He stepped out of the bedroom so she could have privacy to change. She pulled out the first dress she spotted. It was a muted teal color with a fitted bodice and wide skirt down to her ankles. The bodice pushed her large breasts up but the chest cloth still covered even her cleavage. For some reason this made her feel more comfortable, intuitively knowing it would be a lot of exposure otherwise. She struggled a bit to pull it on and even when she stepped back out to the cottage’s main room she was unsure if it was on correctly.
“Oh,” he said in a strange way when he saw her in the dress, making her think it was on incorrectly. But when his eyes lit up with a smile she felt her cheeks blush and she knew nothing was wrong with her dress, nothing at all.
The two of them walked for a few minutes in silence before reaching the place where the food was served. She saw him hand some coins to a woman before she ran off to fetch two plates of food from somewhere inside.
“I do not want to take advantage of your kindness,” Guinevere told him. Even though she was not well versed in the ways of the humans, she was certainly intelligent enough to know those coins were to receive the meals in exchange. Surely those coins were valuable and he had to work to acquire them.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said.
Two plates were set in front of them, steam rising off from the food. Guinevere poked at a pile of hot, yellow pieces of something on her plate and immediately withdrew her finger. She had absolutely no idea what she was eating, except for the meat. The meat looked different than how she consumed it but her sense of smell picked it out at once. Her mouth salivated for the flesh on her plate and, without thinking, she grabbed it and threw it in her mouth all at once. She chewed it quickly and then swallowed the deliciously prepared meat. She looked up at Doran with a wide smile that quickly fell. He was gaping at her, obviously in great shock. Then it hit her– that was not how humans ate.
“Would- would you like more sausage?”
“Sausage,” she repeated, committing the word to memory. Her stomach rumbled and taste buds asked for more but she was too mortified to say yes. She shook her head and then glanced sneakily around to figure out the proper way to eat. She saw a young lady near her holding a piece of silver and appearing to stab her food with it before placing it delicately in her mouth. Guinevere did not understand how stabbing the small piece of food with silver was dignified but she had to fit in. She picked up the thin silver beside her and stabbed the yellow lump on her plate, which came apart.
“Like this,” Doran said quietly, “You eat the eggs like this.”
“Eggs,” she repeated. She looked at the yellow pieces curiously. Those were not eggs in any way she recognized. The eggs she knew were oval and white with a hard shell. How was it that humans call a tender yellow lump an egg? Still, she mimicked Doran’s movement and took in a mouthful. They tasted somewhat bland but she ate them anyway. The thin, round bread with some sort of sticky sauce on top was too sweet but she managed to stomach it.
“Are you full?”
Guinevere nodded to let him know she was even though all she could think about was eating some more sausage. The two of them stood up and walked out, heading toward the center of town. It was on this walk that Doran finally asked what it was she needed help with, reminding her of their terms for her stay at the cottage.
“There are some items I must find,” she said quietly.
“Items? Like what?”
Guinevere hesitated but knew it was time to tell him what it was she was in search of. After all, he would be unable to help her locate everything if he did not know. By now she had decided to trust him as much as she could trust a human. She told him everything she needed, at the end of which he said it would all need to be written down or else there was a risk of something being forgotten. Guinevere was relieved when he took the initiative to write the list since she was unsure if she could write like humans did. The two of them spent the rest of the day searching for the items, by the end of which they had only found about five.
“Sundown will come soon,” he told her, “I think it is best if we call it a day.”
“Call it a day?”
“Yes. I mean to stop for now,” he clarified, once again looking at her curiously.
Guinevere made a mental note not to seem so confused about so many things or else he would start to catch on there was something more to her. Even if he was her trusted human, for now, she could not risk him finding out too much. She sat down on the chair in front of the fireplace and he immediately set to work on setting it up for her once again. When he was done, still crouching down on the floor, he looked up at her and cleared his throat.
“Would you mind if I accompanied you for dinner tonight?”
“Yes,” she told him rather quickly.
“Oh,” he said in disappointment, “I understand. I’ll just drop it off for you later.”
“You won’t stay?” Guinevere was confused but he looked just as confused too. She then looked down at her dress and said, “Please eat with me.”
Doran smiled and went off to his home at once, returning a while later with dinner for the two of them. He pushed the two plates on a small wooden cart along with some candles, which he set up on the table for them to eat. A lovely scent came from the candles that reminded Guinevere of home and comforted her. This was the first time she felt somewhat at ease in any other place than where she called home with her Elder. She ate slowly, trying her best to mimic Doran's movements and the size of his bites. There was more meat on her plate than there had been at breakfast but it was different. It was a much lighter color and the taste was not as rich. She wanted to ask what it was but thought it best not to do so. What she did know was how lucky she was to have run into Doran on her first day.
“Doran,” she spoke softly, “Why do you live in such a big house?”
“I inherited it,” he told her simply. He took a drink of water and then clarified, “It belonged to my parents. It became mine when they died.”
Guinevere looked at him sadly. If there was one thing she could relate to, it was the pain of losing one's parents. She could see from the look in his eyes that it hurt humans just as much too. She could not even remember her parents. It was really only her Elder whom she had known her whole life. And now she was dealing with the uncertainty and sadness of possibly seeing her Elder take the last breath. All she hoped was to be present for when it finally did come to be.
“Were you little when they died?”
“About 10 years old,” he told her.
Guinevere did not know exactly what that meant for humans so she asked, “How old are you now?”
“31 years old.”
He was only one-third of his current age when they died. She knew that was little. She also knew that, in human years, her Elder had once told her she would look to be somewhere in the end of her second decade. So she was close to his age, at least in looks. Dragons, however, lived about twice as long as humans did. She started piecing it all together and it really struck her– he would have been like the child she saw on her first day in town when he lost his parents.
“I was a baby,” she said, careful not to use the word ‘hatchling’ to describe herself.
“Your parents…?”
Guinevere nodded and looked over at the fireplace. She wondered what her parents looked like, both as dragons and in human form. She wondered if they had ever come to this town and if they had, what for? One thing Guinevere had never asked her Elder was how she was found and why she was taken in. It never mattered. The only thing that had ever mattered was how much her Elder truly loved her and how well she was cared for.
“I have a lot now thanks to my parents,” he told her, “The house and the land. I can run my business thanks to them. Even though they died when I was a child, I owe my wealth and comfort entirely to them.”
“Being wealthy is good?”
“It is but it has its drawbacks,” he admitted. “Some people dislike me. I
have a certain reputation around here, and if you stay long enough you will see how people act with me because of it. Most don’t seem to think I’m as kind as you do.”
“But you are very kind!” Guinevere did not know why but it upset her to think that people in town did not like Doran.
"Thank you," he said, "But many would disagree. To be honest, sometimes I give them a reason to think I'm not very nice. Sometimes I take advantage of my reputation."
Guinevere looked down at the table and thought about Doran’s words. Even if others could not see it, she could tell he was soft at his core. He was not a bad man. Perhaps he was truly the only human she had interacted with at length, but she did not think many would go out of their way to help her like he did. He had a beautiful smile and she wondered why more people did not feel captivated by it.
“Anyway,” he said as he stood up abruptly, “It is getting late and you must be tired.”
Guinevere did not know what came over her but she followed him to the door. A part of her did not want him to leave. She liked the sound of his voice and the energy he gave off. He made her feel things she never knew were possible. He turned to look at her, the fire reflected in his deep brown eyes just like on the previous night. She felt that deep, warm stirring in her once again. It made her want to be close to him but she willed herself to stay still and not do anything rash or strange.
But Doran continued to look into her eyes and it made the warmth and stirring grow stronger and stronger. He leaned in, closer and closer until she could feel his warm breath on her skin. It made a tingling sensation run down her spine and she swallowed hard, holding her breath. He moved in closer until his lips touched hers. She felt a new type of warmth spread from her lips to her whole face and then down her neck. Her heart began to race and she felt like the ground would start to spin beneath her feet at any moment.
Doran moved his head back just so that their lips were no longer pressed against each other. He looked deep into her eyes and she felt like he was trying to reach inside her and learn all her secrets. Guinevere felt more overwhelmed than ever. She quickly looked away from him and leaned into the door, tumbling sideways as it moved to open wider. He grabbed her arm and kept her from falling but immediately let go when she stood up straight and looked at him with a concerned look on her face. Everything he did and all she felt made her think this was all far too much for her. She did not know what to make of any of it or how to deal with it, much less how to act in front of him.
He must have noticed how overwhelmed she was because he stepped back until he was outside and said, “Sleep well.” There was an apologetic look in his eyes and she could hear the sentiment in his voice.
She nodded and closed the door, pressing both hands flat against the wood. She wondered why he had done that and, more importantly, why she wished he would do it again.
Chapter Seven
The following morning, Guinevere felt nervous to step outside to meet Doran. After what had happened the night before it was uncertain how the mood would be. Thankfully, he did a great job at behaving normally. The two of them walked to the same place for breakfast and this time he ordered her extra sausage, which made her very happy. He pulled out the list of items and started planning out their day to make the most use of their time.
“These next three,” he pointed them out, “Are not very easy but I know where to look. It is a bit far and will take most of the day.”
Guinevere nodded as she munched on her last piece of sausage. She poked at the thin, round bread and sighed. It was edible enough just once but maybe not to continue eating it. She cut a small piece and stuck it in her mouth, failing to hide a grimace.
“You don’t have to eat the pancake if you don’t like it,” he told her.
“I don’t like the pancake,” she told him, committing that word to memory as she had done with so many others.
She pushed the plate to the side and pulled the list toward her. His letters curled in an ornate sort of way and as she stared at the paper, she realized her Elder had actually taught her to read human writing when she was little. She wondered if humans learned as quickly as dragons did.
“Where can we find these?”
“We have to travel to the other end of town and a little out of it,” he told her. He explained they were three items needing to be foraged.
The two of them walked through town and she noticed many people still stared at them, but now it was not openly like before. They tried to look from behind papers or stands, peek through curtains, and hide behind their hands to whisper. She wondered what they thought of Doran and her together. She wished to know what was being said. She hoped none of it would put her in any danger. They were reaching the end of town when he turned into a place with high walls and big, red building in the middle.
“You should wait here,” he muttered before marching off to speak to a man standing in front of the building.
She looked around and noticed there were many different kinds of animals, all trapped behind fences. Doran came back a couple minutes later and led her around the back of the red building so they could go inside. He grabbed hay from a large bale and placed some in a bag before pulling the list out from his pocket and looking at it. He frowned.
“You never told me how much hay you needed,” he said.
“I… I don’t know how much I need,” she told him.
“How is that possible?”
“I wasn’t told–”
She gasped and placed her hand over her mouth. This entire time she had managed to keep secret what her mission was, even down to the detail that she had been sent on it. She curled her hand into a fist and gritted her teeth. Surely this would invite questions she simply could not answer.
“You weren’t told how much hay,” he mumbled. She looked up at him and he asked, “Who sent you to get this… Well, quite frankly this is an odd assortment of items.”
“I know,” she muttered softly, looking down at the ground.
Her tone of voice and reluctance to maintain eye contact must have clued Doran in. He stopped asking questions, at least in that moment. He grabbed a few more handfuls of hay and to place in the bag before knotting up the opening. They walked silently out and left that plot of enclosed land until they were right outside the town. There was a large plot of land with many different types of plants. Without saying a word, Doran took charge to find the leaves and seeds of the two plants listed. Neither of those grew in the forest where she lived and she did not know if they grew in any other dragon clan’s area of the forest.
By the time they were finished and making their way back to the cottage, the sun was starting to set. It seemed like it was moving faster than usual but maybe it was just because Guinevere’s mind was filled with too many thoughts. When they arrived at the cottage, she did not even feel hungry. She turned to look at Doran to ask what now or if they should plan for the following morning.
But when she turned around, her breath was taken away. He was standing incredibly close to her, just as close as he had been the previous night. Her heart began to race again and this time when he pressed his lips to hers, she closed her eyes to truly savor the moment. It was unlike anything she had every experienced but she knew it was something she could want to do forever. It made her move her body closer to his. She felt his big, strong hands wrap around her small waist and pull her in. Her body pressed into his. She wondered if he could feel her heart rattling in her chest. He ran one hand up her waist and kissed her deeper, making her entire body tremble.
When he pulled away and looked into her eyes, still holding her body, she drew in a long breath but it did not feel like it reached her lungs. The sun moved down past the horizon and the sky began to grow dark. The stars started to twinkle and she could see the reflection of them in his eyes. His long, dark hair looked glossy under the moonlight and she felt her breath taken away once more. He was undeniably beautiful. He leaned in and kissed her again. Her lips moved intuitively like sh
e'd been taught her entire life how to do this. He pressed her body impossibly close to his and she felt his warmth on her. He pushed his tongue past her lips and into her mouth. His flavor was different than anything she had ever taste. It was exquisite and made the warm stirring in her stomach sink deeper.
He pulled back and breathed heavily against her lips before asking, “Is this okay?”
She was not sure how to answer. She could not tell him if it was right or wrong to be doing this; all she knew was that she liked it, and she liked it a lot. She bit her lower lip and stared at his, trying to think of what to respond. He loosened his hold on her and she could feel him starting to retreat. Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed hold of his arms to stop him from moving away. The rush of feelings overtook her completely and she pressed her lips to his, opening her mouth at once so that she could taste his tongue again. He kisses her deeply and hungrily, making her feel like he enjoyed this as much as she did. Her heart beat faster than before and warmth spread over her entire body. He kissed her cheek and then pressed his lips to her jawline. She instinctively dropped her head back, baring her neck to him.
He kissed her lip and the warmth coursing through her body turned into heat. The coiling in the pit of her stomach dropped lower and tightened, making her feel a surge of pleasure between her legs that caused her to gasp out loud.
“Is there something wrong?”
His husky voice was slightly coarse and it made her skin tingle. She gulped and pressed her hand to her chest, trying to catch her breath.
“I… I don’t know what is going on,” she confessed, “My body…”
“Your body,” he whispered against her cheek. He kissed her face until he reached her ear and asked, “Are you feeling pleasure in your body? Excitement?”
“Yes,” she panted out.
He pulled back and looked into her eyes. His expression was one she had never seen before. His eyes displayed a type of hunger she had never seen in a dragon’s eyes or any other beast. He had never even looked like that after a long day when his stomach was growling. His pupils were dilated and eyelids heavy. She could not figure out why he looked so different now but she assumed it was not something bad. It dawned on her that perhaps she looked similar to him. Maybe this was just a human response to what they’d been doing outside the door of the cottage.
Romance: The Campus Player: A College Romance Page 80
