My Dragon Desire

Chapter Six - Is This A Date? (Part 1)

✩Dawn✩

Blake had returned and it was my off weekend. Which meant that I could hopefully further my relationship with Blake. On a business level. Bailey told me about a sweet little spot on the Castle grounds and I was curious about it. So, one day during the week she had taken me to the spot and since then we had been planning to have a little picnic. I was quite excited as I pulled on my dark grey leggings and a long-sleeved pink jersey. It was a bit chilly outside, but I didn’t care as I tied my hair up in a low style ponytail.

“Are you ready?” Bailey asked as she stuck her head inside the room. I nodded eagerly as I slipped on the knee-length leather flat boots. I grabbed my phone before following her outside. She carried quite a large basket and I was curious as to what she had packed in it for us to eat. Bailey picked out a good spot by a large willow tree and I could see the steady stream of the river as well as the amazing view of the castle in the clouds. Bailey set up a dark blue blanket and we sat down. It was odd, having a picnic with a girl who I barely knew. I didn’t bother waiting for Bailey to take out whatever she had brought. I was too curious to wait. A container filled with a fresh fruit salad. Greek yogurt. Cheese and crackers. Sliced beef, cold roasted potatoes, rice and gravy, and crispy fried pork fat. Yum. I knew it was leftovers from last night, but I didn’t care. She helped me dish up onto the plastic plates she had brought with and we ate together in silence. When we finished eating, Bailey took out a book and started to read. I should’ve done the same, but I hadn’t packed any books. I cleaned up and put everything away before I got comfortable on the blanket and looked up at the clear blue sky. It was so peaceful out here. I closed my eyes; a nap would be great. Since Bailey obviously wasn’t in a talking mood, I had to find a way to entertain myself.

“Ladies,”

“Oh!” Bailey cried out. I knew who that voice belonged too, so I kept my breathing even and my heart rate normal. I didn’t want Kayne knowing I was awake.

“Having fun out here?” he asked.

“Yes, oh yes, it is such a lovely day,” Bailey cooed out and I mentally rolled my eyes. Is she trying to flirt with him?

“Well, this lovely day is brighter because of you,” Kayne said softly, and I nearly lost my cool and ruined my role. He was flirting right back!

“Oh!” Bailey giggled next to me and I couldn’t help it. I rolled onto my side, facing away from them so that I could hide the look of horror that surely crossed my features. “It’s Kayne, right?”

“Yes, and who are you?”

“I’m Bailey, I’ve been working here as a maid for about eight months now,” she gushed out and I rolled my eyes. These two were making me feel queasy. Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten so fast.

“Would you care to take a walk with me around the garden?” Kayne asked her and by the way, she giggled, I could only assume that she had said yes. I listened closely as they left. I could hear their voices get further and further away and I relaxed.

“I thought they would never leave,” I bolted up and screamed as loud as I could. Blake fell back on his behind as he stared at me in shock. I reached out and slapped his leg.

“You gave me a heart attack!” I accused as I slowly stood up. Blake soon joined me, and I could tell he was highly amused by the situation.

“My Lord!” I glanced over his shoulder to see about ten guards running towards us. I giggled as I realized that my scream had alerted them. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes! Yes! Everything is fine, be gone!” Blake yelled out before they could reach us. They stopped and eventually turned around and went back the way they had come. Blake turned his attention back to me and smiled. I could’ve melted right then and there.

“So…what are you doing out here?” I asked him curiously.

“Oh, I was actually looking for Kayne when I spotted him talking to that girl. Then I saw you laying here, pretending to be asleep while you mentally threw up,” he teased, and I blushed as I turned away from him. I finally had the chance to be alone with him and I wasn’t about to mess up this opportunity.

“Care to take a walk?” I asked casually. Blake raised his eyebrows and I giggled. “In the other direction, of course,” he chuckled, and we slowly began walking towards the river. I wasn’t sure how to start so I thought that it may be more comfortable for him if I started. “I’m twenty-two,” I announced.

“Oh, um, I’m twenty-eight,” he offered, and I nodded.

“I come from a small town called Willow Wood Falls, have you heard of it?” I asked.

“No, I can’t say that I have,”

“Where are you from or is this your hometown?” I questioned, referring to Briscana Peaks. Blake shook his head as we neared the riverbank.

“No, Briscana Peaks was my father’s home. He loved it here but when he met my mother, he traveled to Remington Valley, that’s where I’m from,” he explained. I simply nodded, not wanting to interrupt him. “I love to travel, I love to see the world and that’s something my mother and I shared,”

“Where are your parents now?” I asked softly when we stopped by a bench just across from the river. We sat down and I gazed out at the beautiful green-headed ducks that floated along.

“My mother died when I was eighteen and my father died two years ago,” Blake informed me sadly. “What about your parents?” he asked, and I shrugged. “Oh, come on, I told you,” he nudged my shoulder and I laughed dryly.

“My parents were murdered when I was ten,” I eventually stated. I knew that I couldn’t reveal the whole truth as it would ultimately reveal who I am, but I did want to confide in him. Just a little bit. “We were staying with…well…they were like family and they came in and destroyed everything. Only a few of us survived the attack. Myself, included,”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Blake whispered.

“It’s ok, it was a long time ago and I live with those people now and they take good care of me,” I smiled sadly at him before turning my attention back to the ducks. It was kind of peaceful watching them.

“Ah, like one big happy family?”

“Sort of,”

“For me, it’s the same,” he said, and I glanced over at him. It was weird talking to him like this, I kind of liked it. “When my mother died, we came back here for a while. I suppose that’s why I took over,”

“Over from?” I pretended not to know about the previous Lord. Although I wasn’t completely clueless, I didn’t know all the details and I wanted too.

“Yeah…um, the previous Lord and his second in command committed fraud and stole a lot of money,” he said as he too gazed out at the ducks on the river. “The Seniors thought it would be good for me to take over Uza,”

“Uza?” I said slowly. Once again, I was fishing for information.

“Um, yeah, it’s just the name of the Castle, Uza, Champion of the blacks,” he explained, and I flinched. Hatred caused through my veins, but I pushed it aside. I had a job to do.

“Interesting, do you have any siblings?” I asked.

✩Blake ✩

It was nice chatting with Dawn. The more time I spent in her presence getting to know her, the more I could feel our bond growing. She may not realize it, but she was the one for me. My dragon and I were in complete agreement and although I wanted nothing more than to reveal who I truly was, I had to take things slow. Dawn may or may not accept it and I wasn’t going to take any chances. Not yet anyway.

“No, what about you?” I gazed over at her and smiled softly. She was breathtakingly beautiful, and she didn’t even know it. She had no makeup on, nothing to enhance her natural beauty and I found that I loved it. I wanted to tell her everything, I felt comfortable enough to do it, but I was scared.

“No,” she answered, and I felt bad for her. Not only had she lost her parents, but she didn’t have any siblings. That made me wonder about the ‘family’ she stayed with. Who could’ve done such a thing?

“Dawn, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,”

“Did they ever find out or catch those that destroyed your family?” I asked her curiously. I couldn’t imagine what that must have been like for her and yet I yearned to know more. I had a feeling that what happened to her had impacted her life in a way that I could never truly understand.

“Um…I know who did it, that’s all that matters,” I heard her whisper.

“Did they go to jail or what?” I asked. I could see that my questions where starting to annoy her, but I wanted to know more.

“No, they didn’t. They got away with it, just like they always do!” she stood up and went closer to the river. One of the ducks had gotten spooked and made a mad dash for the water. I hadn’t meant to upset her, and I regretted pushing her for answers. Of course, I was curious by what she meant and I decided to try and fish out just a little bit more.

“Dawn, I am sorry,” I said as I went and stood next to her. “Was it a gang or something?”

“Something like that,” she spat out with so much hatred that it took me by surprise. I had only ever seen that kind of hatred once before in my life and although it raised even more questions, I decided to drop it. For now.

“Hey, do you like fudge?” I asked. Dawn looked up at me with tears in her eyes and nodded. I had really upset her and now all I wanted was to make her laugh. To see her smile. “If you are willing to leave the castle, I could take you to a great little place I know,”

“Sure,” she said with a smile. I had never taken anyone anywhere and as we walked back to the castle, I realized I didn’t have a car. I hadn’t ever needed one before. I smirked as I imagined transforming and giving Dawn a ride. I’m sure she’d love that! I left Dawn by the steps leading up to the castle as I went inside and called out for Josephine. Surely, she had a car.

“Yes, my Lord?”

“I need a car,” I stated, and she frowned.

“Whatever for?”

“None of your business, do we have one?” I asked I could feel myself getting irritated with the female.

“Yes, of course,” she turned away and I watched her hurry down the hallway. She disappeared for a moment or two and then she came hurrying back towards me with a set of keys in her hand. “Here you go, my Lord. There is a black BMW in the garage,” she said as she handed me the keys. I nodded in thanks and quickly left to get the car. I wasn’t too worried about driving. I mean, how hard could it be?

✩Dawn✩

It didn’t surprise me that Blake Welsh didn’t know how to drive. The drive down the long driveway was bumpy and quite uncomfortable. I could hear him swearing and I shook my head as I giggled softly.

“Would you like me to drive?” I offered. Blake snapped his head my way and nodded eagerly.

“I am so sorry,” he said once we had exchanged seats.

“Don’t worry about it, just tell me where to go,” I said as I started to car. Although I hadn’t done a lot of driving, I did know how to smoothly change the gears for the car to move forward. I was slow but it wasn’t as bad as Blake’s driving. Blake gave me directions into Briscana Peaks, and I parked in front of a little shop. I looked around and I couldn’t help but just smile. The town was quiet and looked glorious in the afternoon sunlight. The streets were clean and the potted bushes were quite lovely. I followed Blake inside the store and the female standing behind the counter beamed when she saw Blake.

“Darling!” she sang out and I cringed. “It’s been too long!” She added as she hurried around to great him with a warm hug. She barely looked at me before focusing all her attention on Blake. “What can I do for you?”

“Came here for the fudge,” Blake said with a wink and I shook my head as I looked around. The bakery showcases were filled with all sorts of different sweets and I slowly looked through each case as Blake and the owner chatted. Another female came out from the back and smiled warmly at me.

“Welcome to Sprinkles of Joy, how can I help you?” she asked me, and I quickly looked over at Blake. “Oh, hello Blake,” she greeted him with a warm smile.

“Hey Mindy, give her whatever she wants,” he said before turning back to the owner.

“Um…” Mindy’s attention was all on me as I pointed out what I wanted. Rose cupcakes, orange-almond cakes, macarons, fudge, peanut butter cookies, lemon poppy seed muffins, the list was endless. Mindy was sweet, kind, and patient as I choose the sweet treats. Including the traditional fudge that Blake had bragged about.

“All done?” he asked, finally joining me as Mindy was wrapping up our parcels.

“Yeah,” I said as he went over to the register to pay. I loved the soft blush pink painted walls and the sparkling white tiles that just seemed to compliment the store. I noticed a little seating area and a coffee machine. Now, wouldn’t it be perfect if we just sat here and enjoyed those treats? I was just about to make that suggestion when Blake guided me out of the shop.

“I know what you are thinking but as delicious as their sweets are, their coffee isn’t that great,” he explained, and I laughed at how transparent I had been. “I know a great little coffee shop just up the road,” he said and then waited for me to decide. I eagerly nodded and we slowly walked down the side of the road until I could see the coffee shop he had been talking about. The place was busy, inside, and out, but that didn’t stop us as I spotted an empty table outside. Blake handed me the package and I went to take a seat while he went inside to get our coffee. As I got comfortable, all I could think about was how this felt like a date. Granted, I had only ever seen people go on dates on TV and read about it in romance novels. I blushed at the thought of this being my very first date.