Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
I need answers. The next time one of the women mated to the drakoni visit me, I'll ask them what they know. Until then, I rest, conserving my strength, and listening intently for another brief touch of Azar's mind against mine.
Gwen arrives the next day, Tunjozefren in her arms. "Sorry," she tells me breathlessly, sliding into the chair across from me. "It was Jenny's turn to come by and check on you but Michaelandrew was up all night with nightmares and the baby was crying. She asked me to come by instead." She drops into the chair with a frazzled sigh, and then beams a smile at me as she settles her son in her lap. "You're looking good, though."
"I feel a lot better," I admit, sitting up and crossing my legs on the cot. "Still a little tired but I think that'll go away soon enough."
"It will," Gwen says confidently. "You just need to eat and get your strength back. There's food in the other room. Want me to grab you some?"
It's on the tip of my tongue to say no, because that food is for the sick people, but…I'm a patient, too. I nod, and she immediately hands Tunjozefren to me, settling him in my lap. I stare down at the large, golden infant as he gazes up at me. He looks like Vaan more than Gwen, I decide. He's got his father's golden skin and most of his features, right down to the swirling drakoni eyes. Of Gwen, he's got her full mouth and the texture of her hair. He gives me a gummy smile, waving his fists, and I chuckle at the sight. He's warm and heavy and sweet in my lap, and I think about when he was born, how tiny he was then. He's healthy and fat now, growing by the day.
Gwen returns a moment later with cornbread and a glass of water. She offers me a slice of it and pulls her son back out of my lap so I can eat. I nibble on the food and watch as she settles him against her once more, her expression happy and serene. It's hard to believe that only a few months ago, Gwen was newly pregnant. Drakoni gestation times are speedier than human ones, and I don't think she was pregnant for longer than three months before she gave birth. But then again, a lot of drakoni things are different. I think about Azar, and how his seed burned me the first time I touched him…
And pause. Why have I never put this together before? How did Gwen have Vaan's baby? How did Jenny have Mhal's, and Rachel Jurik's if their bodies burn so hot? Something must have changed between them. I think about my fever-high temperature, and the bite on my neck. "Can I ask you something personal?"
Gwen gives me a surprised look. "Of course."
"How did you have Vaan's baby? Isn't his body too hot for yours?"
Her brows go up, and then she gives me a speculative glance. "Azar never told you about sharing fires? Did you guys not do that?" When I shake my head, confused, she nods slowly. "Okay, well. Humans don't run as hot as drakoni do. In order for us to have sex properly, Vaan had to give me his fires. It's a bite that he gives to his mate and only his mate. It shares a bit of his essence, his living magic, and creates a bond between drakoni and mate. Even though I'm human, I can hear Vaan in my head now." She shifts her baby in her lap and then brushes a hand at her temple. "He's in my mind and I'm in his. That's how they anchor to one another, right?"
I knew that. Or parts of it. I knew there was a mental bond. That was why Azar was so insistent about the human females bonding with drakoni males. "It warms your body up, too?"
She nods. "Body temperature isn't a problem after the bite. And once you're mated, you smell like your mate, so other drakoni males ignore you."
I'm quiet as I eat the dry cornbread. It's not my favorite meal, but it's food and I've learned not to be picky in the After. I chew and I chew, and I think about my relationship with Azar. He never gave me his bite. He never shared himself with me. All this time I thought we just couldn't have penetrative sex and we could have. He just didn't want to give me his bite. That…hurts.
The longer I sit on that hurt, though, the less it makes sense. Azar clearly loves me. He held me while I was sick, begging me to get better. I don't think he didn't give me his bite—his bond—out of spite. There had to be another factor in things. Then, it hits me.