TheWaterDragon Read Online Free Page B

said it would take no small amount of effort to convince her that he wasn’t the swine that she proclaimed. Adrian vowed to do his best to change for her. He closed his eyes and prayed that he could convince her that he was worth the effort.
    “Can I help you?” a woman dressed in strange, blue clothing asked.
    “We’re here to see Emily Appleton, please,” Adrian replied before Summer had a chance to voice their request. He noticed that a fresh bout of tears usually followed her voicing the name.
    “She’s been asking for us.”
    So much for avoiding more tears. Adrian held back a sigh. It wasn’t that the tears annoyed him. He didn’t want his mate to suffer the pain he knew accompanied them. That he was the cause of her tears earlier had nearly brought him to his knees. Nothing had prepared him for the pain he would feel at seeing his mate sobbing the way she had in the car on the way to the hospital.
    Their hands bumped together as they walked down the sterile hallway that smelled of some strange chemical substance. He nearly stopped in his tracks when her fingers tangled with his and she held on tight. It was as though tiny strings wrapped around his heart, tying him to her in some mystical way.
    Heat raced up his arm and the overwhelming feeling of rectitude filled him. This was right. She was right for him. After eons of awaiting his mate, he had finally found her. His only worry was that after this, she would want him to let her go. Though he said he would earlier, Adrian wasn’t sure he could release her now. Somehow, in such a short time, she had wrapped herself around his heart and he was not prepared to let her go.
    The strangely dressed female led them into a small room where an old woman lay flat on the bed, looking up at the television mounted on the wall. Her sharp blue eyes seemed to miss nothing as she stared at the screen. Summer stopped in the doorway, brought her hand to her mouth, and sobbed. “Emily.”
    The woman turned her gaze their way and smiled. “There you are. I wondered how long it would take for you to come see your old friend.” She looked past Summer to Adrian and gave him an assessing look. “Who is your friend, love?”
    Summer pulled him with her as she approached the bed to give the woman a one-armed hug. “This is Adrian Antaeus, Emily.”
    “I don’t suppose she’s told you a thing about me, has she?” the woman asked shrewdly.
    “Of course I haven’t. I just met the man today.”
    “Yet, he’s here with you at your time of need when I would guess that your tears unnerve him.” Emily smiled. “I would snatch him up and hide him from your sisters if I were you.”
    “He’s already met my sisters.”
    “Oh.” Emily sniffed, then looked at Adrian. “If you don’t snap up this Flowers girl as fast as you can, I’ll call you seven times a fool, sir.”
    “I intend to, madam.” It finally dawned on him why Summer wanted him to come with her when he intended to stay in the car. If this dear old woman’s time came, Summer wanted her to leave at peace, thinking her friend had a husband to care for her. Little did she know that such had been his intention all along.
    “Hand me that bag over there, would you, please, young man?”
    Adrian smiled and did her bidding, though he was tempted to tell Emily that she was a young woman compared to him.
    “Thank you,” she said when he handed her the large cloth bag. Reaching inside, she pulled out something made of twine—no, they called it yarn now. Whatever it was, it was the exact shade of his dragon when he shifted. “These are for you. I made them several years ago and I was just waiting for you to enter my Summer’s life.”
    Taking his hand in hers, she placed it over Summer’s delicate fingers. “You belong together.” She smiled. “You can’t disappoint an old woman now, can you?” She winked up at him.
    How did she know they belonged together? How could this woman be so certain unless she, too, was