Page 217 of The Discount Damsel

Duchess, who had witnessed the confrontation from the safety of the tent’s awning, padded out of the shade to give the dragon an affectionate bunt first and a swat of her paw second for jeopardizing her supply of caviar ahead of schedule. Her fluffy tail bounced as she trotted quickly after the ministry official for her last taste of luxury before she had to return to the doldrums of the princess’s sardines and goose-liver pâté.

Bradley gave the little dragon’s tail tuft a gentle tug. “How you doing? You okay?”

The little dragon was thoughtful a moment. The DDP had been a huge feather in Dirk the Dangerous’s cap, a ticket to the Big Leagues. The Big Leagues that were dominated by the Great Reds, who maintained their reputations through theft and ransom. Theirs was a league of competition, not for one’s own betterment, but as a bragging right to use amongst one’s peers.

And Just Dirk realized that wasn’t the life he wanted. He was a blue luck dragon, one who raised tornadoes and slung magic with the best of the sorcerers and befriended princesses and enjoyed tea and cuddling cats. So what if he didn’t have any points? What were points compared to friends? To family? To his own self-worth?

Dirk grinned and corkscrewed through the air. “I am, Bradley. I really am!”

Then he whisked his best friend off the sand and flew them both back to the tower where the rest of their family was waiting.

CHAPTER 88

ONE LAST TONGUE-TWISTER, PRIORITIZING ANOTHER COMPULSION, AND NO INCONVENIENCE AT ALL

When the apprentice and the baby dragon arrived on the western balcony, they were immediately greeted with cheers and applause. Everyone spoke at once, wondering when Bradley had lifted his curse and how he could perform such magic without a sorcerer staff and the true Dirk was a sight for sore eyes and didn’t we all do a fabulous job defending this tower?

It was agreed upon that a party should be planned and thrown that very evening, and since it was only noon, they had plenty of time to bring this event into being. Chattering like songbirds, Sir Roger, Pocket, Fink, Duncan, Prince Henri, and Dirk all bustled out of the workroom, leaving Millie and Bradley alone in the workroom, staring at each other and suddenly shy.

A second portal appeared presently with another gentle whoosh of air and a dazzling sparkle of light. Ignoring it once again, the apprentice took the princess pirate by the hand and led her to the balcony on the opposite side of the workroom where they could overlook the deep desert. The patio furniture they had set up all those months ago for his speech therapy lessons was still there.

Millie stepped out onto the balcony and swept a hand over the table, brushing the grains of sand through the decorative motif and onto the floor. The desert wind played in her unbound hair. She half-turned to view him, shrouded in shade and leaning against the archway, watching her.

“You did it,” she said softly. “Nothing Olabeus taught me about magic can explain it, but you did it, Bradley. You saved Dirk. You saved us.”

“I couldn’t have done any of it without you.” He pushed off the wall and approached, the sunlight turning his black hair shiny like obsidian. His gaze was as gentle as the fingertips sweeping the auburn locks behind her ear. As tender as the palm that then cupped her cheek. “Gorgeous girl gives glorious gifts, gradually gaining goodwill from gibbering gits.”

Her cheeks reddened, but she refused to lower her gaze demurely as Miss Violeta would have insisted. A pirate was bold. “That’s a good tongue-twister.”

“Here’s another.” He leaned in close, lips grazing against her ear. “Bound by breath and being, I belong beside you.”

Her pulse skipped like butterflies across a meadow. “Bradley⁠—”

“Millie, I love you.”

She jerked to the side, creating space where she could search his face. She had waited so long to hear it that she wasn’t sure this wasn’t a dream. There was only sincerity in his expression, truth in the softness of his eyes.

“You must be very brave,” she whispered. “I’ve been told I’m a bit of a hellion.”

His lips quirked, but he remained serious. Steadfast. “I stand by that assessment. But you could be my hellion, if . . .”

She shook her head. “No if. I am.” Her hands, flat against the homespun against his chest, clenched. Claimed. “I love you, too, Bradley Donmarin.” When he only grinned, she wet her lips expectantly. “You can kiss me now.”

“I know that.”

His hands moved from her waist to frame her face, brushed her cheekbones with his thumbs. His gaze swept over her features, as if finding them new and extraordinary, from the dark sweep of her lashes to the freckles cast about her cheeks like stars. Then he dipped his head and kissed her with such aching softness, Millie thought her heart would burst.

He wasn’t timid, and while his kisses were firm, they weren’t forceful. There was room for her to love him back as she desired. The velvety graze of lips against hers encouraged it. Here, wrapped in his arms, there were no societal pressures. No propriety like a governess looming nearby to smack them with her fan and pull them apart. She could just be herself—wild and brave and unfettered—and he would never snuff her out. Never hold her back. A true partner.

Her harbor.

At last, she thought.

Elated, she rocked up on tiptoe and returned his kiss with an intensity that released a growl from deep in his chest. Suddenly he pulled back, but it was only so he could tear off his spectacles, toss them onto the table behind them, and kiss her with the fierceness of a lightning strike. That hand against her cheek shot into her hair, tangled, and tilted her head back for a thorough demonstration of his affection.

She nearly melted like whipped cream into a cup of hot chocolate right then and there, but she clung to every sensation sparked into existence from his touch. Millie shivered as his lips trailed down her neck, gasped when his teeth nipped, moaned when his mouth sucked hard on that tender spot just below her jaw.

“I say,” she said, breathless, “where has this Bradley been hiding?”