Felicity had a strong desire to lean back against him, which she firmly held in check. She never knew how good it could feel to have a man’s breath slant over the top of her ear until Lancelot Jones had entered her world.
“Oh, look, Felicity, a school of fish,” he said in a seductively soft whisper. “You can’t have ever seen that before, either.”
Curious now, Felicity followed the finger that he pointed toward the water with her eyes to see the aforementioned fish. Once he had her attention, that hand slipped around to the front of her waist as he pulled her back against him.
Lance could feel Felicity’s heart pounding quickly in her chest, and it made him want her more than ever. He buried his nose slightly into her unruly hair now, smelling her scent.
“Lance, I—” she began, but then he moved away again.
“You’re shivering, my dear,” he said in a husky tone. “Would you like to make the third thing you see be the ship’s galley? Perhaps we can have a look at the menu.”
All of the places his body had touched hers felt almost painfully aware that his warmth was no longer there. Her belly swam with the same odd feeling it had experienced the day they’d met, and she couldn’t stop thinking how the birds must be much happier with their outcome at the moment than she was with theirs.
Lance held her hand as they stepped inside the door to the small galley. It was lined with a few rows of booths that were firmly attached to the floor, and about twenty people or so were seated in them. They found an unoccupied booth and slid inside, one on each side of the small table.
“The food does not smell overly promising, does it?” Lance pointed out as he glanced at someone else’s meal.
“Not especially,” Felicity agreed with a slightly wrinkled nose. But she said this mostly because she didn’t think she could eat a single bite of food with so many butterflies running rampant in her stomach.
She wondered if Lance could tell this was the case when he reached across the table and began to trace little patterns on her hand. “I’ve got a better idea, if you are not very hungry.”
“What’s that?” she asked, her voice coming out in a husky whisper that made the evil man smile with delight. If he hadn’t been aware of his effect on her before, it was certain he knew of it now.
“The ship will be docking in Calais within the hour. Perhaps we could have a late lunch somewhere instead,” he told her.
“If you like,” she practically whispered.
“You’re shivering again,” he told her, his voice practically purring as he leaned in a bit closer. “Here, I’ll let you wear my jacket, and when we’ve done eating our meal later on, we’ll find someplace to get you one of your own.”
“All right,” she agreed. “But won’t you get cold?”
“No, I’m feeling overly warm just now,” he said softly as he got up and moved around the table to slide the jacket around her shoulders.
“Perhaps we could watch as the shoreline comes into view,” Felicity answered brightly as she got to her feet, sliding her arms into the sleeves and turning toward the door.
“Yes, but we’ll let most of the crowd get off of the ship before we try it ourselves,” Lance agreed, and the two returned to the deck, hanging over the rail to enjoy the view as the gap between the boat and shore steadily decreased in size.
TWENTY
Lancelot and Felicity stood together against the ship’s rail, side by side, as they waited for the ship to reach the rapidly approaching shore. More and more people began to gather around them, vying for a good position for deboarding.
With a chuckle, Felicity pointed out to Lancelot the young man who had nearly bowled her over before they’d boarded the boat earlier. He was being scolded quite severely by one of the boatmen for something he had done.
“Well, wouldn’t it be a grand show if he’d throw the blighter overboard right now?” said Lance vindictively. “That would be justice served.”
“Oh, Lance, don’t be so melodramatic,” Felicity said with a shake of her head. “No harm was done.”
“Yes, there was,” he said with a frown of disgust. “He wounded my pride, if not your person. I’m supposed to be protecting you, remember?”
“Of course,” she said with a sigh of resignation. “But you really don’t need to worry about me, you know. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“Perhaps I like the idea of protecting you anyway,” he said off-handedly, and turned back toward the shoreline again.
Felicity noticed that Lancelot had started to shiver. With a playful chuckle, she turned him around so he was facing her again and began to rub his arms.
“You know, Lance, you should know better than to believe that just because you’re a man means you are immune to the cold,” she admonished him.
“Who says I’m cold?” he asked, trying to sound like he wasn’t. The force of his statement was lost completely behind the chattering of his teeth.
“Come here, silly,” she said, and used the edges of the jacket to cover his hands.
“Well, if you’re going to insist upon warming me, we might as well do the thing right,” he said with a grin, and slid his arms inside the jacket and around her. “Mm, see? This is much better.”
“No doubt,” she said wryly as she tried not to look up into his eyes. She leaned her chin on his chest instead, and realized his heart was beating faster than normal, and then he laughed, the sound of it vibrating her head a bit.
“What’s so funny?” Felicity wanted to know as she ventured a brief glance upward and caught sight of his smile. Blushing, she settled her face back into his chest again.
“Nothing, really,” he said as he snuggled even closer. “I just feel happy.”
“Happy to be warm, perhaps,” she teased with a nervous little giggle that made him laugh again.
“Deliciously warm,” he agreed.
They stood just like that for what seemed like an age before most of the other passengers had left the boat. Several times Felicity saw the boatman look over at them with a smile on his lips, and she wondered what he was thinking about them.
“Okay, let’s get off this ship already,” Lance said briskly as he stirred from his comfortable spot. “I know of a perfect little bistro we could pop over to, since I’ve been there many times before with my grandmother.”
Felicity nodded her agreement, and the two of them walked together off of the boat, giggling because he kept one of his arms securely inside the coat as they went, earning an amused glance from the boatman.
“It’s always a pleasure to see such a happy couple,” he told them with a smile. Felicity blushed even more, hearing this. She wondered if everyone else there thought they were a couple as well, and then she realized with a start of surprise that they’d certainly been acting like one.
As soon as they were out of the sight of any Mundanes, Lance brought out his wand and waved it over them, and the next thing Felicity knew they had popped right into the middle of a busy little bistro. When nobody there batted an eye over their sudden appearance, Felicity realized they must be inside some part of Magical France, rather than Mundane.
Just as they had popped in, a small table suddenly set itself with silverware, and a menu floated over and opened up, wordlessly inviting them to sit down. Felicity smirked as Lance held her chair before taking his own.
“What’s so funny?” he asked. “Shouldn’t a gentleman help a beautiful young woman into her seat?”
Looking down, Felicity realized that Lance had also transformed her dress into a sleek, black velvet evening gown. The neckline was a bit lower than she was used to, but it made her feel decadently grown-up as a result.
“Oh my, I don’t think I’ve ever worn anything quite as lovely as this gown before, Lance,” she said with a slight blush.
“You look absolutely lovely in it, my dear,” he told her as he sat down across from her. His eyes roamed downward very briefly, letting Felicity know how much they app
reciated the view.
“Lance, I love this, I really do,” she said, still smirking. “But it does make me wonder about something.”
“Oh? What might that be?”
“Well, I wondered if you’ve ever had to rough it before, or if you’ve always dined in the finest restaurants and wore the finest clothes.”
“Roughing it, as you so casually put it, is highly overrated,” he scoffed. “I much prefer the fact that I don’t have to.”
“Ha,” she chuckled. “Just as I thought. I’ll bet that you couldn’t last one night if you tried camping the Mundane way.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not talking about simply sleeping out under the stars, with your wand at your beck and call whenever a whim may take you,” she explained with a smirk. “I mean good, old-fashioned Mundane camping.”
“Are you serious?” he laughed. “You mean as in rubbing two sticks together to start a fire, building a lean-to out of a bunch of twigs, and sleeping on a bed of leaves type camping? Of course not.”
“I’ll bet you couldn’t last one night out in the wild, could you, Master Lancelot Jones?” she teased him.
“Oh, and you think you could, bookworm?” he scoffed good-naturedly, sitting forward in his chair so their noses were practically touching. “All right, I’ll tell you what. We won’t pop from here to Mont Blanc, as I planned. We’ll go straight back to Calais and take a train south to Geneva, just like the Mundanes would have to do. And when we get there, we’ll build a fire, pitch a tent, and toast some marshmallows or something.”
“Are you sure you’re up for it?” Felicity wanted to know. Lance opened his mouth to answer her before they were summarily interrupted, and he had to shut it again.
“Good afternoon, my friends,” said the waiter as he stepped to their table. “May I take your orders?”
“Yes, I believe we will have a couple of specials, and a couple glasses of red wine, please,” Lance answered. “If that’s okay with you, Felicity?”
“Yes, of course,” she agreed, and the food they asked for appeared before them almost instantly.
“Enjoy your meal,” said the waiter. “And as always, if you want anything else, you need only say so, and it will appear before you.”
“Thank you, sir,” Lance said, and waited for him to leave before he turned back to Felicity again.
“Miss Lake, I am up for the endeavor if you are,” he informed her as they ate. “But, are you certain that you are up to spending an entire week alone with me?”
Somehow the tone of his voice changed in such a way as to suddenly make Felicity feel like he’d wrapped her back into his arms and stuck his tongue right down her throat. It was difficult to get out the words as she answered, “I spend time alone with you every day.”
“Oh no, my dear, you spend the daytime alone with me every day,” he pointed out. “But when we are at work, you are able to return to that flat of yours once the day is over.”
“So?” she whispered on a shaky breath as their foreheads came together, and she realized she’d somehow leaned into him as he spoke.
“You haven’t ever spent bedtime with me,” he said in a velvety soft voice.
“Hmph,” she said bravely. “It can’t be all that bad.”
“No, no, not bad at all,” he said as he smiled into her eyes and sat up again. “So, it’s to be the train, then? This little adventure is shaping up to be even more dangerous than I had first supposed.”
“This steak is really good, Lance,” Felicity mentioned just to break the heavy, heated sort of tension that was building up between them.
“Yes,” Lancelot agreed as he paid equal justice to his own meal. “Eat your fill, my dear, and then we’ll go shop for supplies. I’m certain no Mundane would go into the forest without supplies.”
“I should think not,” she agreed.
The two ate the remainder of their meal in companionable silence. When they were finished, Lance stood by her chair and held out his hand, and Felicity took it as he helped her to her feet.
“So, where would a Mundane go to shop for supplies?” he wondered aloud.
Giggling at such a silly question, Felicity shrugged her shoulders. “At some sort of store or other, I’d imagine. Let’s return to Calais, and see what we can find.”
TWENTY-ONE
As Lance and Felicity returned to the city of Calais, where they had landed in the first place, they came across a wonderful little shopping mall quite near the train station they intended to go to afterwards. Grinning at one another, they decided to go inside.
“My goodness, this place has a specialized store for everything,” Felicity commented as they passed many of the shops by.
“Quite right,” Lance agreed. Then they thoroughly enjoyed themselves as they went from shop to shop, showing each other items of interest for a time.
“Hm, perhaps we should get one of these things while we’re at it,” said Lance as they passed a rack full of highly erotic lingerie items.
“I don’t really think that’s considered camping gear,” Felicity pointed out saucily.
“Well, now, that all depends, love,” he said. “It could be, if the bedtime was more important than the rest of the adventure.”
“Well, it couldn’t possibly be as important as determining which direction to take after we’ve packed in the gear,” Felicity commented with a grimace. “We may even be too sore once the tent was up to care about changing our clothes, let alone anything else.”
“Mm, you’re right my dear, it seems we should pack light if we wish to avoid such a terrible fate,” Lance chuckled. “For that matter, we wouldn’t really even need more than one sleeping bag, given the right scenario.”
“Lance!” Felicity gasped, putting her hands on her hips as she cast him a stern look. Then she said, “Oh look, there’s the camping supplies now.”
“That sleeping bag looks mighty cozy,” Lancelot mentioned as he pointed out a larger sized one on a nearby shelf.
“That’s good,” said Felicity circumspectly. “I will get the cart, and you can retrieve the gear. Let’s get two of them.”
“Must I?” he grumbled with a smirk just touching his lips. “But they’re so bloody expensive. I hardly think two is at all the thing.”
“Like you care one jot about the cost,” she scoffed.
“Well, you know I don’t have much Mundane money with me,” he told her with a hopeful grin.
“I’m sure you’ll make do,” she said unrelentingly.
“I am wounded to the quick, my dear,” he said as he held his hands over his heart, making her giggle.
“Here, we should get a couple lengths of rope, too, I think,” she said. “We’ll be going to the mountains, after all. You never know if they might come in handy.”
“And a lantern as well, I think,” he reminded her. “We won’t be using wand light if we aren’t using our wands.”
“Good thinking,” she agreed.
“Now that we’ve amassed all of this, we still need to get you a jacket,” Lance reminded her, and she felt his hand briefly pat her lower back, almost touching her arse. “You’ll need it to cover up the nightie if you happen to step outside. We wouldn’t want to give the bears a peep show.”
“Lancelot Jones!” Felicity gasped, and swatted his backside before she even realized what she was doing. She blushed furiously as Lancelot gazed at her, brow raised, teetering between amazement and mirth.
“Um, sorry?” she grimaced.
Lance stood gazing at her for one moment more, and then he chuckled, and took her by the hand with one of his own as he pushed the cart they had acquired for all of their purchases with his other.
They stopped at a rack of warm coats. Felicity looked over a few coats while Lancelot did the same.
“This one is perfect,” he said as he drew Felicity to the front of him and stood her there.
With deft movements, he took a lovely black suede coat with fur trim o
ff the rack and wrapped her into it. His hands glided over her arms before he set them inside the sleeves.
Felicity thought she was going to melt from the heat—and she didn’t mean the heat provided by the coat she wore. With a slight smirk gracing his lips, Lancelot zipped her in and straightened her collar. He ran one hand down each of the sleeves in turn, smoothing them into place.
“Perfect,” he whispered as his hand came up to smooth her hair over the shoulders as well. Felicity was fairly certain he was not talking about the garment when he said it.
Lance slid the coat back off again, and leaned in to brush his face against her tawny waves of hair before he tossed the jacket into the cart with the rest of the things. Felicity blushed and looked down at her feet.
“You’re sure about that nightie then?” he asked hopefully, making Felicity laugh and shake her head. “Well, if that be the case, I suppose we’ve got everything we need here. Now we need to get some food. Might I suggest we shrink the lot of this for now? It would make it much easier to get it to the campsite if we do.”
“Why not? I guess since we’re not officially camping as yet we can cheat just a little,” Felicity agreed. “After all, what’s the use of having magical abilities if you can’t make use of them sometimes?”
Lancelot laughed at this, and said, “Indeed. Spoken like a true Magi.”
Felicity cast him an innocent look, and Lance bumped his shoulder into hers. She did it right back, and the pair of them giggled like school children.
“Now, where do we want to go to get the food?” Lance asked her with another smirk. “Paris? Rome?”
“How about the grocery store across the street instead?” Felicity inquired with a smirk of her own.
“Spoil sport,” Lance teased her.
Not too much later, Lancelot and Felicity walked hand in hand along the avenue, heading for the train station. Each one of them wore their own jacket, and had one small backpack slung over a shoulder. They had lapsed into silence, though it seemed to be a companionable one.
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