The Dragon King's Heart

Both of them heaved a sigh of relief as they heard the room door close. As Margaret's muffled footsteps faded away, Laina bit her lips as she pressed the side of her head against the door. 

"She's gone and so have the maid and servant she brought in with her. Shall we enjoy our dinner, princess?" Dante asked. 

Laina turned back to face Dante with her back leaning on the door frame. 

"Our dinner? When did it become our dinner, your Majesty? Also," she placed a finger on the center of his bare chest, "Why are you just so shameless?" 

Laina's straightforward question caught Dante a little off guard. But he was not about to fluster before her. He calmly reached for her hand and placed her palm on his chest instead. 

Laina's face blushed beet red. She tried to remove her hand but Dante refused to let go. He firmly pressed her palm on his chest. 

"Who's the truly shameless one now?" Dante said seductively as he placed his hand against the door next to Laina's face. 

How could she possibly win against him? But it does not mean Laina was not willing to give it a try. She knew he had her entranced and trapped in his arms right now. But there was still something she could do to disarm him. 

Since her hand was still on his chest, Laina leaned forward. She rested her head against his chest. As she did so, Dante loosened his grip on her hand. Laina then wrapped her hands around his waist as she closed her eyes. 

"Laina…" Dante did not know what else to say or do. 

At that moment, he froze. The Dragon King froze where he stood. For the first time in a long time he did not know what to do. Laina's lips curled into a sneaky smile. She lifted her head up to look at him. 

The moment their eyes met, Laina realised how flustered she had made Dante. When she came to realize what she herself had done, Laina did not quite know how to respond either. 

But since she was already in so deep, why not just go with the flow?

"Dante…"

"…" Dante did not know how to respond. 

He just kept on looking into her eyes. Memories of the past flooded back into his mind. The moments they had spent with one another. Each was more precious than the last. 

They never had the opportunity to savor the time they could spend with one another. Someone was always ready to pull them apart. Remembering the bitter past, Dante gritted his teeth. 

His sudden change in expression caught Laina off guard. She thought she might have angered him. But just as she was about to loosen her hug around him, Dante returned the hug. 

He wrapped his arms all around her and brought her close to him. He hugged her tightly, leaning his head on the side of her shoulder. He gently kissed the nape of her neck. Tingles spread all across Laina's body, she did not want to resist him. 

"Don't ever leave me again," Dante whispered beneath his breath. 

Laina could hear his words echoing in her mind. It felt familiar, but how could this be? She had never heard him say this before this moment. Why was it familiar to her? Laina placed a hand over his head, gently running through her hand in his hair. 

"I'm not going anywhere. Not any time soon anyway," she whispered back to him. 

"But…" she added, "I think it's time we put on some clothes, don't you think?" 

Laina reached her hand out. The set of pajamas she had laid on the dressing table magically floated into her hand.

"But I don't have anything to wear," Dante replied nonchalantly. 

There was no change in his expression as he said that. But Laina was not buying it. It was impossible for him to waltz into her room, then into her bathroom and bathtub all the while naked. Right?

"Are you imagining what that was like?" he asked as he scratched his chin. 

Caught red-handed, Laina quickly attempted to defend herself, "What are you talking about?! Imagine what? Hmm?"

She turned the question back on him. 

Dante grinned, "I can't read your mind, princess. How would I know what you're thinking of?"

"Oh, I'm certain you have some mind-reading skills. If not, how would you know about all the things I love?" she angrily replied as she placed her hands on her waist. 

Not wanting to waste any more time, she opened the bathroom door and pushed Dante out into the room. Then, she closed the door behind him. Dante walked over and knocked on the door. 

"Hey, why are you locking me out?" he asked as he pounded on the door. 

Laina furrowed her eyebrows as she folded her arms, "Because I need to change into my pajamas and a princess needs her privacy!"

Dante chuckled as he muttered to himself, "Privacy aye?" 

The cool air brushed against his skin. A familiar presence lingered at his feet. It was Titan, the Solar Mastiff. He circled Dante while wagging his tail. 

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Titan?" Dante said as he crouched down to scratch Titan on his belly.

He looked over to the table that had been set up for Laina to use for her dinner. He decided to add a few touches to make it a little more suited for both of them. Titan laid down next to the table, watching Dante make his preparations.

By the time Laina came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, Dante was already seated by the table, waiting for her. He was still half-naked, with the towel wrapped around his waist. She looked at him, pretending to be unimpressed by his tactics. 

"So you really don't have any clothes?" she asked him one last time. 

"Nope, the towel you've given me is all I have," he replied.

"Fine," Laina resigned to her fate.

Then, she remembered something. 

Laina walked over to her walk-in-wardrobe. She searched high and low for a while before returning with a set of clothing. She threw it over to Dante. 

"Wear this then," she replied with a smirk. 

Dante thought he could get his way in this situation, but Laina was already one step ahead of him!