Page 121 of To Trap a Soul

And his desire to do so had only strengthened over the past few days.

His mist collected tighter around him, as the oily solid parts of him moved a little faster around his body. Nervousness skittered along the edges of his being; he was unsure how to instigate such an interaction.

He knew now, more than ever, that he must be determined. Her response to Jabeziryth’s personal questions proved there was a missing link between them, one that may be paramount for a matehood. One he’d never considered until she brought such a need up.

She wasn’t making it easy with her closed-off body language.

Should I ask?That felt disingenuous.Don’t human men usually do this from a strike of passion?He didn’t know how to emulate such behaviour when he lacked the emotion necessary.

In the memories he’d looked into, usually the woman helped to instigate intimacy. With Lindiwe’s arms folded and her body slightly turned from him, Weldir felt out of depth within the ocean of his own darkness.

It was a strange feeling, really, as he was always calm and in control here.

“Lindiwe...” Weldir started, before his words lost him in his uncertainty.

“Yes. Yes, okay,” she snapped out.

Then she unclipped her raven cloak and began to fumble with the ties of her trousers with agitated movements. She was preparing herself, as she usually did, without giving him a chance to say more.

Rather than shunting himself forward through the darkness, Weldir reached his clawed hand forward and yanked her to him. Her gasp of surprise echoed throughout his realm, and her hair floated and waved as she was brought right to him with barely a few centimetres parting them.

“Do you ever soothe?” he asked with an exaggerated, false sigh.

With eyes wide in puzzlement, and her hands waving backwards in an attempt to put space between them he didn’t allow, she rasped, “Excuse me?”

“What I mean to say is:howdoes one soothe you?”

“Well, I don’t know,” she grumbled, her bottom lip doing that cute pouty thing. “I don’t think I’m all that difficult, if I’m being honest.”

“So it’s only me who irks you?” His tone was deflated, and he wished his question didn’t ring with so much truth.

Her eyes slitted into little cute glares, and she bore them right into his gaze. “People usually listen.”

“I listen,” he rebuffed.

It was all he could do. That, and witness.

She rolled her doe-brown eyes, giving up on swimming backwards when it was pointless. “Yes, but theyunderstand.They compromise.”

“We compromise plenty.” When she gave him a dull look, emphasising that what he said wasn’t favourable, he quickly added, “I can try to do better.” He’d been trying all along, even if she didn’t realise it.

She let out a long, solemn expire. “You are what you are, Weldir. You don’t know what it means to feel like a human, and I doubt you ever will. I’ve started to accept that.”

He tsked. That wasn’t the answer he’d hoped for; he didn’t want her to just settle. “But there is always room for improvement. For change.”

Her lips pulled down into a frown and she shook her head, as if she couldn’t comprehend what he was trying to say. She pushed back the tresses of her hair when they swam in front of her face as her gaze flicked side to side over his form. Then something seemed to register in her mind and her eyes widened.

She cupped her hands to her stomach, as though it became unsettled. “Weldir... you didn’t think I was trying to make you jealous out of spite, did you? I’m not that kind of person.” She bit down on her bottom lip and then nibbled it. “I just... it’s nice to have a friend who understands what it’s like to be alive for so long, to be... different from everyone else. I would never...”

Weldir would have rolled his eyes if it were possible; he lacked any whites in his eyes for such a thing to be noticeable to her. “I’ve never doubtedyourintentions, Lindiwe. I see no reason as to why you would betray our deal, and with a Demon, no less.”

She shook her head while rearing it back. “Then I don’t understand what the issue is.”

Tired of going in circles when it was just easier toshowher, Weldir forced all of his physical self, no matter how little it was, to fill his face in its entirety. Then he leaned forward and pressed his mouth against hers.

She flinched, winced, and seemed to gasp all at the same time. Her head ducked back to escape him. Caving in on herself did little to stop him until he pulled away, only because she started shoving her arms through his intangible torso to no avail.

He tilted his head when she covered her mouth with her cheeks lifting into a cringe. “What are you doing?” she mumbled past her hand.

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