Page 63 of To Quench Her Thirst

But for now, they were taking a break, wrapped in each other's arms, just being close and cuddling. Luckily, all the sex she'd been havinghadn’tresulted in a “Choosing Child,” for which Addie was immensely grateful. She didn’t know what she’d do if she had a baby that became an adult overnight. Also, the spider web marking on her back was now gone completely—which was a big relief since her skin was no longer itching or burning.

“Just what I said,” she told Drago. “I tamed him.”

“When? Before or after he got you all cut up by breaking through the skylight?” Drago asked dryly. He sounded like he still blamed the Drake for injuring her.

“Hey, don’t be so hard on him!” Addie said, frowning. “I promise you, I don’t blame him. He was doing his best to protectme and get me away from danger—the broken glass wasn’t his fault. He’s agood boy.”

Drago’s eyebrows shot up.

“Did you just call the giant, fire-breathing Drake that lives inside me a ‘good boy?’” he demanded.

“Yes, you know—like you call a dog or a cat a ‘good boy’ or a ‘good girl?’” Addie said, smiling. “It was like that—only on a much larger scale, of course. Meeting your Drake was kind of like discovering I’d just acquired a pet dinosaur.”

“A pet? You think of him as apet?”Drago shook his head in apparent disbelief.

“Sure, why not?” Addie shrugged. “He let me pet him and give him skritches.Andhe did what I asked, once he understood me.”

“Hewhat?”Drake shook his head. “You say heunderstoodyou?”

Addie could feel her new mate’s disbelief so she sent back certainty through their new connection.

"Ofcoursehe understood me—I’ll tell you how I know. After he burned up Sheelash and Prissa and Sambla, a group of guards ran in and started attacking him. He was about to burn them too, but I didn't want him to. So I made him understand that he shouldn't and he did what I said."

“So you’re saying he obeyed your ordernotto incinerate those guards even though they wereattackinghim at the time?” Drago’s golden eyes were wide with shock. “I can’t believe it!”

“That’sexactlywhat I'm saying!" Addie nodded. "Oh, and he purred when I petted him too."

“He purred—you’re telling me my Drakepurrs?”

He looked so shocked that Addie couldn’t help laughing.

“Yes! Don’t look so surprised. I’m beginning to think thatIknow more about your Drake thanyoudo.”

“I’m beginning to think you’re right!” he muttered. Then he frowned and got an inward-looking expression on his face. “The fuck?Thishas never happened before.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Addie was instantly concerned. “What’s happening?”

“Nothing bad,” Drago said quickly. “It’s just…I think my Drake is trying totalkto me.”

“But I thought you said hecouldn’ttalk—that he didn’t know any words,” Addie said.

“Well, he must have picked some up. Maybe it happened when the two of us Bonded,” Drago said. “Here—let me let you hear.”

He seemed to open some kind of mental channel because Addie suddenly heard a third voice in the conversation with them.

“Feel…you. Feels…good,”a deep, gruff voice was saying.

“Er, yes—yes, I feel you too,”Drago sent back hesitantly.“And I can feel that you feel good, too. Maybe because I just Bonded Addison to us.”

“Love…mate. Love…Addison,”the Drake sent.

Addie felt her heart melting.

“I love you too, Drake,”she sent herself through the three-way connection.

Immediately, she felt a warm glow of possessive, protective love flowing to her and from the Drake, and from Drago as well. And in the sweet, deep connection, she felt a healing taking place.

There had always been a gap between Drago and his Drake, she understood now. There was a divide—a fracture between them that neither had been able to heal. But now that the three of them were together, Addie was acting like glue to bind them and bridge the gap between them. As information and understanding flowed, the Drake’s speech got better.

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