Page 56 of Dragon King’s Duty Bride

They reached the door. Luna flung it open with theatrical flair. “Ta da!”

Sia stepped inside. The late afternoon sun spilled across rows of blank canvases, over jars of brushes, across neatly arranged paints gleaming like gemstones. A wide wooden table stood near the window already set with paper and charcoal.

For a long moment, she didn’t move. Lucas suddenly felt extremely nervous. Then she turned to him. Her eyes were bright. Not quite tears, but close.

“You did this?” she asked softly.

He shrugged. “It seemed… necessary.”

Necessary. As if that word could contain what he’d felt while building it.

“Papa wanted you to be happy,” Celeste added.

“Can we paint with you, Mama Sia?” Stella and Luna chimed in.

She hugged each one of them. “Of course you can. We’ll get you each your own easel so you can paint your own masterpieces.”

Lucas nodded toward a closet. “There are child size easels in there. I figured that would happen.”

Celeste gasped. “You surprised even us.” She wrapped her arms around his legs. “I love you, Papa.”

Her sisters joined in to a group hug. His heart exploded as he caught Sia’s eyes and mouthed a thank you to her. All the positive emotion in the room was because of her.

He watched as she crossed the room slowly, her fingertips grazing the edge of a canvas, then a brush. Reverent. As if she were afraid it would vanish.

The girls followed her around as they chatted and explained how they’d helped, how Lucas had barked orders and refused to let anyone sit around.

Sia laughed and blew him a kiss.

It struck him like a blow.

Mine.

His dragon’s voice was no longer patient. It pulsed through his veins like a molten flame. When she walked back to him, he opened his arms and she didn’t hesitate. She threw her arms around him.

Lucas stiffened for half a second out of pure instinct before he wrapped his arms around her in return. She fit against him so well.

Her cheek pressed against his chest. He could feel the warmth of her breath through his shirt. His hands hovered at first, unsure where to settle, then came to rest at her waist. He glanced at the girls to make sure they weren’t upset at the embrace.

They had their hands over their mouths to stifle giggles before they tactfully vanished. Sia pulled back just enough to look up at him.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He could not say what he felt. The word mate burned behind his teeth, heavy and dangerous. So he did the only thing he could. He touched his forehead to hers.

“You deserve a space where you are truly happy,” he said quietly.

Her fingers tightened in his shirt as she leaned up and gave him a butterfly kiss before she turned back to her new sanctuary.

His dragon exhaled in satisfaction.

That night, sleep did not come easily.

Lucas lay on his back as he often did and stared into the dark. The mountain winds rattled the panes and while the chamber was cool, heat pooled beneath his skin.

He could feel her beside him. He had sworn to himself that he would move carefully. That he would not let desire dictate his actions. That he would honor the traditions that had shaped him since birth.

His dragon did not care for hesitation.