Page 6 of To Quench Her Thirst

Addie felt her face get hot with a blush again and she smiled and nodded back at him.

“Thank you so much, Lx Sambla.”

“You’re more than welcome. I will be counting the hours until we meet again.” He bowed once more, deeply, and then turned smoothly away.

“Well, you must beveryimportant if Lx Sambla is interested in you!” one of the tall, thin Vargan ladies-in-waiting said.

Addie wasn’t sure it was Teeza, Peeza, or Leeza—she had already forgotten which of them was which. It wasn’t too surprising, considering that all of them had the same pale skin and black hair and were all dressed in nearly identical long black dresses. In fact, they all looked kind of Goth—right down to the black lipstick and fingernail polish all of them were wearing.

Only Sparki, the short lady-in-waiting, was different. She was wearing bright pink lipstick and fingernail polish which stood out against her black dress.

“Thank you—I met Lx Sambla at a dinner aboard the Mother Ship not long ago and he invited me to come observe your customs,” Addie said to either Teeza, Leeza, or Peeza.

The tall, thin lady in waiting who had spoken to her barely nodded—her eyes had fallen on Drago and she didn’t seem interested in Addie anymore.

“And who isthisyou have with you?” she purred, passing Addie to go stand in front of the big Kindred. The other two tall, thin ladies joined her at once.

“My, what a mountain of muscle!” one of them exclaimed.

“He’s certainly a treat for the eyes,” the third remarked, raking her dark eyes over Drago’s tall form.

“Oh, er, Drago is?—”

“I’m Dr. Hollister’s Protector—I go wherever she goes,” Drago growled. He seemed unimpressed by the three thin, gorgeous Vargan women fawning over him but that didn’t deterthem. They were grouped in a semi-circle around him and Addison was apparently completely forgotten.

“Well, you certainly brought a big hunk of man-candy with you, didn’t you?”

The voice startled Addie, who was watching her Protector and his new groupies and tryingnotto feel jealous. She looked around and saw that Sparki, the short lady-in-waiting was talking to her.

“Oh, uh, he’s just my Protector—that’s all,” she said, trying to laugh and not quite succeeding. “You know—my bodyguard,” she added.

“Well from the way the tiresome trio are looking at him, it’shisbody that’s going to need guarding,” Sparki said dryly. “Are the two of you together? You know, in a bonded relationship?” she added curiously.

Addie shook her head.

“No, of course not. We’re just…” She swallowed because her throat was suddenly dry. “Just coworkers—that’s all.”

"Good," Sparki said decisively. "Then you won't get all bent out of shape when the greedy threesome wants to use him for a late-night snack."

“Well, I don’t—” Addie began doubtfully.

But Sparki had already hooked her arm through Addie’s and was tugging her in the direction of the door.

“Come on—they’ll catch up eventually,” she said. “Let’s find you just the right outfit to wear at the feast tonight. If you’re meeting the Council of Aged Ones, you want to look impressive.”

Reluctantly, Addie allowed herself to be led away. She was aware that Drago was following her—though he was now surrounded by the other three Ladies-in-waiting, who were all twittering with excitement and asking him questions.

“Can I feel your muscles?” Addie heard one of them ask.

“You must beso strong,”another one purred.

“I bet you could lift me with one hand!” the third exclaimed.

She tried to tell herself that all this extra attention Drago was getting wasnotmaking her jealous. After all, he was her coworker and that was all. It wasn’t like they had any kind of relationship. He was free to do what he wanted with whoever he wanted—it was none of her business.

But no matter what she told herself, she could feel her jaw clenching as the high, excited voices of the other three ladies-in-waiting, all flirting as hard as they could, drifted to her ears.

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