Page 2 of To Quench Her Thirst

“You talked all night and didn’t get to know him—not therealhim,” Drago said darkly. “I tell you, I don’t fucking like him. He gives me a bad feeling.”

“Well I thought he was lovely and I’m going on this mission to Crimson Moon,” Addie said, crossing her arms over her chest. She turned to Commander Sylvan. “Maybe you could assign a different Protector to me, Commander, since Drago is so set on not going.”

“Well, I suppose—” her boss began.

“No!” Drago growled, surprising Addie with the force of his emotion. “No, if Addison is going, I’m going along to protect her! No one else!”

She looked at him with wide eyes.

“Well! Youalmostsound jealous.”

His face turned as dark as a thundercloud.

“OfcourseI’m not jealous! But I took an oath to protect you and nobody else is going to do my job.”

Addie remembered that oath—remembered the moment when her huge, muscular Protector had dropped to one knee in front of her, almost like he was proposing, and had offered to shield her with his body and lay down his life to keep her safe if necessary.

Looking into his gorgeous golden eyes as he held her hands in his own much larger ones and smelling his Autumn leaves and masculine spice scent had been the start of her crush on him. A crush that had gotten her exactlynowhere, she reminded herself dryly. Despite the hints she’d dropped and the way she flirted with him after she found out he was single, Drago had never once returned her interest. Not even a little.

Maybe I'm just not his type—not everyone is into short, curvy redheads,Addie told herself.Or maybe it’s because he’s a Drake Kindred.

She'd heard that such Kindred often had trouble finding mates because of the huge dragon inside them, with whom they shared their consciousness and their body. Oh yes, she'd done her research when she was first paired with Drago—for the first six months of their partnership, she'd been excitedly waiting to see his Drake emerge.

But somehow his Drake never came out—not even during extremely stressful situations like the one on Belugias Three. Eventually, she'd stopped expecting to see it. And the one time she had tentatively mentioned it and asked a question about his "other half," Drago had given her such a dark, silent glare that she'd shut up and never dared to ask again.

It always felt to Addie that he was hiding that part of himself. Or maybe he was just one of those extremely stoic men who didn’t talk about themselves or their feelings. Either way, she was sick and tired of his attitude.

"Look," she said to Drago. "I don't care what you think of Lx Sambla—I've been invited by a nice, handsome man to visit a civilized planet with a fascinating new culture to study. It’s an amazing opportunity and I’m going to take him up on the invitation whether you like it or not!"

“Fine,” Drago growled. “Then I’ll go with you. But don’t say I didn’t fucking warn you when things go bad.”

Commander Sylvan frowned at their exchange.

“I’m sorry, Commander Drago, I don’t want to discount your concerns, but are there any other objections you can make to this mission other than the fact that you don’t like the Vargan Ambassador?”

Reluctantly, Drago shook his head.

“No. I just don’t trust him. He’s too slick.”

“You mean he’spoliteand actually makes conversation instead of sitting there like a lump on a log,” Addie snapped.

“Well if he—” Drago growled.

“All right, enough!” Commander Sylvan held out a hand to stop the two of them. “As it stands, I can’t think of a reason to turn down the Vargans’ invitation. They appear to be eminently civilized and the High Council thinks they would make excellent allies and trading partners. So I’m going to allow you, Dr. Hollister, to accept Ambassador Sambla’s invitation. Commander Drago, you may accompany her if you wish. If not, I’ll find another warrior to serve as her Protector.”

“Fuck no! I said I was going and I’mgoing,” was Drago’s reply, though he was still scowling when he said it.

“Fine. Then you’d better get moving—the ceremony is tomorrow night. I recommend you pack up and leave as soon as possible. Commander Drago, let the Communications Department know when you’re ready to fly and the Mother Ship will fold space for you to Crimson Moon.”

"Fine." Drago had nodded shortly but Addie thought more than a one-word answer was important.

“Thank you for trusting my judgment, Commander Sylvan,” she’d said, rising to offer her hand to their boss. “I appreciate your confidence in me.”

“Just be careful,” he’d said, taking her hand with a worried frown.

“Addison doesn’t have to be careful—that’s what she’s gotmefor,” Drago growled.

And that was the end of their interview. Addie had wanted to stay and talk some more—to try and reason with her big Protector. But Drago had said nothing but, “Guess we’d better pack,” before stomping off down one of the Mother Ship’s long metal corridors, leaving her to simmer with irritation.

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