The Dragon King's Heart

Laina felt her heart pounding in her chest. Who was in the bathroom with her? She could barely see anything with all the mist from the hot water from the bath. The voice she had heard sounded very familiar. 

She widened her eyes in shock, "Dante?"

There was movement in the water. Laina's cheek turned beet red. She tried to move back but there was nowhere to escape! From the mist, a familiar figure emerged. As he got closer, Laina gulped. 

It was Dante. 

"Ah, how nice of you to join me this evening," Dante said with a smug smile as he came over to Laina's side. 

He too was completely in the nude. His hair was a little wet, which he combed back. As he walked over to her side, only half of his body was above water. She could see the water trickling down his abs. 

Laina kept her eyes above his waist at all times. But she could not bring herself to look into his eyes either. She submerged herself into the water, only leaving her head above the surface. Dante took his seat right next to her. 

"Join you this evening?" Laina asked as she attempted to look up at Dante, "I think you've been gravely mistaken."

The moment she looked into his eyes, she drowned in them. Why was he just so good-looking! She was losing her mind. Realizing just how absurd this situation was, Laina turned away from him. 

"Would you mind explaining just what you're doing in my bath?" she asked with her back facing him. 

"Who's to say this is your bath? I came here first," he replied smugly. 

Laina furrowed her eyebrows. In a fit of anger, she turned back around to argue with him

"This is my bathroom, my bath! Who said you could just waltz in and claim it as yours!" Laina said angrily with her arms folded. 

The cool air tingled on her skin. 

How could this be? Her body was submerged in the water, was it not? In her fit of anger, Laina had stood up in the bathtub as she confronted Dante. Dante's face was burning bright red too. But he could not take her eyes off her. She was just as beautiful as he had remembered her to be. 

Embarrassed by what was happening, Laina froze for a good second. 

Dante could not help but take the opportunity to tease her further, "If you're so eager for our relationship to advance to this stage, all you have to do is ask, my dear."

Laina immediately submerged herself back in the water. She buried her face in her hands. If anyone found out about what was happening, the rumors that had previously been spreading would be set in stone. 

"Aren't you going to show me more? I was looking forward to it," Dante teased her more, seeing how embarrassed Laina was getting. 

But when she did not respond to him, he realized he might have gone overboard. Worried that he might have upset her, he placed his hand on her shoulder. 

"I was just joking, Laina. I'm sorry if I took things too far, I'll get out of the water," Dante apologized as he moved to the side of the tub. 

"No, wait!" Laina grasped onto Dante's arm and pulled him towards her. 

The sudden force through Dante for a loop. He fell straight back into the water. Realizing he could injure his head if he hit the side of the bathtub, Laina placed her hand behind his head. Her quick thinking saved him from bumping his head on the bathtub, but her hand was caught in the middle. 

Laina winced in pain from the impact of the force. 

"Laina!" Dante called out. 

Laina hovered above him, the top half of her body was fully exposed above the water. But he did not look down. He was looking at her face. She was in pain, and it pained him to see her like this. He cupped her face in his hand. 

"Laina you should not have done that, show me your hand."

"I was just worried you would hit your head," she swiftly replied as she slowly removed her hand from behind his head. 

She could still feel the throbbing pain in her hand. The impact was a lot more painful than she had anticipated. As she sat back down in the water, Dante took it upon himself to examine her injured hand. 

A bright red mark formed on the back of Laina's hand. It began right below her pinkie finger, going down towards her wrist. Dante gently rubbed it. Laina flinched. There was a sharp pain. He gritted his teeth. She was hurt and it was all because of him.

"We need to get some ointment on here before it gets worse," he declared. 

"You're making too big a deal out of this," she remarked absentmindedly, "It's just a small bruise."

"No, it's not. You're hurt," Dante snapped back bluntly. 

Laina was surprised by his response. She had never seen this side of him before. It was just a small injury yet he was making such a big fuss out of it. Before she could say anything else, Laina felt herself being lifted out of the water. 

"Dante! What are you doing? Put me down!" Laina exclaimed in shock. 

"I'm taking you out of the water. If you don't want to get hurt, even more, I suggest you stay still," Dante replied in a calm tone of voice as he carefully stepped out of the bathtub with Laina in his arms. 

They were getting water everywhere as he carried her over to the dressing table that was in the bathroom. Dante sat her down on the chair. He picked up the bathrobe Laina had brought in and helped her to put it on. 

"Wouldn't you want to catch a cold, now do we?" he said as he helped her to put her arm through the sleeves. 

"Thank you, Laina mumbled a reply. 

She was trying so hard to avoid making any form of eye contact. But as Dante was standing stark naked in front of her, she had nowhere else to look. In defeat, she closed her eyes as her embarrassment reached new heights. 

She reached out her hand to the dressing table, blind searching for the towel. Dante was confused as to what she was trying to do. 

"What are you trying to do, princess?" he asked as he folded his arms, "You shouldn't be moving around so much."

Laina bit the inner side of her cheek as she ignored him for a moment. When she finally felt the soft texture of the towel, she grabbed hold of it and handed it to Dante. 

"Put it on," she said, while still keeping her eyes closed.