Jera and Valin had joined the Proudmoores for dinner in Proudmoore Keep. The food and conversation had been excellent, and everyone was relaxing before a warm fire. Most were reluctant to end the get together.
Jaina was antsy, and to Jerathai's sharp eyes the reason was clear. The druid was amused by her best friend's way-too-obvious desire for her mate, "By the light of the moon Jaina, hit Kalec over the head with a warhammer and drag him off to your chambers, it'd be more subtle."
The archmage flushed, Kalec looked startled, and everyone else in the room had a good laugh.
"How in the world can you expect him to notice you in that outfit?" Katherine asked, "You wear it all the time."
"We need to take her shopping," Jerathai said immediately.
"Absolutely!" Katherine agreed.
"What's wrong with my robes?" Jaina asked, peeved.
Both of the older women groaned theatrically. "You've spent too much time with your nose in books if you have no idea how to attract a man's attention," her mother said emphatically. "What you wear directly affects how men react to you."
"Of course it depends on the culture and the circumstances," Jera allowed. "I could wear my scouting clothes and walk right past Valin or into any elven city and no one would so much as bat an eye, but if I wore it in Tradewinds Market it'd cause a riot."
The archmage was plainly puzzled. Valin grinned, "Jera's scouting outfit has less than half the cloth of a man's tunic."
Comprehension lit the mage's face.
"The right outfit certainly helps," Jera conceded, "but there's a lot more to a good seduction than that."
"I have the loveliest bedgown made entirely of lace," Katherine reminisced. She looked at her daughter with a roguish twinkle in her eye. "Whenever I felt your father was working too late I'd have the kitchen bring me a pot of tea and a sandwich on a tray. I'd put on that bedgown and throw a warm robe over it. I'd take the tray to whatever meeting he was in and set it down and pour him a cup of tea. The lace was just long enough to be seen under the sleeve of the robe, so he knew what I was wearing underneath it." She picked up her own cup of tea and sipped from it, "He never did manage to finish those sandwiches." The emeritus Lord Admiral looked over to the Kal'dorei High Archdruid and winked, "I owe all three of my children to that bedgown."
Jerathai laughed out loud, "Now that's what I mean! Brava!"
Jaina was mortified and blushed a bright red, "Mother!"
"Getting a man's attention is only the first step though, the chase is just as important," the druid opined.
"The chase?" Jaina was confused.
Her mother chuckled, "It's not anywhere near as much fun if you don't make him earn it, Jaina."
Valin, Tandred, and Kalec all grinned.
Jera decided she wasn't averse to a demonstration. "So first you do something to get his attention. It can be as subtle as a passing glance," and she let her gaze slide over her mate, lingering on him for just a moment. "Or as simple as a touch," she rested the fingers of one hand on the back of the other and slowly slid them up her arm, a casual, lingering caress. She grinned at Katherine, "Of course, a lot of the fun is in knowing exactly how far you can push."
The druid leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and stretched slowly and sensuously. To a casual observer she seemed to be merely working out the day's kinks, but Katherine noticed Valin beginning to turn a slightly deeper shade of lavender.
Jerathai rose from the chair. She was as slim as most Kal'dorei were, her muscles well defined as a result of her active life. Lithe, she moved as gracefully as a stalking cat. She began walking around the table slowly, teasingly. "Every man responds to different things of course," she commented as she passed behind her best friend's chair. "But you only need to know a couple, as long as you use them well."
She reached Valin's chair and lightly ran her fingertips across the tops of his well-muscled shoulders from behind. He reflexively sat up straight at the touch.
Katherine unsuccessfully smothered a smile, seeing him reacting as the druid wanted him to react.
"And when you're ready, just one...little...push.…" Her eyes sparkled mischievously, then Jera let out a soft cat's hiss.
The effect on Valin was electric. He immediately bolted up out of the chair. Jera ran for the door with a low, wicked chuckle.
The former Lord Admiral delightedly held up her cup in a toast, "To the chase!"
"And on that note," Tandred said with no small embarrassment, "I'll bid you all good evening." His mother echoed the druid's laughter as the reason for her son's retreat was all too obvious.
Jaina's eyes were wide as she turned back to the table. She couldn't fail to notice that Kalec was also flustered by Jerathai's demonstration. "Well," she addressed her mother with amusement, "It seems the High Archdruid has more to teach me than I realized."
Katherine chuckled and drained her cup. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go find that bedgown and see if it still fits."