The boring ceremony finally ended with Anna receiving the last gift for the evening. Next up was dancing, then the feast.
The first dance of the evening was reserved for the lady of the evening and her husband or fiancee. If the lady didn’t have one, the honor went to her father.
Edwin walked over to his daughter, took her hand in an impeccably gentlemanly manner and took her over to the dance floor.
Once the pair had reached the center of the ballroom, the Baron bowed and the music started. Edwin was as good as a professional dancer. Even though he wasn’t born a noble, he left most of his peers and betters in the dust.
Other than women, who watched the man move with admiration, the one who paid most attention was Wolf.
The young Mage fully awakened his senses, catching the slightest changes in the music, as well as the tiniest fractions of time when Edwin was too late or too early to make a step. Wolf noted how he steered Anna this way and that through subtle movements of the wrist and how important the rigid, upright bearing was.
Roughly half a minute in, Wolf relaxed.
I think I figured it out, he thought. The moves are simple and repetitive. You just have to follow the beat and maintain the proper distance at all times. It would look silly if Anna got stuck to her dad’s chest…
At that thought Wolf’s face turned sour.
If we collide, I’ll get stuck to Anna’s chest, he realized a huge technical issue. Anna and Edwin were so graceful because the man leading was a good head taller. The dance would’ve looked comical if Anna was the taller one.
“I need to go to the crapper,” Wolf hissed to Wayde then expediently, and very rudely, pushed his way through the crowd.
As soon as he was out of the dance room, Wolf cast Alter Form to make himself as tall as possible. He became roughly the same height as Anna, maybe even a finger taller.
Wolf smiled, thinking how clever he was, but then realized his Mage Academy uniform now only reached halfway down his calves and failed to cover his arms properly
Ah, damn it! With a silent curse, Wolf cast an illusion to make his robes appear longer.
Critically inspecting his outward appearance on a silver vase’s distorted reflection, Wolf nodded. He looked the way he did before. A bit lankier, since he still had to fit into the uniform, but overall not bad at all.
I need to have a suit made for when I’m taller, the young man grumbled inwardly as he returned to the ballroom.
Half a minute after he’d returned, the music stopped and the dance drew to an end. After a round of applause couples walked out onto the dance floor.
Anna, however, didn’t budge a bit from where her father left her. She intently stared at Wolf, making sure to give him a look which even an idiot would understand. She hoped Wolf would know what was on her mind.
As she stood at the center of the stage, the music played something you couldn’t really dance to, so all the couples that had joined her had awkward looks.
Finally, after taking a deep breath, Wolf walked over to his waiting lady.
Anna dazzled his mind. She had a satisfied smile, which she tried to hide by constantly reminding herself of all the stupid things Wolf had done. Like being a week late before her party!
She intended to teach him how to dance, and even booked a teacher, as well as a practice partner for him. But the shrimp failed to show up! She was worried sick about him and couldn’t help but think whether something had happened. And that bitch Barbara…
As she tried to stay angry Anna suddenly faltered. Wolf appeared before her, as tall as she was. For a moment she was confused, but didn’t care to entertain the thought. Wolf was handsome and dashing and smiled confidently. Gazing at him, Anna forgot she should be angry. Instead, she just grinned stupidly as her whole body tingled.
Wolf gazed upon Anna’s beautiful face, oblivious of the heavy makeup. Her limpid eyes grabbed hold of his attention, as did those enticing lips which formed a soul stealing smile.
“May I have this d-dance?” Wolf stuttered as he bowed, perfectly mimicking what he’d seen others do.
“Let’s dance,” Anna smiled breathtakingly and curtsied.
In a magical moment, the music started as soon as Wolf took Anna’s hand.
“If you don’t know how to dance just let me lead,” Anna whispered into his ear.
The feeling of Anna’s hot breath against his neck nearly made Wolf trip on the first step. He sent a surge of Internal Energy into his legs to suppress the momentary limpness and kept dancing, perfectly mimicking Edwin’s moves.
“You’re great,” Anna whispered delightedly.
“I think you might even be better than father, and he’s acclaimed as one of the best dancers in the city,” Anna continued praisingly as she smiled with pride. “Where did you learn to dance like this?”
“I-I’m just doing what I saw your father d-do. I d-don’t know why everyone k-keeps saying d-dancing is hard.” Even though Wolf stuttered those words, his muscles told a different story.
The young man was as stiff as a board. If he hadn’t fully awakened his senses, perfectly paying attention to every single detail of his body and their surroundings, Wolf would’ve moved with the grace of a rock. He forced his body to remain nimble and the only signs of his nervousness were his stuttering and the rapid way in which his eyes moved, as Wolf struggled to make sure everything was fine and they wouldn’t run into another dancing couple.
“You know, you kept bragging like that ever since we first met. Then again, I guess that's a part of your charm?” Anna whispered a line she came up with in advance.
Wolf swallowed hard as he felt the hotness of Anna’s breath against his ear and neck. That warm breath made the youth’s skin crawl with goosebumps. As Wolf’s nostrils flared, he couldn’t help but think how Anna smelled really, really sweet.
All the sudden stimuli, compounded with Wolf’s fully awakened senses, caused his blood to rush and his head to spin.
“Don’t you want to know what kind of present I expect from you?” Anna pressed on, and Wolf fumbled a step even with the enhanced senses and control over his body.
“Hehe, it seems you are very curious,” she continued coquettishly. “Let me tell you then.”
As Anna paused dramatically, Wolf swallowed his saliva and focused all of his attention on dancing. Otherwise he might just fall over Anna and make a fool out of himself.
“What do you think about making me breakfast tomorrow morning?” Anna whispered as she leaned in closer to Wolf’s ear.
The young woman felt her cheeks burning, then waited for Wolf to topple over after hearing her words. However, nothing happened. The provocative statement elicited no reaction whatsoever. Anna felt like dying from embarrassment, but Wolf suddenly became perfectly cool. Even his tense body relaxed a bit.
“You want me to cook for you?” he asked after a moment.
“It’s not a problem, just don’t make it a party. If you want, Matilda and Wayde can come over too. Well, I guess Barbara’s fine as well,” Wolf continued in a calm, businesslike fashion.
This wasn’t the first time Anna asked him to cook for her. He’d usually declined, but since it was her birthday wish then sure, no reason not to. Even though he’d never experienced it, he knew people thought birthdays were important.
Hearing Wolf’s innocent answer, Anna almost keeled over. Luckily a pair of strong arms held her in place. Even if she’d fainted, Wolf would’ve made certain she looked decent doing it.
Um, this is not how it was supposed to work, Anna whined inwardly. When I discussed this with Mother, she said he would probably faint after I told him this.
Does this blockhead really think I just want to eat breakfast with him? We do that every other day! You, you stupid shrimp! Anna breathed deeply in and out several times and Wolf got excited from the feeling of her chest pressed against him.
“Wolf, what I meant was that I want you to spend the night with me,” Anna whispered bluntly, moving her lips right next to his ear.
The young woman gently bit Wolf’s lobule for good measure. Now he can’t say we already slept together years ago. Even Wolf’s not that hopeless...
“And just—” Anna abruptly stopped talking just as she was about to drive her point home.
Something hard unexpectedly pressed against her lower body. For a moment she shivered. In panic she thought what to do, but then she smiled elegantly. Her mother already prepared her for this kind of reaction, saying it was a typical male weakness.
Anna bit into Wolf’s ear a bit harder and immediately noticed Wolf had also become harder. She licked the lobule trapped between her teeth before letting go.
“And in case you were wondering,” she continued as if nothing had happened, “I didn’t mean for us to sleep a wink.”
Anna paused for a moment, just the way she’d practiced. She wanted to stick her tongue in Wolf’s ear, but didn’t have the angle now that he had suddenly grown taller. Instead, she nibbled on his ear a bit more before finally dropping the last bomb she’d come up with.
“And I don’t care if you forgot your pajamas,” as Anna whispered her final ace, Wolf tightened his grip on her hand and pressed her waist closer to his, making her feel the hardness even clearer.
Damn it, Wolf thought. I didn’t forget my sleeping clothes. With that thought the dance ended. Wolf, however, kept on waltzing with Anna as if he hadn’t noticed that the music had stopped.
“Wolf, what are you doing?” Anna whispered teasingly with a delighted smile on her face.
Naturally, she already knew what Wolf’s problem was. Right now, even if she tried to run from him, he would do everything in his power to stick to her and make sure nobody else could see the not-so-subtle testimony of his feelings for Anna.
Luckily for the pair, Margaret Didot was paying careful attention to them, and she had an inkling of what was happening. The woman signaled the quintet to keep on playing and the music immediately resumed.
“I— I—” Wolf stuttered, struggling for the right words, which ‘I have a pajama’ certainly weren’t.
Anna thought about teasing him some more. Ever since he entered the academy he kept making fun about the time when she had run away from home, or any other stupid thing she’d ever done.
This was a perfect chance to get even, but it wasn’t the proper place.
“Relax. We can keep dancing until,” she paused for a moment, “your excitement dies down a bit.”
Anna really tried, but couldn’t help her voice turn just a bit teasing. She’d barely stifled a pleased giggle.
Fortunately, other than Margaret and Edwin, nobody caught wind of what was going on. It looked like the host had noticed that her daughter was having a pleasant time and wanted it to last as long as possible. About ten minutes later, Wolf and Anna wrapped up their extended dance.
As soon as the pair let go of each other a bunch of young men gathered around Anna, asking her for a dance. Meanwhile, Wolf ran off into a corner wanting nothing more than to be alone and sort out his thoughts.
Unfortunately Matilda, Barbara and Wayde appeared next to him several moments later.
“You’re such a delightful dancer! Is there anything you can’t do?” Matilda whispered with admiration, her volume nearly bordering regular speech.
This former urchin knew magic, he could cook better than a professional chef and he danced as if he had spent years practicing.
“I can’t believe you were so caught up in it you danced six dances straight. You know that monopolizing the celebrant is very improper for occasions like this? See how many guys want to dance with her?” Barbara quipped. “If you feel like dancing that much you could’ve come to me. I’d love to keep you company.”
“Barbara!” Matilda barked aloud, shocking Wolf.
Wayde remained silent. He just stared at the rouge left behind on Wolf’s ear and neck.
Seeing where Wayde was looking, Wolf covered the marks with his hand and started rubbing them off as subtly as possible.
“Thanks Wayde.” Wolf said, rubbing his face and neck.
“Don’t mention it,” Wolf’s friend replied, before pointing out another issue. “When did you go through a sudden growth spurt?”
“Ummm,” Wolf mumbled awkwardly as his body went back to normal and as he dismissed the illusion he’d cast on his robe.
The dance part of the evening took an hour and once it ended, it was time for the feast.
Normally the star of the show sat at the main table, but Anna’s father was very reasonable and made an excuse about his daughter mingling with a crowd her own age. Everyone was clear on what he was doing. The man wanted his daughter with her influential classmates. More importantly, he wanted her to sit with the son-in-law he had his eye on.
Anna was at the head of the table, Wolf at her right and Matilda at her left. Wayde sat next to Wolf, while Barbara sat next to Matilda. The rest of their new class was naturally present, but nobody cared about them too much.
Anna was unusually giddy as she whispered back and forth with Matilda during the entire meal. She looked at Wolf only once. She gave him a beaming smile and a flutter of eyelashes when her father made a toast.
Wolf chatted with Wayde, once again fully in control of himself. He was still sipping on his first glass of wine, while Anna was going strong with her second.
*Cough! Cough!*
Wolf suddenly choked on fine wine and almost sprayed Wayde with it. Out of nowhere, he felt a hand rove on his lower stomach and then go straight down.
In shock, Wolf confirmed that both of Wayde’s hands were on the table. He then turned around and saw that Anna was giggling as she spoke with Matilda. She was sitting oddly low. Her arm rested on the table, supporting her cheek. The way she sat was very unladylike, but on account of how much she’d drunk, not even Matilda said anything.
Wolf was probably the only one who noticed that Anna’s other hand was somewhere below the table.
A moment later the groping hand was gone and Anna straightened up, drinking a bit more wine. She repeated the same move three more times that evening.
At first Wolf found it exciting, but then he was simply annoyed. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Do you want me to drown in wine?” he hissed, pretending to take another sip of his first glass of wine.
“It’s just a slight preview of things to come,” Anna whispered back, giggling tipsily at how sharp she was to make that joke.
She was slightly drunk, but that only made her feel even better about herself.
Mother was right, the intoxicated birthday girl thought. Not only is it fun to play with a man in this way, Wolf’s reactions are priceless.
Blessedly, Wolf couldn’t read her thoughts yet, otherwise the poor fellow really would’ve drowned.
As things were, he simply blushed at her words, feeling conflicted. This was so humiliating. He wanted to just get up and leave the table, but Anna’s errant hand made sure he couldn’t move.
“Annabelle dear! Come over here, the cake is about to arrive!” Margaret called out to her daughter, with a slightly sharp note in her voice.
Margaret Didot was a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties. She was tastefully dressed in a violet dress with a provocatively deep cleavage. Unlike her daughter, the woman only had a touch of makeup and unlike her daughter she had a very ample bosom.
“Coming mother!” Anna exclaimed as she unsteadily got up from her seat.
She slowly moved towards the master table. She was afraid to move faster, fearing she might stumble.
As soon as she neared her parents’ table Anna became serious and smiled with grace, thick makeup covering her intoxicated blush.
Margaret watched her daughter stop between her and the hateful bastard. She paused for a moment to make sure the drunken girl wouldn’t fall over. Seeing Bella handle her liquor well, her mother felt pleased.
She loudly clapped her hands and half a dozen servants wearing the pristine white of the kitchen staff came in, pushing a tray cart with a rather large three story cake.
Fourteen pink candles decorated the cake’s top story. They burned brightly while releasing a pleasant fruity aroma.
As the cake rolled through the grand chamber, guests stood up and slowly encircled the master table. Margaret and Edwin also got up, flanking their daughter. Edwin had a hand on a young boy’s shoulder.
If Annabelle’s looks went after her mother, Marius was the spitting image of his father, albeit somewhat fatter.
As the cake halted before the Didots, Marius’s eyes shone with unrestrained desire. However, as soon as Edwin cleared his throat, the boy started shaking and averted his gaze from the temptation before him.
“Make a wish dear,” the father said to his daughter with a proud smile. As things stood, this pawn piece of his had turned at least into a rook, if not a queen.
Anna nodded obediently and closed her eyes for a moment. She took a deep breath and blew out the fourteen candles.
As the candles went out, a large round of applause echoed throughout the hall while Anna turned this way and that, elegantly curtsying.
When she looked at Wolf, the innocent smile changed for a briefest of moments and she winked, making a completely different expression.
Wolf was getting increasingly more nervous. He wanted to flee. He’d gotten over the ring issue, but now there was another, even more important one.
He was supposed to spend the night with Anna. He had his pajamas on him, but were they supposed to be naked? What if she didn’t like him? He was a lot shorter than her. Did that bother her?
He didn’t know about Anna, but this matter bothered him. It bothered him a lot.
The boring ceremony finally ended with Anna receiving the last gift for the evening. Next up was dancing, then the feast.
The first dance of the evening was reserved for the lady of the evening and her husband or fiancee. If the lady didn’t have one, the honor went to her father.
Edwin walked over to his daughter, took her hand in an impeccably gentlemanly manner and took her over to the dance floor.
Once the pair had reached the center of the ballroom, the Baron bowed and the music started. Edwin was as good as a professional dancer. Even though he wasn’t born a noble, he left most of his peers and betters in the dust.
Other than women, who watched the man move with admiration, the one who paid most attention was Wolf.
The young Mage fully awakened his senses, catching the slightest changes in the music, as well as the tiniest fractions of time when Edwin was too late or too early to make a step. Wolf noted how he steered Anna this way and that through subtle movements of the wrist and how important the rigid, upright bearing was.
Roughly half a minute in, Wolf relaxed.
I think I figured it out, he thought. The moves are simple and repetitive. You just have to follow the beat and maintain the proper distance at all times. It would look silly if Anna got stuck to her dad’s chest…
At that thought Wolf’s face turned sour.
If we collide, I’ll get stuck to Anna’s chest, he realized a huge technical issue. Anna and Edwin were so graceful because the man leading was a good head taller. The dance would’ve looked comical if Anna was the taller one.
“I need to go to the crapper,” Wolf hissed to Wayde then expediently, and very rudely, pushed his way through the crowd.
As soon as he was out of the dance room, Wolf cast Alter Form to make himself as tall as possible. He became roughly the same height as Anna, maybe even a finger taller.
Wolf smiled, thinking how clever he was, but then realized his Mage Academy uniform now only reached halfway down his calves and failed to cover his arms properly
Ah, damn it! With a silent curse, Wolf cast an illusion to make his robes appear longer.
Critically inspecting his outward appearance on a silver vase’s distorted reflection, Wolf nodded. He looked the way he did before. A bit lankier, since he still had to fit into the uniform, but overall not bad at all.
I need to have a suit made for when I’m taller, the young man grumbled inwardly as he returned to the ballroom.
Half a minute after he’d returned, the music stopped and the dance drew to an end. After a round of applause couples walked out onto the dance floor.
Anna, however, didn’t budge a bit from where her father left her. She intently stared at Wolf, making sure to give him a look which even an idiot would understand. She hoped Wolf would know what was on her mind.
As she stood at the center of the stage, the music played something you couldn’t really dance to, so all the couples that had joined her had awkward looks.
Finally, after taking a deep breath, Wolf walked over to his waiting lady.
Anna dazzled his mind. She had a satisfied smile, which she tried to hide by constantly reminding herself of all the stupid things Wolf had done. Like being a week late before her party!
She intended to teach him how to dance, and even booked a teacher, as well as a practice partner for him. But the shrimp failed to show up! She was worried sick about him and couldn’t help but think whether something had happened. And that bitch Barbara…
As she tried to stay angry Anna suddenly faltered. Wolf appeared before her, as tall as she was. For a moment she was confused, but didn’t care to entertain the thought. Wolf was handsome and dashing and smiled confidently. Gazing at him, Anna forgot she should be angry. Instead, she just grinned stupidly as her whole body tingled.
Wolf gazed upon Anna’s beautiful face, oblivious of the heavy makeup. Her limpid eyes grabbed hold of his attention, as did those enticing lips which formed a soul stealing smile.
“May I have this d-dance?” Wolf stuttered as he bowed, perfectly mimicking what he’d seen others do.
“Let’s dance,” Anna smiled breathtakingly and curtsied.
In a magical moment, the music started as soon as Wolf took Anna’s hand.
“If you don’t know how to dance just let me lead,” Anna whispered into his ear.
The feeling of Anna’s hot breath against his neck nearly made Wolf trip on the first step. He sent a surge of Internal Energy into his legs to suppress the momentary limpness and kept dancing, perfectly mimicking Edwin’s moves.
“You’re great,” Anna whispered delightedly.
“I think you might even be better than father, and he’s acclaimed as one of the best dancers in the city,” Anna continued praisingly as she smiled with pride. “Where did you learn to dance like this?”
“I-I’m just doing what I saw your father d-do. I d-don’t know why everyone k-keeps saying d-dancing is hard.” Even though Wolf stuttered those words, his muscles told a different story.
The young man was as stiff as a board. If he hadn’t fully awakened his senses, perfectly paying attention to every single detail of his body and their surroundings, Wolf would’ve moved with the grace of a rock. He forced his body to remain nimble and the only signs of his nervousness were his stuttering and the rapid way in which his eyes moved, as Wolf struggled to make sure everything was fine and they wouldn’t run into another dancing couple.
“You know, you kept bragging like that ever since we first met. Then again, I guess that's a part of your charm?” Anna whispered a line she came up with in advance.
Wolf swallowed hard as he felt the hotness of Anna’s breath against his ear and neck. That warm breath made the youth’s skin crawl with goosebumps. As Wolf’s nostrils flared, he couldn’t help but think how Anna smelled really, really sweet.
All the sudden stimuli, compounded with Wolf’s fully awakened senses, caused his blood to rush and his head to spin.
“Don’t you want to know what kind of present I expect from you?” Anna pressed on, and Wolf fumbled a step even with the enhanced senses and control over his body.
“Hehe, it seems you are very curious,” she continued coquettishly. “Let me tell you then.”
As Anna paused dramatically, Wolf swallowed his saliva and focused all of his attention on dancing. Otherwise he might just fall over Anna and make a fool out of himself.
“What do you think about making me breakfast tomorrow morning?” Anna whispered as she leaned in closer to Wolf’s ear.
The young woman felt her cheeks burning, then waited for Wolf to topple over after hearing her words. However, nothing happened. The provocative statement elicited no reaction whatsoever. Anna felt like dying from embarrassment, but Wolf suddenly became perfectly cool. Even his tense body relaxed a bit.
“You want me to cook for you?” he asked after a moment.
“It’s not a problem, just don’t make it a party. If you want, Matilda and Wayde can come over too. Well, I guess Barbara’s fine as well,” Wolf continued in a calm, businesslike fashion.
This wasn’t the first time Anna asked him to cook for her. He’d usually declined, but since it was her birthday wish then sure, no reason not to. Even though he’d never experienced it, he knew people thought birthdays were important.
Hearing Wolf’s innocent answer, Anna almost keeled over. Luckily a pair of strong arms held her in place. Even if she’d fainted, Wolf would’ve made certain she looked decent doing it.
Um, this is not how it was supposed to work, Anna whined inwardly. When I discussed this with Mother, she said he would probably faint after I told him this.
Does this blockhead really think I just want to eat breakfast with him? We do that every other day! You, you stupid shrimp! Anna breathed deeply in and out several times and Wolf got excited from the feeling of her chest pressed against him.
“Wolf, what I meant was that I want you to spend the night with me,” Anna whispered bluntly, moving her lips right next to his ear.
The young woman gently bit Wolf’s lobule for good measure. Now he can’t say we already slept together years ago. Even Wolf’s not that hopeless...
“And just—” Anna abruptly stopped talking just as she was about to drive her point home.
Something hard unexpectedly pressed against her lower body. For a moment she shivered. In panic she thought what to do, but then she smiled elegantly. Her mother already prepared her for this kind of reaction, saying it was a typical male weakness.
Anna bit into Wolf’s ear a bit harder and immediately noticed Wolf had also become harder. She licked the lobule trapped between her teeth before letting go.
“And in case you were wondering,” she continued as if nothing had happened, “I didn’t mean for us to sleep a wink.”
Anna paused for a moment, just the way she’d practiced. She wanted to stick her tongue in Wolf’s ear, but didn’t have the angle now that he had suddenly grown taller. Instead, she nibbled on his ear a bit more before finally dropping the last bomb she’d come up with.
“And I don’t care if you forgot your pajamas,” as Anna whispered her final ace, Wolf tightened his grip on her hand and pressed her waist closer to his, making her feel the hardness even clearer.
Damn it, Wolf thought. I didn’t forget my sleeping clothes. With that thought the dance ended. Wolf, however, kept on waltzing with Anna as if he hadn’t noticed that the music had stopped.
“Wolf, what are you doing?” Anna whispered teasingly with a delighted smile on her face.
Naturally, she already knew what Wolf’s problem was. Right now, even if she tried to run from him, he would do everything in his power to stick to her and make sure nobody else could see the not-so-subtle testimony of his feelings for Anna.
Luckily for the pair, Margaret Didot was paying careful attention to them, and she had an inkling of what was happening. The woman signaled the quintet to keep on playing and the music immediately resumed.
“I— I—” Wolf stuttered, struggling for the right words, which ‘I have a pajama’ certainly weren’t.
Anna thought about teasing him some more. Ever since he entered the academy he kept making fun about the time when she had run away from home, or any other stupid thing she’d ever done.
This was a perfect chance to get even, but it wasn’t the proper place.
“Relax. We can keep dancing until,” she paused for a moment, “your excitement dies down a bit.”
Anna really tried, but couldn’t help her voice turn just a bit teasing. She’d barely stifled a pleased giggle.
Fortunately, other than Margaret and Edwin, nobody caught wind of what was going on. It looked like the host had noticed that her daughter was having a pleasant time and wanted it to last as long as possible. About ten minutes later, Wolf and Anna wrapped up their extended dance.
As soon as the pair let go of each other a bunch of young men gathered around Anna, asking her for a dance. Meanwhile, Wolf ran off into a corner wanting nothing more than to be alone and sort out his thoughts.
Unfortunately Matilda, Barbara and Wayde appeared next to him several moments later.
“You’re such a delightful dancer! Is there anything you can’t do?” Matilda whispered with admiration, her volume nearly bordering regular speech.
This former urchin knew magic, he could cook better than a professional chef and he danced as if he had spent years practicing.
“I can’t believe you were so caught up in it you danced six dances straight. You know that monopolizing the celebrant is very improper for occasions like this? See how many guys want to dance with her?” Barbara quipped. “If you feel like dancing that much you could’ve come to me. I’d love to keep you company.”
“Barbara!” Matilda barked aloud, shocking Wolf.
Wayde remained silent. He just stared at the rouge left behind on Wolf’s ear and neck.
Seeing where Wayde was looking, Wolf covered the marks with his hand and started rubbing them off as subtly as possible.
“Thanks Wayde.” Wolf said, rubbing his face and neck.
“Don’t mention it,” Wolf’s friend replied, before pointing out another issue. “When did you go through a sudden growth spurt?”
“Ummm,” Wolf mumbled awkwardly as his body went back to normal and as he dismissed the illusion he’d cast on his robe.
The dance part of the evening took an hour and once it ended, it was time for the feast.
Normally the star of the show sat at the main table, but Anna’s father was very reasonable and made an excuse about his daughter mingling with a crowd her own age. Everyone was clear on what he was doing. The man wanted his daughter with her influential classmates. More importantly, he wanted her to sit with the son-in-law he had his eye on.
Anna was at the head of the table, Wolf at her right and Matilda at her left. Wayde sat next to Wolf, while Barbara sat next to Matilda. The rest of their new class was naturally present, but nobody cared about them too much.
Anna was unusually giddy as she whispered back and forth with Matilda during the entire meal. She looked at Wolf only once. She gave him a beaming smile and a flutter of eyelashes when her father made a toast.
Wolf chatted with Wayde, once again fully in control of himself. He was still sipping on his first glass of wine, while Anna was going strong with her second.
*Cough! Cough!*
Wolf suddenly choked on fine wine and almost sprayed Wayde with it. Out of nowhere, he felt a hand rove on his lower stomach and then go straight down.
In shock, Wolf confirmed that both of Wayde’s hands were on the table. He then turned around and saw that Anna was giggling as she spoke with Matilda. She was sitting oddly low. Her arm rested on the table, supporting her cheek. The way she sat was very unladylike, but on account of how much she’d drunk, not even Matilda said anything.
Wolf was probably the only one who noticed that Anna’s other hand was somewhere below the table.
A moment later the groping hand was gone and Anna straightened up, drinking a bit more wine. She repeated the same move three more times that evening.
At first Wolf found it exciting, but then he was simply annoyed. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Do you want me to drown in wine?” he hissed, pretending to take another sip of his first glass of wine.
“It’s just a slight preview of things to come,” Anna whispered back, giggling tipsily at how sharp she was to make that joke.
She was slightly drunk, but that only made her feel even better about herself.
Mother was right, the intoxicated birthday girl thought. Not only is it fun to play with a man in this way, Wolf’s reactions are priceless.
Blessedly, Wolf couldn’t read her thoughts yet, otherwise the poor fellow really would’ve drowned.
As things were, he simply blushed at her words, feeling conflicted. This was so humiliating. He wanted to just get up and leave the table, but Anna’s errant hand made sure he couldn’t move.
“Annabelle dear! Come over here, the cake is about to arrive!” Margaret called out to her daughter, with a slightly sharp note in her voice.
Margaret Didot was a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties. She was tastefully dressed in a violet dress with a provocatively deep cleavage. Unlike her daughter, the woman only had a touch of makeup and unlike her daughter she had a very ample bosom.
“Coming mother!” Anna exclaimed as she unsteadily got up from her seat.
She slowly moved towards the master table. She was afraid to move faster, fearing she might stumble.
As soon as she neared her parents’ table Anna became serious and smiled with grace, thick makeup covering her intoxicated blush.
Margaret watched her daughter stop between her and the hateful bastard. She paused for a moment to make sure the drunken girl wouldn’t fall over. Seeing Bella handle her liquor well, her mother felt pleased.
She loudly clapped her hands and half a dozen servants wearing the pristine white of the kitchen staff came in, pushing a tray cart with a rather large three story cake.
Fourteen pink candles decorated the cake’s top story. They burned brightly while releasing a pleasant fruity aroma.
As the cake rolled through the grand chamber, guests stood up and slowly encircled the master table. Margaret and Edwin also got up, flanking their daughter. Edwin had a hand on a young boy’s shoulder.
If Annabelle’s looks went after her mother, Marius was the spitting image of his father, albeit somewhat fatter.
As the cake halted before the Didots, Marius’s eyes shone with unrestrained desire. However, as soon as Edwin cleared his throat, the boy started shaking and averted his gaze from the temptation before him.
“Make a wish dear,” the father said to his daughter with a proud smile. As things stood, this pawn piece of his had turned at least into a rook, if not a queen.
Anna nodded obediently and closed her eyes for a moment. She took a deep breath and blew out the fourteen candles.
As the candles went out, a large round of applause echoed throughout the hall while Anna turned this way and that, elegantly curtsying.
When she looked at Wolf, the innocent smile changed for a briefest of moments and she winked, making a completely different expression.
Wolf was getting increasingly more nervous. He wanted to flee. He’d gotten over the ring issue, but now there was another, even more important one.
He was supposed to spend the night with Anna. He had his pajamas on him, but were they supposed to be naked? What if she didn’t like him? He was a lot shorter than her. Did that bother her?
He didn’t know about Anna, but this matter bothered him. It bothered him a lot.
