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His rolling growl, curt and ending on a huff, gave away that he was annoyed he’d been caught. He snapped his skull away, only to lower it and direct it upon her again. Then he hooked his pinkies, but in the opposite way a person would fingerspell the letter ‘s’.

“Promise,” she answered, knowing it meant he didn’t want her thinking he was trying to manipulate her.

“If your singing puts me to sleep through magic, then...” He paused, his hands sagging, before his orbs flickered back to blue. “Then no other human will be able to help me, unless they have Anzúli blood.”

Oh. If I left... then he couldn’t just find someone else.He would have to wade through many other people to find someone rare like her and then hope they would want to be with him.But... I want to be with him.

She also wanted to go home.

Being his songbird for his sake wasn’t enough to make her stay, but... Nathair himself? His kindness, the way he made her heart swell with tenderness at his desire to be affectionate and care for her, his humour... all these things constantly made her want to throw her old life away. He was naughty. She could tell headoredbeing intimate, and his thoughts slipping from him when he had clarity gave away he was rather perverse.

Then there was his exterior. His monstrous, lip-biting exterior that she just wanted to laze around on top of and touch like he was a sensual virility god. The idea of slipping and sliding over him like how he did around her very body often left her tingling with desire.

Linh nodded to make sure he knew she understood and curled back into him to show it was okay. He played with the long, loose strands of one pigtail, and Linh picked at one of his scales while making sure it didn’t hurt him. He never seemed to mind that she did this.

Do I really have to choose between him and my home?Why couldn’t she have both? Why couldn’t he just come with her and meet her village to see that he was wrong?

I know they would accept him, just like I do.

Just like she wanted to.

Linh knew heverymuch wanted her to mount him. The more she saw his cocks, and even gained the courage to touch them, the deeper her desire to connect with him became. She wanted them closer until they meshed into one being and she forgot about everything: the past, the present, and their uncertain future. What was right and what was wrong.

But it was more than that... If she finally gave herself to him like that, and he didn’t change, or only became sweeter, more charming, it’d be proof that Nathair wanted more than just her body.

Despite already knowing the truth, her paranoia refused to ebb. How was she supposed to know the true depth of why Duskwalkers wanted to consume a soul? She’d had someone lie to her to get their way before. Pretty words that meant nothing in comparison to their actions.

The last two times, I felt fine after being intimate with him.She didn’t feel unwell, or like her heart was about to vomit out of her mouth in anxiety.

Instead, she kept wondering how she could make things work, hoping they could resolve the obvious problem between them: where they would live – which couldn’t be here in this cave.

I want him.Not just his body, buthim.More and more, she wanted to be with him. She wanted nothing else to matter, even if there were things and people she couldn’t let go of.

Then Nathair did something that made her heart weep. He slipped his hand over her stomach, grasped one of her nervous, fidgeting hands, and held it. It was a silent gesture, telling her she wasn’t alone, even if she never voiced her trepidation.

He listened to her silence, as much as she did to his.

She gazed up at the stars once more, feeling a lightness in her heart.I think... I’m ready.

I’m glad she enjoyed seeing the stars over the water,Nathair mused, as he climbed onto the top ledge of the ship’s alcove.

Now that it was safe to do so, he placed her feet on the ground and bent down to lean on his elbows. He sparked her stupid fire rocks together until the oil-soaked cloth caught flames and then proceeded to quickly light the candle with the use of his claws so he didn’t get burned.

He gave it to her to hold, knowing he would need his arms free to speak soon, and led them towards the entry of his tunnel. However, instead of turning left to return to his nest area, he took her southwest.

“Where are we going?” she asked, just like he knew she would.

“There is somewhere I wish to show you,” he explained, taking in the subtle way his claws clicked in the darkness as he signed. “I made sure there were no Demons earlier today while you were playing in the sun.”

“Ohhh,” she stated, lifting the lantern towards him. “So that’s why you left me to defend myself alone.” She chopped the air with the side of her hand. “Do you know how many Demons Ihad to fight while you were gone?”

He chuckled at that, soaking in her lies. “Must have been a formidable fight, then.”

She lifted her free hand to shrug. “I won, of course, and tossed their bodies into the ocean before you returned, which is why there weren’t any left for you to see.”

She’s cute when she’s playful like this.It was nice to see her being this way on her own, rather than Nathair instigating it.

Nathair’s chuckle deepened as his orbs flared bright yellow.