Page 54
Story: A Soul to Protect
She may be in danger from him. He may accidentally hurt her with his claws. He may even accidentally steal her soul in a trance.
What he did know was that he would not take this female unwillingly.
He would also try his hardest not to eat her, so that one day he could eat her soul when she was ready to give it to him.
Nathair had decided she was nowhis,and just hoped she longed to stay so. His home would be a cage for her, one in which he’d leave the door open.
She would need to make the choice, and he would try everything in his might to make her choose him.
With her face stained with tears, swollen and kind of dishevelled from crying, he watched her. She looked tiny in his nest, which was so large he had plenty of room to laze around in it. She sat on top of his bed of treasures, and he knew she was the most precious piece.
She looks like a baby bird.Startled, unsure of the world, and not ready to fly.
His heart radiated with pity and sadness for her, and her puzzled expression only deepened it.
She eyed him skittishly. “Y-you’re not getting in?”
He shook his head.
He expected her to look relieved. Instead, once more, her eyes bubbled with liquid.
“You figured it out.” As soon as he nodded, she threw her face into her hands and sobbed. “I was hoping you wouldn’t! It’s not fair.”
Nathair hesitated before just reaching out to cup under her chin. She gasped, tried to tear away from him, and he refused to let her.
He made her watch as he opened and closed his maw, then let her chin go to point at her.
“You want me to talk about it?”
He nodded, and she shook her head.
“I don’t want to,” she whispered, hugging her midsection. “I’m scared that if I talk about it, it makes what happened more real, and I don’t want it to be. I don’t want to hear myself say it. I want to pretend it didn’t happen.”
Then we will pretend it did not happen.
If she wanted to speak of it, he would listen. If she never wanted to, then he wouldn’t push her. Her path to healing was her own – he would just be conscious of it.
Her crying quickly settled, and he hoped it was because she was at ease in his bed, in his presence. That what he was doing, and trying to say without words, held meaning.
“Nathair,” she started, before lowering her gaze.
Yes, little female?He tilted his head to convey his question.
“C-could you hold me like before?” She swiped the heel of her palm over her cheek to get rid of the liquid on it. “It was really comforting.”
Permission to enter his own nest was all he needed, and he was rather gleeful she’d given it so swiftly. He pulled himself up and then dropped himself in slowly, so as to not startle her.
“But please don’t get offended if I get scared. I don’t feel like myself, and sometimes my stomach hurts.”
He didn’t need her to say this. The moment she was uncomfortable, he would release her. He would like to hold her as well, and had wanted to from the moment he understood what she’d been through.
He thought it was rather brave when she crawled towards him to quicken the pace. She even entered his arms as he started wrapping his lengthy and girthy tail around them both until she was utterly trapped. Until she was completely hidden and shielded from the world.
Linh never grew afraid, and Nathair didn’t release her until she desired it.
You are safe in my arms, little female.
Linh scouted the beach in search of more seashells, wanting to add them to the collection she started over the last four days. When she picked up a new one, she placed it in Nathair’s cupped palms.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54 (Reading here)
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189