Page 79 of Sun Elves of Ardani

She didn’t answer at first, wrestling with a few conflicting emotions.

Hewas the one who wasn’t ready, she realized. It hadn’t occurred to her that that could happen.

He’d been hurt earlier because he’d been afraid she was assuming things about his sex life and preferences based on his race. He didn’t sleep around the way she’d assumed he did. Perhaps that level of intimacy frightened him, despite how much he flirted with her.

“No. I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do,” she said. “But will you stay here with me a while longer?”

Strangely, he almost looked amused. “Yes. Of course.”

“What’s funny?”

He shook his head. “People don’t often want me to stay. Usually they’d prefer I leave, I think. I have that effect on people.”

He’d tried to make it sound like a joke, but something about the way he said it made Kadaki wonder if he was talking about more than just sex, and her heart hurt for him.

He folded an arm under his head, lying on his side so he could look at her. Something about the pose made him look very young, like a lovestruck teen.

She bit her lip to keep her grin in check. “I thought you were frightening when you first arrived here,” she confessed.

He paused, then said, “I am frightening.”

“No you’re not. You’re cute.”

He made an affronted sound. “Kittens are cute.Iam imposing. I command respect. My presence fills a room.”

“I know what you’re really like.”

There was a softness to him that he never showed to anyone but her. To the rest of the world, he was the imposing, unkind figure he wanted to be. But he had depths that he kept carefully hidden: selflessness, gentleness, and self-doubt, that he could not let anyone see for fear that those qualities would be used against him. They were her favorite parts of him, and she felt honored that he let her close enough to see them.

She inched closer to him, seeking his heat in the cool air. He draped a hand over her hip. She had not felt this close to anyone since he’d left. It felt… wonderful. Being with him made her feel like she couldn’t breathe, like she was on fire, like she was alive for the first time in her life. It felt right. It felt like she’d finally found something she’d never known she’d been missing.

“I’m sorry I left you alone,” Neiryn said quietly. Kadaki looked up at him. He cringed a little. “I’m… sorry about the note.”

“It was a cowardly thing to do.”

“I know.”

Her voice grew gentle and regretful rather than angry. “You shouldn’t have gone.”

He took a breath and looked away, uncertain. “May I be honest?” he asked. “There was… another reason I left.”

She stilled. “What do you mean?”

“I didn’t know you were only nineteen.”

She bristled. “So?”

“I was not overly familiar with the human aging process. So I thought I should ask another human for guidance. I asked Novikke if she thought you were too young for me, and she said yes.”

Kadaki sat up, her jaw dropping in anger.“Novikketold you to leave?”

“She didn’t tell me to leave. I asked for her honest opinion, and she gave it.”

“That’s ridiculous. If either of us is the real adult here, it’s me.”

He put on a hurt face. “You don’t have to insult me.”

“It’s not an insult if it’s true.”

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