?”
“I cannot wait to get out of this bed.”
His smile remained as he stepped inside. “Why? I like you in it.”
John slipped out of the room with a smile on his weathered face.
“I can carry you to our bed, where you belong. Your wound is no longer bleeding.”
“I can walk.” She smiled at him, and if she ever thought her smiles didn’t affect him, she was greatly mistaken. He seemed to go soft. Maybe she hadn’t seen it because he hadn’t gone soft with anyone else.
He reached the side of the bed and bent to carefully scoop her up. “No wife of mine will walk after she’s been shot.”
She laughed softly into his neck. “I miss you at my side in bed.”
“I’ll jump in beside you when we reach our bed,” he promised, kissing her forehead.
“Ah,” breathed Mr. Simeon, popping in in front of them and blocking their path to the bedroom. “It is wonderful to see the brooch succeeded yet again.”
“Simeon,” Michael muttered, though Charlotte knew he was happy to see him. “Then the knights haven’t found you?”
“No,” the traveler laughed and actually wrung his hands together. “I am enjoying leading them on a merry duck chase.”
Michael didn’t bother correcting his use of the term but smiled and stepped around him.
Simeon hurried in front of him again. “I probably won’t be around much.”
“Oh?”
“The brooch went out again yesterday. To a woman in New York City yet again. Another of Arthur Pendragon’s relatives called Camelee Pendrey. She’s an actress who is making a name for herself. Well, shewasmaking a name for herself.”
“Right,” Michael agreed. Pendrey. Another Pendragon. Who was she? Another sister? An aunt, niece? “Now she’ll be another missing person case on someone’s desk. Do me a favor and keep your eye on her if you can.”
“I intend to,” Simeon informed him with a smile. “I’m now invested in all this, so I want to see where it leads.”
“Any word on Lord Surrey?” Michael asked. “If you’re right and he’s Mordred…” Should he tell Simeon about Charles Lancaster? No. He was warned to tell no one. Simeon might not be Arthur’s magician friend. But he had a strong feeling that Mordred would find his way to Arthur. “Look in my time, in New York City, for Mordred. You have to find him.”
“Why? What do you know? Quickly, tell me! I must leave.”
“Will we see you again, Mr. Simeon?” Charlotte asked him. “You have become a trusted friend.”
“Have I?” he asked.
“New York City,” Michael told him quickly not sure if he heard. “Arthur’s there.”
Alone again, Michael and Charlotte looked at each other and smiled.
He carried her to their bedroom and set her down gently on the bed, then jumped in beside her.
He told her the latest about Preston’s men and to how many he’d given second chances. Many joined the force, thankful that Preston’s constant hand was off them.
“You’re a good man, Michael,” she told him softly as he began to undress her. “If what I have read about King Arthur is true, you are sure to be his son.”
He kissed her mouth, snatching up her breath. “It’s you who makes me a better man. I intend to kiss every part of you and show you how grateful I am.”
She shook her head. “You were good before you got here, or the world from which you came would not have affected you so.”
