Page 85 of A Soul to Embrace

He pulled his shoulders back and straightened to his full height. “I’ll complete this task on my own. Then I will find you and return you to your burrow.”

“But you don’t like my burrow.”

“Exactly. I wouldn’t be entering it with you. I’ll just be ensuring that you’re somewhere safer before I leave...permanently.”

Zylah chittered when her heart stung, and the blue in her sight deepened and reflected the depth of her sadness. The bottoms of her orbs wavered, and she tried to stop them from shattering into tears.

Despite her earlier thoughts, suddenly the idea of being permanently separated from him stung her.

As he stared at her skull, and likely the changes within her, his features twitched with a strange emotion. His expression hardened into stone seconds later.

“Make your decision.”

For the first time since he’d lost his magical capabilities, Jabez was thankful for their absence.

The rage, frustration, and hostility that skittered beneath the surface was unremorseful and chaotic. Being forced into acorner like a weak prey animal was not who he was, and he wouldn’t react submissively or out of fear. He was known for biting and snarling to get his way, no matter if the opposition was kind and undeserving of his beastly nature.

At least he could do no more than use his words to threaten and, unfortunately, fight manipulation with more manipulation. That, or just walk away without care, which he wasn’t inclined to do. Had he retained his ability to teleport... things may have gone differently.

As he’d told Zylah, he’d brought her to the middle of this cesspool of Demons, and he’d safely take her from it. Which meant she had to accompany him, despite that currently being the opposite of what he desired.

Fayren is right. I care for her more than I thought.More than he wanted.

Enough to not wash his hands of her the moment she’d walked into the forest like a high-handed female trying to get her way – although he did believe that wasn’t a show just to needle him. He knew Zylah enough to understand she truly thought she was capable on her own.

She probably was, but he just couldn’t shed this nagging in the back of his mind. He’d taken this female under his protection, and like Katerina, he felt the need to see it through, regardless of the fact that it wouldn’t always be in his best interest.

But what he truly needed right now was fucking space. He needed to piece his thoughts together to figure out what the hell he was doing, and why.

Fayren saw right through me.Perhaps even better than he usually saw himself.

He’d brought Zylah to a female to teach her of her gender, of sex, and her heat, because he’d been uncomfortable. The question was: why had he been uncomfortable about it?

Like with Merikh, it should have made him chuckle to see her squirm with embarrassment. Understanding this topic was important, and the fact that he had much experience regarding it made him rather desensitised to how awkward it could be.

Watching Merikh fidget with bright reddish-pink orbs had been the highlight of Jabez’s life for many years. The big idiot Mavka – because he’d lacked much humanity at the time – could barely look at him afterwards without flaring that colour. And fuck...teachinghim about a cock and where to stick it, going so far as to give him a physical demonstration with a Demon female, had been humorous to him.

It’d also finally shown Jabez what the colour of desire was.

Poor Merikh. The memory of him, both aroused by what he was seeing and obviously blushing, often made Jabez chuckle. The female had been a naughty one – the idea of having a spectator had aroused her – and Merikh had consented to being shown, so there was no reason to feel guilt regarding it.

However, when it came to teaching this topic to Zylah, it’d left a sour taste in his mouth. The conversation on the fence with Fayren had made it blatantly obvious as to why, and he’d need to dive into his past to figure out what it was that was bothering him about it.

I’m attracted to her.He’d just been ignoring it. Although physical attraction was usually enough for him to fuck a female in the past, he could have easily restrained with Zylah due to what she was and what had transpired between him and her kin.

Which meant there was more lurking beneath the surface – tender emotions he hadn’t even realised he’d begun harbouring until now.

The more she came out of her shell and became her own person, flashing him hints of her cute nature, or her interest in books, or even kindness, made it harder to deny. He’d made hera freaking dress, for pity’s sake, when she had fur that should have been enough coverage for his mind.

But she was innocent, in every sense, and being the one to teach her about life meant he’d been placed in a position of power. Had he turned that platonic knowledge into something much more devious, like sex, then he would have abused that power.

Someone else had to teach her because, in the back of his mind, he knew he was not infallible. Utilising her ignorance to touch with pleasure in mind would have made it no better than what Katerina had done to Orpheus, or vice versa.

And, with each growing day, that worry had been eating him until it exploded during the night he’d spent with Zylah in heat. He hadn’t been able to ignore it then, not when his engorged cock had been nestled between them and he’d been quaking with need. The entire evening had required intense restraint on his part, especially as she tried to grind on every part of him she could.

Jabez had almost done so in return when his cock had been throbbing so hard it hurt and had been close to bursting.

The longer it went on, the longer he tried to deny it, the higher the likelihood he’d make a mistake. At some point, all his pent-up lust and confusing feelings would get the better of him if she gave a strong enough indication that she wanted him.

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