10. Edward

That night I returned to the graveyard to incinerate every single ghoul left, worrying my beautiful mystery woman would want to come back to the church to collect her things or pick more nettles. Even though I didn’t understand why she was doing this, I sensed that it was important to her and I respected that. All the more so I didn’t want to give her any reason to leave my mansion. Now or ever.

I felt a pull to her that was beyond anything I had ever experienced. Same with my urge to protect her, give her anything she wanted or needed.

But there was also a selfish part inside me, a part that hoped that maybe if I helped her, proved myself worthy, did a good deed so to speak, my curse would be lifted.

Even after three years I wasn’t used to it and would have given anything to be free of it. I won’t lie, I did enjoy flying up high in the sky, the feeling of wind rushing by, the way my wings spread and caught currents to move me, it was the ultimate experience, one that very few humans had ever had the privilege to encounter.

That was just the crux of it though. I wasn’t entirely human any longer. Even during my greatest heights there was always that one grain of salt rubbing my happiness.

Taking care of the ghouls was easy, picking up her things a bit trickier without hands, but I managed, stinging my lips on the nettles as I discovered five finished mantles and a sixth newly started, all made completely from nettles. What was she doing with those? Was she selling them? Was that how she supported herself and her swans? And who in the world would buy that?

I took everything and left it on her balcony where I was sure she would find it in the morning, then I perched on top of the mansion’s roof, drawn to be close to her.

While I meditated, I contemplated the wonder of her having recognized me in my dragon form. Who would have taken the time to scrutinize my eyes instead of running at the sight of a dragon? No matter if it had saved her life or not.

When the sun began to rise, I made my way down to my balcony. It was a tight fit, but I managed to squeeze in where nobody would see me if they happened to come by while I waited for my dragon form to morph back into Edward.

A shower later, I picked my mystery lady up from her room.

“Good morning, I hope you slept well,” I greeted, drinking in her perfect beauty and reveling in the smile she sent my way that seemed to be for me alone.

Gently, I took the liberty to kiss her cheek chastely, a gesture she returned with a slight giggle. The sound of it puckered my skin, the touch of her lips against my cheek sent a pulse through my cock, instantly stiffening it. Desire flared inside me, a desire so strong I had to fist my hands not to pull her into an embrace and ravish her where we stood.

A squawk reminded me of her ever-present friends, but I was grateful for the interruption. The scent of her freshly washed hair, lightly floral, was fogging my mind so much, I might have forgotten myself and kissed her as deeply as my body demanded.

She waved at me to stay and hastened into her room, from there she held out her bag with nettles and pointed at the mantles questioningly.

“Yes, I collected them for you last night,” I confirmed.

She put her hands together in front of her chest and bowed slightly in thanks.

“No need to thank me.” I tried to wave her off. “It was my pleasure. And by the way, if you want to return to the church this morning to… to get more nettles, I’m happy to take you there and help.”

Her eyes opened wide and she shook her head vehemently. Misunderstanding, I assured her, “The ghouls are all gone, I made sure of it.”

She lifted and moved her pointer finger in a windshield-wiper motion, still looking horrified.

“That’s not it, is it?” I guessed.

She shook her head.

“You don’t want me to go with you?”

First she nodded, then she shook her head, and I realized there was no way for her to answer the question with a yes or no. So I rephrased it, broke it into parts.

“You do want to go back to the graveyard?”

She looked sad and I gathered she didn’t necessarily want to, but felt compelled to for whatever reason.

“Alright. It’s safe,” I reassured her one more time. “Do you want me to take you?”

She nodded.

“This morning?”

She shook her head.

“I don’t think anybody would mind if they saw you,” I said as another idea of why she might want to do her thing at night.

To that she shrugged. Okay, so that wasn’t it either.

“You have to collect them at night?”

Relief flooded her eyes and she bobbed her head up and down in affirmation.

“Alright. I don’t have anything better to do. Let’s go tonight? How about we fly?” I winked.

Her lips parted in the widest smile that made me think of a rising sun, reaching all the way to her sparkling eyes, and she nodded vigorously. Heat spread through my chest, my loins. God, that woman was getting to me. I would do anything for that smile, to make her happy.

One of the swans pecked at my leg and when I looked down, it motioned as if he wanted to go downstairs. When I didn’t move, he nipped at my pants to get me going. I looked at the woman and she made a motion to her mouth.

“Hungry?” I asked amused. “He’s hungry?”

She looked just as amused as I felt, shrugging and moving her head, her hand moved in circles around her stomach, before she raised it to her lips, indicating eating. “He’s always hungry?” I guessed.

Pealing laughter escaped her. Her hand flew to her lips, her eyes widened.

Gently I pulled her fingers from her mouth. “I love the sound of your laughter.”

A few of the swans snorted as if they found it funny too, and again I was taken aback at how human their eyes looked and how different.

“Well, let’s get some breakfast,” I invited, taking her hand and mouthing, “Elena?”

Again she giggled, but no, that wasn’t her name either.

“I’ll get it eventually,” I promised and she squeezed my hand.

After breakfast I went to work. Called Jack and informed him that he needed to pull some of his crew to divert them to my backyard. I wanted a pond and I wanted it now. The more comfortable I could make my beautiful guest, the longer she would stay.

For part of the day she stayed in her room, and when she returned her lovely fingers were blistered. I kissed each one.

“I don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing, but I know it’s important to you and I won’t stop you. I will, however, find a way to stop your hands from hurting,” I promised.

She shrugged as if it were nothing, but pulled her fingers back, embarrassed.

“It’s alright,” I assured her, taking her hands back,, carefully holding them. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

An indecipherable look moved through her eyes, as if she was about to tell me something, but then the noise of a bulldozer startled her and she pointed at it in question, as the massive machine ran over my carefully manicured grass, ruining it.

“They’ll begin digging a hole today, for the pond,” I reminded her.

She stared at me in amazement with the widest, deepest violet eyes.

“I told you I would.” I laughed. “I’m nothing but a man of my word.”

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.