“We need food,” Drago stated several days later.

“You mean, we can’t live on love?” Carly teased as she placed the last dish in the cabinet.

Looking over her shoulder, she gazed at him with twinkling eyes. Draco wiped his hands on the dishtowel he was using to dry the last of their morning dishes. He tossed the towel onto the counter beside the sink, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her back against him.

A smile tugged at his lips when she giggled. Bending, he pressed a kiss to the mark he had left on her neck. He was amazed at how ‘normal’ their routine had become. If any of his guards had told him that he – Drago, King of the Dragons – would be doing such menial work and enjoying it, he would have laughed at them.

“Fruit and fish are not enough. I need energy to keep up with you, woman. You are insatiable,” Drago groaned.

Carly laughed. “I know,” she quipped, turning in his arms, sliding her hands up over his shoulders to play with his hair. “I’m glad I claimed you, Drago,” she added in a more serious mood.

“I am, too, little thief. I regret that you could not assure your friend that you were safe, but I could not risk losing you,” Drago admitted.

“I feel the same way. I’m hoping Jenny will know somehow that I am safe and happy. So, what are we going to do about food? I’m pretty sure you don’t have a magical grocery store nearby. I have to agree that we need more variety. I like fish, but not for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Right now, I’d give anything for a pizza,” Carly replied with a sigh of longing.

Drago’s expression softened. He wasn’t kidding about needing food. Carly deserved more than fish, nuts and fruit. They had been eating it for weeks and even he was growing tired of it. What concerned him the most, though, was he could see that Carly was losing weight from their limited diet.

He lifted his hand and brushed her hair back from her face. “I do not know this grocery store, but I do know that we cannot live on fish, fruit, and nuts forever,” he said.

“I will see if there is anything preserved in the village. If there is not, I will have to negotiate with some merchants from another isle. It could mean a trip to another kingdom,” Drago said.

“Oh! I would love to see the village. These past couple of weeks has been wonderful, but I’d love to see more,” she admitted.

“I have been negligent in my care of you,” Drago stated, running his fingers down her cheek.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. If you want to call making me feel like the most special person in the world neglect, sign me up for it any day!” Carly retorted with a grin.

Drago’s body reacted to her teasing and he slid his hands down over Carly’s hips to cup her buttocks. Oh, yes, he would sign her up if it meant what he thought it did. He gently kneaded her cheeks with his fingers, enjoying it when she tightened her muscles and pressed against him.

“I think it is time to neglect you some more,” he stated, bending to capture her lips and pulling her up against him.

Carly was already working on the front of his shirt. His tongue danced along the inside of her mouth, caressing, teasing, and demanding her response. He shivered when he felt the cool air against his bare flesh and Carly’s nails lightly scraping across his skin as she pushed his shirt off his shoulders.

He released her lips and straightened, allowing his shirt to fall to the floor. He thought he was the one seducing Carly, but he was quickly discovering it was the other way around. He tilted his head back when she pressed her hot lips to his distended nipples.

How could something so small be so sensitive? he wondered, tightening his hands on Carly’s buttocks.

“Carly!” Drago hissed, staring down at her tangled brown hair and bent head.

“My turn… You promised…,” she said in a muffled voice.

“When…? Goddess, woman, what are you doing to me?” Drago groaned when her hands moved down his chest to the front of his trousers.

“Undressing you, kissing you, depleting your energy,” she replied, unsnapping his pants and sliding her hands inside.

“Please deplete me,” he groaned, lifting his hands to bury them in her hair when she pushed his pants down and forced him to step out of them. She bundled the material together and knelt on it in front of him. Her face level with his throbbing cock. “Goddess!”

Drago fought for control and willingly lost. The touch of Carly’s lips around his cock was pure ecstasy. Her hot mouth against his sensitive flesh sent shivers through him. He watched her slowly swallow his length before pulling back and doing it again.

His breath caught when she raised her hands to cup his balls. She gently massaged them as she turned her head from side to side. The pressure of her movement caused a friction that heated his blood. She was in complete control of his body. While he wanted nothing more than to release his tight control into her mouth, he wanted her pleasure to come first.

“No, you can make me come afterwards,” she protested when he tried to stop her. “Let me do this.”

“Carly…. Goddess, woman! How can any man deny such a thing?” he hissed.

“You can’t. This is my turn,” she insisted.

Drago clamped his teeth together to keep a curse from escaping. He wouldn’t last long at the rate she was going. He reached up and gripped the counter, spread his legs slightly, and leaned forward. The position gave Carly better access to him. She didn’t waste any time. Her hands stroked his long length at the same time as her lips and tongue did.

He watched his cock slide in and out of her mouth. His hips rocked back and forth, picking up speed as his balls tightened to the point that he thought he would explode. The tingling along his spine increased to fever a pitch.

Drago could feel the pre-cum begin to seep from him. Carly took advantage of it to help make him even slicker. Her hand fisted him, sliding up and down. A moan escaped him when she ran her tongue up and over him before he felt the scrape of her teeth down along his cock. She did that three times before he lost control and his body jerked with his orgasm.

Shock and fascination gripped him when she swallowed, refusing to release him. His body felt like it was melting into a puddle of hot, molten lava. Her skill at bringing such pleasure had to be a gift from the Goddess. He had never experienced such an emotional connection in his life as he did when Carly and he made love.

“Now… Now, it is your turn,” he said in a hoarse voice. “I will begin by laying you out on the table.”

“Oh, boy!” Carly responded in a breathless voice. “Dinner will never be the same again.”

“I will make sure of that!” Drago vowed.

Later that morning, Carly hummed as she walked along the deserted street of the village. A smile curved her lips as she reached out to run her hand along the short wall of a fountain in the center of the street. Over the last week, she had explored more and more of the palace and grounds while Drago made sure that the wards that were protecting the isle were still in place. Her heart hurt for the residents who had once lived here.

The devastating helplessness of losing everyone you ever knew would have been more than Carly could have understood – if she hadn’t experienced it herself. Fortunately for her, she wouldn’t have to live through the suffocating loneliness that Drago must have felt – she had him.

This was the first chance that she’d had to explore the village portion of the kingdom. Drago explained that there were many small villages dotted around the isle, but Dragon’s Keep was the largest.

“Did you find anything?” she asked when he emerged from one of the buildings to her left.

“Flour,” he replied, holding up a large sack.

“Oh! I can make bread and biscuits – and pizza dough! We just need eggs, oil, spices – you have some, but I’d like to find some more....” Carly waved a finger while she was talking, her mind on all the ingredients she would need.

“I do not know where to find half of the items you are mentioning – except...,” Drago’s voice faded and he frowned.

“Except?” Carly asked.

“The Isle of the Pirates would have what you want. They have everything,” he grudgingly admitted.

“Pirates? You mean like real-live-honest-to-goodness pirates?” she asked excitedly.

“Yes, and the worst one of the lot is the King of the Pirates, Ashure Waves,” he said.

Carly laughed and danced up to him. Drago’s lips curled upward at her excitement. He knew he had already lost any argument he might have made against visiting the pirate kingdom when she rose up on her toes to brush a kiss across his lips.

“When can we go?” she asked, biting her lip.

Drago shook his head and chuckled. “We might as well go now. It will take at least two days flight on a good wind to reach the kingdom,” he stated.

“How will we bring everything home if you are flying?” she asked.

“Come and I will show you,” he said.

Drago turned and placed the bag of flour inside the doorway of the building he had exited a few moments before. He shut the door, then held his hand out to her. A quick glance at her showed her excited expression. Her eyes gleamed with delight, she was biting at her bottom lip, and she had a tight hold on his hand.

“Will the isle be okay while we are gone?” she asked with a sudden frown.

“Yes,” he answered.

“This is so exciting,” she admitted.

“I hope you think so after we arrive. Stay close to me and whatever you do – don’t trust a pirate!” he cautioned.

“Got it – stay close, don’t trust a pirate – but can I do some of the shopping? Will there be stores? I’ve never been to a pirate grocery store before,” she said, twisting to walk backwards so she could look up at him.

Drago released an amused chuckle and steadied her when she almost fell. He stopped and gazed down at her. For the first time, he realized that Carly might enjoy interaction with someone other than himself and the flock of magical paper birds he had given her.

“I will take you to the market. It is famous throughout all the kingdoms for its choice of merchandise. They are said to have the finest fabrics and spices in all the lands. Of course, the pirates tend to be a boastful bunch of thieves, so I do not give much credence to what they say,” he dryly remarked.

“Well, I’m a thief, too, don’t forget! Can one of those pesky pirates claim to have captured the heart of the dragon king?” Carly demanded with a teasing smile.

Drago tilted his head back and laughed. Carly telling that to Ashure was something he would love to see. The Pirate King would believe Carly had stolen the Dragon’s Heart. He would be trying to pick Carly’s pockets to see where she had it hidden away. The thought of Ashure touching Carly quickly sobered him. That conniving pirate was known for his love of flirting. If he so much as looked at Carly wrong, Drago would burn the man to ash.

“I think you should keep that information to yourself, my little thief. The pirates might think you have the Dragon’s Heart and they are not above using treacherous methods to get their hands on anything that is not safeguarded from their sticky fingers,” he warned.

This time it was Carly’s turn to laugh. She tilted her head and grinned up at him. Her eyes sparkled with delight.

“I’m a walking hazard, remember? I’ll find a broom or a mop and then they’ll be sorry,” she promised.

Drago grimaced and his hand instinctively dropped to the front of his pants. A wry smile curved his lips and he nodded. That kind of pain was not something he would ever forget.

“I will make sure you have an arsenal of brooms at your disposal during our visit,” he chuckled. “Now, if we are going to leave today, we need to pack.”

“Yes!” Carly exclaimed with a fist pump.

Drago caught her around the waist when she swirled around and promptly lost her balance again on the uneven cobblestone road. Bending, he pressed a kiss to her neck before he steadied her. He put her back on her feet and recaptured her hand. He was soon caught up in her excitement and already planning the fastest route to the Isle of the Pirates.