Elvira

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“Here, open up” Adelio commanded, and I instantly complied.

I had given up fighting to get off his lap and fighting against him spoon-feeding me. The sooner I stopped struggling, the sooner I got to eat and receive my answers, so I just let myself go.

He was cradling me gently as he spoon-fed me. His hands were running up and down my back, and sometimes he would comb through my hair and play with my chestnut curls. He was constantly touching me, and breathing me in, almost as if he was trying to confirm I was real.

The food and the warmth from Adelio’s arms were comforting and made me feel at peace, it felt weird to not be washing dishes or scrubbing the palace floors at this time of the day.

I had eaten about two plates of food; I was on my third one and I still didn’t feel full. I was a foodie before, but never had I felt like my stomach was a bottomless pit.

“I swear your smell is the only pleasant one in this human realm,” Adelio said, nuzzling his head into my neck and placing a kiss by my ear. I hummed in response, as I involuntarily tilted my head sideways for more of his feel.

I wonder what I smelled like to him. It was for a fact that I hadn’t showered in at least a day now, but the way he just kept breathing and licking me made me feel lovely and fresh.

My curiosity got the better of me, and I let the question roll out.

“What do I smell like to you?” I asked, while chewing on a slice of apple.

“You smell like my very own paradise, better than the fucking heavens,” he said, placing another kiss on my neck.

I let out a feat of coughs, almost choking on my apple. I swear this man was really coquettish. He rubbed circles on my back to ease my coughs as if he wasn’t the cause of them in the first place.

Okay, he answered my first question, even if his reply was cheesy. Let’s try another one.

“What type of magic are you using on me?” I asked.

“Magic?” he questioned me

“Yes, magic. You know, the one you used to make tingles crawl on my skin. The one that throws my head into a daze and makes me docile like a kitty”

Adelio let out a low, rumbling laughter. “Darling, if there’s anyone under a spell here, it’s me.”

“Huh?” I blinked.

He brought his forehead to meet mine, and I sucked in a breath. “If only you knew. The way your gorgeous face restrains my eyes so that it looks at nothing else, the way your hazel eyes set my soul ablaze, yet render my heart at peace. The way your touch stirs up all types of chaos within me.”

His pupils turned blue as he closed them and prodded my head a little. “I am truly the one that has fallen victim to your spell.”

My ears were starting to tingle a little.

His words held a torrent of emotions in them, so much so that they were frightening. I couldn’t understand why anyone would feel this way about me, how they could feel this way about me. I had just met him. There was no way he fell in love with me at first sight. There just isn’t anything in me that could make a person this hooked, to the point they believed they were hexed.

My mouth was heavy as I slowly opened them to ask the most pressing question that had been on my mind. “But why? Why do you feel this way about me? What am I to you?” I asked.

Adelio moved his head from mine, so he was looking straight into my eyes. His hard gaze grew serious. “To me, you are the missing piece of my incomplete soul, the quench to my thirst, the fill to my void. You are my very sustenance, El. You are my mate”

The piece of bread I had in my hands fell to the floor due to my shock.

Oh shit, I really am a cursed freak. Even the dragon emperor has gone insane just being around me.

Then a strand of memory slowly crept up into my mind. It was a memory of Mira explaining mates and bonds to me. Every detail she had mentioned was beginning to piece together with my events. One by one, the pieces were clipping in.

He wasn’t lying.

I began to shake my head. It was baffling that despite all the senselessness of this situation, a part of me wanted to believe it was all true, that this man could belong to me, and I to him. A part of me was leaping in joy and begging to be claimed.

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I didn’t know much about dragons, but I’ve heard a little about them from Mira. Their possessiveness was nothing to joke about. Dragons usually mated with their kind, however, they could mate outside their race since they were superior creatures. Once a dragon claims someone as their mate, there is no hope of escape. They are known for being possessive like none other and were rough creatures. There was no way I was giving myself to such a creature. A girl like me who has never known a silver of love, not even from her own parents can’t withstand such sudden and overbearing weight. It’ll break me.

Instant fear chilled my heart, causing goosebumps to prickle my skin, and I jumped off his lap.

“Are you sure I’m your mate? There must be some kind of mistake,” I protested with a shaky voice.

Adelio stood up from the bed, and within a blink of an eye, he was right in front of me. His large figure was towering over my small one, and I swallowed.

“El,” he breathed as he slowly took one of my hands and placed it on his chest. “Do you feel that? Do you feel what your mere presence does to me?” he questioned.

I indeed felt it. His heart was thumping in a thunderous manner, as if it wanted to leap out of his chest and into mine. It was erratic and strained, but was also melodious.

“If your very presence has this effect on me, then imagine what the sound of your voice, the feel of your touch, the very air surrounding you does to the other part of me,” he said through strained breaths.

Other parts of him? What was he talking about? Then my gaze drew down to something...big. There was an enormous bulge in his pants. It gave the haunting image of a little dragon trying to break free.

I retracted my hands with urgency like I had been scalded by heat. When I had been sitting on his lap, something had been poking me, but I brushed it off as his stiff muscles.

Now I know for sure that something was definitely hard, but it wasn’t his muscles.

I stared at the man in front of me, searching for ways to deny that I was his mate. Then a sudden idea dinged into my head, and I pushed my hair away from my ears.

My hair had been down all this while, so my ears had been pretty much hidden.

“But I’m an Elf!” I yelled, wracked with nervousness. I tried to sound confident, but in truth, I was terrified. I was scared that he would look at me with disdain, that he would reject me. But that was the goal, wasn’t it?

Adelio cocked an eyebrow at me like he wasn’t sure what being an elf had to do with anything. “Yes, darling, I see. A fucking gorgeous elf at that”

I blinked at him a couple of times. All my life, I had been segregated and hated for looking like an elf. It’s a known fact that I found it frustrating and wished to be left alone. But the one time I needed to use my freaky nature to my advantage, it didn’t work. The universe definitely had a grudge against me.

I have to think fast and come up with another excuse. “Okay, then I’m a human!” I blurted out.

He just smiled and drew my body closer to him. “The loveliest one of them all”

What the hell?

"Okay. This time I’m for real. I’m a troll!” I had not an inkling of what a troll looked like, but with the way people have described them, I don’t think they are ones to be desired.

However, my facts were wrong, because Adelio neither seemed bothered nor disgusted as he brought me into a sweet hug.

“Yes, my El, you are an enchanting troll. You can be whatever you want to be, and I’d still be entranced”

At this time, tears had started stinging my eyes, threatening to fall onto Adelio’s chest. My breath was shaking, and my hands were trembling a little. What was wrong with this man?

“Okay, El, deep breaths. You’re doing it again, darling. Your discomfort is making me restless.” Adelio said, while stroking my hair.

My head was pressed directly on his chest, and I could hear his heartbeat. The rhythm, the rise, the fall, everything felt like a lullaby specifically made for me.

I felt myself being hoisted up into the air by Adelio’s arms, as he walked me to the bed and laid against the headboard.

I just lay there stiff in his arms, still trying to process everything that had happened, along with my conflict of emotions.

“Talk to me El. What’s going through your lovely head” He asked as his lips kissed my forehead.

A lot was going through my head at the moment. I was confused about where to even begin.

“So I am your mate...?” I said in more of a statement than a question.

“Yes El, you are mine.” He stated with a low rumble.

My heart flipped at his words, and it felt like butterflies had bloomed in my stomach.

“So...you want me? You don’t think I’m a... freak?” my trembling words were full of hesitation as I asked.

His body went rigid at my question. “A freak? Why in the world would I think of you as a freak, El?” He propped my chin upward, so that I was met with his sedative smile.

I closed my eyes. Memories of being called a freak as soon as I was old enough to comprehend speeches ran through my head. If someone were to ask, ‘What do you think of Elvira’, the reply would surely be ‘Nothing, she’s just a freak.’ So naturally, of course, I’ll think myself to be one.

Before I could utter any word, a sudden knock - with a hint of urgency - sounded on the door. The person didn’t wait for permission to enter this time, as they swiftly swung the door open.

Milo walked in through the door and made his way to me and Adelio. The moment he was in front of us, he gave a small bow.

“They are all gone,” Milo said almost immediately.

“No traces?” Adelio asked.

“Not really. I just found a couple of chains. They looked big enough to hold something large, so my guess was the dragons were once trapped there.”

I was looking back and forth between Milo and Adelio, completely lost as to what they were talking about. The mention of chains brought a flash of memories to my mind, causing a chill to run down my spine.

I shook my head to wash out the vivid mental image, just as I felt Adelio’s hands tighten around me. It took me by surprise, so I looked up to see if he was watching me, but he was still talking to Milo.

His hands were rubbing soothing circles on my back, and I couldn’t help resting my head back on his chest. However, my head immediately sprang back up when I heard Adelio say, “Get ready to depart, we need to go back to Caelestis and plan our next move”

A heavy thump sounded in my chest, and a dull ache pierced through it. He was leaving.

I should’ve expected that sooner or later he’d leave for his empire. He was an emperor, after all, and couldn’t stay here. Tears bubbled up and began to fill up my eyes. I bit my lips to try to contain my sobs.

Suddenly everything went silent and I noticed four sets of eyes on me. Two were from the worried look of Adelio, and the other two were from the curious gaze of Milo.

It was only when Adelio’s thumb swiped at my eyes, that I realized...I was crying.