Dragon Knights Fan Fiction ❯ Steal The Covers ❯ Raseleane ( Chapter 6 )

It always seems that Lykouleon's just left the bed, when I notice the mid-morning sun streaming in through the window. That's strange, because it's always dark when he gets up; his fumbling bumps and clatters never fail to wake me. He tries so hard not to disturb me, but just as he reaches the door I call out, "have a good day, my love."

My window acts as a sundial. Light hits the flowers on the sill at eight, though not in winter and on a spring day the light tickles my nose at eleven. It is the most insistent kind of clock. When it strikes, I can't slip off for even the briefest doze.

That doesn't mean that I get up straight away, of course. It's nice to lie in the bed, while the sheets are still messed and smell of Lykouleon.

That morning, I got up late. It was a lazy sort of day; I thought that I'd pick flowers in the garden and arrange them, or maybe chain them together. There was something that had to be done first, though and I set myself the dire task of making the bed. I felt very proud as I tucked down the final scrap of blanket, patted the tricky corner and leaned back, before the sun reached its highest point in the sky, to find a musky scent tickling my nose: Lykouleon had snuck in. Warm arms surrounded me and I revelled in the embrace of my beloved. We swayed back and forth, his nose buried in my hair, until the inevitable questions started.

"What were you doing?" he asked in a sing-song voice, still waving back and forth.

"Making the bed," I answered, rolling my bottom slightly into his crotch as we moved.

"Why do you sound so proud of yourself?" he sang, taking nibbling kisses from my neck.

"I was trying really hard to get a perfect finish on the bedclothes," came my soft reply. "The one that the household staff manage and I think that I've finally gotten the knack."

"And why would you ever need to be able to do that?" he continued, his tongue lapping the sensitive parts of my neck with every free breath.

"A ... queen should not be so high and mighty that she can't take care of herself," I said pompously, nearly losing the game. My weak point is my neck. It seems to be directly connected to my knees, which were trembling enough to turn milk. Even worse, tiny shivers often break off and affect my brain. It's unfair that he has such an advantage.

"Really?" he said, squeezing me tightly.

"Really," I answered, clasping his arms and tipping my head onto his shoulder, which took my neck out of reach.

"So it's not actually because you've remade the bed with a smaller set of sheets, then?" he asked blandly.

Well, he was bound to figure it out eventually.

In my defence, the games I play serve a greater purpose, although that purpose may seem selfish to some; it's the most important thing in my live. Answer me: how many relationships do you know of that last past that first one hundred years? Doesn't the Dragonlord deserve one? Dragons have long lives and most couples seem to stay together out of habit. That's not what I want. I want to be loved. I want to be needed. I want to look over and know that part of my soul is carried in my husband's body. The only way to achieve that connection is to work on your relationship; to spend time together, no matter how many other things take your attention. It's harder the busier you are, but affection, attention, devotion... they need work.

My husband is a busy man. In the early days of our marriage he worked himself to the bone and was tired and stressed. I didn't have much to do and grew a bit resentful of the time he devoted to other things. I didn't want to seem greedy, so I put up with it. After a talk with Alfeegi, we figured out how things should change. Our relationship should be one of the good and enjoyable things in Lykouleon's life; it should be a source of strength and renewal and not a burden, to either of us. He needed to learn about me, as much as I needed to learn about him and we needed to reveal our innards to each other. So things changed. We talked, went out together to plays and concerts and did things we didn't do when we were courting. Slowly, this wonderful foundation was built.

Still, getting enough of his time is hard. It seems that most of our time together is spent with one or the other of us asleep and we have to work hard for those waking moments. The Castle staff know when we've spent a night together and they feel justified in stealing him from me. They don't know that I was fast asleep when he came in and only noticed that he was there the following morning. If I'm lucky, I wake before he does and get in a few illicit hugs. Lykouleon is a man who places others first. If I'm in bed when he comes to me, he won't wake me. Repeated protestations still haven't managed to break him of it. If I try to wait up for him, I get cranky and bored, or fall asleep.

Eventually though, I hit upon the perfect solution. One warm, spring night, I kicked off the covers in my sleep and woke up in his arms. We were tangled together and though I'd gotten a little cold, the comfort from his body-heat was wonderful. The following day I took off some of the blankets and it happened again. Of course, all of that hugging happened when we were asleep and as soon as he woke up, he pulled on an extra cover, turned over and dropped off.

That's when I came up with the idea of a putting a smaller blanket on the bed. I fall asleep, comfortably, when my head hits the pillow. Later that night Lykouleon gets into bed, pulls the covers towards himself, pulls them off me, generally shifts and struggles and I wake up. I tug the blankets back, we get pulled together, one thing leads to another... In the morning, once he's gone, I replace the covers. I could let the maids in on it, but I find it adds a frisson of excitement when I do it all myself. Now that he's figured it out, I'll have to think of something else.

"I love you, Lykouleon," I whispered, forcing him to listen harder. "I know your strengths and your weaknesses and how to keep you interested."

"Do you really think that you have to trick me to keep me in love with you?" He spoke sternly, an odd catch in his throat.

"No, I know that you adore me," I said, turning in his embrace. He relaxed his grip, just enough for me to face him and then he clasped me tightly again. I stroked his face, pausing at the little features I love the most. "And I know that you're a very intelligent man."

"So," he said, the half-gasp gone from his silken tones, "you're challenging me?"

"It's not really a challenge," I claimed, nudging his nose with my own. "You can't win. Every scrap of attention that I want from you, I get."

"Aha?" his ego exclaimed, his mouth wide open. I stifled a giggle. Oh, I know my beloved well.

"There's a simple luxury I have that you don't." I nuzzled his cheek, his ear, his neck and breathed heavily while I taunted him.

"Mmmm hmmm?" he murmured, reduced to meaningless noises. Naturally I didn't respond until his hands finished caressing my behind and his lips lifted long enough to pant "what's that?"

"Why it's time, my dear Dragonlord." I pushed his face away and started placing a few kisses of my own on soft flesh. "You see, unlike you, I don't run a country. And unlike you, everyone isn't clamouring for my attention. And unlike you, I don't have to juggle six or seven important issues as well as countless small ones. And unlike you, when I bump into Alfeegi, or Ruwalk, that doesn't automatically mean that I'm getting extra work to do. And unlike you, when I'm plotting something big, everyone tends to pitch in, rather than frustrate my efforts. "

I nibbled his ear and was rewarded with shivers erupting throughout his body.

"You see, although I have many friends and duties, the most important thing in my world is you and so, when I trick you, I can devote uninterrupted time to planning, whether it takes hours, days or weeks. I can spend a hundred times your effort on my scheming. So you see, you can't win."

"I should just give in, then?" he murmured, squeezing my buttocks.

"It would be for the best," I replied, tugging at his shirt.

There's nothing as devious as an idle woman with a sexy husband and the riches of a kingdom at her disposal. I think it's time to get new beds for both of us. I hear that the springs have gone in Alfeegi's and he's throwing it out...

Still trying to improve. If you've anything to point out that can help, please let me know.