stand on his own two feet. Cameron also looked a bit sheepish, as if only then realizing the possible danger.
Alric regarded all three of them and wanted to bash heads together. Why were younger men always so reckless with their safety? Did they truly believe no danger could come to them?
“Baldewin, I know you have better sense than this,” Lisette chided, her hands on both hips. “Pray use it. Alric’s heart was in his throat watching you pick Cameron up like that.”
He couldn’t dispute that. It had been.
“Kindly don’t give our king heart failure,” Lisette continued, and Baldewin looked properly abashed now.
Baldewin gave him a duck of the head. “Tut mir leid.”
With a sigh, Alric nodded, accepting this.
“And Cameron, I think it’s fine to play this game with them,” Lisette continued, still in drill sergeant mode. “But if you’re going up, we have harnesses for it, so have someone put a harness on first before you fly.”
“Oh.” Cameron blinked, and it was obvious no one had mentioned the harnesses to him. “Sure.”
Shaking her head, Lisette turned sharply on a heel and marched back into the castle, muttering to herself as she went. Ravi gathered up the ball and sheepishly carried it back to the equipment locker. Baldewin followed him for absolutely no reason Alric could discern. Making a clean escape, eh?
He’d definitely have to talk to those two later about this. But for now, Alric let it go.
Cameron was more than a little windblown, hair in a sexy disarray around his face, a flush of color in his cheeks. He came up to Alric and put his palm directly on Alric’s chest, brow quirked. “Wow, I can feel it thumping. I really did scare you. Sorry.”
He couldn’t resist putting his own hand over Cameron’s, holding him there a little longer. He liked Cameron touching him, especially right now, with his heart still racing. “I’m glad you were having fun, truly. Just next time, take more precautions?”
“Absolutely promise.” Cameron’s eyes were sharp on him, evaluating, and Alric wasn’t sure what he saw in his face. But something of Alric’s worry must have shown through as Cameron’s expression softened. “I think I owe you a drink for that scare. Is there a bar somewhere in the castle?”
There was. Alric had no intention of going there and potentially sharing him with other people. Not just then. Not when he needed ten minutes with Cameron and a little peace after that heart-stopping display. “I’ve got a mini-bar in my study.”
“Even better. I’m a little tired after playing with magic. I could use a few minutes off my feet. Not that I know how to get there from here.” Cameron made a face. “I’m still learning the ins and outs of the castle. Lead me?”
“Of course.” Alric reluctantly let go of his hand and half-turned to show the way.
Cameron dropped his hand and closed it over Alric’s, the grip light and easy. It felt incredibly nice, really. Alric hadn’t held hands with another man in so long that he’d forgotten the simple pleasure it brought. And Cameron’s hand felt good, the slender fingers confident as they wrapped around his own.
There was absolutely no need to hold hands as Alric led him through the castle.
He kept hold of Cameron’s hand anyway.
Lately Cameron felt like he was back in school in some ways, off to attend a lecture. A personal, one-on-one lecture with a master in a field he actually wanted to study.
That first time he’d called on wind had been eye-opening in more than one way. It had felt incredible, of course, to feel magic coursing through him. Literally coursing through his body like he was a conduit of electricity. Cameron suspected he’d be chasing the high of that moment for the rest of his life.
But in that moment, too, his mind had opened to a possibility he had closed off. With those self-imposed restrictions blown out of the water, Cameron finally understood why engineering had appealed to him but had never satisfied him. It was similar to magic in a sense. Taking multiple elements and designing them in such a way that they worked to fulfill a purpose—that was similar. It just wasn’t what he was made to do. What he’d always been meant to do.
Cameron had taken this European trip as a reward to himself for finishing a master’s he hadn’t actually wanted to do. Never did he imagine it would lead him to what he was born for. Thank god he’d gone despite