Page 32 of The Dragon With A Girl Tattoo
“Wine?”Her nose wrinkled in a way that he found utterly delightful.He didn’t bother to wonder about the fact that he’d never before found such an expression enticing, not even on Amice.It was simply another one of those things that just were.“I guess it’s technically after noon, so a swig wouldn’t hurt me.”
He watched her closely as she gave the mouth of the bottle a quick wipe with the sleeve of her shirt before lifting it to her lips.
“You know—” Jim started to say as she took a sip.
Yrian caught the bottle as she dropped it when she doubled over, her hands on her knees as she coughed and sputtered.
“—you might not want to do that ...too late.”Jim sauntered over to the portal, casting a glance back over its shoulder at them.“Good thing you’re a wyvern’s mate, or I doubt if you’d survive that.Welp, going through now.I’ll call Aisling on the other side and tell her where we are.”
“What ...”Becket coughed a few more times, dragging in great rasping breaths.Yrian patted her on her back until she grabbed the front of his shirt and used it to leverage herself upright.Her face was red, her eyes streaming, and she sounded like she had been gargling lava when she said, “What the hell was that?”
“Dragon’s blood,” he answered, studying the label.He had learned much in the two years that he had been in the mortal world, not the least of which was reading and the English language.He was proud of the fact that he was now all but indiscernible from a modern dragon.“Bottled in 1927.A good year.”
She wiped at her eyes, shooting him a glare from the corners of her eyes as she finally released her hold on his shirt.“You’ve been here for what, six months?You can’t possibly know what sort of year 1927 was.”
“I have studied many videos on the Youbtoo,” he said with dignity.“And I left the griefscape two years, one month, and seventeen days ago.I am as proficient as any other dragon.”
“Mm-hmm,” she said, but didn’t look either impressed or like she agreed with his assessment.“Regardless, that wine packs a hell of a punch.Let me have another sip of it.I feel like I’m going to need it.”
He offered the bottle and watched her carefully, prepared to help if she needed it, but other than her eyes widening and a couple of deep gasping breaths, she was fine.He took a deep drink from the bottle when she returned it, relishing the rush of heat from the beverage as it seemed to course along his veins.
“That really is something else.”She had taken the bottle, recorked it, and, after pulling off her loose tunic, started to wrap it around the bottle before she paused and looked toward the portal.“What did Jim mean I was a wyvern’s mate?Wyverns are dragons.I’m not a dragon.”
“Mates do not have to be dragonkin.Wyvern’s mates are always another race.”He removed his shoes, placing them in a small container offered by the attendant, then stood by the portal, waiting for Becket.
“That implies you think I’m one of the latter group,” she said, her gaze searching his for a few seconds.He had no idea what she sought, but he had an itchy feeling that he needed to be acting, not standing around being enticed by her delectable self.
“You took my fire,” he said, wondering how she could not realize the significance of that.He knew full well what his father would say about that fact, but that was of no matter.He had chosen many millennia ago to live his life as he thought best, often bringing him into conflict with the First Dragon.“Only a mate can do that, and as I am a wyvern, you are thus a wyvern’s mate.I wish to leave.I have many things to do once I attend to Kashi’s demons.”
She looked like she wanted to argue, but instead glanced back toward the entrance and, with the bottle held close to her body, stepped into the portal.
Yrian nodded at the attendant before he walked into the mass of twisting purple.
And that’s when the world seemed to come apart into an infinite number of particles before slamming back together in a way that left him face down on the floor, his body screaming, his fire threatening to explode out of him, and his brain whirling.
Sounds rolled around him, but his wits were too scattered to make sense of them.He tried to move, but his body felt like it was encased in lead.Something soft touched him, rolled him over, and more or less patted down his body, but he was unable to react for many long minutes.
When he finally did open his eyes, it was to find the demon dog sitting next to him, watching with amused eyes.
“Hey, Beckleberry, he’s awake,” Jim announced.
A shadow fell over Yrian.He tried to sit up, but his limbs didn’t seem to want to enact that thought.
“Thank the goddesses, you’re OK.I was trying to find a healer, since you’ve been out for a good seven minutes.Here, take a little sip of your fancy dragon wine.”Becket knelt beside him, pushing Jim aside as she gently lifted his head and held a paper cup to his lips.“You really scared me collapsing like that.I was trying to figure out what I was going to say to your dad that wouldn’t end up with him smiting me on the spot for killing you.There you go ...now you’re getting a little color to your face.Should I ask you how you feel?”
“Grn,” he said, his mind slowly shaking off the stupor brought upon by the portal.“Flrr.”
“Yes, you’re on the floor, but that’s only because you’re, what, six three?Six four?Too big for me to hoist onto the couch.Are you OK, Yrian?”
His eyes focused on her, warmed by the concern written on her face.She offered him the cup again, and for a moment, he embraced the fire of the wine before struggling to sit up.He didn’t have time to sit around and admire her.“No.But I will live.Where are my trousers?”
“They didn’t seem to come through,” she said, her gaze flickering to his lower half for a few seconds.“You have really nice legs.Oh goddess, that was inappropriate, wasn’t it?I’m sorry.”
He looked at the limbs in question.“They are just legs.”
“You may think so, but your thighs are ...”She coughed and cleared her throat, standing and offering him her hand.“Sorry again.I’m not normally so obnoxious.I’m going to blame the portal.Let’s get you up.”
The portal attendant, a round woman in a hot-pink jumpsuit, moved in on his other side to help right him.
