7
Rhuron
Having her sitting on my bed, and not taking advantage of the situation, was murder.
I wanted to press her down into that mattress, kiss and lick her until she was falling apart, and then claim her as mine. She was mine. She belonged to me. Somehow, I was finding it hard to do that, though. If I just took her like that, she’d never forgive me.
I needed her to want me as badly as I wanted her.
The next couple of days were murder.
I couldn’t sleep in my own room, instead holing myself up in my office. Spending time with her, I was almost obsessed with trying to get a smile from her. Some important things were learned, like those blue roses made her happy — except for when they were plucked or cut. She looked almost heartbroken when I tried to give her a bouquet of snipped ones.
The next morning, I redeemed myself by having her potted rose from her shop delivered.
“How did you know it was there?” she gasped.
“You said you found one, I just had to find out where you hid it.” I smiled. She watered it immediately, checking the petals for any damage.
“Did Marie say anything?” she asked, pausing the flow of her water can.
“Yes, just that she hoped you’d feel better and get back to her soon.”
“Feel better?” She put down the watering can this time, her mouth growing thinner.
“I just, uh…” I stumbled over my words. “We can’t tell anyone about Crystal Glass. I told her you were sick and spending time with family.”
“Oh, god, she definitely thinks I’m dying now,” she half-laughed.
“Why?”
“I don’t talk to my family.” She set the plant down in the window. “Their expectations for me were just…” She bit her lip.
I wanted to taste those lips, but I kept it to myself for once.
Every minute around her was a different kind of torture.
The dragon in me would do anything to pull her onto the bed and kiss her, claim her.
I had to be smart about this, but it was like walking on a sprained ankle, just constant discomfort.
“I’m sorry that happened.” I shook my head. “If it’s any consolation, you can do whatever plant studies you want to do here.”
“What?”
“That’s what you wanted to do, right?” I walked over to the window with her. “There are endless plant species that only exist within this spell-protected fortress. Even our grass is a different species from the common grass around here.” I hoped it would interest instead of bore her.
Her eyes lit up, and I was relieved.
“It is? That’s so bizarre, I’d love to take a look at it some time.” She cheered up quickly.
I smiled, a little humored by the thought of the future queen studying the palace grass. It was a cute look on her. I couldn’t wait to see it.
On the third day, I finally convinced her to leave her room for the meeting. She had strong opinions on how mates should be handled, and I was going to let her voice them. Maybe in helping her help others, she’d see I wasn’t so terrible. As much as my body had strained to pounce and claim her, I had held back, exhausting myself.
“Why is the castle built into the mountain?” she asked curiously while walking down the corridor toward the meeting.
“It protects us more than anything else. There are old stories of full dragons that used to live in caves in the Purple Ridge. They would go and raze down human towns if they got too close.”