Page 71 of Protected By the Elf Prince

Compared to the palace, where I had grown up, it was very small.

Landon folded his arms. “How many rooms are in this thing?”

“Not many.”

His laugh was music to my ears. Hearing it after what he’d been through was something special. I had brought that out in him, even when I did not understand why.

He shook his head. “The type of cottage I pictured had one, maybe two bedrooms and one living area. What does this have, Dashiel?”

“Shall I show you quickly before we shower?” Landon’s gaze flared, and I could feel my cheeks heating. “Separately, of course.” I would never push for more.

Landon smiled. “Yeah, I could do with a shower.” He reached out and took my hand, making my skin come alive with a tingle.

I led him toward the front door, and the moment we stepped inside, warmth greeted us. The cottage always smelled faintly of cedarwood, tea leaves, and the herbs I had growing in the sunroom.

Landon immediately turned in a slow circle, taking everything in. This was the large living room that held a stone fireplace. Bookshelves lined one wall, and there was comfortable furniture in the middle.

His attention then drifted toward the kitchen, which was visible through the archway, before noticing the staircase, the artwork, the rugs, the walls—everything he could see from this one spot.

His expression softened. “It feels like you.”

“What do you mean?”

His gaze moved around the room. “It’s warm and inviting and comfortable, but cute too.”

I blinked. My heart hammered against my ribs. His words affected me in ways that made me want to reach out and embrace him. Kiss him.

Instead, I clasped my hands behind my back and inclined my head. “I appreciate your kind words.”

Landon rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, then shrugged. “Yeah, no problem. Just stating the truth. I haven’t seen it all, but I like it.”

I was glad he did. Hopefully he would like my home enough to stay with me each and every day.

I cleared my throat, pushing those thoughts down. “I will show you the rest.”

I guided him through the house. The kitchen received immediate approval. I liked that as we went on through the dining room, the second living room, my office, and guest bedrooms, Landon seemed incapable of entering a room without mentally calculating its practicality.

Then we finally stopped at my favorite room.

The sunroom.

After I opened the door, I moved aside for Landon to step through first. He stopped dead in the doorway.

I smiled.

Even for me, that reaction happened every time I entered because of the floor-to-ceiling windows that surrounded the room, from which you could see out over the well-kept lawn and into the woods. Plants occupied nearly every available surface. Flowers, vines, small trees, and rare herbs.

I had color filling every corner.

Landon stared and stared before he breathed out, “Dashiel.”

“Yes?”

“This is the best damn room I have ever seen in my whole life. It’s… hell, it’s incredible.”

Pride expanded my chest while happiness flowed through my veins.

He loved it as much as I did. I could see it as clear as day in his wide, amazed gaze.