Page 53 of Dragon King’s Duty Bride

His focus was intense. Absurdly intense. A streak of blue ended up far thicker than intended.

She laughed and he glanced at her. “I believe I’ve wounded the sky.”

“Tragically destroyed the target,” she agreed. “Although, luckily for you, there is this thing called abstract art.”

He reached to add another stroke of the brush but instead, his sleeve dragged through a patch of green that ended up smeared on his arm.

She gasped and fought not to burst out laughing again.

He froze.

“Now you’ve attacked the meadow.”

“That was not intentional.”

She dipped her brush and retaliated, dabbing a streak of brown across his forearm. “Let’s add a little of the dirt that you were so fond of rolling around in.”

His eyes widened.

“Was that a declaration of war?”

“Absolutely.”

Before she could move, he dabbed a blob of white paint on her nose. “Now you can look like the clouds.”

The next moment dissolved into color and chaos.

Paint slashed across sleeves, cheeks, and hands as freely as a good old fashioned food fight. He tried to defend himself with dignity but she had none left to preserve. Laughter spilled freely between them, light and unguarded, as paint flew through the air, across the canvas, the grass, and the patio.

He caught her wrist mid-retaliation and she felt the paint ooze between his fingers..

They stilled and her heart skipped a beat.

There was a smear of blue along his jaw. Gold streaked across his collarbone. He looked less like a king and more like a man who had fought with a color pallette.

He brushed a thumb gently across her cheek, smearing green.

“Now,” he murmured, “you match the meadow.”

Sia’s heart skipped a beat at his gentleness and she panicked.

She grabbed another brush. “Here. Let me help you.”

She moved Lucas to the easel and stood behind him. She giggled as he held the brush like it might explode.

“Relax,” she said softly.

“I am relaxed,” Lucas muttered as he stared at the canvas like it had personally offended him.

“You’re gripping that brush like it owes you money.”

He huffed under his breath but didn’t argue.

Sia stepped closer behind him, close enough that she could feel the warmth of his back through his shirt. Her heart gave a traitorous flutter. Being this near to him had always done that.

“Okay,” she murmured, gentler now. “Close your eyes.”

Lucas turned his head slightly. “That sounds like the beginning of a bad idea.”