"Yup. Aiden gave me incentive to keep my eyes closed in the shower." Meryn leered up at her now blushing mate.
"Meryn! How many times do I have to tell you, no sex talk at the table!" Aiden exclaimed.
Meryn's face became a mask of innocence. "I didn't say anything about sex, you did."
Colton choked on his water, and Rheia beat him on the back.
Aiden growled at his friend. "Shut up, mutt."
"Too bad Jaxon and Noah ate earlier. I am sure those youngsters would appreciate the pointers," Gavriel commented.
Aiden shot him a dirty look. "Et tu?"
"Aiden, they know we have sex. I didn't get this way by immaculate conception." Meryn pointed to her rounded belly.
"No, you got that way on your hands and knees, if I remember correctly," Aiden commented smugly, reaching for his water.
"Aiden!" Meryn screeched, turning bright red.
This time, it was Colton who lightly pounded Rheia on the back as she tried to laugh and swallow her roll at the same time.
"Touché." Gavriel raised his wine glass to the commander who winked at the vampire.
"I can't believe you said that!" Meryn said, her eyes wide. She stared for a second and then began to giggle. "That was awesome." She held up a fist to her mate.
Aiden's huge fist dwarfed Meryn's little one, but he tapped her knuckles gently before leaning in to kiss her nose.
"There is something to be said for doggy style, if you know what I mean." Colton wagged his eyebrows looking self-satisfied until Rheia cuffed him upside the head.
"You mean puppy style?" she quipped.
Colton's mouth dropped open. Next to her, Keelan had fallen over to his right and lay across the seat of the chair next to him, laughing so hard he wasn't making any sounds. Darian covered his mouth, but Amelia was willing to bet he was hiding a smile. Everyone at the table was having a hard time breathing for the laughter.
"Puppy? Puppy!? I'll show you puppy later," Colton murmured under his breath.
Rheia leaned in close to him. "Challenge accepted."
Colton growled and bit a roll in half.
Meryn wiped her eyes with her napkin and looked over at Darian. "You look more relaxed than I've seen you in months. Did you enjoy shower time, too?"
He simply shook his head.
Amelia played with her roll. "He watched me get ready for dinner. A lot of husbands will sit in on their wives' makeovers. I've been told by many of them that they found it soothing."
"There is nothing soothing about trying to peel glue off your mate's eyelids," Aiden grumbled.
Amelia chuckled at the image of Meryn with one eye closed. "I think you encountered an extreme case."
"I enjoy watching Beth brush her hair at night. I agree, it is very calming," Gavriel admitted.
Aiden glanced down at Meryn's pixie and sighed. He looked around the table. "I got a phone call from my father. The council is returning the original necklace from our gooey corpse and the necklace from Penny's father to us. They want us to go over them again."
The men groaned. "Why? What in the hell do they think we'll find? We've been over those things a thousand times," Colton complained.
"I happen to agree with you; however, at the moment, they are our only lead regarding our rogue ferals. So we'll go over them again." Aiden sat back looking as frustrated as the rest of his unit.
Amelia frowned.
Rogue ferals?
She spoke up. "I'm sorry, but what do you mean by rogue ferals?"
Aiden exchanged surprised looks with Gavriel and Colton. "Your brothers didn't tell you?" he asked.
She shook her head. "They tend not to tell me the grittier stuff. Caiden did mention a lot of kidnappings going on in this area, which is why he wanted me to come home right away."
"When was the last time you were home?" Gavriel asked.
"Last year. I moved back to Storm Keep after having lived in Atlanta for a few years, but I couldn't sit still. So I packed a bag and my makeup case and decided to visit each of the other pillar cities. I traveled around the country for a while, this was my first city to visit."
"Fate hard at work again," Beth said.
Amelia turned to her. "What do you mean?"
Beth smiled. "The same thing happened to Meryn and me."
Meryn laughed. "In my case, I threw a dart at a map."
"So I was brought here?" She stared up at Darian who didn't say anything.
"We're all being brought here. The spell was cast, so the warriors get mates. I, for one, am grateful." Beth looked over at Gavriel. He raised their joined hands and kissed her knuckles.
Amelia wanted more information on the ferals. She reached beside her and tugged on Darian's shirt. He looked down at her, surprised. She could tell he hadn't expected her to touch him.