Her Dragon Lover

Her Dragon Lover - Chapter 5

"Goodbye, my good friend, Emyr! I'll see you tom if I'm not busy!" Axis stayed for fifteen minutes. He was, indeed, a frequent unwelcome visitor, like Old Ponso had said.

And he was wasting Emyr's time with his incessant gossips about anything that raised his ire. But Axis had stayed a short time, which was the first time. Normally, he would rant for an hour while drinking Emyr's expensive wine.

"Okay. Goodnight, Axis!" Emyr was relieved. He rang the bell and, Lando, appeared. "Please, show Mr. Griffin out," he instructed Old Ponso's eldest son.

"Of course, I can show myself out, Emyr," Axis protested loudly.

"It is the proper way in my household, Axis," Emyr rejoined calmly.

"I'll follow you out, Mr. Griffin," Lando informed Axis with quiet dignity. Old Ponso had trained his son well.

There were CCTV cameras on every corner of the mansion. The monitoring of these cameras was done by the security team every hour and every day of the week.

Axis was often caught wandering around. He seemed to be investigating but he said he was just curious.

"Curious of what?" Emyr had asked when Axis was brought in. He was very wet and shaking with cold. "You were at the pool?"

"W-was it a p-pool? I thought it was the d-death of m-me!"

"The place was off-limits. What were you doing there?"

"N-nothing. I was startled and f-fell headlong!"

Axis was lying. Emyr could feel it but he let it go, for the sake of his promised to Arsenio.

Arsenio was a friend of Emyr. He died when Axis was one-year-old.

"Please, treat Axis like he is your son, Emyr. I'm dying. I can't watch him growing up into a fine man!" Arsenio was sixty years old when cancer had eaten both his lungs.

Emyr was grateful to Arsenio because he saved Emyr's life.

Arsenio found Emyr naked and almost drowned by the seaside.

Arsenio was getting bankrupt when their paths crossed. They decided to do business together. They were both thirty at the time.

Because of Emyr's intuitive acumen and Arsenio's business knowledge, they navigated the world of finance successfully. Within thirty years, they had ten banks and millions to their names.

When Arsenio got married at fifty-nine years old, troubles began in his life. He sold his shares to Emyr.

"I will not live long, my friend. Please, look over my son!"

Emyr, who had not looked old at sixty, made a promise to the dying Arsenio.

Even now that Axis was twenty-seven years old, Emyr still looked young and agile for his age of eighty-eight.

'My youthful appearance must fire the curiosity of Axis!' Emyr told himself.

Whenever he looked into the mirror, Emyr was greeted with a young man in his early thirties. He was not surprised because his race did grow older when they reached a hundred. He was just eighty-eight...

'Axis must be looking for my fountain of youth!' He chuckled to himself at the time.

Yes, he had a secret... And to prevent Axis on stumbling over to his secret, Emyr had imposed the restriction to Axis' movements.

'Arsenio, your spawn is starting to be a pain in the ass!' Presently, Emyr watched Axis rambling to himself while being followed by Lando.

When he was sure that Axis rode his car and departed with a loud 'vrooom,' he strode towards the office that was prepared for Ara.

As expected by Emyr, Ara was still there. She was busy familiarizing herself with the new word processing software. Old Ponso stood by the door, waiting unobtrusively. When he beckoned silently, the old butler left soundlessly.

Emyr observed Ara while she worked. She was concentrating deeply. Her small white teeth chewed her bow-shaped lips. He wanted to tell her not to mangle those luscious lips but managed to keep quiet.

Ara frowned when there was a stitch. She jotted down something on the notepad. Her fingers were long and dainty as she held the pencil.

"The software is basically the same with what you usually use in the office." Emyr could not stop himself from speaking when Ara's frown deepened.

"Huh! You startle me!" Ara looked around to find Old Ponso had disappeared.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to." He ambled towards her. His expression was enigmatic. "I'll show you a trick."

Ara was trapped in her chair when Emyr huddled towards the computer. He stretched his arms and tapped on the keyboard. His fingers were nimble and light.

He was affected with Ara's nearness. He inhaled the flowery scent of her hair. She had taken a shower before going to have dinner with him. She had changed her office uniform to pink t-shirt and cream slacks. Her fresh fragrance wafted up to his nose.

Ara watched the keys he pressed. "Oh, that trick! I knew it!" she expressed excitedly.

"You knew? I thought I was the only one who knew it!" Emyr joked smilingly.

"Everyone does, sir!" Ara answered primly. She controlled her smile.

He chuckled softly. He sat at the corner of the large desk, facing her. His eyes dark and eloquent.

Ara was suddenly self-conscious. She could not meet his eyes. "Um, Mr. Ponso informed me that you will hand the manuscript every morning... What time in the morning, sir?"

"I get up at six o'clock. We shall have our breakfast at seven or eight?"

"We? Sir, I shall have breakfast on my own," Ara spoke clearly. "I mean it."

"You have to," Emyr insisted huskily. "I will hand you the manuscript in the morning. Remember?"

"You can leave the manuscript here." Her palm patted the smooth and shiny desk.

"I prefer to hand it to you personally, Ara... so we will have our breakfast together. And you will hand it back to me during our dinner." The word, 'our,' was emphasized.

"But, sir--"

"That's an order," Emyr interrupted in a stern voice.

"Okay... We will meet at breakfast and dinner," she mumbled while looking at the keyboard.

"Not meet, Miss Gray. We shall have our breakfast and dinner every day," he said succinctly. "Don't worry. I will not forget my promise to you. I will not show my attraction to you."

Ara flushed a deep pink. She was dumbfounded as she stared at him.

Emyr almost drowned at the dark whirlpool in her eyes. He straightened unhurriedly.

"Goodnight, Miss Gray," he whispered in her ear. His warm breath touched her skin.