Page 111 of No Ordinary Drakeling
Tiri looked up, his bright eyes surprised. “Right here.”
“No way, I was in here earlier and I couldn’t find you.”
“Well, I did go into the closet to start packing and I found a loose thread on a tunic, so I sat right down and fixed it.”
“You were in the closet?”
“Yes, why were you searching for me?”
Zane shrugged. “I just missed you.”
“I always miss you when we’re apart,” Tiri confessed as he closed the distance between them and tilted his face upward for a kiss. He couldn’t help but deepen the caress, and Tiri willingly melted against him as Zane wrapped him in his arms.
When they had to come up for air, Zane took great pride in Tiri’s flushed cheeks. “Why are you packing?”
Tiri blinked slowly. “To go to D’Vaire.”
“That’s not for several days.”
“Yes, but I’m very excited. I’ve made some new outfits I want the elves to see, and I can hardly wait to see what color dragon Ellery is.”
Zane blew out a breath as he debated how to respond to that, but he never got a word out.
“You can just stop making that face. He’s going to be just fine.”
“Baby, you don’t know that.”
Tiri pulled out of his embrace and returned to folding his clothes. “I don’t understand why none of you have faith in Ellery. Chrysander should definitely have it—he’s Ellery’s mate.”
“Tiri.”
“Yes?”
“How do you think I’d handle it if I had to wait around for you to possibly die?”
“You’d be confident that I could survive.”
Zane let out an exasperated chuckle. “No, no, I would not. I’d be out of my mind with worry over you. I don’t even know how Chrys is keeping his stuff together. I’d be stark raving mad if I thought in five days you could be dead. I just don’t think I could even begin to—” His words were choked off when his throat tightened, and his eyes filled with tears.
Tiri dropped the pants in his hands and raced over to wind his arms around Zane’s waist. “You must be growing to care for me.”
“I feel like I didn’t even start living until the day I met you.”
His other half stared up at him, his lovely teal eyes full of affection. “What do you mean?”
“Look around you,” Zane directed. “You turned a cold, uninteresting, dark room into this bright space.” Tiri had taken to decorating with a vengeance, and all throughout their suite were flowing drapes, strings of trailing beads, and thick cushy pillows.
“Our rooms did come out better than I imagined. Thank you for letting me put those large cushions on the floor so we could relax as sprites traditionally do, but I don’t think anything about you is cold or uninteresting.”
“Not anymore, thanks to you. You gave me the ability to move past the things my father did and simply enjoy the world around me.”
“How did I do that?”
“Just by being you. I love you, Tiridythas.”
Tiri pressed his head against Zane’s chest and tightened his arms around him until it was almost painful. “I never thought anyone would love me,” he confided softly in a teary voice. “I didn’t know how awful it was to live under Chieftain Chesvarin’s rules until you found me. You’ve always been so kind to me. I know I don’t deserve you, but I love you too.”
“What do you mean? If anyone is undeserving of someone special in this relationship, it’s me. You’ve never done anything horrible in your life.”
