Hillevi presses her lips together, lifting her head slightly before she brushes her mouth across my own. We don’t speak again, instead, we take pleasure in one another’s bodies before we eventually fall asleep, our evening meal forgotten, too full on one another’s bodies instead.
Chapter Five
HILLEVI
Slipping out of bed, I quickly grab the necklace and shove it deep in the pocket of my dress. Then, I decide to make something to break our fast. I make biscuits, bacon, and get some eggs from my chickens. I will miss this little farm in the woods. It wasn’t much, but it was mine and it has been my shelter and peace for five years.
I don’t hear him get out of bed, but he wraps his arm around my waist, tugging me backward before he touches his lips to my neck. “It smells delicious,” he rasps.
Turning my head, I look back at him. “I don’t think that I have ever seen you eat an actual meal, Quest.”
He chuckles, nipping my shoulder before he takes a step back and stretches. My eyes automatically leave his and travel down to his exposed length. He’s hard, ready for play, and I have to press my thighs together at the sight.
“You have never cooked for me, elskask,” he grunts.
Lifting my eyes up to meet his, he is grinning at me, arching a brow as if he knows exactly what I was gawking at. Turning back to the food, I shrug a shoulder.
“You were always so intent on living in your cave, bringing me raw animals.”
There is a moment of silence, I think that perhaps he has left me, but he hasn’t. Plating the food, I turn around and carry it over to the table. He’s already sitting down across from me, completely naked, watching me.
“You enjoy this simple life, living in this small cabin,” he murmurs.
It isn’t a question, but rather a statement. I nod my head once, reaching for a piece of bacon and bring it to my lips. Chewing slowly, I watch him, waiting to see what he will say next.
“Would you like to stay here?”
“Alone?” I ask.
He shakes his head once. “Nei, Hillevi. You are my fated mate, you will never be alone again.”
My belly whooshes and I can’t deny that I do quite like the sound of that, fated mate. He takes a bite of the biscuit, his lips turn up into a wide grin.
“We will live here, use the nest as a place to get away?”
“Are you telling me or asking me?”
He laughs softly. “Both perhaps.”
“You truly mean it? To live here and only visit the cave. You would be willing to live in your human form? You realize this means you must wear clothes when we go into Attleview, do you not?”
“I do, Hillevi.”
“And yet you would still do this?”
He nods his head once, reaching across the table, he takes my hand in his. “You are happy here. I see this. I want us to have a good life. How could we have a family in the cave? You are not free to walk and roam up there. This will be better all around, I am not so stubborn of a beast that I cannot see the good things when they make their appearance.”
Tears well in my eyes as I look across to this man, this beast of a man that I have loved so much longer than I should.
All of that anger, the fear for the future, it all melts away in an instant. He is fated to be mine, he was always meant to be mine. This was the life that we have always been destined to have.
QUEST
I only allow Hillevi to leave my sight when she informs me that she must go into town to purchase some clothing for me. I take the opportunity to look around her small cabin. If we are to stay here, raise our children here, I will need to add on to the one-room space.
She is neat and tidy, this doesn’t surprise me. The short time that she stayed in the nest with me, she always kept everything very clean. Making my way outside, I stretch as I look at the grounds.
There is a small garden with vegetables growing, animals penned, and a small coop for the chickens. There is so much more potential for this land. My mind begins to spin with thoughts and ideas for our future.
“Are you ever going to wear clothes?” Hillevi sighs.
Turning my head, I look back at her. She’s sitting high atop her horse, her lips turned up into a grin. Walking over to her, I hold out my hands and although I know that she is capable of dismounting herself, I can’t control my need to touch her.
She has a bundle in her arms and presses it against my chest. Dipping my chin, I look between us, but don’t make a motion to move. Instead, I touch my lips to hers before I take a step backward.
It doesn’t take me long to dress, and I find that I despise every stitch of fabric. This is going to be a long lifetime if I am going to be forced to wear these hides and shirt every day.
“You don’t need to wear the shirt,” Hillevi whispers. “The hides, yes, the shirt isn’t necessary unless you get cold.”
I snort, ripping the material off and tossing it to the ground. “I do not get cold, elskask.”
She frowns, lifting her eyes to meet mine. “You do not?” she asks.
Shaking my head once, my eyes find hers. “Indeed, I do not. My body regulates to the temperature around me and keeps me at a comfortable temperature at all times.”
Hillevi doesn’t say anything else, instead, she closes the short distance between us, lifting her hand and wraps it around the side of my neck before she rises to her toes and touches her mouth to mine.
“Thank you, Quest.”
“For?”
She laughs against my mouth. “For sacrificing your lifestyle to make me happy.”
Chapter Six
QUEST
Five years ago, I only thought of myself, of my happiness and my desires. After losing Hillevi, I realized that my entire life cannot solely be about me, about my happiness. She is my mate, I must endeavor to make her smile as well.
“Quest?” she calls out.
Turning my head, I look back at her. She’s standing at the entrance of the home, an apron tied around her waist, flour coating it along with a bit on her nose.
“Já?”
“I saw something,” she says.
Dropping my farming tools to the found, I swiftly make my way toward her. Wrapping my hands around her biceps, I guide her backward into the house, closing the door behind us.
Glancing around, I am glad to see that nothing is out of place inside. Sometimes her visions, they come with her falling down and seizing, something she has not told another soul, but I have seen it with my own eyes.
Shifting her toward the chair, I press my palm against her shoulder and press down so that she will sit. When she does, I take the chair across from her and focus my gaze on hers. She looks scared, her face is pale and her eyes are wild.
“Hillevi,” I snap.
Her gaze flicks to mine, finally focusing as she inhales a deep breath, then lets it out in a long exhale. “It frightened me, Quest.”
“Tell me, elskask,” I softly urge.
She gulps and nods her head once. “It was you, the villagers discovered that you were a dragon. Instead of embracing and loving you, they came with pitchforks and surrounded our home, prepared to burn it to the ground.”