Chapter Text
“A doctor. And not just any doctor but Uther Penn’s son? You have moved up in the world, Gwen.”
Gwen scowled at Elyan as she settled down on the sofa next to her father. “He’s just a normal man.”
“Mmm,” said her father. “A Penn is never ordinary.”
There was muted disapproval in her father’s words and Gwen turned her attention to him. “You don’t like him?”
“I don’t know anything about his son, but Uther Penn is a cold-blooded snake. Remember Nimueh and how he screwed her over?”
“Arthur isn’t like his father,” said Gwen firmly. “He isn’t. Have you been taking your medicine?”
Tom shook his head. “Don’t change the subject on me. When did you start dating him?”
“It’s been a few weeks. We’re just dating. I’m not marrying him.”
“So it’s a casual thing?” Elyan passed her a glass of water then perched on the arm of the sofa. “I approve.”
Gwen rolled her eyes and sipped at the water. “I sent my book to my editor.”
“That’s great, Gwen.”
Elyan clinked his glass of water against hers. “Brilliant work. So what’s next?”
“I’ve some freelance articles lined up and I’m working on a new series.”
“You know what you should do? When Arthur and you break up, write a nice expose on him. No one can get enough of the Penn family.”
“Elyan -”
“At least bring him over for us to meet. I’ve always wanted to meet a Penn.”
“Elyan -”
Later that night, as she lay on her bed in her childhood room, Gwen stared up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that were still on her ceiling. Her phone beeped but it wasn’t Arthur, just Morgana reminding her of the shopping trip they had scheduled. Placing her phone on her bedside table, Gwen’s mind went back to the conversation after dinner. She squeezed her eyes close and tried not to listen to that little voice in her head that was asking her just what on earth she was doing dating someone like Arthur Penn.
The more she tried on the dresses Morgana suggested, the more she questioned what she was doing with Arthur. She remembered suggesting to Arthur a short, fun fling at first, then somehow they both got tangled into something more serious, something that could become much more permanent.
“Nope.” Seated on a plush chair just outside the fitting room Gwen had just emerged from, Morgana cradled Gerty as she shook her head.
Gwen sighed and turned to allow the young salesgirl to unzip the dress. “You haven’t liked any of the dresses.”
“Try the yellow one. I like that one,” said Morgana, ignoring Gwen’s growing frustration. “You’ll need new shoes, some jewellery and maybe a new haircut.”
“No.” Immediate and curt, Gwen regretted how ungrateful she sounded and so she bit back the rest of her response.
Morgana made a noise that probably signalled disapproval but after hours of trying on a rack of dresses, Gwen was tired and cranky. It was uncomfortable enough that Arthur was spending a ton of money, albeit money that he apparently had more than enough of, on a dress but to have him spend even more money on a full makeover was crossing a line. What line that was, Gwen was far too exhausted to articulate.
“I look like a fluffy duck.”
Morgana pressed her lips together and cocked her head. “That is an apt description. It’s not very flattering. Try that blue one.”
The blue one was fitting, so fitting it pinched her waist in and gave her a deeper cleavage than she’d ever seen on herself. She cupped her breasts and pushed them up, marvelling at just how much more cleavage she was able to give herself. This is why people spent hundreds of dollars on bras.
“A nice wrap and you’ll look wonder -”
“Gorgeous.”
Gwen, whose attention had been focused on her suddenly voluptuous figure, looked up, her eyes meeting Arthur’s in the mirror. His gaze dropped to her chest, before meeting hers again, this time with a smile on his lips and a gleam in his eyes.
The young salesgirl bent her head and darted out of the dressing room, the door closing with a soft snick.
Gwen barely had time to breath his name before he was pressed up against her back, his hands warm against the curve of her hips. Then, his lips were on her jaw, barely a touch before moving down to her throat and whatever she had been about to say fled her mind. She watched as her breasts rose and fell with every breath that shuddered through her, unable to move when Arthur slowly eased the zip down and cool air hit her heated skin.
“Arthur -”
His hands slipped beneath the volumes of cloth, his fingers playing with the band of her underwear. Against her back, Gwen could feel his erection and the pounding of his heart. She should stop this - the dressing room of an upscale boutique with Morgana and Gerty sitting outside was not in any way a suitable location for what was about to happen. Arthur’s teeth grazed the skin between her neck and shoulder, her legs buckled and she stretched out a hand to steady herself, leaving a smudged palm print on the mirror. Then, pushing away that sensible voice in her head, Gwen turned her head, allowing Arthur to capture her lips with his.
Thankfully, the seat in which Morgana had been lounging and critiquing her dresses was empty and Gwen looked at Arthur.
“I told her to leave. Gerty was fussing.” He shrugged and the heap of blue cloth in his arms moved. “Let’s pay for this and get out of here. I’m hungry and I think you’re sick of shopping.”
“I am,” said Gwen. “I guess we have no choice but to buy that dress, after - well, you know.”
Arthur shot her a quick smile. “I like the dress.”
Immediately, heat rose in her cheeks and she blinked away the image of the two them in the mirror of the dressing room, Arthur’s blonde hair against her skin as he suckled her neck, his pale hand beneath the slip of silk between her legs, teasing her until she tasted blood when she bit down to stop herself from making too much noise.
Lunch was a leisurely one at a small pub tucked away from the main street. As if sensing how stressful the shopping trip had been, Arthur avoided the topic of the birthday party and his father. Instead, he coaxed Gwen to tell him about the next series of books that she was planning.
“I’m almost disappointed that this series doesn’t have rampaging, murderous unicorns rebelling against their fathers.”
Gwen laughed. “Before I can work on that, I’ve a few articles I need to writing. Then I can start sketching something out.”
“Sounds like you’re going to be pretty busy.”
“You’re pretty busy yourself. I’m actually surprised that you’re here. Didn’t you just come off a night shift?”
“I did.” He took her hand. “But I wanted to see you, plus Morgana said you were getting antsy. Didn’t want to be dumped because of a bad shopping trip.”
“So you seduced me in the dressing room?”
Arthur’s smile was both warm and teasing. “A very good idea, I thought.”
He had offered to pick her up but Gwen had said that she would go with Morgana since Gwaine was staying at home to look after Gerty. And so Arthur was trying to nod as the mayor of Camelot was speaking to him and his father, while keeping one eye on the entrance and trying to stop the knot that what in his stomach from getting too big. Some people loved the ostentatiousness, the over-the-top luxury and the smell of money in the air. Others didn’t. Arthur had the suspicion that Gwen was one of the latter.
And then there was the matter of his father who had seated Mithian, daughter of Rodor, Minister of Health next to him. Having avoided his father most of the day, Arthur was unsure if this was another of his father’s matchmaking attempts or if this was another of his father’s attempts to start his political career.
Morgana loved arriving late for such events. Usually, Arthur wouldn’t care at all - it took the attention off him, but today, as the minutes slowly ticked by, Arthur tugged on his collar and shifted in his seat.
A hand touched his and he jumped, eliciting a laugh from Mithian.
“I assume the empty chair next to you is for your date.”
“Did my father tell you that?” Arthur didn’t want to know what his father had been saying about Gwen. Uther hadn’t been too impressed that Arthur was dating a writer but he had been far too preoccupied with this dinner to say much, which was how Arthur liked it.
Mithian shook her head. “You’ve been glancing at the door every other second, tapping on the table and generally been very preoccupied. You’re very good at the whole charming people thing - I’ve seen you - and you’ve not even tried at all this evening. I doubt you’re fretting over Morgana.”
“Observant,” said Arthur. “I -”
A hush descended over the room and Arthur forgot what he had to say when Morgana finally arrived. Dressed in a red dress that clung to her curves and showed quite a bit of leg, Morgana commanded the attention of most of the people in the room, but Arthur, unsurprisingly, had only eyes for the woman who was clearly attempting to avoid any attention by walking slightly behind Morgana.
It wasn’t as if Arthur hadn’t seen Gwen in the dress before but with her hair up with little flowers threaded through it and her eyes enhanced by the magic of makeup, she was stunning. The dress had made her look gorgeous in that small dressing room but with the lights of the ballroom glinting off the sequins on her dress, Arthur thought she looked like an angel. Lights flashed as photographers scrambled to take Morgana’s photos and Gwen cringed. The movement was slight and Arthur suspected that no one except him noticed her discomfort.
It took only a few steps for him to get to Gwen’s side, his hand slipping into hers and squeezing. The look of relief and gratitude that Gwen shot him made him want to pull her into his embrace and escape from this dinner.
“I’m ok,” said Gwen, as if reading his mind. “Now that you’re here.”
Arthur slid his arm around her waist and kissed the side of her forehead, causing even more lights to flash.
“Don’t they already have enough photos?”
As quickly as possible, Arthur led her to his table. Not that it was much better as Uther stood, one of his false smiles pasted on his face.
“You must be Guinevere,” said Uther, his hand outstretched.
Gwen took it with a smile. “I am. I am honoured to meet you Mr Penn. Happy birthday.”
“Thank you. Come, take a seat.”
Before Uther could launch into any sort of interrogation of Gwen, his attention was diverted by some men who approached their table, much to Arthur’s relief.
“I hope at least the food is good.”
“It probably won’t be like that Italian restaurant,” whispered Arthur. “But it will be good. You look wonderful.”
Her eyes ran over him, lit with amusement. Her hand reached up and tugged at his bowtie. “You look delicious. The food is going to have some stiff competition.”
Overall, the dinner went well. There were several boring speeches extolling his father’s various virtues that Arthur were sceptical existed but with Gwen next to him, they were painless to sit through. Instead, they teased each other under the table with light touches and gentle bumps and giggled over Arthur remarks on the speeches celebrating Uther. He fed her from his plate, pleasure flooding him when she closed her lips over his fork as she looked at him through her eyelashes.
“The food is exquisite,” she sighed as her eyes fluttered close.
“Keep doing that and we’re going to have to leave early.”
“That would be terribly inappropriate.”
“Very,” Arthur agreed. “Almost as bad as the dressing room. But so very worth it.”
Just before dessert, Gwen excused herself. “I just need to powder my nose,” she said with a grin. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
Arthur kissed her cheek. “Don’t take too long.”
But she did take quite some time, enough that Arthur went off to look for her. When, turning a corner, Arthur saw her, hands clutching her skirt at the sides, her lips pressed together as she stood listening to his father. Dread and anger filled him.
“Father.”
“Arthur. I was just talking to Gwen. Such a smart woman.” Not even waiting for Arthur to reply, Uther turned and walked back to the ballroom.
“What did he say?”
Gwen let out a sigh and shook her head. “Nothing important.”
“Guinevere.” He grabbed her hand, stopping her from turning away. “What did he say?”
“Nothing new. We’re from different worlds. You need a wife who would be an asset to your career and so on.”
“He is an ass,” said Arthur, forcing his voice to remain calm, despite the anger churning in him. “Don’t listen to him. I don’t care that we’re from different worlds and my career is fine. But do you know what I care about?”
Gwen’s eyes were wide and Arthur wondered if he’d been unsuccessful in modulating his voice. “What,” she asked but Arthur suspected she knew the answer when she cradled his face in her hands. “What do you care about.”
“You,” he said. “You, because you make everything better.”
“Everything?”
“Everything.” Arthur dipped his head and kissed her. Her arms immediately went around his neck and she pressed herself against him.
“You make everything better too,” she said when they finally stopped kissing. Her fingers were still in his hair and her body still flushed against his. “Do you think anyone would notice if we left early?”
Arthur grinned. “After what my father tried to pull, I don’t really care.”
Her dress was tossed across his sofa and his own clothes were strewn on the floor but neither of them really cared, not when they were entwined together on Arthur’s comfortable bed. He pushed himself up on one elbow and ran a finger across her swollen lips. Her eyes were half-closed and she smiled slightly at his touch.
“I love you.”
The words just came out. Arthur hadn’t planned it, hadn’t really thought about it but seeing Gwen, her hair fanning across his pillow, her naked body tangled in his sheets and her eyes dark with emotion, there was nothing else he could think about.
Her eyes widened and her lips parted. “Oh.”
Regret immediately set in.
“It’s not important,” he murmured, laying back down on the bed and staring at the ceiling.
“Arthur.”
The thought that she wanted to discuss why she couldn’t tell him that she loved him too was too painful to bear, so he ignored her and closed his eyes.
Then, he heard her laugh and her lips were on his face, kissing his nose and his eyes.
“Arthur you fool.”
He opened his eyes and instead of the ceiling, he looked up into her brown eyes. “Why am I a fool?”
“Because I love you too. And even your father can’t scare me away.”
“Come here.” Arthur reached for her, pulling her down until she straddled him and her hair fell over his face, tickling him. He lifted his head and kissed her.