Origin (Scales N' Spells #1) - A.J. Sherwood Page 0,4
is famous for its cheese, but I haven’t tried it yet. I haven’t eaten much, just snacked.”
“In that case, let’s find lunch. Food and water would be wise, and it will get us away from the crowd for a while.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Alric looked about, getting both his bearings and seeing the options. “Are you interested in German food?”
“It’s been really good so far. Why, do you know a hole-in-the wall?”
Alric turned a mild frown at him, confused. “I’m sorry, a what?”
“Small restaurant that looks iffy on the outside but has all the yumminess on the inside,” Cameron clarified.
“Oh. Yes, I know a few. The Holzar-Schlemmer-Alm is nearby, and it’s quite good.”
Cameron gave him a wave. “Lead on, fearless leader! And don’t lose me in the crowd; I seriously doubt I can find you again.”
Alric might have been a touch too serious as he replied, “I won’t lose you.”
If Alric Burkhard was fate’s way of giving him a hell of a send-off before entering a lifetime of boredom and monotony, Cameron would take it.
The man was simply stunning. While not tall, he had lovely broad shoulders and what looked to be a very fit body under all those expertly tailored clothes. He had the classic hard jaw, strong nose, and chiseled features of a European fairy tale prince. His thick hair had a perfect wave, and the dark locks were lightly sprinkled with grey. Cameron had to fist his hands at his sides to keep his fingers from running through it. That hair demanded to be touched.
But really it all came down to his eyes. Deep, piercing blue. The kind of blue he could just fall into and never find his way out of again. His eyes even had this strange gold ring around the iris that seemed to shimmer, but that had to be a trick of the light. The summer sun was beating down on them and even Cameron felt warm at last.
Yes, Alric was the whole delectable package, and Cameron’s libido wanted to unwrap him.
Not that he would.
Cameron didn’t jump into bed with random hot, older German strangers.
Even though it would be so wonderful if he did.
Clenching his teeth, he barely held back a growl at his own circling thoughts. Cameron was backpacking his way across Europe as a way to expand his horizons, lock down some good memories, and explore the world. This was not a sleep-his-way-across-Europe vacation.
Although, for Alric he might make an exception. He just had one burning question he needed an answer to.
Why was the sexy German hunk paying even the slightest bit of attention to him?
That’s what didn’t make any sense. Alric was charming, obviously, as Cameron kept getting sucked into the man’s pace. He found himself following without really questioning why. But what about Cameron had cemented Alric’s attention? He was just another American backpacker, hoping to find something of himself in all the ancient beauty. Maybe have a small adventure or two. Meet some interesting people.
And he’d definitely accomplished two of the three. That Ravi guy was certainly interesting, if a little crazy. He’d caught only a fraction of what the man was saying, but it was something about dragons and magic. Or something. Possibly not too surprising considering he was weaving through the first day of the Dragon Festival in Sonthofen.
His sister had tried to convince him to linger in Munich for another few days to enjoy the festival in the much larger city, but Cameron was done with oppressively large crowds and cities. He was anxious to get up into the nearby mountain ranges, renowned for their hiking trails.
The Allgäuer Hochalpen were rumored to be one of the last places on Earth the dragons had been spotted. Not that he was expecting to see a dragon soaring over his head when he reached one of the peaks. The last of the dragons had supposedly died out at the end of the war, but it would be interesting to soak in what they’d seen as they’d flown over the mountains and valleys.
And listening to Alric had made it all seem so much more real than it had ever been to him before. His family was full of old stories about mages and dragons. But then, his halmeoni—his grandmother—was most definitely off her rocker. Naturally, his twin sister Cassie believed every word of it, but not Cameron. There were no dragons or mages left in the world. Magic had died with the war.