His entire body shuddered.
Outside, the rain continued to fall, but inside, the cave burned with firelight and passion—two hearts joining for the first time in sacred intimacy they had unknowingly saved for each other.
Morning came slow,like honey from a jar. The cave was still and humidity clung to the stones.
Elowen stirred first, but Midas tightened his tail, still curled around her legs from the night before. He did not want her to retreat from the lingering beauty and fragile spell of the night they shared together. Her bare skin was warm against his, some of his scales leaving patterns into her flesh from holding her so close to him all night.
Her body still hummed from soreness and memory of Midas’ body sharing hers. The memory of the way he had looked at her like she was something worth worshiping.
His eyes were still closed, but Elowen turned her head slightly to face him. She pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw, and only then did he open his golden eyes.
He blinked slowly, as if contemplating if it hadall been a dream. His eyes traced down the nakedness of them both, and Elowen felt her cheeks flush.
“Good morning,” she whispered.
Midas tilted his head towards her and nuzzled her. That was his primary way of communicating with her. Not with words, but with touch, with tenderness.
He paused and then sat up slightly, reaching a hand toward her as if he were uncertain if he was still allowed to touch her. His fingers brushed her hair away from her shoulder and then trailed down the length of her arm. When she didn’t flinch away or tell him to stop, he continued to trace her body as gently as he could manage.
When he got to the underside of the curve of her breast, Midas made a soft sound in his throat, like a purr. “Elowen…” he trailed off, voice unsure. “Did I hurt you?”
She sighed, her heart aching with the knowledge that he was always concerned for her above all else. “No, Midas. It was perfect.”
That seemed to ease something in him, and he smiled awkwardly in return.
“What?” Elowen asked.
“Again?” he asked eagerly. She had to stifle a laugh as she turned beet red. She knew it was probably just instinct for him, but he was after all, an animal. She didn’t mean it in a bad way, just that his body worked in different ways than hers, and she wasn’t sure she could handle another day of…thatjust yet.
Instead of trying to explain, she nodded, just once, and reached for his hand. “Soon,” she promised.
He made that low sound again—satisfied and affectionate.He nuzzled her once more before they untangled their limbs.
Elowen retreated to a chamber further back in the cave where a large copper basin of water waited for her. It functioned as her bath, and she stepped into the water, cleaning away the blood and Midas’ passion from her thighs.
When she finished her bath, Midas helped her dress, though he grew frustrated with the ties at the back and let her do it herself. He had prepared a simple breakfast for her of berries, flatbread, and dried meat. Soon after she finished, the exhaustion of his human form caught up to him, and Midas involuntarily returned to his natural dragon shape, quickly falling into a deep slumber near her nest.
The rest of the day was spent tidying the cave. Midas had a tendency to trek dirt and mud, and so Elowen brushed away what she could with a broom she fashioned out of a large stick and a bundle of dried grass. Then she dragged a bucket of dirty water to the cave mouth for Midas to replace the next time he went to the lake.
Elowen never asked to go back, not because she didn’t want to, but because she was afraid. It was too close to her old village, and the scars on her back, though healed, were still new. She did miss the fresh air and foraging, but she simply wasn’t ready for what might be waiting for them there.
After her chores, Elowen relaxed near the cooking fire, preparing a broth for her supper. Elowen didn’t have much opportunity in the village to cook. Most of their meals were rations of thin, mushy gruel. But here with Midas, he broughther so much food that she had noticeably gained weight, and her stomach no longer ached with hunger as it used to. She had a collection of herbs and spices and aromatics she could experiment with. It was simple, but it breathed life into her that she didn’t realize she was missing in her old life.
She didn’t realize how many mundane things, like cooking, had been taken from her in exchange for peace and order.
It was after her supper when Midas finally woke with a grumble that gently shook the cave. His eyes found her instantly, and he dipped his head in acknowledgement as he stretched his wings from wall to wall.
Elowen asked him to join her at the mouth of the cave. The clouds had momentarily broken, and though the rain left the stones wet, she sat with Midas curled around her. She pointed at the sky and told him of the constellations that painted the heavens.
Midas thought they were dull in comparison to his Elowen’s eyes, but he listened anyway. He loved learning of these silly human things like stories in the stars from her. He loved knowing that, through all the cruelty she had witnessed with the humans, she still found beauty in the world.
Midas hummed, nuzzling her with the side of his snout and dragging the very tip of his forked tongue against her cheek.
I shall take you to the stars, my Elowen.
She didn’t ask him what he said, and he didn’t need to tell her. He would show her, one day.
She fell asleep there, curled into his chest, and Midas smiled into the dark.
