Scarlett swung higher, pumping her legs with the same reckless energy that had given Sylus's men heart palpitations months ago. The wind whipped through her hair, and for a moment—just a moment—she felt like she was flying again.
Like the white dragon she'd been in another life.
"Scarlett." Sylus's voice carried across the garden, tight with barely controlled panic.
"Kitten, that's high enough. Please come down."
She ignored him, swinging higher. The chains creaked ominously. At the peak of her arc, her feet were level with the lower tree branches.
"Scarlett!"
She laughed, the sound pure and joyful and deliberately provoking. Because this was who she was—the girl who'd planted flowers everywhere, who'd climbed onto balconies, who refused to be anything other than chaotically, stubbornly herself.
And he loved her for it, even when it terrified him.
Finally, she let the swing slow, dragging her feet until she came to a gentle stop. Sylus was at her side immediately, hands hovering like he wanted to check for injuries even though she'd been perfectly safe.
"You're going to give me a heart attack," he muttered.
"You're a thousand-year-old dragon. I don't think heart attacks work like that for you." Scarlett grinned up at him, unrepentant.
Sylus opened his mouth to respond, but his phone buzzed insistently. He glanced at it, frowned, and turned slightly away. "Yes? The shipment from where? No, that's not acceptable. Tell them—"
Scarlett's smile faded.
This had been happening more and more lately. She'd moved back into the mansion two months ago, and while things between them were healing beautifully—kisses freely given, conversations deep into the night, memories returning in gentle waves—he was always working.
Always handling business. Always managing his empire. Always talking on phones or in meetings or disappearing into his office for hours.
She understood. She did. He'd built this empire to protect her, and maintaining it required constant attention. Territory didn't hold itself. Enemies didn't eliminate themselves. Power required vigilance.
But understanding didn't make it less lonely.
Scarlett returned to the swing, dragging her feet in the dirt, and pouted. She could hear him still talking—something about weapons shipments and territory disputes in the eastern district. Important things. Dragon lord things.
Things that were apparently more interesting than spending time with his wife.
She knew that wasn't fair. Knew he'd spend every second with her if he could. But still.
After ten more minutes of watching him pace and gesture while talking, she'd had enough. Scarlett slouched dramatically on the swing, arms crossed, lower lip stuck out in an exaggerated pout.
Sylus turned mid-sentence and caught sight of her.He paused. His expression shifted from business-focused to soft in an instant. "I'll call you back," he said into the phone, not waiting for a response before ending the call.
He crossed the garden in long strides, and before Scarlett could protest, he'd bent down and scooped her up with one arm. Like she weighed nothing. Like she was precious cargo that needed to be transported immediately.
"That's a sulking face if I've ever seen one," he said, carrying her toward the mansion. "Do you want macarons? Bubble tea? Both?"
"No!" Scarlett huffed, burying her face in his chest even as her arms wound around his neck. "Hmph!"
"No macarons? That's serious." He adjusted his hold on her, one arm under her knees, one supporting her back. "Then what does my kitten want?"
"I want your time," she mumbled against his shirt.
"My time?"
"Yes! Like free time. For me. With me. Without phones and meetings and shipments and territories and all the boring dragon lord stuff!"
Sylus carried her into the living room and set her down gently on one of the couches. He knelt in front of her, hands on her knees, looking up at her sulking face with an expression that was half amused, half concerned.
"You want more of my attention," he said softly.
"Is that so wrong?" Scarlett's pout deepened. "You're always working. Always busy. I moved back here to be with you, and you're never actually here."
"You're right." He squeezed her knees gently. "You're absolutely right, and I'm sorry."
He glanced at one of his men standing near the door. "Bring the gift. The one I've been saving for tomorrow."
The man—Marcus—nodded and disappeared.
"Gift?" Scarlett perked up slightly despite her determination to stay pouty.
"Tomorrow is your birthday," Sylus said, thumb tracing circles on her knee.
"Your twenty-second. I've had something prepared."
"You remembered?" Her voice went soft.
Surprised.Of course she was surprised. Her trafficker parents had never celebrated her birthday properly—just another day that marked how much longer until they could sell her. Last year, she'd been alone in her apartment with a single cupcake from the convenience store.
"Of course I remembered." Sylus looked almost offended. "I know everything about you, kitten. Including that you were born at 3:47 AM during a spring storm, that your favorite cake is strawberry with cream cheese frosting, and that you've never had a proper birthday celebration."
Scarlett felt her chest tighten with emotion.
Marcus returned carrying a long garment bag and a jewelry box. He set them on the coffee table carefully before retreating to his post.
Sylus stood and unzipped the garment bag, pulling out a dress that made Scarlett's breath catch.
The dress was red. Deep, rich crimson that seemed to glow in the light. The fabric was silk that flowed like water, with a fitted bodice covered in delicate diamond embellishments that caught the light like stars. The skirt was short—mid-thigh length—with a subtle high-low hem that would flutter when she moved.
It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.
"This," Sylus said, holding it up, "is for tomorrow. For your birthday." He opened the jewelry box to reveal matching diamond earrings and a delicate necklace. "I'm taking you out. Anywhere you want. We can celebrate on my yacht, or a private island, or the best restaurant in the city, or—"
"I don't want any of that," Scarlett interrupted.
Sylus paused, looking confused. "You... don't want to celebrate?"
"I want to celebrate." She stood, moving closer to him, looking up at his face. "But the gift I want isn't a dress or diamonds or a yacht. The gift I want is you. Your time. All day. No work. No phone calls. No meetings or shipments or business. Just you and me."
Understanding dawned on his face, followed by something that looked almost like pain.
"I've been neglecting you," he said quietly.
"You've been busy. I get it. But Sylus..." She took his hand, laced their fingers together.
"I didn't come back here to live in a mansion by myself while you run an empire. I came back to be with you. To figure out what we are together."
"You're right." He brought her hand to his lips, kissed her knuckles. "You're absolutely right." He was quiet for a moment, clearly thinking. Then he nodded decisively. "Tomorrow. The entire day. I'll clear my schedule completely. No calls. No meetings. No business whatsoever. Just you and me, doing whatever you want."
"Really?" Scarlett's face lit up.
"Really." He smiled at her joy. "We can stay in and watch movies. Go somewhere. Do nothing. Do everything. Whatever makes you happy."
"Yes!" Scarlett threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "That's all I want. Just you. Your attention. Your time."
She felt him relax against her, arms coming around her waist. "Then it's yours, kitten. All of it. Always."
"You're so smitten," she giggled against his shoulder.
"Yes" He agreed without shame. "Completely and utterly smitten with my chaotic, swing-loving, attention-demanding wife."
Behind them, several of his men were trying very hard not to laugh. Marcus had turned completely around. Lin was studying the ceiling with intense focus. Tao's shoulders were shaking suspiciously.
Their boss—the most feared crime lord in three provinces, the dragon who made grown men weep—was being completely wrapped around his tiny wife's finger.
And he didn't care one bit.
"Did you just call me your wife?" Scarlett pulled back to look at him, eyes sparkling.
"You've been calling me husband for a week," Sylus pointed out. "I assumed it was reciprocal."
"I like when you call me your wife." She played with the collar of his shirt. "It makes it feel real. Not forced. Not fake. Just... real."
"It is real." He cupped her face, thumbs brushing her cheekbones. "You're my wife. My mate. My reason for everything. And tomorrow, I'm going to spend every second proving it to you."
Scarlett stood on her toes and kissed him. Sweet and soft and full of promise.
"Best birthday gift ever," she whispered against his lips.
"Wait until you see what I have planned." His smile was mysterious. Slightly mischievous. Very un-dragon-lord-like. "If you think a dress and diamonds are extravagant..."
"Sylus." She poked his chest warningly. "I said I want your time. Not things."
"I can give you both?" He caught her poking finger, brought it to his lips. "Let me spoil you, kitten. I've waited a thousand years to celebrate your birthday. Let me make it memorable."
Scarlett pretended to consider. "Will there be cake?"
"The best cake money can buy. Custom made. Strawberry with cream cheese frosting."
"And macarons?"
"An entire tower of them."
"And bubble tea?"
"I'll have every flavor available. You can drink until you're sick of them."
"I'll never be sick of bubble tea," she said seriously.
"That's impossible.
"I want bubble tea for eternity."
He kissed her nose. "Whatever you want. As long as you're smiling. As long as you're happy."
"I am happy." Scarlett hugged him again, tighter this time. "Here. With you. Finally."
They stood like that for a long moment, wrapped in each other, surrounded by bodyguards who were pretending very hard not to exist.
Outside, snow was falling. Inside, the dragon and his mate were finally learning what it meant to be together without cages or fear or desperation.
Just love.
Complicated, hard-won, cross-lifetime love.
The kind worth waiting a thousand years for.
"Tomorrow," Scarlett said, pulling back with a bright smile. "No phones. No work. Just us."
"Just us" Sylus agreed. "I promise."
And for the first time since she'd known him, she believed he'd keep that promise.
Because that's what love meant. Not grand gestures or expensive gifts or protective cages.
But time. Attention. Presence.
Choosing each other, every day, over and over again.
Even when—especially when—the world demanded otherwise.
"I love you," she said suddenly. The first time she'd said it out loud in this lifetime.
Sylus's expression transformed. Joy. Wonder. Disbelief. "Say it again."
"I love you." Scarlett grinned at his reaction.
"I love you, you smitten dragon. I love you even though you're overprotective and controlling and terrible at work-life balance"
He kissed her, cutting off her teasing litany. Kissed her until she forgot what she was saying. Kissed her like she'd given him the world.
"I love you too," he whispered against her lips. "Across lifetimes. Until the stars burn out. Forever and always."
"That's very dramatic."
"I'm a dragon. We're dramatic by nature."
"True." She kissed him again, quick and playful. "My dramatic, smitten, birthday-planning dragon."
"Your dragon," he agreed. "Always yours."
And in that moment, surrounded by love and laughter and the promise of tomorrow, Scarlett knew it was true.
She was finally home.
Not because of the mansion or the luxury or the protection.
But because home was wherever this dragon was.
Her dragon.
Her mate.
Her husband.
Her Sylus.
.
.
.
.
.
To be continued.