Page 129 of A Soul to Embrace

Even his arms shook with anger, his fingers curled like he wanted to stiffen them for a debilitating claw strike.

Fayren did inform her, in front of him no less, that he had a horrible temper. He also admitted to it. After how badly he’d upset her, she refused to feel shame in using that knowledge against him to get what she wanted.

She wanted him angry, and therefore irrational.

Zylah let out a bitter laugh, her head lowering while she curled her left hand into a fist. “What is worse than what you have told me? You already admitted to wanting to destroy my kind, to wanting to use me like I’m nothing but a... a bloodthirstymonster. I thought at leastyou,of all creatures, would not think that way about me.”

The charge in the air became more chaotic, to the point her fur lifted in alert, warning her of imminent danger.

“You said you didn’t lie–”

“I already told you I didn’t,” he snarled, his eyes sharpening.

“But all you have done is lie. In your actions, your kindness, in everything you’ve done for me, it was all just to manipulate me. Nothing was genuine!”

“Zylah,” he warned.

“You’re either a coward who cannot admit the truth, or you think so little of me that you believe I cannot handle it!”

The ground cracked a little more before he stomped his foot forward in anger.

“I wouldn’t have shoved my head between a female’s thighs for manipulation, but because I wanted to know what she fucking tasted like!Thatshows how little you know of me.”

Goosebumps erupted across her flesh in a sudden wave at his unexpected admission, causing her fur to puff with the most confusing and alarming arousal.

Trying not to let her heart stutter, she shouted, “Because you refused to tell me anything!”

“Because I care about you, you silly female! Why do you think I stayed by your side when I realised obtaining your help was fucking pointless? I knew it when I told you ‘the king of Demons’ shared how to kill your kind, and yet I didn’t know how to admit the truth to you because I didn’t want to.And I have been questioning every action I have taken since then.”

“That was weeks ago,” Zylah stated, shaking her head.

“Exactly. But a part of me didn’t want to leave, and yet I knew the moment I told you the truth, that would be the end. Fuck’s sake, Zylah. Do you think I would just take anyone through Spiral Haven for fun? I only did it because I wanted to bring you joy, when it gained me nothing. I risked my own discovery todo so, knowing my magic use was making me sick. I didn’tfaintsimply because I was tired.”

“You didn’t have to do that for me,” she tried to shout, only for it to come out softer than she intended as guilt weighed on her.

She hadn’t known it was making himsick.

“No, but I did it because I wanted to.” He covered his face just as the sparks of magic in the air began to dissipate. “I don’t know why I feel this way about you. In all regards, it makes little sense. What I’ve done to your kind should have been enough of a barrier for me, yet I find you attractive all the same. Like I said, entangling affection into manipulation is idiotic, especially when it comes tomyown.Yet, no matter how much I told myself I should reveal everything to you and leave, I found you alluring to the point I justcouldn’t.”

He finds me alluring?Zylah thought, her head rearing back in surprise. Her stomach betrayed her by fluttering in joy.

“You want the ugly truth so bad? Fine.” He lowered his hand so his gaze bore into hers unwaveringly. “How I feel changes nothing. It doesn’t fix what I’ve done, or how I’ve wronged you and the rest of your kind. It doesn’t matter that I find your beauty otherworldly, or that I think your personality is charming. Or that every time I look at that cute little tail of yours, it drives me fucking insane to the point I want nothing more than to shove my cock in you until I hear you scream.”

Despite the horrible emotions swirling in her chest, her sight flickered purple against her will.Thatwas not what she had been expecting him to say, and her pussy immediately clenched in reaction, the image compelling and wild.

Noting the flicker of desire in her orbs, his eyes crinkled in... anguish? She wished she could properly decipher it.

“And whatever it is you feel for me is irrelevant. I’m a very broken man who is incapable of feeling anything truly deep. I’velived my life purposely guaranteeing no one can get close to me. Asking for anything more is a foolproof path to disaster.”

Zylah cupped her hands to her chest to fidget with them. “But maybe I can...”

“Do what? Change me? Fix me? I’ve worn my flaws as a shield from the moment I left Nyl’theria. It is what has kept me alive, and no one has managed to change me in over three hundred years.”

“But maybe I could be different,” Zylah whispered, gripping her left biceps.

“Youaredifferent,” he admitted, making hope flare in her chest.

If what he said was true... then the past few weeks, the only ones that truly mattered, were genuine, and her feelings didn’t need to change. She wanted to hold onto him, to the way she felt about him. It touched her to know he wanted her, desired her, found her beautiful, alluring, and cute. He’d never said remotely anything like that to her before, and it instantly made tenderness spread throughout her chest.