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)
“Hey! Be careful!” Drago caught her before she could fall and helped her out of the bathroom. “Are you okay?” In the dim room his golden eyes were glowing with concern. “What’s wrong, baby?” he asked.
Addie was surprised by the sweet nickname—he had never called her anything but “Addison” before. (He never called her “Addie” because the Kindred refused to shorten a woman’s name—it was considered disrespectful in their culture.)
Yes he has—he called you “baby” earlier, whispered a little voice in her head. Addie frowned—but when was that? All her recent memories since the Choosing Ceremony felt jumbled in her head. Anyway, it wasn’t important—what was important was the spider bite on her thigh.
“I think one of them bit me—a spider, I mean,” she told Drago.
His face darkened.
“That little fucker! I’m going to kill it! It’s just so damn fast and now it seems to be hiding.”
Addie shook her head.
“No, not the one in my room—it happened during the Choosing Ceremony…I think, anyway.”
“You think? You don’t know?” he asked.
“Well, everything got kind of hazy after they made us drink this stuff from a cup—Ls Prissa called it ‘Shelash’s Bounty’ whatever that means.” She shrugged. “They made us drink it and then they had us lay down and open our legs for some reason. That’s when I felt something bite me. Only I was so high I forgot all about it until I found this spot on my leg…” She put a hand down to the affected thigh, wincing as she did so. It really was painful! “Ouch! Anyway, it hurts and I was trying to get a look at it but it’s so dim in here I can’t see anything.”
“Yeah, I think the lights are on some kind of timer,” Drago said. “They won’t get any brighter until morning. I can—”
“Not until morning? But I’m in pain now. And what if I have blood poisoning?” Addie demanded, interrupting him.
“If you’d let me finish, I was about to say I can see in the dark,” Drago growled. “So why don’t you let me take a look at it?”
“What?” Addie felt a rush of embarrassment. “But…but I don’t have any underpants on!”
“Yes, I could see that when I walked into the fresher and found you all spread out,” he said dryly. “Believe me, it’s not a problem. Now, come on—lay down on the bed and let me look.”
“I don’t know…” Addie pressed her thighs together and regretted it instantly. “Ouch!” she moaned again.
Drago’s frown deepened.
“Addison, you need to let me look. Why are you being shy now after begging me to suck your nipples earlier?”
“What?” She stared at him, her heart racing. “I what?”
Before he could answer, more memories rushed into her head. She remembered begging him to touch her, making him “prove” that he didn’t mind her puffy nipples, and worst of all…
“Oh my God, I begged you to suck my nipples and then I came from it!” she moaned in embarrassment. Sinking down on the side of the bed, she put her face in her hands. “I can’t believe I did all that!”
“Hey, it wasn’t your fault—it was mine.” Drago crouched by the side of the bed and put a hand on her knee. “I’m really sorry, Addison. I shouldn’t have done it—you told me you were under the influence.”
“No, I remember now—I begged you to.” She couldn’t even look at her Protector. Had she also told him that she’d wanted him from the minute he first swore to guard her with his life?
Yes, I think I did—I’m sure I did.
God, could this night get any worse?
She shifted on the bed and a bolt of pain from the bite on her thigh made her realize that yes, the night most certainly could get worse.
“Ow!” she gasped again, wincing.
“Addison, look at me.” Drago pulled gently at her hands, forcing her to move them so they were eye-to-eye. Even though he was crouching and she was sitting on the bed, their gazes were nearly level because he was so tall.
“What is it?” Addie asked, feeling her cheeks burn as she was forced to face her Protector. “Are you going to tell me how crazy I was acting when I begged you to get me off?”
“No, nothing like that. I need to look at the bite on your leg,” he said patiently. “If it really is an arachnid bite it could be serious.”
Addie nibbled her lower lip.
"But it's so embarrassing. I mean, what if you don’t like what you see?”
“I’m not worried about seeing your pussy—I want to be sure that damn thing didn’t inject you with any kind of venom or poison,” he growled. “Now are you going to let me look at you or not?”
“Well…all right. But only because I did some personal grooming recently.” She was doubly glad now that she’d “trimmed the bushes” as her girlfriends in college used to say. Though it was still embarrassing to lie down on the bed and spread her legs while her Protector knelt between them.