Page 219 of A Soul to Embrace

A dark-navy, metallic singlet covered his torso. The straps of it were wide and rested over the rounded joints of his shoulders, and always left his arms free for her to drool over. The neckline was a thick collar around his throat, and the front of it crossed over to his left hip, where it was tied. Light-purple harem pants were tied up around his knees, and the loose material fluttered around his legs.

He wore nothing else, and the gold bangles that had been around his left ankle and right biceps had been removed when he entered the city. He said something about starting over new, and he no longer wanted to wear those self-appointed achievements.

His hair had also changed since their arrival. In order to balance it, he’d gone out of his way to shave the other side around his ears. He often tied the top half of his hair into a loose bun in order to stop it from slipping in front of his eyes, and she liked that it meant his handsome face was always clear to see.

As soon as Zylah sat down, she bounced forward on the plush seat when she saw what lay on the table. “Is that my bag?” she asked, reaching for it.

“I convinced Merikh to let me go to the inner sanctum of the library to obtain it.”

“Convinced or forced?” she muttered, before opening it, doubting he’d actually given Merikh a choice. Her sight immediately shifted to bright yellow as she kicked her feet. “My book from Rook is still here and so is my dress from Goldie!”

She opened the book and her heart nearly wept in joy. She thought she’d lost this forever, and she hadn’t even managed to read it yet. It was one of her most prized possessions, and she hadn’t really had any.

She looked up at him while hugging everything to her chest. “Thank you, Jabez. I appreciate this very much.”

Her gaze flicked to the stacks of books he’d obtained for her already, but she knew she had to return those. The few books in this bag were all hers to keep.

A small smile curled his lips. “I thought you might.”

Then he dug into one of his pants pockets and pulled out a pouch. Considering the last one had held a translation mana stone, she was giddy to learn what was inside it. When he held his fist out, Zylah offered her palm so he could drop two bands onto it.

Both golden and thick, the bands were open as if they were designed to be fitted around something. On both, two little gems – one red and the other teal – dangled from them on a short chain.

Jabez sat down next to her and revealed two others that looked similar but were also different. In his hand, four golden bands with a long chain linking two together gleamed in the bright mana-stone-powered light above. On rings, a teal gem was connected to the bottom of a red one.

“What are they?” she asked, brushing them with her fingertips of her free hand.

He placed the ones he’d been holding on the table, stood, and took the ones from her palms.

“Demons have their own way of forming bonds with the mates they choose. Since most of us have horns, we tend to fit the bands to them, although those without them will pierce their ears instead,” he answered, as he fitted them to the singular forks on each of her antlers. “Since Demons can be polyamorous, wearing one on only one horn informs everyone that the bond is open and allows others to join it, while wearing two means it’s closed. It’s how we silently communicate we’re taken, and the level of it.”

He took the ones he’d been holding and fit them to his own horns. One thick band was clasped and bent halfway down, while the second sat closer to the tapered points of his horns. The long chain connecting them allowed the joined gems to glitter and shift freely between the two bands. He applied one to his right horn, and then the left.

“I have no interest in anyone else, and I know Mavka are possessive creatures.” His smile brightened at her pink orbs and the way the bottoms of them wavered. “Although that’s not why I got them. I doubt the Elysians do this, so most of the population likely won’t understand this custom. It’s mainly because it makes me feel better, and like we have done this properly inbothour customs.”

Zylah leapt to her feet to wrap her arms around his shoulders and hug him tightly. He returned her embrace by enclosing her waist and burying his nose into the fur of her neck.

“Now, are you going to show me what you bought or leave me in suspense? I’m curious, since I never know what to expect with you.”

She knew that was his way of evading any kind of conversation that was too heavy or emotional. She didn’t mind that he avoided things like this when he was open in the ways that mattered.

“Wait here,” she said, grabbing the thin bag she’d been given to carry her shopping.

Taking it to the empty private room so she could change her clothing, she removed the light-purple dress she’d been wearing and donned her new purchase.I’m really glad I have my dress from Goldie’s. They don’t have anything like that here.Most of the Elysian clothing was loose and flowy.

Zylah stepped out while patting down the skirt of the dress she’d bought today. She’d been thrilled that it fit, and the design allowed for her to tighten it to her body, rather than being loose around the waist and chest.

Jabez had moved and now sat on the edge of the bed. He liked sitting there, and she often found him lying back on the mattress like he wanted to be lazy. She noticed a coil of strange rope beside him.

His crimson eyes drifted down her body as she walked over and then came back up when she was right before him.

“I was drawn to the colour,” Zylah admitted.

“It’s similar to the colour of your orbs,” he answered as he looked over the teal dress.

Then his hands came up to touch her bare hips and outer thighs, since the split in it nearly made it to the bottom of her ribcage.

A thick collar sat around her throat, but the ties at the back of it meant her plush fur didn’t get in the way. There was a diamond-shaped chest window that allowed her to show cleavage, and the bottom point met her waist. At the same point, the sides of the dress opened up, while the back and front tapered before turning into triangular points that came to her knees.

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