Page 81 of Mystique of the Fallen
“So do you, baby. You ready to head out?”
“Give a man a kiss first.”
Roman stepped close, and their gazes locked. “I love you, thanks for coming out with me.”
Pleased by the surprise despite his dream of a quiet night, Grant smiled and lifted his chin for Roman’s soft kiss. “I love you too, and I expect to be awed.”
“Let’s fucking hope you are,” Roman muttered. “Meet me at this Dérive station?”
Grant took a quick glance at Roman’s phone and waited for Roman to dematerialize. The second Roman vanished, Grant followed him to their destination. Roman laced their fingers together and led him out of the building. A pleasantly cool breeze hit Grant’s face as Roman walked them along a dock to a large yacht. There were others ahead of them boarding the ship, which gave Grant a moment to appreciate Roman’s plans for their night.
“We’re eating on this ship?” Grant asked.
“Yep, two-hour cruise around the bay. It’s run by merpeople. We have a private table right against a window, so we’ll have to keep an eye out for mermaids and mermen.”
“Wow, good job,” Grant said, stealing a quick kiss.
Roman smiled winningly and rolled his shoulders to relax them. Grant brushed their lips together again.
“You’ve earned some major making out later,” Grant said. “Like,major.”
Since it was their turn to board the ship, Roman winked and they wound their way through the yacht to their table. As promised, the linen-covered table was pressed close to one of the large windows along the side of the ship. Grant allowed Roman to handle the wine order since he had no clue what was good and immersed himself in this new experience.
Couples and larger groups filled the surrounding tables, and some minutes later, they were leaving the dock behind. The rocking of the boat was so gentle, Grant barely felt the waves. They ordered steaks, and Roman readily pointed out each merperson springing above the top of the water. Their scales were vibrant, brilliant colors, and the setting sun glinted off them spectacularly. The boat never cruised close enough for the passengers to see their faces or even tell if they were men or women, which didn’t matter anyway. Some had long hair, while others had their tresses cropped short. Like their scales, the strands caught the light of the slowly sinking sun.
When Grant and Roman’s steaks were delivered to the table, the merpeople appeared in pairs or trios and dived through the waves in sync. It was obviously something they practiced for the cruise patrons, which made it no less awe-inspiring.
“This is really cool,” Grant told Roman.
“Agreed.”
“How’d you come up with this idea?”
“If I could keep a secret without you seeing right through me, I’d lie and say I thought of this all on my own, but I had help. Samson found this. He was going to take Brynn to scout it out for a possible recommendation to Zane because Tiri is curious about merpeople.”
“Samson should still take Brynn. Did you steal his idea?”
Roman pursed his lips. “No, I asked for help to wow you. When I imagined the first time I would tell you I love you, it was a romantic moment with no parallel. In real life, it didn’t happen that way because I wasn’t honest. So, I wanted to surprise you with something special. It took me far too long to plan this though. I forgot how annoying clothes shopping is, and I had to wait for your other surprises.”
“Other surprises?” Grant asked, shocked. “Like, how many places are you taking me tonight?”
“Not destination surprises. After our cruise, I’m taking you home.”
“For heavy petting.”
“I think we can do better than that.”
“Damn right we can,” Grant said. He leaned in close. “Are these other surprises related to what you plan to do to me in our bed later?”
“Hey, drag your mind away from how good our sex life is. We’re going to be romantic tonight if it kills us.”
Grant chuckled. “We’re immortal fallen knights. Nothing can kill us. But I’ll behave. You obviously planned this with great effort, and I’m grateful. You apparently thought of everything, and I like this outfit.”
“Good thing I didn’t make you wear a tie, right?”
“How would I even know how to tie one?”
“I didn’t think of that,” Roman said with a laugh. “Yeah, why would you know? Shit, I can barely tie one. I have a uniform. I love it. No ties involved.”
