"Once upon a time," he said in the same low murmur, a phrase I'd said so often while telling him stories that I suspected some of it might have gotten through to him, after all. He let out a slow exhale, his warm breath stirring my long hair. "I was a dragon's hoard," he said quietly, breathing against my skin. "The world was right, because I was safe in her lair. She counted my coins and slept on top of me and told me that my gems were the most beautiful she had ever possessed."
