Page 23 of Eliza's Cursed Dragon

Her arms flew around my waist and she pressed herself against me. I felt the wild beating of her heart and pulled her closer. The urge to kiss her became stronger, but I resisted. Instead, resting my head on top of hers and just relishing in the touch of our bodies.

Later that day, I returned with a box of latex gloves, handing them to her and her radiant smile nearly made me skip for the rest of the day.

It seemed that even Marie, my housekeeper and cook, had taken a liking to our guest. She came out of the kitchen—something she rarely did—to meet her and fret over how the dishes were arranged for her, before she took extra care with the silver bowls for the swans.

“I’ll make sure there’s always food and water in here,” she promised, petting one of the swans on the head.

My princess rubbed her stomach and blew a kiss at Marie, who waved her off with a giggle. “It’s alright, I love spoiling people. One day you might have eleven kids instead of swans, eh? Wouldn’t that be something?”

Red heat spread over my princess’s cheeks and I couldn’t help but laugh. “That would be something,” I said, looking deep into her eyes, intensifying her blush.

Eliza

The next day Edward took me to a different town, much larger.

“We need to get you some things,” he explained.

I considered that he was probably right. If I stayed with him for a while, I couldn’t wear the same outfit every day. I needed soap, shampoo, and feminine products. Things I had never dared to buy with the money I got from selling my mother’s jewelry. It was precious to me and needed to last until the six years were up, maybe even longer, because even when the curse was lifted, and my brothers were my brothers again, we still didn’t have a place to go.

I was certain my brothers would want to return to Fable Forest to reclaim their birthright, but first we needed to figure out how to lift the spell Constancia had woven over our father.

I tried to justify that buying a dress or two and some soap with the jewelry wouldn’t be that bad, but my heart constricted at the idea.

When we entered the first store selling the kind of clothes I had seen women wear here, my heart sank even lower at the prices. There was no way I would pay a hundred dollars or more for a shirt. Not when the hundred dollars would feed my brothers and me for a week.

I tugged on Edward’s hand, wanting to leave.

“You don’t like the clothes?” he asked somewhat astounded. “I think this blouse would look lovely on you.” He held up a lilac-colored blouse and I couldn’t help but touch the fine material. I agreed with him, it would look good on me, but it was a hundred and fifty dollars.

I shook my head.

“What about this one?” He held up a butterflower-yellow dress with daisies on it.

I waved my hands in protest.

“Is it the money?” he asked astutely.

I spread my hands apart to say, too much.

“I have enough money for both of us,” he explained, not surprising me. I had assumed as much. Still, I couldn’t let him spend more money on me than he was already doing with the pond.

“Alright, listen, you can either pick your own clothes or I’ll come back here by myself and buy a bunch of things you might not even like.”

I searched his eyes. He was one-hundred-percent serious. I puffed out my cheeks, rolling my eyes but he only laughed.

“I don’t get to do something good with my money often. Please don’t deprive me of this pleasure.”

What followed was a spending spree that rivaled my mother’s and mine a few years back. Once he got me going, there was no turning back. It had been a long time since I had bought anything for myself. As a princess, I was used to buying a new wardrobe every season. Something I had always treasured.

A bit of guilt still gnawed at the pit of my stomach, but Edward assured me that money wasn’t a problem and when I thought about the amount he was spending on the pond and the size of his house, he convinced me. I was a princess after all, I was used to people trying to please me.

Shamelessly I tried on outfit after outfit, showed myself off to him and he seemed to enjoy it just as much.

My father had accompanied my mother and me once on one of our shopping trips—at least I only remember once—but he ran away a couple of hours into it. Leaving a purse of gold behind for us to buy whatever we desired, but having no interest in sharing the experience with us.

Once Edward was satisfied that I had plenty of clothes, he took me to another store, filled with fragrant smells.

“I don’t think you need any makeup, you’re more than beautiful as you are,” he complimented me with a small grin that made him look boyish. “But I know how much you girls like these things, so…” He opened his arms.

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