Page 98 of I'm Not Your Pet

I snorted, shocked by the sound as I slapped a hand over my mouth. Apparently translators didn’t understand slang.

“I can imagine! I mean…you never wear clothing up top—I assume because your skin needs access to the air to be able to function properly. Two layers must feel like a lot.” I chewed my lip, buzzing with excitement as the threat of tears faded.

Get back on track, Hugo.

“Seriously,though.”

The look Roark gave me made me tingle, like he thought I was clever—and like he was…god, like he waspleasedthat I understood him. Once again, he was seeing me—in a way that no one else ever had.

“The word ‘hot’ on Earth can sometimes be used as slang for ‘attractive’,” I tried to explain.

“Ah,” Roark’s nodded.

Breathless and flushed, I croaked, “When I said that what I meant was that you’re sexy.Reallysexy.”Stop acting so weird! This is just Roark.

“I see,” Roark’s voice was gravelly soft.

His eyes bled from blue to hungry black.

I shivered.

The glance we shared was multi-layered. Hot as a dry summer day, withlongingsimmering underneath the heat. Roark’s nostrils flared. He shook his head, the black arousal that had swum over his eyes fading back to pale blue.

Centering himself, like a switch had flipped—my beast became a gentleman once again.

“I have something for you,” Roark managed. He reached inside the bag he carried for the second time that night.What else had he brought?He’d given me more gifts in the last week than I’d had in my entire life.

My eyes widened when he pulled the object free.

It was a bouquet. A lovely collection of colorful foreign flowers. They were strange-looking, and I was pretty sure they had teeth—but…Ilovedthem for their oddity. They were perfect. Interesting in a way red roses never could be.

No one had ever given me flowers before.

“T-Thank you,” I took the bundle gingerly in my arms, startled when one of the blossoms snapped at me. It narrowly missed taking a chunk out of my bare shoulder. Before I could react, Roark snatched the bouquet right out of my hands. His eyes were wide with alarm as he looked down at the flowers like they’d personally betrayed him.

Which, I mean, I guess they had.

“They are carnivorous,” he choked out, horrified—like he hadn’t realized. “Apologies, little one.” And then he quite literally chucked the entire bouquet across the room—as far away from me as possible.

I doubled over, snort-laughing.God, he was cute.

“I can’t believe you justthrewthem like that,” I blurted out between giggles.

Roark stared at me, spots a vibrant fuchsia. “I am so sorry?—”

“Roark,” I cupped his face in my palms, amazed by the way he immediately settled. “I love them.”

“They tried tobiteyou.”

“They did,” I agreed, his giant teeth only centimeters from my face. “But I love them, still.” I gave his head a little shake, smooching his snout with a happy hum.

“Oh,” Roark’s spots lightened to pink again as his eyes fluttered shut. He made a soft sound like a content cat. “Next time I will do better.”

“Why didn’t they bite you?” I asked, curious as ever.

Roark blinked. “My coloring,” his spots shifted a variety of colors so fast I couldn’t keep track. “They must think I’m poisonous. It didn’t occur to me until now.”

That made sense.

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