“Are you hungry?” Leo asked.
“I could eat.”
Leo levered away and rolled to his feet. He extended his hand, and she noticed Leo’s tattoo looked sleepy and content. Yep, so cute. She placed her hand in Leo’s. Her stomach grumbled, and they laughed together.
“I’m drooling over the pie. It smells amazing.”
“We can try that first,” Leo said.
“It’s dessert,” she protested, a tiny voice at the back of her mind shouting that eating sweets first was wrong.
“There are no guidelines for food and my wife,” Leo said with a smile. “We make our own rules.”
“Works for me,” Gwenyth said, a distant memory still refuting the meal order. No, not her, she thought. Someone else had insisted on preciseness in everything. She plucked at the information, and while her head didn’t ache this time, the facts she sought remained elusive. Her mind was healing, though, and she thought that was a splendid thing.
“Are you happy with our marriage?” he asked without warning.
Gwenyth didn’t hesitate. She wrapped her arms around him and settled in to show him how much she valued their marriage. The pie could wait.
10 - Leonidas, You’ve Brought Dinner
“Husband, there has got to be a better way of traveling with you.” Gwenyth braced her trembling knees and leaned against Leo, who was still in his dragon form. She dropped Leo’s bag of clothes on the ground and dragged a hand through her tangled hair. “That was a brief flight, and it scared me silly. I didn’t think the second time would bother me as much.Wrong.”
Leo’s enormous, green dragon head turned to observe her, and her own eyes narrowed. Her husband of not even a day was laughing at her.
She poked him in the ribs. “Stop laughing at me.”
“Leonidas, you’ve brought dinner,” a masculine voice boomed across the giant field where they’d landed.
Leo released an amused grunt, and Gwenyth spun to skewer the recent arrival with her glare. He stood tall—at least six inches above her height of five-foot-nine.
Huh, she remembered her height. How weird was that?
She returned to studying the man, peeved at his stupid joke. His eyes were golden brown while his nostrils flared in a manner that told her he was testing her scent. Another dragon, then. A bushy ginger beard covered his lower face, and his dragon tattoo—an orangish-red in color—cocked his head to peer at her. His chest was a gathering of splendid muscles and bared to the elements. He wore a pair of tight black trews and black leather boots on his big feet.
Jenny was safe with the minister’s family, and they’d promised to watch her for as long as necessary, which meant Gwenyth wasthe snackin this scenario.
She studied the new arrival’s grin and planted her hands on her hips. “Ginger, did you call me dinner?”
Leo snorted, a single ring of smoke erupting from his nostrils. He rubbed his head against her arm before nudging her farther away from him. Seconds later, he stood in front of them in naked splendor. Her gaze wandered his muscled body and his…ah…undercarriagebefore she thrust the bag at him.
Leo accepted the clothes and slung his arm around her shoulders. “Well met, Felix. Meet Gwenyth. She’s my wife.” Pride shimmered in Leo’s words, and Gwenyth’s irritation faded. Her husband beamed with satisfaction. A marriage of convenience with a human who was a stranger didn’t faze him.
Felix’s bushy brows shot upward, his eyes widening in surprise. “Married? But I thought you’re betrothed to a dragon lass from Smoking Isle.”
“You heard wrong,” Leo stated.
“But she’s due to arrive tomorrow,” Felix said. “Her and her retinue.”
Gwenyth shot Leo a searching glance but remained silent, deeming it best for him to take the lead since she was unfamiliar with castle protocol.
Leo sighed. “I had no inkling. Gwenyth, we’d better face my parents. We knew this wouldn’t be easy.” He opened the bag. “Hold this.” He thrust his clothes at Felix and tugged Gwenyth into his arms. He kissed her, heat sliding from his mouth and into hers. A faint burning sensation bled down her throat. Not painful, but different. Pleasure roared through her on the tail of this heat, so she gripped Leo’s broad shoulders and enjoyed the heck out of the kiss.
Felix spoke, reminding her they had an audience.
Aghast, she jerked away from Leo, but he contained her easily. He nipped her earlobe and whispered to her. It took her long seconds to make sense of Leo’s words.
“I’m marking you with my scent again, reinforcing the traces of scent already present on your skin.”
