Page 48 of Fated to the Grumpy Dragon
Thwack.
The noise that had roused me from my unplanned —albeit very welcome—afternoon nap quickly resolved itself into the sound of an axe biting into wood.
Someone was chopping. Since nobody else lived in the house, I figured it meant Rhyse was back from the palace. He’d left early in the morning before the sun came up to tell the sovereign about the incident with Killian.
I got up off the couch and started toward the door, thinking to greet him. The warm breeze coming in stopped me short, however. It was quite toasty out there.
A smile crept over my lips as I headed to the kitchen, filling a large glass with water before I headed outside.
The woodpile was around the corner, behind the fireplace, so I couldn’t immediately see him. I did, however, hear his grunt as he sent the axe sailing downward and through the target log, splitting it easily.
“Hey,” I said as he tossed the split pieces onto the pile of already split wood, where it would wait to be added to the neat stack already resting against the side of the house. “Thirsty?”
Rhyse turned at the waist. He was shirtless, and the move made every single one of his abs pop. I nearly took a sip of the water to bring some moisture back to the Sahara that was my mouth.
“That sounds wonderful,” he said, face lighting up as he saw me standing there.
I walked the glass over to him, noting the pile of wood. “How long have you been back?”
He shrugged, wiping sweat off his brow. “An hour or so. I didn’t want to wake you, before you ask. You looked peaceful and very comfortable.”
“I was,” I said, covering a yawn. “Those couches are deadly when it comes to their napping ability.”
Rhyse chuckled, draining half the glass of water in one go. “Damn that’s good. Thank you.”
The wave of appreciation swept over me like the sun breaking out from behind a cloud, heating me equally all over.
“Is this a typical day for you?” I asked. “I just realized I don’t actually know what you do in a day.”
“Mostly,” he said. “Work around the house doing upkeep. Go diving for things to sell in the market. Things like that.”
“Sounds almost idyllic.”
“I like it.” He stared at me. “It provides me what I need that I can’t get on my own. Clothing, food, that sort of thing. Speaking of which, did you want to go diving with me today?”
I didn’t need our link to detect his eagerness. Hewantedme to go with him.
“No. I can stay here. I don’t really want to get on a boat again today. It seems like a bother, anyway. You can probably just jump off the edge here and be gone without me.”
“I don’t mind.”
“I’ll do something around here,” I said, gesturing. “Surely, there’s something I can do to help out.”
“I wasn’t asking you to come help,” Rhyse said. “You don’t need to.”
“One thing I am not, Rhyse, is a princess. I’m used to rural living. I won’t sit around while you do everything, thank you very much.”
“Sorry,” he said a bit defensively. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just thought, you’ve only been here a few days and basically just met me. A few days of not doing a ton, learning to adjust to this place, isn’t a big deal.”
“I was thinking the opposite,” I told him. “While you were gone, I grew bored. My brain started to wander.”
I carefully did not tell him towhatdid it wander.
“Okay. So?”
“So,” I said. “I think doing familiar things might help me feel more at home. More comfortable. Maybe heal my brain somehow if I’m doing tasks that I would do there. I don’t know. What Idoknow is that I can’t just sit around. So, please, let me help. There must be something.”
“Okay, okay!” Rhyse said, throwing up his hands in surrender while smiling. “Let’s see. Hmmm. What could you do …?”
