Page 51 of A Soul to Steal

“Hey,” Gideon stated softly, attempting to gain his attention without knowing that he already heldallof it. He even reached forwards to grab his forearm from behind. “You can talk to me if it helps.”

Aleron swiftly spun around as his sight finally chose a colour to remain. A sickening white invaded his vision of Gideon, just as the clogging emotion of it wrapped around his throat like a cord.

As Aleron looked down at the little human, his hands tingled and shook with frustration, his stomach dipping with uncertainty. All his muscles clenched in want, and even his wings tightened against his back.

Gideon turned his face to the side as he scratched his head, making his already messy light-brown hair more tangled. “I’m really not trying to confuse you, I promise. Like I said, communication–”

Of its own accord, Aleron’s right hand lunged forward. Before he knew it, he gripped Gideon’s entire jaw with his hand, quietened him, and tugged. He lowered his skull.

His heart burned at the startled expression in the male’s eyes, the way they’d widened. How his lips parted on a shocked gasp.

But right now, he didn’t want to communicate. He didn’t know what to say, how to say it. Every fibre of his essence demanded action in order to appease the nasty creature Gideon had caused to grow within him.

Parting his fangs, he messily licked across Gideon’s lips. That felt good – it feltright.Especially with the way the tiny hairs on his face tickled Aleron’s tongue.

“W-wait,” Gideon rasped, just as Aleron licked across his moving lips this time.

“No. No waiting,” Aleron softly growled.

He told Aleron to initiate. So, here he was, initiating despite not knowing what the fuck he was supposed to be doing!

Yet, his prey backed up – trying to escape, toflee!

Aleron followed, incessantly licking at his mouth, his tonguebeggingto sink inside it like before. Within seconds, Gideon’s back nudged up against the cave wall, which utterly satisfied the predator in him. Now he had nowhere to go, nowhere to run, and Aleron had happily caught his scampering beast.

“I told you to think about it!” Gideon yelled, pushing against his chest.

Aleron grabbed one of his hands and shoved it against the wall to capture it. The only thing keeping him calm was his sweeping tongue, as though it pacified him against the fight in Gideon.

It would be easier if he could truly sense the human. If he smelled of fear, he would have stopped. If his heart was quick with anxiety, he would have pulled away. Instead, he continued in the hope Gideon would eventually accept him. He wanted to lick away his uncertainty and have him melt again like back in the forest.

“Aleron,” Gideon warned, and he noted the serious glare in his piercing green eyes. Their depths struck deeper than normal.

Aleron let out a lung seizing whine, as his sight changed to a deep blue. “You asked me to think, but I have already done so. You asked me to initiate, and yet when I do, you tell me to wait.”

“Because I want to make sure–”

Aleron pulled back to stare down at Gideon, while a bubbling growl of frustration thundered in his throat.

“I am doing what feels right to me!” Aleron roared, causing Gideon to recoil in surprise. “I am following my instincts because I do not know how else to be. And this...” He lickedacross Gideon’s mouth once more, and the roughness of hair and the softness of lips both scraped and soothed his tongue. “This feels good. This is what I want, and I desire to do this with you. I have craved it every second since I last did so.”

As much as Aleron wanted to lean back down, he didn’t. Because, right then, he knew Gideon would be in danger if he was to push away again, and Aleron didn’twantto hurt him. Even if he could heal, Aleron didn’t want to cause pain to the human male before him.

The frustration within him was evolving into desperation. If only he could articulate how he felt, could show it in a way that would make the human understand.

At first, Aleron had humoured the thought of making Gideon his bride simply because he thought it would be entertaining. He’d wondered how Ingram could choose a female over him, why his kindred would come all the way to the afterworld just for her. He wanted to know how he could...leavehim in here, by himself,alone.

He was beginning to understand. He didn’t like how heavy this burden weighed already, and yet he couldn’t stop himself from wanting totry.

Every moment by Gideon’s side changed him.

Somewhere along the way, he had inserted Gideon into his heart. Even though they could never actually share that eternal bond here in Tenebris, and it would always remain a wish no matter how much he hoped for it, Aleron wanted this human. By his side, in his wings, under his tongue, and in his hand.

He wanted the essence of a Mavka bond, even if they couldn’t complete it. If Gideon were to forget him and disappear, he would search every corner for the male and convince him to be his companion once more.

That was what he knew, and all that mattered to him.

However, if all Gideon wanted was his companionship, then Aleron feared what that meant for himself. He didn’t know if he had the strength to be by his side if Gideon didn’t return his affection. It already hurt. Would that pain grow into an agonising wound if he gave up and just mindlessly wandered with him?

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