Page 18 of The Sapphire Dragon Prince
I swallowed hard, fighting not to react too strongly and to upset my omega. I should have had more than enough magic tosummon a flower. I tried again, but the attempt was even more feeble than before.
Just when I’d thought things were getting better, it appeared as though they were taking a turn for the worse.
Misha sensed it. “Is something wrong?” he asked with a puzzled look.
“No,” I laughed, though the sound was tense and airy. “Nothing is wrong at all.”
“You were trying to make another flower for me, weren’t you,” he said.
“I was….” I said, uncertain whether I should admit what was happening to me. “I, er, I changed my mind.”
It was a lie, and as such, it sent an uncomfortable shiver through me. Worse than that, Misha studied me with a confused look, as if he knew I wasn’t being honest. He blinked, then said, “You would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?”
My heart pounded harder as I felt put on the spot. “I promise that I will always let you know if something is really wrong,” I said. “I think I’m just a little tired right now. It’s been a long day.”
That wasn’t a lie, but it didn’t make me feel better at all. Worse still, the closeness and almost-bond I’d felt with my mate had vanished like the flower I’d tried to conjure. I knew enough to know my failure to be completely honest about my own shortcomings was the cause, that I’d put yet another wall between us, but I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt Misha more than he was already hurt. If I told him my magic was fading because we hadn’t fully bonded yet, he would blame himself. That was the very last thing I wanted.
“Why don’t we lie down in the grass and enjoy this beautiful afternoon while we wait for the cherries?” I asked instead. “Heaven knows the two of us could use a rest.”
Misha smiled and let out a breath. “Alright,” he said, lying back with me and then turning his body into my embrace. “This feels so nice.”
“It does.”
I closed my eyes and held Misha close for several minutes, so long that I thought maybe he’d fallen asleep. But no, it was just the two of us enjoying a quiet moment together. Quiet moments were so rare sometimes, and it was unbelievably nice to just be there in such a beautiful setting with my mate.
We were interrupted sometime later, as the sun began to set, by the farmer clearing his throat somewhere close by.
“Your cherries are just about ready,” he announced to us.
Misha and I sat up from where we’d reclined in the grass and looked at our trees. Sure enough, at some point when we hadn’t been paying attention, they’d all grown, bloomed, and borne fruit.
“The hundredth tree!” Misha gasped in excitement, scrambling to his feet.
I rose with him, and together the two of us went to investigate the trees.
Even I was impressed by how quickly the trees had grown, and I was a dragon. What had been a two-foot-high sapling only a few hours before was now a fully-grown tree whose boughs were filled with small, green cherries. As Misha and I walked around it, those green cherries grew and reddened, ripening into full, juicy fruits.
“Does everything in the magical world grow like this?” Misha asked, gazing at the tree with round, impressed eyes.
“Only when there is some need for quick growth,” I answered.
“It’s amazing!”
It really was incredible. The tree seemed to stretch and shiver as its fruit filled out, dotting the green branches with dots of bright red. Misha and I watched until the fruits all hung heavily.
“If you plan to collect your cherry pit, you’d better do it now,” the farmer said, coming up behind us with a few of his workers, all of them carrying baskets. “Sometimes, if you leave the fruit too long, it spoils before you can do anything about it.”
I nodded, then gestured for Misha to pick a cherry. “These are the fruits of your labor, so you choose.”
Misha continued to study the tree for a moment, then looked at me before moving in. He reached for the highest branch he could, plucking a particularly large, glittering cherry and bringing it back to me.
“What do you think?” he asked. “Is this one good enough?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” I said, taking the cherry from him and popping it into my mouth.
I didn’t just eat the fruit whole, though. I bit into it, then in a moment of whimsy, I leaned toward Misha and winked. Misha laughed and caught on to what I was hinting at. He lifted to his toes, grasping onto my arms for balance as he did, then bit the other half of the cherry.
Eating the cherry turned into a kiss. It was silly and sweet, and we both ended up with cherry juice dribbling down our chins. But the playful moment was its own kind of magic and did what it was intended to do. As we broke apart and chewed to finish eating the cherry, Misha pulled the small, golden pit out of his mouth.
