Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
It was the middle of the rainy season, and the downpour had left the mouth of the cave damp and cold. Elowen stood just out of reach of the water, barefoot, letting the soothing smell of rain cling to her.
Behind her, Midas stood in the shape of a man, his hair long down his back. His feet were heavy against the stone as he approached. Elowen didn’t turn, not right away at least. She simply stayed in place, watching the rain, and felt Midas’ heat at her back.
His hand rose to brush her loose hair away from her neck, and tenderly kissed the curve where it met her shoulder. She turned to face him.
His eyes, golden as the dawn, met hers like they always did—like he could never quite believe that she was real. Even now. Even after he had asked her to be his and all the weeks since.
Midas saw something new in her eyes, but he wasn’t sure what it was.
They had never been good at hiding things from each other. Not worry, nor care, nor the way their bodies had been…passionate for each other as of late.
But they had never been ready. Not until now, like the softness of the rain whispered to them that it was finally the right moment.
Elowen took his hand and led him into the cave wordlessly, past the hearth where she cooked meals and into the alcove where their nest was.
They spoke no words, for there were none needed. Elowen let her hands trace the lines of him—the curve of his shoulders, the scales down his spine, across his abdomen.
And when he touched her, it was with the same tenderness.
Midas had told Elowen before that this sort of intimacy was reserved for the sacred bond of mates. He had been careful to respect Elowen and her body, never touching her until he received her invitation.
He explored every curve of her body like a map he was committing to memory. Like a riddle he was waiting to find the answer to. He did not rush, he savored.
Her sighs were every answer he had ever wanted to hear.
They quickly knew what brought the other pleasure, and moved like the tides are drawn to the moon. Elowen’s fingers tangled in his dark hair and Midas’ lips found every bare piece of her, mixing their scents until they were indistinguishable from one another.
Afterward, they lay together on the furs and quilts of their nest, bare in every way. Not dragon and human, but lovers and loved.
Midas kissed her again, and she opened for him once more. As his body moved against hers in a beautiful, steady rhythm, Elowen wrapped her arms around him and whispered his name.
His entire body shuddered.
Outside, the rain continued to fall, but inside, the cave burned with firelight and passion—two hearts joining for the first time in sacred intimacy they had unknowingly saved for each other.
Morning came slow, like honey from a jar. The cave was still and humidity clung to the stones.
Elowen stirred first, but Midas tightened his tail, still curled around her legs from the night before.
He did not want her to retreat from the lingering beauty and fragile spell of the night they shared together.
Her bare skin was warm against his, some of his scales leaving patterns into her flesh from holding her so close to him all night.
Her body still hummed from soreness and memory of Midas’ body sharing hers. The memory of the way he had looked at her like she was something worth worshiping.
His eyes were still closed, but Elowen turned her head slightly to face him. She pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw, and only then did he open his golden eyes.
He blinked slowly, as if contemplating if it had all been a dream. His eyes traced down the nakedness of them both, and Elowen felt her cheeks flush.
“Good morning,” she whispered.
Midas tilted his head towards her and nuzzled her. That was his primary way of communicating with her. Not with words, but with touch, with tenderness.
He paused and then sat up slightly, reaching a hand toward her as if he were uncertain if he was still allowed to touch her.
His fingers brushed her hair away from her shoulder and then trailed down the length of her arm.
When she didn’t flinch away or tell him to stop, he continued to trace her body as gently as he could manage.
When he got to the underside of the curve of her breast, Midas made a soft sound in his throat, like a purr. “Elowen…” he trailed off, voice unsure. “Did I hurt you?”
She sighed, her heart aching with the knowledge that he was always concerned for her above all else. “No, Midas. It was perfect.”
That seemed to ease something in him, and he smiled awkwardly in return.
“What?” Elowen asked.
“Again?” he asked eagerly. She had to stifle a laugh as she turned beet red.
She knew it was probably just instinct for him, but he was after all, an animal.
She didn’t mean it in a bad way, just that his body worked in different ways than hers, and she wasn’t sure she could handle another day of… that just yet.
Instead of trying to explain, she nodded, just once, and reached for his hand. “Soon,” she promised.
He made that low sound again—satisfied and affectionate. He nuzzled her once more before they untangled their limbs.
Elowen retreated to a chamber further back in the cave where a large copper basin of water waited for her. It functioned as her bath, and she stepped into the water, cleaning away the blood and Midas’ passion from her thighs.
When she finished her bath, Midas helped her dress, though he grew frustrated with the ties at the back and let her do it herself.
He had prepared a simple breakfast for her of berries, flatbread, and dried meat.
Soon after she finished, the exhaustion of his human form caught up to him, and Midas involuntarily returned to his natural dragon shape, quickly falling into a deep slumber near her nest.
The rest of the day was spent tidying the cave.
Midas had a tendency to trek dirt and mud, and so Elowen brushed away what she could with a broom she fashioned out of a large stick and a bundle of dried grass.
Then she dragged a bucket of dirty water to the cave mouth for Midas to replace the next time he went to the lake.
Elowen never asked to go back, not because she didn’t want to, but because she was afraid. It was too close to her old village, and the scars on her back, though healed, were still new. She did miss the fresh air and foraging, but she simply wasn’t ready for what might be waiting for them there.
After her chores, Elowen relaxed near the cooking fire, preparing a broth for her supper.
Elowen didn’t have much opportunity in the village to cook.
Most of their meals were rations of thin, mushy gruel.
But here with Midas, he brought her so much food that she had noticeably gained weight, and her stomach no longer ached with hunger as it used to.
She had a collection of herbs and spices and aromatics she could experiment with.
It was simple, but it breathed life into her that she didn’t realize she was missing in her old life.
She didn’t realize how many mundane things, like cooking, had been taken from her in exchange for peace and order.
It was after her supper when Midas finally woke with a grumble that gently shook the cave. His eyes found her instantly, and he dipped his head in acknowledgement as he stretched his wings from wall to wall.
Elowen asked him to join her at the mouth of the cave. The clouds had momentarily broken, and though the rain left the stones wet, she sat with Midas curled around her. She pointed at the sky and told him of the constellations that painted the heavens.
Midas thought they were dull in comparison to his Elowen’s eyes, but he listened anyway. He loved learning of these silly human things like stories in the stars from her. He loved knowing that, through all the cruelty she had witnessed with the humans, she still found beauty in the world.
Midas hummed, nuzzling her with the side of his snout and dragging the very tip of his forked tongue against her cheek.
I shall take you to the stars, my Elowen.
She didn’t ask him what he said, and he didn’t need to tell her. He would show her, one day.
She fell asleep there, curled into his chest, and Midas smiled into the dark.