Chapter Nine

That night, I went to bed with a head full of the Dragon King. After so long without any response from him, his laughter had felt like the greatest victory I”d ever achieved. To say it had been hard won was an understatement. And because of that, I was now obsessed. I wanted a smile from him every day. A smile at the very least.

In the morning, I woke up with an erection. No big surprise there. But using the bathroom didn”t rid me of it. I had to take care of things in the shower. One guess who I thought about while I did.

With my body seen to, I went to clothe it. I owned two types of garments for garden work—those I called normal and those made of hardier, thicker cotton to protect me from thorns and such. I”d been wearing the latter through the weeding process, although I usually removed my tunic by midday because the heat got unbearable. Longingly, I stared at my summer work clothes, then reached for the thicker stuff. The weeds were gone, but there were still thorny plants to deal with. The worst were the berry bushes. You”d think berries would be happy plants, but usually, they”re covered in thorns to protect their bounty. If you wanted to reach their sweetness, you had to bleed.

That sound familiar? Yes, I just compared the Dragon King to a berry bush.

By the time I was dressed, the breakfast I”d requested had arrived. I ate at the low table in the front room as usual—a hearty meal of eggs poached in a fragrant tomato stew, with soft, flat bread to sop it all up. The spices were incredible, but I was too excited about the King to savor the food.

Thoughts of His Majesty continued to fill my head as I walked to the garden. I should apologize even though I wouldn”t mean it. He was the King, and I had made him mad. It was on me to apologize. But how? What did I say? Then the garden came into sight, and I knew.

I hurried through the beds, searching for specific plants. Luckily, I found several of the blooms I wanted. I gathered a selection, bound them with a length of vine, then hurried back into the castle. It took only a few seconds to find a passing servant. Once the bouquet was on its way to the King, I went back to the garden. And stared at the star fountain.

“What the fuck am I doing?” I whispered. “I just sent flowers to the fucking Dragon King.”

But it was done. No taking it back. So, I shrugged, hoped for the best, and got to work. With thick gloves, shears, and a determination to focus on something other than the King, I hacked at those fucking berry bushes.

Two hours in, I gave up on the bushes. It was just too hot to continue working in my heavy tunic, and without that tunic, I couldn”t risk getting near enough to chop them down. I yanked off my tunic and got back to work feeling a bit better. The sweat cooled my upper body rapidly, and that helped my lower half deal with the sweltering heat. And yes, the day had become sweltering. I had to stop several times to take breaks in the shade or risk fainting. Luckily, there was a lot of shade to be had and plenty of non-berry plants to remove.

During one of my shaded breaks, I discovered something interesting. I was leaning against the trunk of a pomegranate tree, legs bent before me, and arms resting on my knees. With my head propped by the trunk, it was natural to lift my gaze, and I let it wander across the branches above. Through them, I saw the blue sky, but also the glorious stone architecture of the castle. I looked further up.

And froze.

I”d been there for over a week and hadn”t realized that the garden was just below the King”s terrace. I could see the elaborate stone railing and the looming royal tower beyond. Somewhere up there was the King”s bedroom. I could have pictured him in it, standing in one of those arches again. But I didn”t have to. Because the Dragon King was standing at the terrace railing staring down at me.

I flinched. Did he know I had seen him? Of course, he did. Dragon eyesight was far superior to human. He could probably see my individual eyelashes. He certainly could see my flush. What he wouldn”t be able to spot, and I was immensely glad for that, was my instant erection. That was hidden by my knees.

It was all I could do to keep my hands where they were. I wanted to slide one into my pants and stroke myself as I watched him watching me. But that would be too much. Too much, too soon. I had him hooked. He was watching me. How long had he been up there watching me work shirtless? Had he done it before? Did he have an erection too? What I wouldn”t give to have Dragon eyes.

I inclined my head to King Shaleros, all casual like, and acted as if I thought he had happened to see me just then. It”s all fine. Totally fine. Normal even. The King was simply checking on my work. I jerked my head toward the garden and then spread my hands as if to ask, “What do you think?”

King Shaleros nodded, then turned and walked away.

I exhaled and hung my head. My cock throbbed. Dare I? No. Not going to have a tug in public like some kind of pervert. It would go away. I just had to think of something other than the King.

“Well, you”re not going to stop thinking about him if you just sit here, Sebastian,” I said to myself and got up. “At least he doesn”t seem angry anymore. Maybe the flowers worked.”

With a sigh, I got back to work, hacking at the invasive plants that had found their way into the garden. That”s the thing. You can put a wall up around a garden, even stick it in the middle of a castle, but if you don”t put a glass roof over it, nature will find a way in. To speak plainly—through bird shit. Birds eat berries and other seeds, then shit them out randomly. There”s also the wind. It can carry seeds. But mainly, it”s bird shit. Seeds and fertilizer together. Birds are nature”s gardeners. Not masters of vegetation, mind you, but it wasn”t their fault that they couldn”t earn a degree.

With thoughts of birds and their shit in my head, my erection quickly vanished, and I was able to move about more comfortably. Well, a little more comfortably. I was still sweating. It poured down my back and gathered in the crack of my ass. Sorry to get gross about it, but that, and the heat on my man bits, was the root of my discomfort. Even without the birds, my erection hadn”t stood a chance.

“Sebastian,” a low, masculine voice called to me through the foliage.

“No,” I whispered to my dick. “Keep calm. Think of poop!” Then I stood up and looked across the garden.

Sure enough, there he was, looking amazing. White hair streaming around his shoulders, eyes an even brighter blue in the sunlight, and chin lifted. Someone stood beside him, but I barely noticed them. I walked over to the King holding his gaze.

At the last moment, I remembered to bow. “Your Majesty. Did you get my flowers?”

“I did,” King Shaleros said, then motioned the servant forward. “I brought you some refreshments.”

My jaw went slack as a man held out a tray to me. On it was a glass carafe of water, cold enough to have condensation. There was also a plate of cookies, two glasses, and a jar.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” I hurried over to the servant and took the tray from him. “Thanks, man. I got it.”

“You”re dismissed,” the King said.

The servant bowed and hurried away.

I set the tray on the edge of the steps, then waved at it. “Do you mind if I sit down?”

“No, of course not,” the King said.

I sat on the steps, poured a glass of water, and offered it to the King. “Are you joining me? There are two glasses.”

A little frown flashed across the King”s face before he took the glass and sat down on the step beside me, the tray between us. And there we were, a couple of men who couldn”t be more different. I was covered in sweat and bits of plants while the Dragon King was immaculate. I guzzled my first glass of water, then shoved a cookie in my mouth. He sipped his and took a delicate bite of his treat. I was a mortal human while he was an immortal Dragon. He ruled a kingdom while I barely ruled my own life. And yet, we shared a moment of peace that overcame everything.

“No one has ever sent me flowers,” King Shaleros said. “And such an interesting assortment.”

“I chose them for their meanings, not their looks,” I said. “Do you know the language of flowers?”

He lifted a brow.

“I”ll take that as a no.”

“I”ve never thought much about them.” He shrugged.

“Dalondines for remorse,” I said. “Those are the little yellow ones.”

The Dragon King cocked his head.

“Hyacinth for earnestness and honesty, to tell you my intentions are pure. Those are purple.”

His lips parted.

“Jacrus for sexual desire. Obvious, but I couldn”t send you flowers without including them. Those are the red ones.”

He blinked.

“And rocradi for joy. They”re the white ones. That is what I wish for you, Your Majesty. Joy.”

The King stared at me, his eyes searching mine. Finally, he said, “That was a lot to express with just a few flowers.”

“I had a lot to say.” I licked my lips. “And you deserve to hear the words too. I truly am sorry about what happened last night. I didn”t want to upset you.”

“No. I”m the one who should apologize. You were only being yourself. You made me laugh, and that was a great gift. But I wasn”t prepared for it.”

“I wasn”t aware you needed to prepare yourself to laugh. In fact, I”m pretty sure laughter is best when spontaneous.”

The King sighed deeply before saying, “It”s been a long time since I”ve gotten as angry as I did last night.”

“Has it?” I asked and looked away. This was his issue, and he”d be able to deal with it better if I wasn”t staring at him.

“Yes,” he whispered. “You . . . have a strange effect on me.”

Suddenly my throat was dry. All my jokes vanished. My heart raced as it had the first time I”d seen him. Slowly, I turned my head and met his stare. It shouldn”t have been possible for that bright teal to look hot, but it did. His eyes burned.

I swallowed, wetting my throat enough to say, “I think you know the effect you have on me.”

The King”s expression tightened, then it released. “I came to apologize for my behavior. Nothing more.”

I nodded and looked away. “Apology accepted. It”s kind of you to offer one, though unnecessary. I pushed you too far. It was your smile. I”ve wanted to see you smile. You know that. It”s been a goal of mine. And I was instantly addicted. I wanted to make you smile again. Then you laughed, and it was like sunshine.” I waved my hand out at the bright garden. “My excitement wiped out my common sense. Despite how I behaved and what I said last night, I know who I am.” I looked back at him. “I know who I can never be. You don”t have to say anything more, Your Majesty.”

“I don”t believe in limitations. Anyone can achieve anything. The only restrictions are those which we impose on ourselves.”

“Easy for you to say.” I grinned. “You”re a Dragon.”

“And you”re a human who has risen to the status of master,” he shot back. “You”ve already proven my words.”

My grin softened. “Yeah, I guess I have. But it was rough.”

The King took another cookie, contemplated its buttery goodness, the said, “Tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

He looked up from his cookie. “Tell me what you went through to earn your degree.”

“You don”t want to hear about that,” I scoffed. “Some guy whining about his success. That”s boring.”

“I have nothing to do today.” He took a bite, chewed, and looked out upon the garden. “Tell me your boring story, Sebastian Dahl.”

Great Gods, I loved the way he said my name. It sent shivers down my spine. Fuck, everything he did made me shiver. It was a miracle I wasn”t a quivering puddle at his feet.

“My mother had a vegetable garden,” I said.

The Dragon King looked over at me.

“Too far back?” I asked.

“No, I”m just surprised that you wish to talk to me about your childhood. Go on.”

“Why would that surprise you?”

His forehead wrinkled. “I don”t know. I suppose because no one has spoken to me about anything so personal in—”

“Over a century?” I finished for him. “Fuck,” I whispered. “You haven”t just cut yourself off from love, you”ve cut yourself off from everyone, haven”t you?”

The Dragon King cocked his head, considering my question. “I spend most of my day surrounded by people. But yes, I do feel cut off. As if I”m flying above them, calling out orders while they scramble about on the ground below.” He looked at me. “I never land, just circle like a fucking predator.”

“You are a fucking predator.” I winked at him.

He snorted a laugh, then shook his head. “There it is again,” he whispered in wonder.

“What?”

“The lightness. I fly, but I feel so heavy. No one has reached for me, Sebastian. They could fly beside me, but they choose to stay on the ground.”

“Can”t you land? You know, for those of us without wings.”

Another forehead wrinkle. “No, I don”t think I can ever land.” He laid his hand on my knee—my dirty, sweat-soaked pant leg—and said, “But you don”t need wings to fly. You”ve found a way into the sky for me. Thank you for that, Sebastian.”

I couldn”t breathe. He was touching me. For a second, I got a glimmer of what I wanted from him, and in that second I realized how fucking insane I was. Talk about reaching too high. Flying beside him? To ever think he could be mine was ridiculous. But maybe I could be his. Just for a little while. Whatever he needed me to be. I would do that for him. Shit, at that moment, staring into his amazing eyes, I knew I would do anything for him. Even fly.

“I didn”t know I couldn”t,” I finally whispered.

King Shaleros grinned and drew his hand away. “And maybe that”s why you succeeded. You didn”t know me well enough to stay on the ground.”

I smirked at him. “This whole flying analogy is getting old, don”t you think, Your Majesty? I”m starting to confuse myself with it.”

He chuckled. “You . . .” He shook his head. “I confide things to you that I have never told another and you make a joke.”

“Shit,” I muttered. “I”m so sorry. You”re right. I just, well, I wanted to see you smile again.”

The Dragon King lifted his brows.

“It”s a damn fine smile,” I said.

His lips spread into that smile I craved. Then he said, “Tell me about your mother”s garden, Sebastian.”

Staring at him, I had a flash of insight. This was incredible progress, and I didn”t want to fuck things up. He was eager to keep going, but only because he was practically starved for intimate conversation. It didn”t matter who that conversation came from. I wanted it to matter.

Most of what I knew was centered around plants. But there were a lot of parallels between plants and people. Give them what they need and they thrive. Cut them off from their nourishment, and they wither. Hack at them, and they will bleed. But they also heal stronger. The surest way to bring out the best in a plant is to cut it back. A good trimming will encourage fresh growth. It gets rid of the dead weight that has been sucking the plant”s nutrients and giving nothing in return. And King Shaleros had a lot of dead weight.

So I cut our conversation short. I left him reaching, but this time, he was reaching out with the knowledge that someone was reaching back. He would grow stronger. He would thrive. I vowed to myself to make sure of it.

“Another time, Your Majesty,” I said softly. “I”ve got to get back to work.” Then I grinned at him, grabbed a cookie, and stood up. “Thank you for the apology and the cookies. I feel a lot better.” I strode down the steps and into the garden.

“Sebastian?”

I looked back at the King.

He was holding the jar aloft. “Rub this over your skin. It will protect you from the sun.”

I went back to him and took the jar. “Really? Is it magic?”

The Dragon King smiled and got to his feet. “Not everything wondrous is magical.” And then he walked away.