by Lisa Daniels
“That’s alright. You can rest tonight, and tomorrow we can start training.”
Sitting on the bed, Nina looked up at Marcellus as he stood up. “Where are you going?”
“I can’t stay in here.”
“Why not?”
Marcellus gave her a look of uncertainty. “Are you honestly asking, or are you messing with me?”
“I’m serious. Why can’t you stay here?”
“Um, I don’t think that it would be a good idea. It’s clear that, um…” He looked at her for some sign that she knew what he was trying to say. When he didn’t see any indication that she got the hint, he smiled and shook his head. “I guess if you really want me to stay, I can. But you get to tell Benson.”
“Okay.” Nina shot up from the bed and bounced down the hallway as Marcellus tried to call her back. “Benson!” she called as she skipped.
“What? What’s wrong?” Benson appeared at the end of the hallway.
“Marcellus is going to sleep in my room, so you won’t need to clean up a second room. Good night.”
Benson stared back at her as she hurried back to her room. When she got back, Nina beamed at Marcellus. “Do you care which side of the bed you sleep on?”
“Uh, um, no. Not really.” He cleared his throat and looked away.
“I don’t really care either. So how about we meet in the middle?”
“What?” He gave her a confused look.
She pressed her body against his, pushing him onto the bed.
Marcellus pulled away. “There’s no rush. We don’t need to—”
Nina’s head flopped down against him, the use of magic having drained her. Her gentle breaths against his neck made him laugh. Moving her a little, he adjusted her on the bed with his good arm. Giving her forehead a tender kiss, Marcellus pulled a blanket up over her. Getting off the bed, he moved to the chair next to her and watched her sleep, not certain exactly how to approach the situation now that he had gotten himself into it.
He drifted off to sleep in the chair as he pondered where to go from there.
An hour later, a warmth on his lap woke him. Marcellus opened his eyes and saw Nina sleeping in his lap, a blanket covering both of them. Slightly groggy, he asked her sleeping face, “Just what do you think you are doing?”
She nuzzled against him, not quite as asleep as he had thought. “I thought it was obvious. I want to be with you as much as you want to be with me. If you sleep on the chair, I sleep in the chair too.”
“It will be difficult for me to sleep in the bed next to you, though.”
“I’m ready when you are.” She pressed against him.
“Oh, I am definitely not ready for that yet.”
Nina pulled back a little. “But, I thought...”
Marcellus gave her a gentle kiss. “I want to be with you, but there is no rush. It is you that I’m interested in, and I don’t want you to ever think that it was anything else I was looking for.”
Nina giggled, “I know that. But if you want to take it slow, it’s a shame.” She got up, still half asleep. Pulling him by his good arm, she mumbled, “Come to bed and keep me warm. I’m feeling a bit colder than usual.”
“You used quite a bit of magic without having any previous practice.”
“There you go. I need help staying warm.” She looked at him as he lay down beside her. “There is a quick way to do that.”
Marcellus put his head on the pillow next to hers. “Yes, there is.”
Nina rubbed his limp arm. “Alright, if you aren’t willing to do that yet.” She rolled over and pushed her back against him. “Please just hold onto me. You are so warm.”
“Yes, we are known for that.”
She turned her head and looked into his green eyes. “What are you, a dragon shifter or something?” She giggled at the idea.
“Yes, I am.”
Nina giggled harder, gently rocking the bed. “Oh, stop it. I was just kidding.”
“Yes, I know you were. I wasn’t, though.”
Nina stopped giggling and looked at him. “Wait, are you serious?”
Marcellus nodded.
“You are a dragon shifter?” She pulled away and looked at him, trying to see if there was anything about Marcellus that suggested it was true.
“You didn’t seem to have any trouble accepting that Benson was a bear shifter. Is it really so difficult to believe that I’m a dragon shifter?”
“Well, Benson actually looks like a bear, so after you guys said it, I could easily see how it was true. But a dragon? Aren’t they huge and scaly?”
“Bigger than other land animals, yes. And definitely scaly. The difference between our two forms is substantial, so you won’t see the dragon when I’m in my human form. It is actually a distinct advantage when we aren’t around other shifters.”
“What about when you are with other shifters?”
“We can always tell what a shifter’s nonhuman form is. Kind of like… nope, I can’t think of anything that it is like.”
“A dragon,” Nina moved a little closer and inspected his face more carefully. “You realize how intimidating that is?”
He leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss. “Nothing intimidating about me. Look.” He let his broken arm fall forward. “I can get hurt just like you.”
“Why don’t you have that secured so that it isn’t just swinging around like that?”
“Well…” Marcellus frowned. “I never thought to do that.”
Nina laughed, then pressed her back up against him. “When we get started training, I’m going to see if I can fix your arm.”
“Oh, I don’t think that will work.”
“Have you ever been healed by magic?”
“No, I’ve never had time for that.”
“Well, if I am making time in my busy schedule for training, you can make time for getting yourself healed.” Suddenly, she sat up. “Wait! Is that what you meant when you said you were shot down?”
Marcellus looked up at her and laughed. “Yeah. The shape shifters broke my wing. When I’m in human form, it’s my arm.”
“And how long has it been like that?”
Marcellus shrugged, “I don’t know.”
Nina leaned over and gave him a kiss. “And you say I’m careless about myself.”
Marcellus looked at her mouth. Leaning forward, he kissed her a little more deeply. Wrapping his good arm around her, he held her close. “It seems impossible that you just came into my life so recently.”
“What do you mean?” Nina looked up at him and brushed a strand of hair off of his forehead.
“It feels like I have known you for so much longer.”
Nina gave him a light kiss. “I know what you mean. Good night, Marcellus.”
Leaning forward, he gave her a kiss on her forehead. “Good night, Nina.”
She rested her forehead against his chest, and fell into a deep sleep.
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