Page 32 of Thane's Demon
ALORA
As soon as I gave my order, I reached for my wallet when the cashier announced the total, but his hand came down faster. His fingers closed around my wrist with a firmness that startled me. The contact wasn’t rough, and it sent a flicker of heat through my chest before he released me and paid without a word.
He then led me to a table, one more secluded than the others, no doubt chosen for that reason. I was surprised when he even pulled out a chair for me, like a perfect gentleman hiding behind the hard exterior. Which meant we were soon sitting across from each other at the small café table, the soft clatter of cups and low student chatter filling the room around us in a gentle, distant hum. Afternoon light streamed through the tall windows, warming the edges of the wooden table where two steaming bowls had just been set down.
I had ordered something comforting and familiar, a delicate bowl of egg drop soup, with ribbons of noodles swimming in warm broth. A steamed milk tea sat beside it, the fragrant sweetness steaming above the rim.
I had to say, now we were sitting here, and I could see him properly in the daylight, I was fascinated by the sight of him. It made the whole world feel a little too intimate, like stepping into a dream that had too much weight to be anything but real.
His handsome face was studying me, as I did the same to him. He seemed to look at me differently here, no longer a shadow lurking between trees or a savior in an alleyway, but something solid and present in a way that tightened the air around us. I caught his gaze, steady and unfiltered, as if he were trying to understand why I affected him the way I did.
Before I could gather myself enough to say anything, he spoke, his voice rough and abrupt in a way that felt almost accidental, as if the words had slipped out before he could catch them.
“What’s your name?”
The directness startled me. My spoon hovered over my bowl, the steam curling against my cheek as I looked up at him, pulse stuttering beneath my skin. And yet, even caught off guard, I found myself matching his intensity with a sudden spark of stubbornness I didn’t know I possessed.
“You first,” I said, adjusting in my seat as if that could disguise the way my breath had hitched. His jaw tightened, the movement slow and deliberate, like he was weighing up whether or not to give anything away. Then he exhaled once through his nose, resigned in a way that almost made me smile.
“Thane,” he said, and instantly I knew the name fit him. It was dark, sharp, powerful, like something carved from stone and darkness. My throat tightened with an emotion I couldn’t place.
“It suits you,”I whispered before I realized I had said it out loud. A faint shift softened the hard line of his eyes for just a heartbeat before the guarded mask slid back into place.
“And now yours,” he said, his voice lower now, as if my answer mattered more than he wanted me to know.
I hesitated only a second.
“My name is Alora.”
“Alora.”He repeated it under his breath, slower, deeper, with a strange softness that made my toes curl. When he lifted his gaze again, something dark and unreadable flickered behind his eyes.
“I will have to exchange little fluff for little dreamer,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“That’s what it means in Latin, or God’s light in Hebrew.”
A small tremor swept through me, caught somewhere between surprise and something far more profound.
“You… know that?” I asked.
He nodded once, and the simple gesture felt heavier than it should have, as if he understood more about me in that moment than most people in my life ever had.
“And little fluff?” I braved to ask, causing a rare smirk to appear before he nodded to my head.
“Your hair.”
I blushed at this and raised a hand to it, trying to flatten it.
“It’s unruly, I know.”
I was surprised when he shook his head in response.
“I like it,” he admitted before he could stop himself, and I could see the conflict his own words caused him. As if he wasn’t used to giving compliments, which I guess made it all the more genuine.
“Thank you,”I whispered, feeling my cheeks get warm.
“So, you speak Latin and Hebrew… those are unusual choices,” I said after a few moments of silence.
