the serving girl sets a plate of food down, and my mouth floods with saliva.
I’m starving.
I reach up and touch Aron’s jaw. “I’m going to eat now,” I murmur to him. “And unless you find it sexy for me to get distracted and dribble food all over myself because you keep playing with my nipples, you’ll let go of me.”
He throws his head back and laughs, and the music players miss a note. The conversation swells after a moment, and Aron gives my breast one last proprietary squeeze before releasing it. “You stay here,” he tells me, keeping an arm locked around my waist. As if he’s just now remembering where we’re at, he glances over at Lord Secuban as I pick up my wine goblet. “How big is Novoro’s army?” he asks, tone mild.
The lord of the keep wastes no time in announcing numbers. I don’t pay any attention to what he’s saying, because it’s already clear to me that Aron has no interest in having these people be his army. He’s just toying with the guy while I’m occupied. I take a couple of bites of food…and moan. Holy fuck, these people can make some amazing dishes. Everything has a wealth of delicate spices that make even the most basic vegetables incredible. I take a bite out of everything and nibble on some buttery, fresh-baked bread. It’s all delicious, and I lick my fingers as I eat while Aron talks to Lord Secuban. Lady Gerline sits on the pillow at her husband’s feet, but she’s not eating. She looks rather defeated, her shoulders slumped. And when she looks over at me, I can see the jealousy in her eyes.
Tough titty.
I feel another possessive stab at the thought of another woman touching Aron. I don’t like the idea at all. She can sit on her pillow and pout, I decide as I eat another mouthful of bread. I watch the rest of the room as I pack away the food, ignoring the astonished looks that the serving girls give me as I clear my plate and another is put before me. They’ll figure out soon enough that my appetite isn’t human. Until then, they can just keep bringing the food. I chew on a bit of chicken—at least, it tastes like chicken—and glance down the hall. The enormous tables are full of people sitting shoulder to shoulder on the long benches, and the conversation’s turned boisterous now that Aron’s relaxed. Serving girls flit between men, all wearing the practically open dress like the one I’ve borrowed. They seem to enjoy the clothing, though. As I watch, one brunette deliberately leans over far to fill someone’s wine, and as she does, her breasts are exposed by the deep vee of the gown. One of the men reaches forward and fondles her breast as if it’s part of the meal, and I stiffen.
The girl just laughs, grabs him by his hair and gives him a fierce kiss, and then moves down the row to fill someone else’s cup.
Well, they did say these people were weird.
Music starts, and a new course of delicious things is brought out. I try a few of the sweets and then give up, holding my overflowing belly.
“Sated?” Aron asks, his arm moving around my waist and pulling me back when a servant clears my plate.
I shiver, because he didn’t ask if I was full. He asked if I was sated and that feels like it has a billion different meanings, all of them filthy. “I’m good for now.” I put my hand over his and lean back against him, relaxing and listening to the music as Lord Secuban discusses defenses of his keep and how much more defensible it is than the Citadel, which rumor has told him has fallen to Aventine’s army. I notice Aron doesn’t confirm anything, so I don’t speak up, either. Let him wonder.
Plates are cleared away and I watch the servants work. No one’s getting up from the tables, and as I scan the room, I see the men are getting handsier and handsier with the girls, tugging on their clothing as they pass by and grabbing at boobs and butts. One girl mock-spills into someone’s lap and then she’s all flustered giggles as the man buries his face in her practically exposed breasts. I’m a little scandalized when their seat neighbor joins in, kissing the girl and slipping a hand under her skirt.