Page 34 of A Soul to Embrace

So why hadn’t he had that conversation with her? Why was he... putting off asking her to join him in his conquest?

As his eyes landed on her teal orbs and rabbit skull, he still didn’t know the answer to his hesitation.

Could it be... that I’m worried she’ll reject it?

Or was it deeper than that?

Zylah walked beside a cloak-covered Jabez more closely than usual. With the sun gone after their earlier hunt and adventuring throughout the day, he’d propped back his hood to reveal his face.

He smells really nice.

Zylah kept trying to get closer so she could sniff him while his scent was freshly coming off his skin.

He didn’t talk much except for when he was explaining something to her, but she liked the sound of his deep voice and the way it wrapped around her mind. It lulled her. She often squirmed when she realised she’d stopped listening to his words, too distracted by the way listening made her feel all warm inside.

Her heart would quicken at random and odd times whenever she looked at him.

He is abeautifulmale,she thought fondly, as she took in his features.

The silvery tips of his eyelashes framed his red eyes and made them pretty. Zylah wanted to caress the curled strands to discover if they were as soft and delicate as a moth’s wings likethey appeared. She had an abject fascination with his pointed ears whenever they twitched with alertness or drooped, and with how the bridge of his straight nose would crinkle when annoyed or disgusted about something.

His gaze was always heavy, and she often found herself shying away from its cold weight. Yet, when she took in his sleeping face at dawn, she found it alluring and handsome.

She needed to suppress the desire to pet his strong brow, cheeks, or jaw when they appeared softer in expression.

She liked when he looked at peace, as if his troubled gaze told stories she couldn’t fathom. She also preferred to glue her sight upon him when he was looking away from her, so she was free to dwell on the way it made something light and fluffy sprout in her chest.

There was a cunning glint to his eyes as he led her through the dark forest beyond the mountain. The moonlight shone upon his brown skin and the inhuman, grey undertone that was always present in it, highlighting the straight line of his nose, his full lips, and white eyebrows. It glinted upon his black segmented horns that tapered back over his long, straight hair, and the golden jewellery hanging from his earlobes, as well as the hard bangles around one biceps and ankle – the limbs that hadn’t been missing when she first met him.

Despite the gentleness he displayed with her, she knew this creature to be ruthless in nature. How he had led her to the humans to devour... How he saw no issue with death... Even how nothing seemed to truly anger him. She knew these things meant there was a dark cavern within him.

There was very little warmth to be found if one only looked at the surface of his expressions, but Zylah was watchful and observant of her companion. She instinctively felt there was more.

She longed to know why he was shielding it.

When his red eyes slipped to her, she subtly brought her snout forward to hide her stare. He was incredibly watchful too, and he was exceptionally wary.

Zylah didn’t know if that wariness was due to her, or if this was just how he was with the world. He was difficult to get close to, like he preferred an arm’s length of distance from any creature.

But he said it is okay if I sleep next to him.Once more, like it did at noon when they woke, her heart squeezed in tenderness.

She’d been so nervous about being discovered that she often slept light. She quickly moved if she sensed he may be waking, especially as his heart rate always seemed to... accelerate from his dreams.

Zylah had taken his approval with giddiness and a boost of confidence.He likes me near him.That was how she took it, and it allowed her to shed some of her anxiety.

Zylah had been struggling to let go of her worries around him. Although his little huffs and growls had been constant in the beginning, they’d diminished in the month they’d relocated. She also knew her anxiety was due to her inability to communicate properly, which had waned with every day, everyhour, that she added to her vocabulary.

Her chitters of unease and bashfulness were also becoming less frequent. It helped that Jabez never belittled Zylah for her faults, although he was direct in correcting her for her benefit. At first, she’d hated it, as he obviously knew what she’d been insinuating, but she was now thankful for the direction.

Which meant she now felt ready.

There was much she longed to know about the world and her place in it. She ached to know what lay beneath the frost of his exterior.

Jabez led them to a decently sized river. He drank from it, as she knew he would, before he blatantly stripped to bathe. Zylah,now knowing that he preferred to be clean, did so as well so she could be more... attractive to him. If she cleaned and neatened her fur, she hoped he would allow her even closer.

She found herself wanting to touch in strange ways. She wanted to caress his cheek or pulsating jugular. She longed to know if his big chest was as soft as it appeared, or if his muscled abdomen was firm. What did his skin feel like? Was it as warm and smooth as she vaguely remembered upon healing him?

Zylah wanted to... hold him. She wanted to sniff him directly on his skin.

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