Bleeding Ink

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Corliss sat on her sofa, teacup in hand, and watched as the two wolf-sized dragons in front of the fire. Silver eyes twinkling with mischief, the twins were wrestling on the plush rug, nipping at each other, keeping their wings tight against their bodies after she'd given them a scolding after they knocked over a bookshelf earlier that afternoon. Two weeks since they'd hatched, and they were quickly outgrowing her apartment.

Another regular visitor wanted to be anywhere but her apartment. In those few weeks, Meron had become a formidable presence in her life and not just because of their professional relationship. Now, the two of them were tied together by their bonds to their dragons, which Meron seemed to absolutely hate. Corliss did, too, after that first night. There hadn't been any easy conversations between them anymore. Just a hello, goodbye, and questions on how the dragons were doing when one or the other wasn't there.

Meron was almost...resentful with the fact that the egg he thought was solely his bloodrite bond wasn't as such. He couldn't meet her eyes as her baby dragon followed her around everywhere she went, even when his own did the same thing to him when not with his brother.

And Corliss absolutely hated it.

The only thing they agreed to had been their twin dragons' names. It was an easy choice after the initial shock of that first night with them. Meron had stayed over, sleeping on her sofa, but was still wide awake at midnight when Corliss had crept out from her bedroom to see how the three of them were doing.

Both dragons had curled themselves against his side between him and the back of the sofa, all three of them covered with a blanket she'd give Meron. The only reason she knew they were there was by their tails peeking out from the edge. Other than that, they were completely buried.

Meron's golden-brown eyes were molten in the light of the fire as he stared up at her. In his hands was the picture book they'd picked up at the bookshop. He was on one of the first few pages right when the dragons were introduced.

"What are you doing up?" she whispered to him, leaning over the back of the sofa.

He met her eyes for just a second more before heaving a sigh. "These two just got to sleep. They're rambunctious little ones, that's for sure. We're in for one hell of an interesting ride with them."

Corliss gave him a slight smile as she reached for the blanket covering them, lifting it up to peek. The dragons were curled around each other, their heads nestled together on Meron's tanned stomach.

"That's one way to see me partially naked, Lady Lis."

Her face flamed. It was the first time he'd joked with her in hours. "That's not...it wasn't...gods, you're going to be a pain in the ass."

"Just don't kill me yet."

"Then don't tempt me, Commander."

She walked around the sofa, tightening her robe around her as she sat down on the low-lying table between him and the fire.

Meron closed the picture book and held it out to her. "You haven't decided on a name yet, have you?"

Corliss stared. He still hadn't referred to her own baby dragon as hers, almost as if he would be able to will that bond away from existence if he did. "I haven't. I was never one of those sorceresses who knew what she wanted to name her dragon when she finally had a bloodrite bond."

"Good...because I have after reading through that picture book again."

"And?"

"What about the names of the dragons from it, Ollyn and Odanth?"