Page 106 of I'm Not Your Pet

“What about you?”

My brow furrowed. I made a questioning noise and he clarified. “You just explained why you accompanied them, but not why you went inside.” Huu-goh’s eyes filled with mischief. “Doyoulike to look, Roark?”

His cheeks were still flushed and the color was so pretty I wanted to taste it.

So I did.

Huu-goh giggled, his nose scrunching up delightfully all over again as my tongue slipped back inside my mouth, freedom dancing across my tastebuds. I loved that face. I loved all his faces, but that one was my favorite.

“I don’t,” I admitted honestly. He stiffened a little and I was quick to soothe. “Or at least. I hadn’t. Not until…I saw you.”

“Oh.” Huu-goh’s cheeks pinked again. “In the window?”

I had mentioned that, hadn’t I?

It’d been a slip of the tongue, but one I was glad for now.

Huu-goh cleared his throat, obviously embarrassed but pleased. He poked my list and I nodded, looking at the next item, prepared to read it off. “And…what about…the other part?” His voice got endearingly squeaky. “The sex thing. The touching. You said Sahrks only touch their mates.”

“That is correct,” I agreed.

“So is that what I am then?” Huu-goh asked, voice soft. “Your…mate?”

I’d had no doubt of my own intentions since the day Huu-goh had expressed his interest in mating with me.

“Yes. I am committed to you,” I needed him to know that. “I said no when we met because I did not know you. Mating is…personal. It is not something I had interest in before I met you. Sahrks mate for life.”

“Oh,” Huu-goh’s voice trembled.

“You proposed and I was shocked,” I admitted. The huu-man’s eyes widened, like it was only now that he was realizing the way his actions had been interpreted.

“Oh shit,” Huu-goh gasped out.

“I didn’t know if you’d meant what you’d done,” I added—now certain that he hadn’t. Did that mean…did that mean he hadn’t later either? That day when he’d gotten angry with me? The day that had changed my life irrevocably for the better?

The spots on my head must’ve betrayed my panic, because Huu-goh was quick to soothe. Intelligent enough he’d already figured out most colors.

“Roark,” he said softly, cupping my cheek. “I would propose again in a heartbeat, this time knowingly.”

Melting, I nodded, bumping my snout against his hair and sucking in his sweet smell.

“When we had sex for the first time, you didn’t intend for it to be serious?” I asked, terrified of his answer.

“I thought I was your pet,” Huu-goh countered.

“My…pet?” The thought was so absurd it made me laugh. But then I recalled the leash. And the way I’d kept him close—controlling his every move, and I sobered. “I am sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“In trying to keep you safe I left a terrible impression,” I admitted, and it was the truth. “I didn’t think you were incapable,” I hurried to add, in case he thought I did not see him as my equal when I did. “I have never thought of you asanything but my equal. My respect for you has no bounds. You have to understand that I have seen things…horrible things. And because of that, sometimes it is difficult for me to trust the world around me. It was not about you.”

“I’m glad you did,” Huu-goh admitted. “I’ll admit, it sucked because I didn’t understand what was happening. But…I think you were right to be worried I’d get into trouble. I mean—after that time in the hallway when I hit the switch I realized how easy it would’ve been for me to accidentally fuck something up. I was lucky that time was simply the light.”

I was ashamed as that day came back to me. The way I’d reacted. The way Huu-goh had to comfort me.

“I am sorry for the way I treated you,” I said.

Huu-goh shook his head, “I’m not.” I frowned, and he continued. “You let me comfort you. It was…nice.” He didn’t ask me why I’d reacted the way I had. And maybe that was why, despite never speaking of this—not once since it had happened—I opened up.

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