Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
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…
28
ADDIE
Addie stared in apprehension as the long, snaky neck dipped down and the enormous head which was bigger than her entire body came to rest on the flagstone floor. Then the Drake held still and simply looked at her.
“Er…hello?” she asked, looking back uncertainly.
What was going on? Why was he being so still? And why had he lowered himself to her level?
"Are you trying to tell me something?" she asked and then remembered that Drago had said his Drake was just an animal and it couldn't talk or understand. But still he held perfectly still except for the fact that one scaly eyelid dropped slowly down to cover one dinner-plate-sized, flame-filled eye, before coming back up again.
“Did you just wink at me?" Addie asked, astonished, and was rewarded with another slow blink—or wink. Whichever it was, she got the distinct feeling that the Drake was trying to tell her he wasn't a threat to her.
Wait—“he?” Just a minute ago you were thinking of him as an “it,” whispered a little voice in her head.
Which was true, but there was no denying that the Drake exuded a definite male energy. He just felt like, well, a he.
“Are you trying to show me that you won’t hurt me?” Addie asked. Without knowing she was doing it, she took a few steps closer to the enormous creature.
Her question was answered with another slow wink and a soft snort which produced no flames—only smoke that floated in gentle white rings from his nostrils.
“I think you want me to come to you,” Addie told him, taking a few more steps towards him. “And I can’t believe this, but I think I’m actually going to do it.”
Don’t be crazy—he could bite you in half like a pretzel stick! cried a scared little voice in her head. Or burn you to a crisp in half a second!
Addie shoved the fear aside and kept advancing. She'd always been a good judge of animals—in fact, if she hadn't fallen in love with Xeno-anthropology, she might have become a veterinarian. And what was the Drake but a really, really big animal? Also, she didn’t get a sense of menace or hunger from the Drake, like she had from Sheelash. There was only stillness and the desire not to frighten her.
“He wants to Claim you,” Drago had said. Addie didn’t know what that entailed, but she didn’t think it meant the Drake wanted to hurt or kill her—quite the opposite, in fact.
She didn't know how long it took her to cross the room but it seemed only an instant later that she was standing beside the enormous head. The dinner-plate-sized eye was on the level of her own head but still the Drake didn't move at all.
“Do you mind if I touch you?” Addie asked him. Another slow blink made her decide to take a chance.
Slowly, she put out a hand and rested it lightly on the scaly ridge that rose above the huge eye. The Drake’s skin was hot to the touch, but not burning hot—more like the temperature of a heating pad turned up on high, Addie thought.
Since the Drake didn’t seem to mind her touching him, she began tentatively to rub the eye ridge.
“Are you a good boy?” she asked as she scritched it gently with her fingernails, which was something her pet rabbit, Chewy, had always loved. “Are you a very, very good boy?”
To her surprise, the Drake made a new noise—it was a low, rumbling hum that ran up her arm and vibrated her entire body. After a moment, Addie realized that the Drake was purring.
“Oh, you are a good boy, aren’t you?” she asked, gaining more confidence as she stroked and scratched the massive skull. “Such a big, good boy.”
She remembered now that Drago had speculated that his Drake wanted to be tamed by her. Was that what she was doing? Taming him?
Addie wasn’t sure, but it felt right. Now that she was touching the Drake, she could feel a definite connection with him. Though he had no words, she swore she could feel his emotions and all of them were positive. Protective possessiveness and the longing to own her—to keep her safe and never let anyone hurt her—came to her mind as she stroked the huge beast.
Then she heard the sound of the door opening behind her and the feelings coming from the Drake changed abruptly to possessive rage.