Page 56 of Dealing With Drak

Drak feigns offense. “I thought I was a good boy?”

“You can be,” I tell him diplomatically. “Let’s go with your plan. I’ll write a few notes to leave around the store and find some snacks.” I don’t know what I’ll say on the notes, probably something about being here and looking for them. “I need a shower when we get back to the room, I smell gross.”

“You smell delectable,” he argues, eyebrows scrunching in the middle.

“Gonna have to disagree with you on that, big guy.”

My mate smirks. “So you think that I am big?”

Laughing, I grab his hand and lead him away, marveling at the fact that he was able to calm me down without much effort.

Two hours later, Drak has me back in a completely better mood. He drank four whole blue Gatorades and tried all of my snacks. He nearly spit out the pickle chips but was fond of Skittles. He also let me bathe in peace and started strategizing for tomorrow while I was in the bathroom.

“So, we’ll do a quick scan over the surrounding areas from the ship, seeing if its sensors can find anything, and then use any signs to search closer,” I summarize, yawning after the words leave my mouth.

Drak nods and then frowns at my open mouth. “You are sleepy, my mate.”

I chuckle, shaking my head. “Well, I am, but I can stay up a little longer to plot?—”

“We have plotted,” he cuts in. “Now, you must rest.”

Drak leans over, scoops me up from the hotel couch, and begins to carry me to bed before I can even decide if I want to protest.

As he lays me down, I ask, “Are you going to sleep with me again?”

“I will not slumber,” he answers, stroking some hair from my cheek. “But I will hold you while you do. I like having you in my arms where I know nothing can harm you.”

“So protective,” I murmur, smiling as he slides into bed with me. Drak pulls me close, tucking me against his bare chest. As I rest my head, my fingers tease his sternum. “Your soul seed is in here, isn’t it?”

“It is,” he replies, voice deep.

“Can you feel it? Like, even without a mate?”

“I have a mate,” Drak responds sharply before immediately softening. “But yes, I can feel it even as it does not shine. I speak to it as well, but I do not believe it listens to me.”

Still caressing him, I hum. “What do you say to it?”

“Usually, I inform it that it is blind for not recognizing my perfect Mean One as my mate. I do not wish to insult it too much. Though it frustrates me, I believe it is teasing me, making me wait. I know you are right for me whether my stubborn soul seed agrees or not.”

Well, that’s ridiculously sweet.

“Maybe I should talk to it, hmm?” I ask, smiling to myself. “I can be quite persuasive.”

Drak sucks in a breath. “You would attempt to sway it?”

His voice is full of so much wonder and surprise that I want to say to hell with sleeping and love up on him.

Peeking up at him, I ask, “You want it to light up for me, don’t you?”

“More than anything,” he breathes. “But you are my mate, no matter what.”

“Even if it never glows?”

“Even if,” he agrees.

“What if it glows for someone else?”

“Then I will run from her and steal you away with me. I will not be bound to another. I do not wish to even look at another.”

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