As Brantley brought his hands over her thighs and gently massaged them, she said softly, "I might end up sleeping all over again, yet I am hungry."

"Sleep Bianca, while I give you a bath," he said fondly. Saying that he drained the soapy water and ran clean water again in the tub. "We will get you food soon."

She moaned at the warmth that surrounded her and sank her head against his chest. The way she looked needy for his touch, it wasn't lusty, but it was more of surrender to her needs and a craving for his touch, his indulgence.

For Brantley, to hold his mate so intimately and not do anything was a torture. He was wrecked with urges beyond his control. All he wanted now was to plant him deeply inside her, but at the same time he was afraid of her condition. It was the first time he had held her naked in his lap. And he didn't know how to control the ferocious beast in him. He had waited for thousands of years for her and he didn't imagine that he had to wait so patiently to take her. He wondered how it would be to be wedged between his thighs. He lifted her gently to turn her breasts towards him and his shaft throbbed painfully. He rubbed her well on the back.

Bianca was now feeling the heat of his cock right on her stomach, but the bath drained her. She put her hands on his chest and nuzzled her face into it to find a place to go off to sleep.

Brantley's breath hitched. He threw his head back as she slept. Once he was done, he lifted her from the bathtub, made her sit on an ottoman and dried her with a towel. Then he wrapped a fluffy towel around her and laid her on the bed. Her red hair was damp and they spread out on the pillow. The scent was so heady that he wanted to remove the towel and part her thighs and plant inside her, and go home.

"I am very hungry," she whispered.

As if coming back to senses, he clenched his fists for even thinking like that and after wrapping himself with a towel, he walked to the door to order food for her. Although she was lying, the noise of a waterfall was softly coming through the walls of the room, and she thought she was imagining.

Ten minutes later, Holly rushed in the bedchamber with a large tray of food. The scent of food only made her stomach growl again. She placed the tray on the bedside table, kneeled down and then served her containing fluffy buttered mashed potatoes, roasted chicken and glazed bread on the side. The brown pastries were ever so tempting that Bianca felt like eating them first. There was melon juice in a jar on the side.

Bianca gave her a warm smile and sweetly said, "Thank you." She picked up the fork and picked up a heap of potatoes to stuff them in her mouth. As soon as the potatoes melted in her mouth, she closed her eyes and groaned.

Holly chuckled and then served a plate with the same to Brantley. "Please let me know if there is anything else I can do," she bowed and said.

"You may leave Holly," Brantley said.

Holy bowed again and left.

Bianca was so busy eating and groaning that she didn't realize the kind of sounds she was making. Brantley had stopped eating and was looking at her with wide hazel eyes. His towel had tented with his erection.

She took a deep breath when her stomach filled a little and her gaze went outside. The drizzle had picked up. She pointed out the rain and asked, "Is this because of what we did on the throne?"

Brantley came out of his stupor. He took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, this happens every time we are going to sit on that throne until nature draws fully from us, until it restores the balance." He was so thankful to her that words were not enough to express. It was for the first time they had sat together on the throne. He knew how excruciating, how energy draining the whole thing was, but she was very open to it. It was as if deep down she understood the purpose of her existence.

Bianca couldn't help feeling proud of herself.

A gurgling sound emerged from beneath the ground. She pointed her fork to the floor and said, "Is there a leak somewhere?"

He laughed. "No dear. If you want to understand this you have to go and take a look through the glasses of the back wall—towards the mountain."

She picked up the pastry, stuffed it in her mouth, held her towel tightly around her and rose to her feet. As soon as her gaze fell on the mountains in the distance, her eyes became wide. Right in front of her, down the mountains, water was falling like a beautiful infinite dream. She followed the path of water and saw that it plunged into a waist-high water pool. Turning her eyes to survey the surroundings, she blinked many times. Right beside the waterfall over the steep rocks, she saw yellow and blue and blood red wildflowers and a thin film of moss growing under it. The waterfall and the pool were the same color—light blue. Mist surrounded the water as it landed on the ground. Beyond the mountains were the valleys, where green vegetation had begun to sprout.

"This is— this is splendid! She rasped.

He walked right behind her and instinctively wrapped his hand around her shoulders. "This is what we can do together."

She was stunned.

The scenery in front of her was glorious. When she had come, the mountains were barren and now, there were wildflowers blooming over them.

"The water from that waterfall flows beneath the floor of this room, which in turn keeps it cool." She looked at her affectionately. Because of her after so long, the place was blooming with life, with the scenery that he used to see as a child. "Now you know what is gurgling down there?"

Bianca turned her head to him with eyes as big as saucers. She couldn't believe that the architecture of the palace was so pretty. It used nature to its advantage, and… from almost two thousand years this place was a desert. "I wish I was born earlier…" she said to him.

His breath hitched. He turned her towards him and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I am satisfied with what I have in my hand. What matters is that you are here."

The genuineness in his voice made her heart skip a beat and she blushed a pale pink.

He took a stand of her damp red hair and tucked it behind her ear. "Now finish your food."

Bianca's trance broke and she lowered her eyes. A smile appeared on his cheeks showing her dimple and Brantley couldn't resist it. He kissed her over there. Her thighs clenched. He held her hand and brought her to eat the rest of the food.

"There's one thing I wanted to ask," she said while slicing meat off the chicken with her fork and knife.

"What?" He was ready to answer anything.

"There was a green light that flowed with me, flowed with the roots… when the roots were reaching me. What did that come from?"