Page 6 of The Dragon King

And an easy man to love.

I smirked and drank the coffee.

Minutes later, Calista left the bedroom and came into the morning light that brightened the rest of the house. In just a cotton shirt and her panties, she lifted her arms high over her head as she stretched like a cat. “Morning.”

Her shirt lifted to expose her little belly, and my hand immediately went to her hip and guided her onto my lap. “Morning.”

Her arms circled my neck, and she kissed me.

My hand went to her ass and squeezed it as I felt her warm lips on mine, as I felt the tremble of my broken heart. She thawed the ice in my blood, reminded me of a joy I’d long forgotten.

She looked at the mug on the table. “You made coffee.” She grabbed the mug by the handle and took a drink.

“It’s all yours, baby.”

“We can share.” She took another drink and set it on the counter. “Want some breakfast?”

“Depends.”

“On?” She left my lap and stood beside the chair.

My eyes went to her ass that was nearly at eye level. “Not in the mood for seeds and thorns, whatever these people eat.”

“Well, I promise there won’t be thorns in it.” She headed to the kitchen counter and got to work, putting together a vegetable skillet that consisted of hearty potatoes with mushrooms and root vegetables. She cooked it in a sauce made of some kind of plant-based milk. The combination of the ingredients and the spices made a smell waft through the house that wasn’t half bad.

Minutes later, she brought two plates to the table along with her own mug of coffee. I sat at the head of the table, and she took the seat beside me, beautiful first thing in the morning when her eyes were rested and her skin rejuvenated.

We ate in silence.

The potatoes were charred on the outside but soft on the inside, and the other vegetables had a good taste mixed with the ingredients she’d thrown together without a recipe book.

“What do you think?”

“It could use some thorns.”

She stopped eating and released a quick chuckle. “Did you just make a joke?”

I continued to eat like nothing of the sort had happened.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you do that, except when you’re being sarcastic.”

My eyes remained down on the plate to avoid her stare.

“You should make jokes more often.”

I finished my plate then sat back to drink my coffee. In the castle, my breakfast usually consisted of meat and eggs, or I didn’t have breakfast at all.

She finished her breakfast a moment later and looked out the window at the sunshine and the flowers. “It’s still hard to believe you’re here. When you visited me before, it felt like a dream.”

A dream with a hefty cost. “Thank you for breakfast.”

“Wow, you have manners too.”

I smirked. “Don’t get used to it.”

“I like this new version of you.”

It wasn’t new. Just buried for a very long time.

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