Chapter 56 #3
“Because of your royal blood?” I ask as he walks me to a shallower part of the river and slowly lets me down.
“No. Because of my other blood.”
I squint as I find my own feet. With the pain gone, an endless sense of power and strength courses through me.
At my expression he continues, with an outstretched hand should I need it, “As you saw the other night, I’m not fully human.
My blood is mixed with dragonblood. Specifically, the sun dragon, Vue. ”
“So…you’re a Spoiled, then? But how if the sun and moon dragon have been missing for ages?”
“I’m not a Spoiled. Instead of consuming dragonblood continuously to make me one, I’m…
part dragon. The sun and moon dragon are the most powerful breeds.
In order to save my life as a newborn, I was given sun dragonblood.
Since my human blood was so fresh and malleable, the dragonblood fused with it. ”
“So…” I tilt my head at him. “That’s why you have a perfect record with dragon bonding at the Dragon Academy, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I don’t need a bond to communicate with dragons. It’s as easy as it is talking to you. For their species, they listen to me. Part of the sun dragon’s hierarchical influence lives within me.”
My shoulders shake with a small giggle. “The King of mortals and dragons. Perhaps they should consider renaming your title.”
He takes a step closer, the water slipping down to reveal the first row of his abs. “No one else knows, though, Marcella. No one else can know.”
Lowering my chin to look up at him, I ask, “Then…why did you tell me?”
Another step closer, and the water slips to right above his navel. “Because I trust you. I feel…safe with you, I guess.”
“And how can you be so certain of that?”
He turns his face away as he lifts a hand out of the glowing river.
A breeze picks up, brushing strands of long hair off his shoulders and whispering it in glorious strands.
“The same way…” his voice drifts upon the gentle breeze, “that I’m certain of the wind.
Even though I can’t see it, can’t prove it, I feel it. And I know it all the same.”
He lowers his hand back into the water, the breeze coming to a dead stop.
I open my mouth, then close it, before I say, “Then you should know something about me, too. Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of working my way up the ranks. Others might have fantasized about their weddings, but not me.” I watch for his reaction, pressing on slowly when I don’t see much of a change.
“So, I’m not sure I should be the woman you spend your secrets nor your affections on, my King.
I have no desire, nor training, to be a Queen, a wife, or a mother.
You deserve someone far greater than whatever leisurely distraction I might be able to offer you. ”
“Leisurely distraction?” he nearly scoffs. As if that’s the most insulting thing I’ve just said. Then he’s walking to me, closing the space between us until I’m tilting my head back to look at him. The star dusted sky stretching out beyond him.
“You speak profanity referring to yourself like that around me. You are not some fleeting moment of lust.” He shakes his head. “And if your heart doesn’t burn to be a Queen, a wife, or a mother, then I would never force it on you. But that does not make you a leisurely distraction.”
“Then if you mean what you say,” I whisper, “give me what I ask for.”
His lips lift in a grin in the split second before he grabs the side of my face. Cupping my cheek, staring deeply within me. Lowering his face to mine, he stops an inch away. One last test of my permission.
“You continue to shake my self-discipline, Marcella Briarstone,” he murmurs.
I grab his forearm and lean up into him, brushing my nose along his first before my lips skate across his mouth.
Lightly. Too light. And then I’m lost in his presence, far too close to stay away.
Closing the gap between us, I roll my body up into his.
Chest on chest, my arms snaking up to wrap around his neck.
It's infinite—the way he kisses me. Deep and intentional, like he’s planned it all his life. Like he’s reserved it for every night hereafter. Over and over we move onto each other. But not rushed and heated this time.
It’s slow. Pulling upon the threads in the deepest parts of ourselves and weaving them together with each kiss. Using my arms as leverage, I hop up to get closer, wrapping my legs around his waist.
No pain settles into me. But I’m far too distracted to look down to see what has happened to my stitches. The shift of weight catches him by surprise, and while he wraps me in his arms, he chuckles into my mouth as he slides back further into the water.
It collects around us, to where only our heads are above the surface. I’m weightless in his arms. We break off our kiss, and smile at each other. No words needed for the moment.
Too intimidated by the fullness of the moment, I tilt my head back to look at the stars. Admiring them, the way they hang in the heavens.
“Do you wish to see them closer?” he whispers.
As I look back down at him, he’s got the slyest grin. I ask, “What do you mean?”
His turn to tilt his head back as he lifts a hand, slowly twisting his fingers and wrist like he’s wafting smoke.
Then, one by one, the stars shake free of the sky.
They rain down in brilliant streams, pulled to us in the river.
Before they can collide with the earth, they jerk to follow the lazy spin of Cyrus’ hand.
Slowing their rapid decline to follow his pace, hundreds of clusters twinkle around us in a lazy spin.
“Cyrus,” I breathe, twisting in his arms to look around us. Everywhere is sparkling light, flickering and dimming like a breath. “I…I’ve never seen anything so…so beautiful.”
“Neither have I.”
When I glance back at him with a wide smile, mine fades into something smaller, something quieter. Because he’s not looking at the stars around us.
He’s looking at me.
He presses a single, light kiss to my neck. “I would bring down the stars for you, Marcella Briarstone.” That voice is buttery soft, saved only for me. He curls his forefinger and middle finger, scooping a cluster of stars to us. Flipping his hand with his palm outward, he freezes them before us.
His power, the magic…It doesn’t terrify me as it should. If anything, it only draws me closer to him. Curious to learn more. My mouth is parted as I regard the orbs of light glimmering and pulsing, caught in Cyrus’ hold.
“Is that what was around us the night I found you in the courtyard?” I whisper.
He flicks them back to join the others swirling around us. “Yes. That was the night I realized you might not be afraid of the truth. That you might actually see me for me.”
I smile, and he smiles wider. He turns his attention back to the stars, flicking his wrist to send them back heavenward. They all scatter, finding their places and gleaming as if they’ve never left.
“We need to get back.” He brushes his fingers through my wet hair. “You need your rest, and tomorrow I leave for the Dragon Academy.”
He carries me out of the water, then immediately sets to dressing me. Though, rather than just my nightgown, he adds on his shirt and coat. My jaw drops open when I realize the stitches are gone. All that’s left of the wound is a mounded scar from my belly to my knee.
He follows my look. “The lady’s maids and others will ask questions. Tell them that you prayed to the God of Healing and she answered your prayers.”
“I won’t ever tell anyone about this, Cyrus. I promise it.” I brush his arm. “I won’t tell a soul about your blood, your abilities, nor this place.”
“I know you won’t,” he says and leans forward, pressing a light kiss to my forehead.
As we walk through the trees, I reach for his hand and intertwine my fingers with his. I tell myself it’s to ensure I don’t trip over the gnarled roots or the rocks hidden within the shadows. But as he tightens his fingers on mine, I swear my heart soars.
Perhaps it’s more than that.
He leads me back to the castle, to my room. As he tucks me into bed, he presses one last kiss to my head before whispering, “Goodnight, my Marcella.”