Love Me, Dragon

2

Chapter two

Amelia

The man was groaning as he tried his best to lift his wounded body up from the makeshift bed. I rush towards him and hold him down.

"No, you are not meant to move yet, as your wounds are still deep and will cause a lot of pain and discomfort." I try to explain to him, but he doesn't listen to me as he still struggles against him. His eyes regard me with cautiousness.

I move closer to him and press him down hard on the bed, making sure that he can't move.

"Stay down, sir. I won't hurt you. I found you, and I want to help you, so will you let me?" I said, seriously.

The man sighed before lying back down on the hard bed. I went to where I had kept the food and picked up the cup of water. I made him sit up to drink it. He drank it like he hadn't had water for days.

I let him rest back down after that. I went over and got the food. I placed it down before I had him sit up, his back resting on the wall. He groaned in pain at any single move that he made.

I got the food and placed it on my thighs before feeding it to him slowly. He had problems moving his jaw a little bit, so he chewed really slowly.

"I'm Amelia, by the way." I said, not looking at him but concentrating on feeding him.

"I was doing something around here when I heard sounds coming from the forest and got curious. I saw you lying on the floor, so I decided to help you." I smiled as I finished.

"Thank you." I heard it, and my head snapped up with the speed of lightning. I faced him, my eyes wide, like I had seen an alien or something.

That was the first time he had said a word, and his voice sounded like heaven. It was deep and hoarse, probably because it was dry.

"My name is Alaric." He said that, and I smiled.

"Pleasure to meet you, Alaric." I said that and finished feeding him the food.

I was actually taking a big risk by keeping Alaric in the shack. If my parents or, worse, other people in the town found out that I was keeping a man who wasn't my husband or betrothed, they would rule me a prostitute and finally get what they wanted.

I drop the plate back on the table and turn to Alaric.

"Would you like to go to see a doctor?" I asked, and his eyes widened.

"No, no. No doctor!" He shouted as he sat up, and I was taken aback. "My apologies for shouting so loudly, but please, no doctors." He said this before resting his back on the wall.

"Okay." I frowned. "But can you tell me how you ended up in this state?" I said, and he looked away, his eyes becoming darker.

"I don't want to talk about it." He said it harshly, and I nodded, letting it go but still finding it suspicious.

"You'll have to remain here for the time being. I'll try to find something to place on this to make it a little bit softer for you." I said, touching the makeshift bed.

"Thank you for all your help." He said this as he laid back down. "I'll make sure to pay you back when I recover."

"Oh, there wouldn't be any need for that. I just helped you because I wanted to, nothing more." I smiled at him.

"Thank you." He said this, closing his eye.

"There's no problem. I brought some clothes for you to wear as yours are torn already. I don't know if you can change them because of your wounds, but if you cannot, then it's okay." I said, showing him the clothes.

"I can do that, if you would excuse me." He said, and I stood up, dripping the clothes beside him as I walked outside to wait there.

I close the door behind me as I wait, swinging on my feet and looking around. Alaric seemed like a nice person. The only problem was the fact that he was hiding who he was and what had happened to him.

I could be harboring a criminal for all I knew, but something told me that he wasn't. I could honestly have been really wrong, but I didn't care at that moment.

I heard a knock on the door, indicating that he was done wearing the clothes. I opened the door and went back inside, and he was already lying in bed, the clothes he had removed placed in a corner.

I picked up the clothes and put them where I would see them if I was leaving. Even though the clothes I had brought for him were my father's clothes, they still fit him perfectly because Alaric had a very good physique. He was muscular with broad shoulders, so those filled up the clothes.

"So, what will happen is... I'll bring you food twice every day, because I don't want my parents or anyone else to get suspicious. I hope that's not too little." I asked.

"No, no. It's not. You're already doing enough for me as it is."

"That's fine then; I'll make sure that the portions I bring are more, so that it will be filling." I smiled at him. "Also, I won't be staying for too long if I come, because my parents are very strict about me leaving the house, and nobody can ever find out that I keep you here, or that would be the end of it for me." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Why is that?"

"Well, for one, like I said, my parents are strict about me leaving the house; I even had to sneak out of the house to come here and also to give you all the stuff that I gave you. But if it were the townspeople, that would be even worse. They already don't like me; that would be me giving them another reason to dislike me."

"Why don't they like you?"

"They kind of see me as an outcast because I don't mingle with them, and also because I don't wear the normal clothes that ladies are supposed to." I said, touching the skirt of my dress.

"I don't really like wearing corsets or long skirts. They make me uncomfortable, and it's tiring to drag them with me everywhere I go, so I'd rather choose this." I gestured to my dress.

"I made them myself, because apparently no seamstress was willing to make such atrocities." I said, and Alaric laughed.

I stared at him with a smile on my face, mesmerized by the sound of his laughter and the way he looked.

My parents had never let me close to any man before. I hadn't even been allowed to court anyone, even at my age. So, being close to one, especially one this handsome, made me feel certain ways.

"You have a very good sense of humor. Can you tell me more about yourself? I really need a distraction right now."

"Well, there isn't really much to tell." I smile. "I'm just an ordinary girl. My days are not as interesting as they seem to be because I'm mostly always at home. I only get breaks when I manage to sneak out, and even if I do, I don't have any friends to play with, go around with, or do anything else."I sighed.

"I haven't even seen the town properly. I only get to go to the main outline on rare occasions, and that's only under supervision or with my parents." I looked down at my hands. "But I'm fine with it, though, because I'm the queen of indoor activities." I said it with a sudden, bright smile, and Alaric smiled too.

"Well…" I stood up. "I need to get going now before a search party is sent to look for me. I'll be back with food in the evening." I said that and walked towards the door after picking up the plates and his torn clothes.

"Try to get some rest, and don't move around a lot, so you won't mess up your wounds or make any one bigger. I'll also have to bring something to keep some water for you, so you can drink if you're thirsty." I said that and smiled at him for the last time before finally closing the door behind me.

I sighed as I started the journey back to the house. I really hoped my parents weren't back from where they had gone, as I had spent a lot of time with Alaric, because that would be bad for me.