13. Addie

13

ADDIE

A ddie was dreaming of a tea kettle whistling. Her grandmother had an old-fashioned one from the seventies that she still used. It was white enamel with big, yellow sunflowers painted on either side. Grandma always had it sitting on the stove, ready to go because she loved tea so much. But it was really loud and sometimes she would let it go on and on, whistling forever because she was a little deaf…

"Grandma, it's too loud!" Addie muttered, tossing in her sleep. "Turn it off—can't you hear it whistling? Grandma, please!"

But Grandma never came. Eventually her dream of the old-fashioned tea kettle dissolved and she sat up in bed, blinking sleepily. For a moment she couldn't remember where she was. Then it came back to her—she was sleeping in a bedchamber located in the Palace of Sheelash on Crimson Moon. Also, her Grandmother had been dead for ten years.

But if I'm not at Grandma's house then what is that whistling, shrieking sound? she wondered sleepily.

She looked around the dim sleeping area, noticing that the round bed she was sleeping on was enclosed by a swath of black netting.

Like mosquito netting, she thought. Especially to keep bugs and biting insects out.

No sooner had the thought entered her mind than she saw something outside the flimsy barrier, clinging to the net. At first she thought it was just a shadow…but then it moved.

Addie bit back a gasp. It was as big as a cat and it seemed to bristle all over, like it was covered in hair. It skittered down the netting with horrible speed and she suddenly wondered if it could get inside with her. And also, what was it?

Then she remembered one of her Ladies-in-waiting talking about the "silky"—the giant spider that lived in a cage in the corner of the room.

"They don't start shrieking unless you forget to feed them," either Teeza or Peeza had said. Addie couldn't remember which of the nearly identical tall, skinny ladies-in-waiting had told her that, but at the moment she barely cared.

Oh my God, it's the giant spider—it got out of its cage and now it's screaming at me to give it food!

But there was no way in hell she was going to feed it. That would mean leaving the safety of the black netting that surrounded the bed and reaching into a box of long-tailed rodents in the dark, all while hoping the monstrous spider didn't jump on her.

The silky moved again, skittering closer to the seam between the two halves of the netting, still giving its tea kettle shriek all the while. Addie's blood ran cold and it felt like every hair on her body was standing up. She was afraid to move—but she was also afraid not to move. What if it got inside the netting with her? What if it crawled on her?

"Get away! Get away from me!" She grabbed one of the cylindrical pillows and hit at the spider, trying to knock it off the netting. But the creature had a strong grip. It hung on while the netting swayed and then skittered closer to the seam.

Addie gave up trying to deal with it herself. She had a Protector for this kind of situation—also, she hated spiders.

"Drago, help me, I—" she started to shout but just at that moment the connecting door between their two rooms banged open and the big Drake Kindred ducked inside.

"What the fuck is going on in here?" he demanded, scanning the room. "What's that fucking noise you're making?"

"I'm not making it—that thing is. The silky spider thing!" Addie pointed at the spider, which was nearly at the seam between the two panels of netting. "Please, Drago—don't let it get me!" she begged.

His golden eyes widened when he saw the cat-sized spider and a growl rose in his throat.

"Get away from my mate, you little bastard!" he snarled and strode across the room. Grabbing the netting just below where the spider was clinging, he gave it a brisk shake, flapping the net as hard as he could.

The action finally made the spider lose its grip and it was flung to the other side of the room. It immediately skittered up the wall and more importantly, it finally stopped shrieking.

"Oh…oh my God!" Addie gasped, putting a hand to her pounding heart. "Oh, Drago, kill it! Kill it right now!"

"I'll try," he said grimly. "You go back into my room and close the door behind you. Don't come back in here until I call you."

Addie wasted no time in obeying orders. Jumping off the bed, she ran as fast as she could to the open connecting door and rushed inside. Then she pushed it shut and dived into the bed at the center of the room—which was much smaller than the one she'd been sleeping in.

She pulled the covers over her head and buried her face in the pillow—which smelled like Drago's scent—burning Autumn leaves and masculine spice. Breathing it in comforted her and she inhaled deeply, trying to still her racing heart.

From the other room she could hear muffled thumps and bumps and the sound of Drago swearing in a low, angry voice. But she wasn't about to open the door—or even put her head out from under the covers—until he came and told her the horrible silky was dead.

It was taking the big Kindred a surprisingly long time to kill it though. When her heart finally slowed and she was able to breathe more normally, Addie took stock of herself. She was still wearing the black feasting gown—which was fairly stretchy and comfortable. But she also still had on the elaborate necklace Sparki had given her. She fumbled it off in the darkness and set it aside with a sigh of relief. There—that was better.

She felt all right, she decided…except for a throbbing pain in her right, inner thigh. What the hell was that from? Had the spider bitten her while she was asleep? But how could it? It had been outside the netting.

Her mind began to clear and events of the recent past came back to her. She had a vague memory of lying on the cold stone dais in the Room of Sighs and feeling something sharp pinching or biting her thigh. Then a bristly thing had brushed past her fingertips and a black shadow had scuttled into the shadows, too fast for her to see what it was…

Realization dawned on her.

"Oh my God!" she whispered to herself. "It bit me—one of them bit me!"

Could that be the reason for the pain in her thigh? And what about the way she'd acted afterward? Addie couldn't exactly remember what she'd done, but she had an idea she'd embarrassed herself in some way. Also, in addition to her painful thigh, her nipples were throbbing and her pussy felt extremely wet. What was going on with her?

She was still wearing the silky black dress she'd had on during the blood feast and the Choosing Ceremony. Pulling up her skirt, she reached a hand down to touch her inner thigh and winced as her fingertips found a hard little knot, about the size of a dime. So something had bitten her! She needed to get into the bathroom and see how it looked.

A new thought occurred to her. What if the spider that had bitten her was poisonous? Addie had been raised in the Southern US around Black Widows and Brown Recluses. She'd even known an old man who had died from the bite of a Brown Recluse, which made venom that acted like a flesh-eating agent.

Poor old Mr. Dumphry had diabetes and couldn't feel his feet, so he didn't even notice when he was bitten on his big toe. By the time his foot began to swell up and turn black, it was too late. The venom had entered his bloodstream and he had died, being eaten from the inside out by the horrible stuff.

Addie felt a surge of panic at the memory.

Oh my God—what if that's going to happen to me? I have to look at the bite! I have to see what's wrong with me!

She jumped out of bed, ready to run to the grand marble bathroom, which had plenty of mirrors…only to be reminded by a muffled curse that Drago was still trying to kill the huge spider in her bedroom. Well, but surely the servant's room had a bathroom too, right? Obviously the high and mighty person staying in the master suite wouldn't want their servant using their private bathroom.

It was even dimmer in the servant's quarters than it had been in her own bedroom. Addie felt along the wall until she found another door. She reached inside and finally found a flat wall panel which didn't seem to match the rest of the medieval-type palace. When she ran her fingers over it, a light flickered on—not a very bright one, but it was enough for her to see that she was, indeed, in a much smaller bathroom.

Unfortunately, the only mirror she could find was fixed to the stone wall above the tiny sink. There was no way she could detach it no matter how hard she tried.

"Fine, then I'll just look at it without a mirror," Addie muttered to herself. Making sure the lid of the extremely low commode was down, she put her right foot up on it and lifted the long skirt of the black dress out of the way. She tucked the trailing fabric around her waist and then bent down, trying to get a look at her right inner thigh.

But the light was too dim to see any details. It seemed like there was a discolored spot where she felt the hard, dime-sized spot that stung and tingled when she pressed it with her fingertips, but she couldn't see if there were bite marks or not. More importantly, she couldn't tell if there were any dark lines spreading out from the painful spot—the tell-tale sign of blood poisoning.

"What are you doing?" Drago's deep voice startled her so much that Addie almost fell over.

"Oh!" she gasped, looking up to see him looming in the doorway of the small bathroom. "Oh my God, you scared me!"

"What are you doing?" he repeated, nodding down to where she was looking at herself.

Addie suddenly realized the picture she made—she was standing in his bathroom with one foot hiked up and her legs spread, her dress tucked up around her waist, and her bare pussy on display.

"God!" Quickly, she put her foot down and tugged at the hem of the long black dress to cover herself. But the sudden movement caused a wave of pain from her thigh and she let out a muffled groan and stumbled, nearly losing her balance.

"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.

"Good girl," he rumbled, running his big, warm hands up and down the tops of her thighs. "Just relax and let me look, baby. It shouldn't take long."

Addie felt herself melting again when he called her "baby." She wondered if he realized he was doing it or if the nickname had just slipped out. Either way, it soothed her and made her feel close to the big Kindred.

"All right," she whispered. Laying back on the bed, she lifted her skirt and let her thighs drift apart, baring herself for him completely.

Drago leaned forward, looking intently at the bite on her inner thigh.

"Hmm…" he rumbled noncommittally. But Addie thought his voice sounded worried.

"What? What is it?" she demanded, looking down at him anxiously. "I've got blood poisoning, don't I?"

"Well…I do see a bite. And it does have some streaks radiating out from it," Drago admitted.

"Oh my God!" Addie started to panic and sat bolt upright on the bed. "What am I going to do? I don't want to die like poor old Mr. Dumphry!"

"Like who?" Drago asked.

"This old man—he lived in my neighborhood when I was little and he was bitten by a Brown Recluse spider on his toe. Only he had diabetic neuropathy and he couldn't feel it. So then his foot turned black and swelled up and the poison got into his blood and he died!"

It all came out in a rush and then she covered her face with her hands and started to sob.

She wasn't normally the kind to break down into tears, but she'd been young when Mr. Dumphry had died—too young to see what had happened to him. But her mother had dragged her along to the hospital to visit him anyway, no doubt trying to be neighborly.

Addie could still remember the smell of the hospital—the reek of industrial cleaner, bland food, and the horrible stench of rot and impending death coming from Mr. Dumphry. She had stared in horror at the black and swollen leg and foot and the dying face of the old man. It had gone purple and bloated and his eyes were sunken into his skull.

She had always liked Mr. Dumphry before—he gave out the best candy at Halloween and he called her "pretty girl." But he hadn't even looked like himself anymore.

He looked like a monster.

Addie had nightmares about it for years afterward—dreams that Mr. Dumphry was chasing her through the dark streets of their neighborhood, holding a bucket of Halloween candy and dragging his rotten leg behind him. He was calling, "Come here, pretty girl! Come here and get some candy. Sweet treats for a sweet girl!" And no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't get away from him.

Addie always woke up screaming and crying after these terrible, dark dreams and she couldn't go to sleep again unless one of her parents came in to soothe her. They eventually bought her a nightlight, even though her mother said she was too old to need one.

Her father had been extremely angry with her mother for taking her to the hospital in the first place—Addie suspected later that it had figured in their divorce, though of course there were other issues as well.

At any rate, the spider bite just brought all of that back—all the bad dreams and the horrible sight of Mr. Dumphry dying in the hospital. And the thought that his fate might happen to her was too awful to imagine!

"I'd rather be dead! I mean it—I'll shoot myself before I let the poison eat me up!" she cried.

"What are you talking about? You're not going to shoot yourself!" Drago rose to sit beside her on the bed.

"Yes, I will!" Addie said vehemently. "I'm not going to go like old Mr. Dumphry—I'm not!"

"The man who got bitten by an arachnid and died from it?" he asked.

Addie nodded.

"He…his leg turned black and swelled up and his face…his face was almost purple! He looked awful . And then I had dreams about him…about him chasing m-me for years…"

She was starting to cry again—not that she had ever really stopped. The memory was old but still so strong .

"Hey, now baby—don't cry. I won't let that happen to you, I swear I won't." Drago gathered her into his arms and held her close to his broad, bare chest. He rubbed her back soothingly, his big, warm hands caressing her shaking shoulders.

Addie breathed him in—breathed in his warm, spicy scent, and eventually her sobs tapered off.

"How can you stop it, though?" she asked, looking up at him with wet eyes. "You…you said there were already some streaks radiating out from the…from the bite?"

"There are," he said. "But I think I can heal you."

"What? But how? You're not a doctor—are you?" she asked uncertainly.

He shook his head.

"No, but my kind of Drake Kindred is able to heal his Fated Mate."

"Fated Mate?" Addie frowned. "But…I'm not your?—"

"My Fated Mate? Yes, you are." He sounded absolutely certain. "Unfortunately, I can't ever Claim you—because of my Drake. It's too fucking big and destructive. But one thing it can do is help me produce an anti-venom tailored especially by my body to heal yours."

Addie looked at him in astonishment. She was shocked to hear that Drago considered her his "Fated Mate" but even more surprised to hear that he might be able to heal her.

"You can really do that?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes, and I'd better do it soon," he said grimly. "We don't want the poison spreading any further."

"But how are you going to do it?" Addie asked. "Are you going to make the anti-venom and inject me with it or what?"

He shook his head.

"No, I'll just lick you. The anti-venom will be absorbed into your skin. It should neutralize the venom and stop the spread." He frowned. "But I will have to lick you very thoroughly to be sure I get it all. Is that all right with you?"

Addie thought about it…but not very long. Anything was better than dying like old Mr. Dumphry—even the embarrassment of letting her Protector lick her in a very sensitive and private area.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "If you're sure it will help."

"It should—I promise I'll let you know what I see but it should neutralize the spider's poison pretty quickly," Drago promised. He stroked her hair out of her eyes and cupped her cheek. "Can you lay back and let me heal you, baby? Can you do that for me?"

"All right." Addie nodded again. "As long as you don't mind. I mean, it doesn't sound very nice for you—having to lick me there. You know?"

He frowned.

"How can you say that? You're my Fated Mate, Addison—healing you will be my pleasure. It's the closest I can get to you since my Drake is too chaotic to let me Claim you."

She bit her lip. There it was again—he thought of her as his Fated Mate. Just the idea of that made it feel like a flock of butterflies had taken flight inside her stomach.

"Now just lay back and relax." Drago stroked her cheek again and leaned down to press a soft kiss to her forehead. "I'm going to take care of you, baby. I swear I will."

His warm words and tender gestures were so different from his usual gruff and growly demeanor that Addie felt herself melting again.

"Okay," she said softly. "I trust you, Drago."

"Good girl," he rumbled. "Come on, let's get you comfortable. And me too—hand me one of those pillows, will you? I'm probably going to be on my knees for a while if I'm going to neutralize all the venom."

The matter-of-fact way he talked about healing her made Addison feel more comfortable and confident that he knew what he was doing. She handed him a pillow and then lay back on the bed as he had directed.

Drago didn't kneel in front of her at once, however. He surprised Addie by grabbing another pillow and putting it under her head.

"So you can watch me heal you," he said when she raised her eyebrows in a silent question.

"I can't see in the dark like you can," she pointed out.

"No, but you can get a general idea. I don't want you to be nervous, baby—want you to be able to see what I'm doing every step of the way," he told her.

"Okay, thank you." Addison was touched by his thoughtfulness. Her stern and stoic Protector was turning out to be a sweet guy with a heart of gold—who could have guessed?

"Just relax," Drago told her. "And open wide for me, all right?"

"Is…is this wide enough?" Addie asked, spreading her legs. She felt embarrassed all over again because she could feel her pussy opening as her thighs spread. But she told herself that Drago wasn't interested in that area—he only wanted to heal her. Still, she hoped that he wasn't looking—it was so embarrassing .

"A little wider. Here, let me." He parted her thighs gently but firmly, resting the left leg over his broad shoulder as he turned towards her right inner thigh, which was open so far her knee was nearly resting on the bed.

This new position spread her pussy even wider and Addie felt another flush of embarrassment. Oh God, what if her clit was visible? It felt all swollen and she was still wet down there from coming earlier while he sucked her nipples! Would that gross him out? She'd been with a few guys who thought she got too wet—what if Drago thought so too?

No, no—stop thinking that way. Drago is going to heal you and that's all, she told herself sternly.

"Perfect," he rumbled, breaking into her train of thought. He looked up at her, his golden eyes glowing. "I'm going to start licking you now, baby. I'll start at the bite and move outwards and I won't stop until I see the lines are completely faded. Okay?"

"All…all right." Addie's heart had started pounding even harder—not from fear this time, though. She could feel his hot breath against her inner thigh—it stirred the curls on her mound sending a shiver through her.

"Good girl," he growled softly. "All right, just hold still and let me heal you, baby."

Then he started to lick.