The Dragon King's Substitute Bride

Chapter 20

CH20

Morgan

When he turned away from me, it felt like I could breathe again. The air lost all of its heat, but I didn't move from where I was standing. My heart was thudding in my chest. It was almost as if I could see into his mind. Though I didn't know much, I could tell that he wanted me. I felt his desire like a wave from far away. I took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure. As he made his way to the closet door, he opened it and walked in. "Wait..."

It was a walk-in closet?

I walked across the room following him, leaned around the open door, and gasped. The closet was more like another room, filled with rows and rows of hanging robes. He walked down the aisle, looking at the robes on either side of the closet. Then, he stopped in front of one and pulled it from the rack. My face heated. The robe was made of a luxurious crimson silk. There were three parts to it: an underrobe, a mid robe, and a longer robe over it, but it didn't look heavy like the clothes that Maya had brought from the queen's room. Now that I thought about it, I wondered if I had just been wearing his mother's clothes all this time and was thankful that I had only worn

two outfits out of the whole collection.

He paused near the front and bent down to get a small velvet box inside a chest near the door. Then, he stepped out and offered the robe to me.

"Dress first."

I took it and hurried back into the bathroom, closed the door behind me, and started to dress. I

was surprised to find that the underrode was actually more of a structured slip. It was way more comfortable than breast bindings or bras, in any case. The robe went on easily and felt way more expensive than any clothes I had ever thought I would wear against my skin, but when I came out, he looked at me as if I had stepped out of his dreams. It was a heady feeling to be looked at like

that. I dropped my gaze to my feet.

He held a long gold cord in his hands and beckoned me forward.

""Turn around."

saw us. He looked far taller, far broader, in the mirror than usual. I could feel the heat of his body against my back. Slowly, he drew the cord around my waist. I was

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so close to me. Still, it didn't feel sleazy. He lowered his head so

against my ear.

cinch

intimate than anything I had ever experienced. He tightened the cord to hold the robe together and put it in place before tying an intricate

when

П

and it's distinctive from the king's knot in

"Functional?"

whole knot unraveled. The length of the cord slipped from around my waist, and I

that was more ornamental

retying it around my waist. Once that was

away and went to the dresser,

beautiful piece of jewelry with a large ruby set in a jade and gold setting

up to trace the

well?"

we had quite an

Shang told you it was something I'd always wanted to

the dryness in my throat. "Is