Page 138 of A Soul to Embrace

Every twitch of muscle, every breath from her, was read by his body touching hers. Her fur tickled his brows, cheeks, and lips, but it was so silky he didn’t mind. Not even his squished nose against her sternum bothered him, although his dipped head did help in that regard.

For a moment, he wondered what it’d feel like to sleep next to someone like this. He’d had many restless, listless mornings, his mind refusing to be at peace over the many years he’d suffered.

Even now, he should be alert in her hold. He was in a very vulnerable position, with a creature who meant death everywhere she went. She could shove her claws through his back and into his heart without him ever seeing it coming.

He’d be dead within seconds.

He’d deserve it too.

He’d never let anyone trap him this way before.

Yet, it felt remarkably...safe. Like he could close his eyes and bask in her womanly curves, her scent, her warmth.

His brain was going numb to the point his damn ears were drooping. He felt no fear, no worry, and not a single fibre of him was alert. Instead he had to stifle the urge to nuzzle deeper into her chest in contentment.

That was until she sniffed around the right side of his head, and his fucking ear sprung up when her breath cascaded over it. It sent a shock throughout his entire body to the point even his groin tightened. The longer she did it, the more a tremor ran down his spine, causing his nape to prickle in goosebumps.

“You smell like Fayren,” she croaked, her voice languid and sultry from crying. That same tone could easily be mistaken for someone who had cried out in lust rather than sadness, and it made his eardrums tingle.

Her orbs deepened in their teal colour, like a mixture of possessiveness and sorrow struck her at learning he’d been in another’s company.

“I visited her,” he muttered, not letting go since she hadn’t.

Twice he’d visited that pesky fox Demon while he’d been parted from Zylah: firstly to rest, then after his conversation with Lindiwe. He’d been hoping she’d talk himoutof coming to Zylah, and instead she further convinced him to return.

He’d said goodbye to her, explained that he likely wouldn’t be returning and why. She’d hugged him tearfully while he offered the little old lady a sympathetic head pat. Then she’d asked where Zylah was and berated him about her absence, somehow knowing it was his fault.

He left before she’d finished nagging him...

And pouted in the forest like a dickhead.

He’d never taken the easy path, and him being here now was further proof of that.

She continued to sniff around his head, and it was only after her next words that he understood she wasn’t seeking to find where else Fayren’s scent clung to him. No, she was searching for his, wanting to be enveloped in it – if her attempt to bury beneath his hair was any indication.

“I missed you,” she whispered, brushing her snout against him. “Please don’t leave me again.”

His closed eyes clenched tightly as a groan of dismay nearly crawled up his throat. They opened, just so he could stare at nothing.

I shouldn’t have said anything,he thought with deep regret.

Had he done what he’d been attempting, and wisely stuck to making her hate him on his exit, this wouldn’t be happening. He wouldn’t have returned, and she wouldn’t be saying something so sweet.

She’d never had the confidence to cling to him like this before, and it was all because he’d given her something she’d lacked. The opening to be more tender with him in the knowledge that he’d likely accept it. Like he’d said in the underground pocket of earth where he’d collected the mana stone – why hide it anymore?

Without ever knowing it, she’d been chipping away at his hard exterior. His defence against her had been growing more pliable with every minute he spent with her, bending and shifting over the past few weeks.

Had he not blurted out his attraction to her like an idiot, he could have leaned on that secrecy. He could have feigned disinterest, like he had been. He could pretend to do so now, but she was smart and would likely see right through him.

Those mesmerising teal orbs of hers were surprisingly insightful.

Worse still, the fact that she’d been on the forefront of his mind the entire time he was gone meant only one thing: he’d missed her too.

Fuck, he hadnotwanted to come to that realisation right now.

He wished she would let go, as if she hadn’t been waiting eons to embrace him.I came here for a reason.But his mouth was apparently glued shut against his protest.

He did loosen his arms and let them droop a little, hoping that doing so would eventually make her let go.

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