3. His For The Month

Theodore King was one of the most sought-after bachelors of the world. There were lots of layers to him. And his deepest secret was that he was a dragon. An ancient and powerful dragon whose name alone - Theos - made his peers tremble. He had earned the Greek name, which not only sounded a lot like his own name but also meant God in Greek, after an interspecies war back in the 1800’s.

He was power-slash-sin incarnate. He knew the effect he had on both men and women. And he reveled in it. Admittedly, he used it to his advantage without any qualms too.

If there was one thing everyone knew about Theodore King, it was that he didn’t want to settle down. Despite his age, he wasn’t on the lookout for a mate, the everlasting kind of partner many of his kind aspired to meet.

As per usual, he was going to spend the entire month of August in his estate in the countryside. Getting away from the busy life of the city, and becoming a sort of recluse in his own estate, enabled him to bear all the responsibility that came with him simply being him.

He had companies to manage, mergers to make happen, and money to amass. But he could do all of that in September. August was his month. He was only called if it was deemed by his vice-president as something only he could handle. And each time, his vice-president would get the berating of a lifetime.

He was a grumpy businessman who didn’t like being disturbed in August. Some called him foolish for his habits since business waited for no one.

He was a damned dragon and yet he didn’t like heat all that much. He could go to the beach but then again, that would only spell trouble for him - women drooling and furious-slash-jealous boyfriends. Even on the most desolated island, he could find his way to these problems. He truly was a magnet for such problems.

So, instead of spending his summer break on the sunniest place on earth, bathing in the sea or the ocean, he was stuck with the countryside… not that he was complaining. He enjoyed the quiet solitude his estate offered.

He didn’t even care to meet those who worked for him there. He paid them handsomely to do their job, but also to keep out of his way.

Save for a few companions whom he called on his lonely nights, he didn’t see anyone aside from the housekeeper who was in charge of bringing him his food.

She was the only one out of the entire staff who met him. She was old enough to be able to keep some semblance of orderly thoughts in his presence, and that was the only reason why he allowed her to be in the same room as him.

He didn’t fancy having a maid look at him with starry eyes. He didn’t care for a boss-employee relationship. Had he wanted such troublesome relationships, he would have already taken his secretary up on her numerous offers. He would have fired said secretary had she not been as efficient as she was at her job.

It was on the 1st of August, when it was close to 7 pm, that he first smelled one deliciously sweet scent in his estate. He inhaled deeply as his beast stirred and demanded more of the heavenly faint scent.

His housekeeper who had opened the door for him blushed in utter mortification.

“What’s this smell?” He asked, almost in a daze, forgetting everything about the need to keep up appearances.

“I may have changed my bath gel to lavender,” his housekeeper, Mrs. Steams, was stammering on her words, almost like a love-struck teenager. “My husband says it’s too potent of a smell. I’m sorry. I’ll change it come tomorrow morning.”

He rolled his eyes at her.

She was obviously not the one whose smell was driving him crazy.

He needed to find out who the girl was - the girl to whom the smell belonged.

He didn’t usually come down to the first floor - at least not when the staff was around. He needed to find a ruse.

“I want the maids working on the first floor to work on the second starting tomorrow,” he announced matter-of-factly.

The housekeeper’s eyes widened at that. She was about to tell him something, but he beat her to it.

“I quite like how pristine the first floor is. They’re doing a good job,” he felt the need to give her a valid reason to placate her somewhat.

He had never once meddled in the affairs of the estate - never mind its staff. He left it all up to his loyal housekeeper. And she did a great job.

“They are indeed,” she agreed with him, a faint smile on her face. “One of them is young and new but is well-behaved nonetheless.”

Was she trying to dissuade him from his decision in her own way? He no longer cared about her opinion at this point.

He didn’t ask for the girl’s name or any other detail, no matter how much he and his beast were craving for the information. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself.

I’ll be waiting for you, little girl, he told himself, a faint smirk adorning his face, as he ascended the stairs to the second floor - the second floor being where he stayed majorly holed up all of August.

He made himself comfortable, but his beast was on edge. He wanted to go to the first floor and inhale some more of that heavenly scent.

But he didn’t want to break out of character that way.

He didn’t really need a reason to wander his estate. But he didn’t want to shock his old housekeeper.

Soon enough, she brought him dinner.

He ate it but couldn’t savor it much.

For the first time since this century-old August routine began, he wasn’t looking forward to the quiet and the solitude. He wanted to meet this new girl. He wanted to pursue her as well, and have her screaming his name, in his bed, every damned night.

This August will be fun, he thought to himself, already looking forward to breaking a small town girl and make her his for the month.