Suddenly, food just kept coming up for all of them, and they were all laughing and eating, telling stories, and including him even as he filled the deep hunger inside of him.
“—and then there we were, me and Talon, trying to figure out how on earth we were going to get off this cliff. There wasn’t enough room for him to shift. There was just barely enough room for me.” Kami grinned at Mercury. “You and I are almost of a size. I’m a little bit bigger, but there was no way that, you know, I was going to be able to shoot up and carry him.”
“So what did you do?” Lake asked with wide eyes.
Kami’s grin went wicked. “We went down.”
“You did what?”
“We just headed down toward the ground. I grabbed him and I used my wings to buffer us, so, while we both went down a little hard, at least neither one of us broke anything. Then we could run out.”
Mercury chuckled softly. “You two are troublemakers, you know that, right?”
Talon’s arm wrapped around him, warm and right, and his braaken kissed his temple. “Oh, we know, hailee.”
That felt so lovely. Just that simple bit of admiration. The inclusion.
He beamed at his mate, then moaned when the first order of food came. Post roast with gravy and potatoes. For him. All for him.
“The burgers are on the way, folks. And the meatballs. Some Swedish and some Italian.”
“Noms!” Mercury had heard that one on some child’s TV show.
Everyone chuckled at him, but he didn’t care. He was so glad to behungry.
I’m glad you are too, hailee. And I love both kinds of meatballs, so if one doesn’t work…
I just want the meat. If they bring noodles, that’s yours.
I love noodles and sauce, my love. Never fear. I will eat anything you don’t.
We all will.Kami winked at them when he broke in, so clearly they were thinking very loud.
He scooped up a bite of roast, moaning at the taste of it on his tongue. The beefy goodness was coated in gravy, and it was melt-in-the-mouth tender. So amazing.
Oh, maybe he could get a steak. Like a filet. He’d never had one of those.
“I’ll go order one.” Talon was up again and off to get him what he craved, and tears stung his eyes at how kind and sweet his mate was.
“He’s a big softie, huh?” That was Lake, giving him an encouraging smile.
“He can be, yes. I think he can also be fierce.”
“Oh, he can be a bat out of hell,” Kami agreed. “But that’s a good thing. You’ll always be protected. That’s important when you have kids.”
“It’s important in our keep,” Boone agreed. “I mean, in all keeps, but?—”
“Burgers!”
Mercury was glad those arrived before Boone got maudlin. He didn’t want to be all depressed again. He set the roast aside and grabbed the burger, tearing off the bun.
Carbs were for wimps. He did like the mayonnaise, though, and the tomato.
The feast was amazing. The food, the laughter, the companionship.
And through the whole thing, like a silver cord, there was Talon, right there. Giving him what he needed. Hell, giving him what he wanted.
Eventually the crowd dissipated and his hunger eased, and he found himself leaning against Talon, heavy and exhausted.
