Free Rising Dragons Omnibus by Ophelia Bell Page B

filled his shoes in so many ways. Could she follow in those footsteps, too? And not just in the sense of an academic sharing her knowledge with younger peers, but that of a parent influencing the mind of her own child.
    Geva wanted it. Of course, it was instinctual for dragons. There were so few of them left in the world and so little time relative to their life spans and the schedule their laws imposed on them. Was she being selfish withholding that from him?
    They still had time by her own standards. Decades, even. Was it selfish for her to want to wait just a little longer? Yeah, but for how long? The next big discovery could have her in the field hunting for a decade for all she knew. She had just assumed he would come with her. Would he? Could he?
    The conception and nurturing of her work involved objects that had been hidden for centuries and were crying out to be found. What was a decade of study and searching in the scheme of ageless antiquities? Especially now that she had a seemingly infinite amount of time in which to find more lost treasures if her link to Geva really did what he said it would. She had no reason to doubt him.
    She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her torso. Swiping the steam away from the mirror, she scowled at her reflection. A few years for her to regain her balance after the last six months. That shouldn’t be unreasonable to ask. With that thought she forced herself to stop thinking about it.
    She had a tricky meeting in store for her and was determined to make it productive, which meant looking the part of someone who recognized not only the power she had, but the power of the person she’d be talking to. Even if Corey generally answered to her in the world of jungle treks and ancient digs, in the dragon world he was technically her superior now. The shift in hierarchy definitely wasn’t lost on her.
    Finding Geva’s sister had to be a priority now. The girl’s existence was a fresh mystery for her to solve and the prospect excited her as much as learning what this Verdanith artifact could really do once whole again. She wondered if the rest of her team even had the thing on their radar or if they were too busy enjoying the lull after submitting their paper to even think about it.
    Hair and makeup done, she donned a low-cut red blouse and gray pencil skirt. Red flattered her, she decided, looking at the whole package in the full-length mirror. It never hurt to give Corey a little visual candy either. He may be a gentleman when it came to talking to women, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a red-blooded man who appreciated beauty and sensuality. If anything, he’d been even more overt in his appreciation since becoming the Queen’s consort, as if he’d needed permission from a strong woman to let himself out of that reserved shell of his.
    Geva was already standing by the office window when she made it down. She paused in the doorway for a second, taking him in. “Wow, you really aren’t screwing around, are you? Did Benjamin help?”
    “I can dress myself, you know,” he said with mock offense, but lowered his eyes and then smiled and nodded. “I called him when you abandoned me to my own devices. The suit was Warik’s—father’s would be too small and the one I bought last week was…not suitable for wearing after this morning.”
    “And the hair…?” Erika gestured wide-eyed at the now short-cropped russet hair on his head. It was a far cry from the tousled red mane she was used to.
    Geva self-consciously ran a hand through his gelled hair, causing it to rise into spikes. He grimaced at his hand and tugged a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe off the sticky residue. “I want to look professional. Serious. This is important. Rowan is important.”
    Erika smiled and stepped closer to comb her fingers through his hair, straightening it with a few swipes. “And green eyes, too,” she said, peering up into his eyes that were normally a dull brown.