[You have attempted to activate the Perk: Wind Arrow. You have succeeded.]

  I’d barely readied my bow and arrow when the front gate ripped open, the door dangling half off its hinges. The barrier didn’t activate against the attacker, which made sense when we saw Bastian charge into the courtyard like he was being chased.

  Something was wrong. His arms were dragon scales, his eyes were all white, and scales appeared in random splotches on his face and neck. He looked ready for battle; his [Ice Aura] leaking off of him so fiercely that we could sense it inside the house.

  No one followed him.

  Kiki cursed and ran ahead to the main entry with me close at her heels. The fae threw open the front door just in time for an out of sorts Bastian to stumble in, arms extended like he’d been about to go through the door, instead of through it.

  “Bastian!” I rushed forward, uncaring that he looked ready to tear everything and anything apart with his draconic claws.

  His head snapped towards me, and he breathed out a short, ragged breath before collapsing into my arms. Frost bit at my senses, but didn’t do much damage. I had to undo my [Wind Arrow] and unsummon my bow before I hurt him, wrapping my now free arms around him to keep him steady.

  “Kiki, go get my greenleaf bag from upstairs, the one with the black stitching.” I ordered, hoping against hope that one of my potions might help.

  Turning my attention back to Bastian, I patted the drakin’s frigidly cold back and gently dropped to my knees. He knelt with me.

  “How can we help?”

  “I’m… fine now.” He rasped, his breath against my neck sending a shiver down my spine.

  “You most certainly are not,” I told him, “What happened?”

  “I missed you.”

  I glanced again at the broken gate and back down at the drakin.

  “I’m here now.” I soothed. At least it wasn’t a myriad of other things. Like poison, or mana burn, or some assassin's dastardly skill. I could work with this. “Can you make it into the gathering room, or should I carry you?”

  Bastian didn’t answer right away, inhaling deeply and letting out a long breath. He wasn’t back to normal, but there was a gentle relief as his aura lessened its intensity.

  “I just need a minute.” He said, nuzzling into my neck.

  “You could hug more of me if you took off your armor and joined me on the couch,” I offered, tempting him softly but not pulling away.

  Bastian processed that, nodded, but didn’t let go. So I waited, patting him slowly and rhythmically until Kiki came back.

  “This one?” The fae asked, wielding the green bag in question.

  “Yes, can you put it beside my drink?” I replied, not needing it but wanting it close at hand. “I’m going to try and move us to the gathering room. Bastian?”

  I stretched my neck to say his name directly beside his ear, and Bastian tensed.

  “All right.”

  Before I could move, Bastian scooped me into his arms and stood. He walked us over to the couch, sitting with me firmly in his lap. My legs draped over one of his knees.

  Cool air tickled my skin, and I realized that Bastian had torn small rents in the back of my dress with his claws. I remained unharmed through it all, but this wasn’t exactly comfortable.

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  “You’re still wearing the armor.” I reminded him. The hard polished surface was smooth to the touch by not nice to cuddle. A moment later it was gone, unequipped and summoned back into his fancy spatial storage ring. I patted the fabric of his tunic. “Better.”

  We sat there for a while. Longer than I thought we might. Longer than he’d needed in the past. After a quarter hour of being held captive, with no signs of improvement, I wiggled a bit,

  “Bastian?”

  “Hm?”

  “Can you let me sit up?”

  He didn’t say no, but I could feel it in the way his shoulders stiffened and his claws flexed, hooking into my dress again.

  Time for a different approach. “Can you look at me?”

  He pulled back from my neck. White-eyes blinked twice slowly, and as I watched, purple slits appeared in draconic fashion and then rounded into his normal eyes.

  I lifted my arms to caress his cheek and he leaned into my touch.

  It was a good sign.

  “I can sit here as long as you need,” I told him, ignoring the fact that I might want to go to the washroom at some point tonight. Preferably alone. I would tackle that when we came to it. “But you know that Kiki and I are worried about you, right?”

  “I’m…” Bastian shut his eyes, struggling with himself before saying, “I don’t know what to do. But I can’t let go.”

  “What if we held hands? Like before?” I offered.

  He was still leaning into my palm and lifted one of his hands to cover it, pressing mine harder against his cheek.

  “Not enough.” He said, his eyes opened to meet mine. “I need more. I need you.”

  Now it was my turn to control myself. He wasn’t allowed to be that handsome and enduring and possessive. He reminded me of one of Feliwyn’s yandere male leads, clingy and obsessed to the point of insanity.

  But he wasn’t a random male lead. He was a person and people can usually be reasoned with.

  “You already have me, remember? I’ve moved into your home, made a room in your hoard and don’t plan on leaving any time soon” I told him. Keeping calm as best I could. “We’re getting married in two days, and then I’ll be yours officially.”

  “Two days is an unbearably long time,” He ground out, surprising her by kissing her palm. “I need you now.”

  Heat rose to the tips of my ears, and I thought about throwing caution to the wind and kissing the drakin. He was a very considerate partner, and I couldn’t say I wasn’t curious what it would be like when we were finally together.

  Especially when he looked at me like that.

  “W-well,” I stuttered, cursing my own resolve, “You’ll have to wait. We aren’t married yet, and I want our first time to be special - And preferably not on this couch in front of Kiki.”

  The fae was hovering close by, caught between awkwardly pacing, and silently offering assistance if needs be. That seemed to snap Bastian out of things a bit, and the drakin finally dragged his eyes off of me to look for the fae. “Kiki?”

  “Yes, Master Bastian?”

  “Don’t leave.” He ordered, dropping my hand and slipping his around my waist to cage me on his lap. “No matter what I tell you. Where’s Lish?”

  “She’ll be back soon.” I didn’t even want to think about what Lish would say if she walked in on us. Snuggling arm and arm or hip to hip was infinitely less intimate that lap cuddles. She’d suffer mana drain just looking at us.

  Bastian frowned. “Tell her to get Paralysis Poison, but Kiki stays here.”

  There was a stability in his voice that had been absent until now, subtle but reassuring. The contents of his words, however, were anything but.

  “We aren’t poisoning you, Bastian.” I told him, firm.

  “You must. It’s the only way for me to let you go.” Bastian grimaced, viscerally rejecting the idea. One hand clenched near her lower back and a cold claw ran along her skin. “Then take me to Rowen’s private dungeon until the wedding.”

  “Or,” I said, “We can sit here until things settle? Look, you’re already calming down.”

  His eyes were back to normal, and his breathing was steadying. Sure, he leaked a bit of cold aura, and his arms were still transformed, but he was having a conversation with us just fine.

  He was almost like the Bastian I knew and liked. If I ignored the vice-like grip he had on my hips.

  “I am not calm.” He denied my statement with vehemence.

  “Keep talking, commander,” Kiki encouraged, “It looks like it’s helping.”

  “It does,” I agreed. And it was preferable to poison. “How was the council?”

  “Terrible.” He said, frowning, “You weren’t there.”

  "Did you leave early?"

  "I made it all the way to the end." Bastian stated.

  "Like that? I'm impressed." I nodded, one of my hands reaching up and playing with a lock of his hair. "Bastian..."

  "Hmm?"

  “Why do you like me?” I asked, a small bit of worry leaking into my voice. It was hard to ignore the idea that he might just be attached to me because of his dragon nature, and not because Bastian himself wanted this.

  “I adore you. You're very adorable.” He stated, his voice catching as his eyes roamed my face. “Every drop of blood in my body is telling me you are perfect.”

  I let that sink in, wondering if I had any room left to blush. Still, I wasn't sure if that was the answer I was looking for.

  Kiki’s voice cut into my embarrassment. “Do you love her?”