Page 40 of The Loneliest Dragon at Christmas
Avery reared back, eyes glowing bright. His skin shimmered, iridescent. His fingers clutched Jack’s knee, growing into claws.
“No.” The word growled out of Avery, the sound vibrating in Jack’s bones. He exhaled, and smoke rose into the air.
Jack shivered. “I?—”
“No. You will not go anywhere. You will stay here until the snow passes. Until it is safe.” Avery’s eyes blazed, burning into him. For a second, Jack could almost swear Avery’s eyes shifted shape. A rumble escaped his throat. “I will keep you safe.”
The words resonated in Jack’s body, like a command Jack couldn’t disobey. Jack nodded, unable to do anything else.
Avery relaxed a fraction.
If Jack had ever doubted Avery was a dragon, he didn’t now.
CHAPTER 21
Jack raised his head as Daniel entered.
“Tea and soup are ready.” Daniel carried in a tray.
Rising, Avery took the tray from him.
Immediately, Jack missed the warmth of Avery’s hand pressed to his knee. But he shouldn’t. He’d put a stop to things with Avery. He shouldn’t be enjoying Avery’s touch anymore.
“I will take care of him,” Avery said to Daniel, his voice still rumbling.
And despite himself, it sent a shiver of pleasure along Jack’s spine. Avery put the tray on the floor and offered Jack the bowl of soup.
“Thank you.” Jack took the warm bowl. He lifted it to his lips. He sipped, and when he realised it wasn’t too hot, Jack swallowed a mouthful of the silky-smooth soup. The heat spread down his throat and into his belly. Jack licked his lips.
Avery watched him intently. “It’s good?”
Jack nodded. “Delicious. Chestnut soup is one of my favourites. In autumn, my brother Briar always collects chestnuts from the forest. We eat chestnut soup for days.”
Avery smiled. And that chased away the last of the cold from Jack’s bones. His heart skipped.
Maybe Jack had made a mistake. Maybe he and Avery could find a way to work out their differences. Maybe they could be together.
“Do you have any food preferences?” Avery asked.
Jack frowned. “What?”
“I think dinner isn’t too far away. But I can ask Cook to change her plans if it doesn’t suit you. I think she was planning on roast pheasant.” Avery glanced at Daniel in the doorway, a question in his tone.
Daniel gave a nod. “I believe so, sir.” The servant had been standing there silently, hands behind his back, waiting for Avery to request something of him.
Like a rush, the unease returned and Jack remembered why he and Avery couldn’t be together. Avery was wealthy in a way Jack couldn’t comprehend. He couldn’t understand a world where someone would change an almost-cooked dinner for something else on a whim.
Of course, he had likes and dislikes. But in his family, you just ate whatever was put before you at mealtime and said thank you. Especially if that something was as expensive as roast pheasant.
Still to this day, when Jack sat to eat, he felt grateful they had enough food. He would watch his younger siblings as they ate with a sense of satisfaction and joy, knowing that together they’d managed to provide for and nourish one another.
Jack still remembered worrying if there would be enough food to go around. He remembered all the nights he’d gone to sleep, stomach aching with hunger, so his younger siblings wouldn’t have to go without.
Jack couldn’t live like Avery. He cared for him. He liked him. Avery was sweet and kind and so lovely it hurt to look at him. But they had lived different lives. Jack couldn’t see how they’d bridge that.
And still, Daniel just stood in the doorway, awaiting a word from his master. How did one get used to a servant lingering in the room? How did Avery not feel deeply uncomfortable?
Jack had always known people with this sort of wealth existed. But he’d always been so below those people that he’d never witnessed it.
