5. Prince

Chapter 5

Prince

I paused before entering the dining room, suddenly afraid.

Behind me, I felt Darren's presence as he drew close. If it had been me behind him, and he'd stopped as suddenly as I had, I'd have walked right into him and spilled spaghetti all down his back. Good thing my mate was totally cool and in control, then, wasn't it?

"What's the matter, Prince?"

"Um, nothing."

Darren had his hands full, since he was carrying a large bowl of pasta, just like I was, so he didn't wrap his arms around me. Otherwise I'm pretty sure he'd have held me tightly and then I'd just have to tell him .

He lowered his voice, which meant nobody could hear us but also meant that he sounded slightly growly and sexy.

"Everything is going to go well, Prince. We've been working on it all afternoon."

"I know. You don't think I could poison anyone, do you? Because that would be really bad for an alliance if I kill off one of the Somervilles by mistake."

"You can't poison a dragon. And I've watched you all the time you were in the kitchen, Prince, so there's no chance you put anything in the food that I don't know about."

When he said it like that, it really did sound obvious. And I got a warm glow in my belly that my mate had watched me so closely. His patience was unending and he made me feel safe.

"Right, okay then. I'm going out."

I stood up straight so that nobody would realise I was nervous and then I marched forward.

"Wait!"

Darren's sudden order made me stop dead in my tracks. I stood absolutely still.

And only just in time .

I felt the press of a small, furry, feline body against my ankles and peered over the side of the serving bowl in my arms. Morgan's cat, Frosty, was winding round my legs.

Darren raised his voice and called, "Hannah, will you please come and get Frosty?"

There were a few thuds and a scrape and then the door opened and Hannah came out of the dining room, looking waaaay too innocent. She'd been meant to lock Frosty out of the kitchen but hadn't. She scooped the cat up and I grinned at her.

Once the cat was gone and I was not in danger of tripping over it, I shot a look of gratitude to my mate and then proceeded to walk slowly into the dining room, praying with every step that I didn't trip over thin air and dump Bolognese sauce over one of the very grand-looking Somervilles.

By the time everything was on the table, my knees were wobbling and I wanted to collapse with relief. Not a drop of sauce spilled on anyone.

Dane's deep voice growled out, "This smells delicious, Prince."

That made me smile. "It should – it's Darren's secret recipe. "

He'd told me early on that his grandma was Italian and he made three Italian dishes, and we'd tried all of them.

Darren stood beside me, a solid presence, and said, "He makes it better than I do now."

Near the head of the table where he was sat in a place of honour, Alfie's eyes went wide. "Wow, you made this all by yourself?"

I shook my head. "Darren was in charge—"

"I just helped out, Prince. You made this dinner for everyone."

I knew that was a lie, but it made me feel loved to have Darren tell everyone that. We'd done it together. Okay, I did actually manage to cook something without setting a single thing on fire, which was a record, but Darren had been right by my side the whole time. He'd watched over me and I'd never felt so protected or so seen as when he had his eyes fixed on me.

Across the table, Alfie was looking at me with… was that admiration? I couldn't remember anyone looking at me like that before.

Except Darren, of course.

"I think that's amazing," he said .

Suddenly, I felt embarrassed. Nobody else made such a fuss about making a bit of dinner. It's just it was a big moment for me, that was all.

"It's not much," I said.

"It must have taken you ages to learn how to do that. I've never cooked anything before. Is it difficult?"

I was about to say ‘no' but there was a chorus of voices all emphatically saying, "Yes."

"It's not that hard," I said weakly.

Beside me, Darren moved closer and wrapped his arm around my waist. I was encompassed and safe there, in his arms.

Nana gave me a stern look from the head of the table.

"Cooking for so many is a great skill. We're all very proud of you for mastering it, Prince."

Luckily, Darren knew me better than anyone and he shifted right at that moment. His grey wings burst out of his shirt with a ripping sound and I flung myself at him as I burst into tears, overwhelmed.

His great wings encircled me, concealing me and cocooning us in a little bubble. He dropped kisses onto my head and murmured quietly so that nobody but us would hear it.

"You see how loved you are here, Prince?"

I was snotty and tear-stained and must have looked absolutely awful but Darren took my chin in his hand and gently raised it so that I was looking into his eyes.

"You're so beautiful, Prince. Inside and out."

I lunged at him, capturing his lips with mine. His taste shot straight to my dick and all of the squirming feelings of overwhelm and surprise and worry and pride all got pushed to the side as lust took centre stage.

I was pretty much planning on climbing my big, solid gargoyle and letting him do naughty things to my body but there was a loud and pointed cough from beside us. Inside the cocoon of Darren's wings, and with his scent in my nostrils and his taste in my mouth, I'd basically forgotten that anyone else existed.

Sheepishly, I drew back and looked up at my mate. He smiled down at me and his handsome face took on a quality I only ever saw on it when he looked at me . There was a softness to him then, totally at odds with his hard, stone exterior .

He took out a tissue and wiped my face – I have no idea when he'd put that in his pocket or why he'd thought he'd need it – and then he dropped a quick peck on my lips.

"Are you ready to go back out there?"

Taking a deep breath, I nodded.

My amazing mate's wings lowered, revealing the rest of the room. Half of them were studying their plates and the other half were looking on us with amusement twisting their mouths. I began to panic. I hadn't meant to cause a scene.

Darren said, "Don't let your dinner get cold. Not after Prince put so much effort into it."

Nana nodded and everyone began to clatter their plates and lean over to help themselves. I could see several of the Somervilles sitting straight-backed just like Morgan always did, and they were silent and watchful.

Heat spread up my face. I really hadn't meant to cause a scene.

"I'll just go and change my shirt," said Darren, leaning across to kiss my temple. "You sit down and start dinner. "

I grabbed his hand before he could leave. I knew it was stupid, but I felt like I would fall apart if he wasn't there.

That soft smile made his lips curl like petals. "I'll change it after dinner, as long as nobody minds."

Everyone shook their heads.

I sat, still feeling foolish.

I was sitting near Alfie and his mate, Blaze. I could smell Blaze from here and realised that I'd got used to having Darren's scent around the place, along with Gramps' human scent, but I was going to have to get used to another being who didn't conceal their scent. Our castle was getting full of them now, what with Anthony and Matty, both being human, and Arram, a dryad.

Blaze smelled of burning, and it made my stomach lurch with the memory of all the food I'd burned over the years.

Darren heaped some spaghetti onto my plate and said, "Eat. You've earned it."

A few seats down from me, Alfie took a bite of a meatball and groaned.

"Mm, this is delicious. I can't believe you made it without any magic. Am I allowed to say that? This is why Father never let me go to the formal dinners, because he knew I'd say something silly. I'm terribly sorry, Lady Hoskins. I didn't mean to offend anyone."

Nana nodded graciously to the blonde young man.

"You will learn that what we consider polite is very different from your father's rules. You haven't offended."

"Phew! Thank goodness. This really is delicious. Morgan, do you think I'd be able to learn to cook?"

Seren perked up and practically shouted, " I learned to cook! Didn't I, Dane? We get to do all sorts of fun stuff in the Hoskins castle that we weren't allowed to do in the Somerville one."

The old lady at the end of the table beside Nana gave a slight sniff. I wasn't sure if it was dismissive or not.

Alfie's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

" You can cook?"

Seren crowed, "Yes, I can. We all take turns here."

"Oh, um, I'm not sure Mrs. Wilson would like us taking turns. She doesn't like people touching her kitchen. "

Dane tilted his head in confusion. "Who's Mrs. Wilson?"

Alfie said, "She's our chef," as though it were obvious.

"Is she a dragon?"

"No, she's a sprite."

"Does she work for you?"

"Yes."

"Then can't you go into your own kitchen?"

Alfie fidgeted with his cutlery and I felt a wave of pity for him. I recognised someone else who thought he messed up a lot and he was struggling under the rows upon rows of eyes looking at him right then.

Eventually, Alfie blurted out, "She's quite scary," and then clamped his mouth shut.

I nearly burst out laughing.

The golden dragon was afraid of his sprite chef? It seemed incredibly amusing to me. I didn't dare to meet anyone's eye in case I did actually laugh. But I knew from experience that even the most well-meaning laughter could sound different to the person who had caused it. I never wanted Alfie to think we were laughing at him .

Beside him, his mate smiled and patted Alfie's arm.

"Mrs. Wilson is quite fierce, but she is very loyal and an excellent chef. She's not as scary as all that."

Alfie turned to his mate. "That's because she likes you ."

Blaze grinned unashamedly at the golden dragon. "I know. It's the advantage of being smol and cute."

As the conversation turned to the normal chatter of mealtimes, I finally managed to eat some of my own cooking. It wasn't bad at all. I ate with my leg pressed against Darren's so I could feel the heat of him all down my thigh.

Half-way through the meal, I met Alfie's eyes and he held my gaze for a long moment before smiling. He spoke quietly just to me and Darren, though I'm certain Nana was listening.

"We've got a bond, you know."

"You and me?"

"Yes. You're the first Hoskins I've got one with, other than Edith. And Morgan and Seren, of course, but they're Somervilles too. And Lew and Dane as well, but I've met them before and I pretty much have to have a bond with them because they're mates with my brother and cousin. You're the first person I've got a bond with who isn't directly related to my clan."

"How did we get it?" I asked.

"I don't know. It just appeared while I was talking about Mrs. Wilson. It feels like a kind bond."

It was one thing to have my mate praise me, and I'd never get enough of that. It was another to have my family be nice to me, but it was something else to have an almost-stranger do it. Alfie didn't have a reason to make me feel good, other than he was kind and what he said was true.

A completely unfamiliar pride filled me, satisfying me more than the food. I had a bond with the golden dragon. Me. Before any of my family had one, Alfie had a bond with me .

I blurted out the first thing I could think of that would go some way to showing him how happy and grateful I was.

"I'll show you how to make spaghetti and meatballs, if you like."

Alfie's face lit up. "Would you? Then I could surprise Mrs. Wilson when I get home. If she lets me. "

I nodded, glad I could help. Then realised my mistake. "Um, what I mean is, um, Darren…?"

Darren said, "I'd love to help out, if you want me there, Prince."

I let out a sigh of relief. Darren would be there. And he was sweet enough to pretend I'd be doing any of the teaching when we both knew it would be him. I couldn't see bonds like Alfie, but I almost convinced myself that I could. Our bond would look kind. How would that even look?

As we finished dinner and the talk went on around me, I wondered whether I could draw a bond like that in one of my comic books. Maybe I'd get Alfie to describe it more and then I'd definitely be able to draw it. I couldn't wait to get started.