I pushed my chair back, got settled, and started to play. I chose a tried-and-true ballad, slow and romantic. Guaranteed to make people sigh. I have a good singing voice, thanks to my father, and I worked it, dropping into a baritone to send those deep vibrations shooting toward my target. Around us, the air filled with soothing music, the notes rolling upward and down in an audio undulation that, instead of inspiring swaying, melted the muscles and lured the mind into another world. I sang about two lovers, separated by distance and circumstance. How they longed for each other, ached to hold each other. At first, I kept my stare on my guitar but when I felt his interest spike, I lifted my gaze and hit him with mylook—the one I gave the men I wanted to fuck. The heavy, sensual stare that said,I see you, all of you, and I want you badly.
The Falcon Lord flinched, his eyes twitching as if I'd physically assaulted him. I nearly smiled, would have if he hadn't affected me in nearly the same way. Instead, I fell into the music, the soft chords seducing me as I seduced him. Those eyes, wide and full with surprised wonder, were so fucking beautiful. His lips parted, the fuller lower one begging to be bit, and his chest rose and fell with his rapid breaths. I wanted to chuck the guitar aside and jump across the table.
Instead, I kept singing. I kept urging the tender tones from the guitar and wrapping us in the mystery only music could evoke. I looked down a few times, just to play it cool, but kept returning to his glittering gaze. It heated as I sang, then scoured me as if searching for a weakness, making me shift my hair so my long bangs partially hid me. I could see the falcon in him—its cunning, predator plans forming—and part of me felt a dangerous triumph for making this man resort to seduction, something he'd proclaimed to never do. That was the calculation I was witnessing; the plotting of a man in lust. A man intent on having someone in the most carnal way.
My song stopped, the last chord hanging in the air between us, and we just stared at each other. The Falcon Lord's hand clenched on his armrest and his body tensed as if in preparation for a leap.
“My lord, dinner is here,” one of his guards walked in and broke the tension.
The Falcon Lord took a gasping breath as if surfacing from a deep pool and looked over at his knight. “Very good,” he said breathlessly and waved in the soldiers who were waiting with platters of food.
One of the soldiers who walked in was Vanessa, and she widened her eyes at me as she laid a platter of sauteed vegetables before me. I winked back at her. Vanessa pressed her lips together to hold in her laughter and hurried out. After the servers had departed, I looked back at the Falcon Lord to find him scowling.
“What?” I asked.
“I thought you were gay?”
“I am.”
“Then why did you wink at that woman?”
Oh, wow; this guy was on another level. We were only flirting, and he was already getting possessive. I didn't even know how to deal with men like him. “She's a friend of mine,” I said pointedly. “We work in the same area. You know,behind your tent.”
The Falcon Lord cleared his throat and set himself to the task of filling his plate. “I see. My apologies for assuming.”
“It's all good.” I started filling my plate too, eager to eat Tod's food. Every once in a while, he'd sneak us some leftovers, and they were always amazing.
“So, this is the bread you were making when we spoke earlier?” He tore off a piece of the loaf I'd baked and slathered it in butter.
It was warm but not fresh from the ovens, as he'd probably thought. I got off too early for that. Instead, I baked the bread, then the chefs reheated it just before it was served. It was much easier than trying to time a bake to go with the rest of his meals.
“That would be my sourdough with dill, yes.”
He lifted a brow at me. “You like what you do.” It wasn't a question, but there was some surprise in it.
“Of course. It's the whole reason I joined the army.”
“You joined the army to bake bread?” He took a bite and my stare went straight to his lips, watching them move as he chewed, glistening with butter. He made a pleased sound. “It's delicious.”
“Thanks. And, uh, yeah.” I focused on my plate, reminding myself that this wasn't a date, and I couldn't have this man. “I want to open a bakery when I get out. This was a way to serve my country and earn the money I needed.”
“A man with a dream,” the Falcon Lord whispered.
I looked up and met his gaze again; it was soft, tender even.
“Well, I don't want to be a soldier forever.”
The Falcon Lord blinked, as if he'd been jolted out of a reverie, and nodded. “No one wants to be a soldier forever, Shane. We can only serve, knowing that there is an end.”
“Hopefully, it's not the grave,” I muttered.
“Tell me why you fear immortality,” he said suddenly.
“I don't fear it. In fact, the point is that I don't fear death,” I protested.Why did he keep calling me a coward?!“I just don't think living forever is a good idea. How can you appreciate every day when you have so many of them?”
“You can't if you have nothing to live for,” the Falcon Lord agreed. Then he went on, “But when you have a purpose—a dream—immortality can be a gift. Add love to that, and life can be blissful, or so I'm told.”
“You've, uh, never been in love?” I asked hesitantly, unsure how personal I could get with the warlord.
