Page 48 of To Quench Her Thirst

Had she thought Sheelash was huge? Well, her Protector’s Drake dwarfed the spider goddess easily. It was the size of a 747airplane with a wingspan that stretched almost from one end of the room to the other. It stepped backward with one huge foot and crushed the heavy iron chair Drago had been strapped to with the ease of a man crushing an empty soft drink can.

Addie stared in stunned silence—too amazed to say anything—to eventhinkanything.

Drago’s Drake had sleek reddish-orange scales all over its body and every one of the claws on its massive forepaws was as long as one of her legs. Next to it, even Sheelash looked small and insignificant.

Speaking of the spider goddess, she had also frozen in place, staring up at the massive creature that had suddenly appeared in front of her.

Addie had seen no emotion in her blank, black eyes earlier but now she wondered if she detected fear. At any rate, the two huge creatures just stood there staring at each other. It made Addie feel like she'd somehow fallen into a Japanese monster movie where two enormous beasts battle it out and the humans can't do anything but watch.

It was the Drake that made the first move. It lifted its scaly head—which was longer than Addie's whole body was—and roared. It was the sound of an enraged beast mixed with a warning claxon and it shook Addie to the bones. For the second time she clapped her hands over her ears.

The deafening sound finally ended the standoff. Sheelash turned and began to skitter away. She was incredibly fast for such a huge spider and she was heading for the giant web on the far side of the room…but she never got there.

Bending its long, snaky neck, the Drake opened its massive jaws, revealing rows of curving, sword-like teeth, and breathed a jet of white-hot fire at the fleeing arachnid.

Sheelash let out an unearthly shriek and Addie could see that her long, lank, platinum-blonde hair was on fire. Another jet offlame from the Drake and the rest of her fat, hairy body was wrapped in flames as well.

The spider goddess went on shrieking as she writhed in the blanket of flames. Then she flipped on her back and began to shrivel up, her long, hairy legs contracting and spasming in a series of horrible, jerking death throes.

Addie watched it all, amazed and horrified. Indeed, she couldn’t have stopped watching if the sight had made her go blind. It was too unbelievable for her brain to take in—shehadto keep looking to comprehend the bizarre and awful sight she was witnessing.

Though she was across the room, she could feel the heat of the super-charged flames that were baking the enormous spider’s body. And then, just as she thought it was over, the fat, bulging abdomen popped, spraying half-cooked spider guts all over the flagstones.

Luckily, Addie was far enough away that the exploding guts didn’t reach her—but the smell of them certainly did. It was a rotten odor—like a garbage can filled with old seafood and dirty diapers left out to spoil in the hot sun. The choking miasma drifted towards her, making her clap a hand over her nose and gasp, “Ugh!” instinctively.

The Drake didn't seem to like the foul stench either. It sneezed several times in succession—almost like a giant cat, Addie thought. Except when a cat sneezed, it didn't spray gouts of flame all over the place. Luckily the massive head was turned away from her. She kept her distance and watched as the Drake studied the messy splatter of green and black spider guts that covered one whole section of the floor.

After a moment of contemplation and a few more sneezes, the Drake lowered its head and breathed another gout of flame. Using his fire like a flamethrower, he singed the spider offal tonothing but black ashes until only the crumpled legs and the burning, blackened skull of Sheelash remained.

The cleansing fire took care of the dreadful smell, for which Addie was grateful. But she wasn’t really sure she was any better off now than she had been earlier.

Before, she’d been menaced by a giant Spider Goddess she couldn’t reason with.Now, she was alone in the vast room with a fire-breathing Drake which shealsocouldn’t reason with.

And then it turned to look at her.

27

DRAKE

The Drake had no words—he had never wanted to have them. Until now.

The male he shared a body with sometimes made words at him—mouth noises that the Drake could interpret only by the emotions he was feeling when he made them. Mostly they were angry and repressive—the male didn’t want him to come out—he didn’t trust the Drake, even though they shared a form.

Mostly, the Drake ignored him. It was easier that way—easier to sleep, to doze the days away hidden in the darkness. But now he wished, in his primitive way, that he had paid more attention to the mouth noises. If he had, maybe he could understand what the female was saying to him now.

“Easy now. Take it easy—I’m not the enemy. Drago is my friend—he’s my Protector, okay?”

Her voice was soft and musical but the mouth noises made no sense to him. However, there were other ways to communicate and her body language was speaking volumes to him.

The female—their Fated Mate—was frightened of him. He could see it in the tense set of her shoulders and the wideness of her eyes. He couldsmellit, too. The fear scent came from herstrongly and the Drake realized she thought that he would hurt her. Which was also the fear of the male he shared a body with.

The Drake snorted softly, being sure not to let loose any flame. He wouldneverhurt her—why couldn’t she understand that? She was his Fated Mate—the mate that he and the male should share, just as they shared a body and a consciousness. She was the precious one—the treasured one that he would guard with his very life and kill or die to protect.

Thatwas why he had burst the chains the male had tried to hold him with and come out to save her from the evil crawling creature that had menaced her. Nothing and no one would hurt her as long as the Drake was alive. But how could he show her he meant no harm? She was so tiny—so delicate. No wonder she was frightened of him. He had to let her know she wasn’t prey—that she was the treasured one instead.

Slowly, carefully, he lowered his head until they were eye-to-eye. Then the Drake laid his head fully upon the floor. He wished he could make himself small for her, but he couldn’t—this was the best he could do. He held very, very still, hoping she would understand, even though he had no words.

He didn’t want to hurt her—he only wanted to care for her and possess her, always. If only he could make her see…

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