Page 38 of Snapdragon

Sebastian gets out of the truck, opening the back to grab my bags for me. I hop down too and take stock of my surroundings. It’s a neat space and pretty bare. There is a steel shelving unit with some boxes, but overall I can safely say that he’s not a car guy. There are no tools or grease stains to be found.

The door from the garage leads us through a laundry room and then into a hallway off his kitchen. His kitchen must be as big as my entire apartment. There are sleek black cupboards and clean marble counters.

The ceilings are high and the furniture is all a little bigger than I’m used to. I guess that makes sense. I remember how huge Sebastian looked in my little kitchen and I giggle to myself.

“You’re making me nervous,” he says as he sets my bags down. “Why are you looking at my kitchen and laughing?”

“It’s called getting a taste of your own medicine.” I sidle up to him, my hands on his chest. “You were so weird, looking around my apartment. And if you have to know, I was remembering how huge you looked in my kitchen. This one suits you much better.”

He leans down and kisses me, his hand on my waist.

“Speaking of my kitchen, we should probably eat something.”

I look at the clock, it’s far too late for dinner, but I also had barely eaten anything today. My stomach groans loudly.

“Well, your stomach agrees with me, at least.”

“It’s so late, I feel like my eating habits are all over the place at the moment. Maybe I’m becoming nocturnal,” I giggle. “Are you nocturnal, is that it?”

“Flora!” He over exaggerates acting offended, hand on his heart. “Do you know nothing of my kind?”

I giggle again as he leans forward, trapping me against a counter.

“I’m a Dragon, Flora, not a weird little lizard… Of course I’m not nocturnal.”

“Sebastian,” I try to add my own dramatic flare. “I have absolutely no idea what you mean, or why we’re talking about lizards. But to answer your question, no. I actually have no idea about your kind. A crash course would be great, thank you.”

“Is that so?” He lifts me up to sit on a high bar stool and kisses me. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know while I cook.”

He does. Sebastian potters around his kitchen, looking every bit at home. A glass of wine is placed in front of me, and as I sip I feel brave enough to ask him questions.

“So, why the lizards?” I tease, taking a sip of my wine. The berry taste bursting on my tongue.

“That’s a common misconception, and an insulting thing to call a Dragon. Because Dragons are not reptiles, we’re mammals.”

Sebastian pulls out a deep pot and brings some water to a boil. “What do you know already, Flora? It might be good to know what we’re starting with.”

“Embarrassingly little,” I admit. “My manager sent me a text at one point to tell me that you were a Dragon Shifter. That was all, no context. And that was after me begging for any kind of information before we signed up to the whole PR thing. I tried doing some research online too, but that was a dead end.”

His hand falters, the pot lid making a crashing sound as he sets it down. His jaw is tight and he’s gripping the counter hard.

“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong? Are you mad?” I ask, worried that I’ve fucked something up.

“I’m not mad at you, Sunshine.” He relaxes a little, turning to face me. “I’m just really angry that no one ever prepared you for anything. They took advantage of my m—” He cuts himself off, not finishing what he was saying.

I wasn’t taken advantage of, was I? I think back over the fashion shoot and the PR stunt. I was given a choice on both things… or was I? It was always assumed that I would do as I was told, that I would get there eventually. I take a bigger sip of wine, wishing I hadn’t thought about this too deeply.

“Sorry, I’m angry for you, not at you. And I don’t want to ruin the mood.” He pulls out a chopping board and gets started on what looks like a salad.

“No, it’s good for me to think about…” I sigh, kicking my legs back and forth. “I hadn’t thought about it like that before. But you’re right, no one ever really prepared me for anything…”

Sebastian appears before me, his hand cupping my cheek. “I’ll look after you now. I’ll tell you whatever you want about my kind, about the Monster world.”

I smile, nodding up at him and I realize that I believe him. I trust him with this.

“How about I show you more about the Dragon stuff after dinner? It’s definitely more of a show and tell kind of thing…”

I grin, excited about the prospect.