The Dragon King's Heart

She did not need to turn back to see who it was. The familiar scent, the shadow that loomed over her. Laina would never mistake him for anyone else. 

"Did you miss me?" she asked as she looked up at him. 

"More than you will ever know," he whispered by her ear as he leaned in close, sending tingles throughout her entire body. 

Laina smiled as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. As she tried to make her way towards the table to take a seat, Dante held her back. He pulled her back into his embrace while shaking his head. 

She knew immediately why he had done so. 

"Was that kiss not enough?" she asked, pretending to be innocent. 

Dante pinched the tip of her nose, "It's nowhere near enough, that's for sure. I need more."

"More?"

"Much more," Dante declared boldly, "For all the sleepless nights, and worry."

"Sleepless nights?" I wasn't away for that long, you know," Laina grinned. 

"Not to mention, the bed felt so cold without your presence."

Laina felt bad for leaving him just like that. But she knew he would have insisted on going along should she have told him where she went. Regardless, she promised to make it up to him. Laina hugged Dante tightly around his waist, burying her face in his chest. 

She missed him dearly. 

"I promise to make it up to you, alright? I'll warm you up real good."

Dante grinned as he cupped her chin, "I'll hold you up to that, my love."

She knew that look in his eye. She gently nudged him on his chest as her cheeks blushed bright red, "I don't mean that!" 

"Mean what?" Dante feigned ignorance to tease her, "Perhaps the Crown Princess should explain herself clearly."

Laina furrowed her eyebrows, she could never win him in this game of words. So, she chose to ignore him instead. She wriggled out of his grasp and walked over to the dining table instead. She quickly took a seat down as she looked on at the food set out before her. 

"The food looks so good!" she exclaimed with glee, "Where should I even begin?" 

Laina did a quick scan on the table as Dante took a seat opposite from her. The long dining table could have easily fit twenty guests. Yet there were only the two of them enjoying the spread. 

"Perhaps we should gather everyone to come and enjoy the food with us," Laina suggested as she reached for a bowl of cream mushroom soup. 

"Don't you want to spend some alone time with just the two of us?"

The look on his face almost broke her heart. The Dragon King not only knew the way into her belly, he also knew the way into her heart. 

"How about we bring our plates up to our room. That way, we can have our meal together and the rest of the food can be enjoyed by the rest of them."

Dante was impressed. Even he was not able to come up with such a brilliant idea. He agreed with Laina and they began to pile their plates with food. 

"Make sure you have enough, Laina. You're going to need a lot of energy tonight to warm me up," he reminded her with a cheeky grin. 

The Dragon King's shamelessness knew no bounds! Instinctively, Laina picked up a dinner roll and threw it in his direction. Dante dodged it with ease. A smile appeared on his face as he let out a laugh. 

"Excellent throw, my love. But don't waste that energy now, keep it for me tonight," he teased with a wink. 

"DANTE!" Laina yelled as her face turned bright red. She picked up a few more dinner rolls and began to throw them at him. 

That night, the Dragon King and Crown Princess spent a lovely evening together. After they finished their food, the pair took a relaxing bath together. Laina bit her lip as Dante took off his shirt. He had used a glamor spell to hide the dark veins on his chest so that she would not have suspected anything. 

He was clearly trying to conceal his condition from her. As they soaked in the hot steaming bath, Laina leaned on his chest. She closed her eyes as she listened to his rhythmic heartbeat. Dante placed his hand around Laina's shoulder. 

"This is nice," he muttered as he kissed her forehead. 

"Is it warm enough for you?" Laina asked with a wide smile. 

"Not quite," he played along. 

"We can increase the temperature of the bath, but any warmer than this would be boiling," she replied, "Wouldn't want to boil off the scales of the Dragon King."

Dante chuckled, "My scales are extremely tough, you need not worry about that happening."

"How tough?" Laina asked out of curiosity. 

He paused in thought for a while before replying,"Stronger than diamond. It can repel lava."

Laina looked at him in surprise, "Repel lava?"

Dante nodded. 

She was in complete disbelief, "No, impossible."

"You don't believe me? You think I'm lying?" he asked as he arched his eyebrow.

"No, I believe you! It's just… lava?"

"It can repel sun fire too," Dante added. 

"Sun fire?" Laina asked. 

The term sounded familiar, but she was uncertain what it meant. Dante explained that the element of fire had many forms with varying degrees of power. One of the strongest forms of fire was sun fire. 

Some people called it Solar Fire. 

"The power of the Sun?" 

"Yes, that's right."

"Wow," Laina was impressed, "Your powers must be second to none then."

"Second to one," Dante corrected her. 

She found it a little difficult to believe. If Dante could even repel some of the strongest elements around, who would he be second to? His reply piqued her curiosity. 

"Second to who?"

Dante paused for a moment, uncertain of how to reply. He was looking straight at the answer yet he did not know how to say it. Laina, on the other hand, wondered why Dante was simply staring straight at her. 

"Dante, is everything alright?" she asked, worried for his well-being. 

Perhaps the hot bath water was too much for him. She waved her hand in his face, trying to get his attention but Dante seemed dazed. He did not respond to Laina. This caused her worry to grow as she formed various theories in her mind. 

"Was it a sensitive topic? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry," she apologized profusely, averting his gaze as she bit her lip. 

Dante, realizing his actions had caused a misunderstanding, snapped back to his senses. He wrapped his arms around Laina as he shook his head. 

"No, it's quite alright.. I was just thinking of something, that's all.