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As they started eating, a gagging-like noise made Naomi jump, wide eyes jerking to Kilean in concern. He quickly spit something into his hand, his whole body shaking once as if electrified.

He mumbled something in his language, face all scrunched up.

Naomi eyed the mushed remains, recognizing a tomato. “What’s wrong?”

“It feels wrong on my tongue,” he said. He stood and went to dump the chewed food into the bin, scowling.

“The taste?” Naomi asked, trying to understand.

He shook his head.

“The texture?”

Kilean sat back down and glared at the plate. He nodded. “It feels wrong.”

“I can take them off your plate.”

Naomi moved all the pieces of tomatoes from his plate to hers, looking at him as he tentatively tried eating again. When he realized the rest of the food felt normal, his shoulders relaxed again. She smiled at him, making a mental note to not use tomato in his food again.

Understanding Kilean and his preferences would be trial and error, and Naomi realized that he still wasn’t used to humans and their cultures enough to know what he liked and what he didn’t. She didn’t mind, though. Naomi liked the idea of both of them slowly discovering new things about the other and themselves.

Later that night, they cuddled together in front of the fire—building a nest on the floor with furs, blankets and pillows. Kilean let her cuddle against his big, soft body, and they chatted about silly things until they both fell asleep.

Kilean waited for her to wake this time, and when the morning came, they had slow and gentle sex as a goodbye, taking their time exploring each other’s bodies and committing every inch to memory.

When he walked out the door, Naomi felt like a piece of her heart was being ripped from her, but then hope immediately filled the empty space.

CHAPTER 8

Missing Krampus

NAOMI

one year later

The official promise for them to try meeting each other again—other than giving Naomi hope for a happy joined future—made the wait harder for her. With the fantasy of that future right out of reach, she only missed Kilean more.

When she returned home last time, his absence immediately made itself known. While she was still in the chalet, she could pretend he was still around due to all the memories they now had in that house. There, she could still hold onto his lingering presence.

At home in the city, however, it was much harder. The change of environment always felt like a harsh snap to reality, and Naomi would be lying if she said she didn’t question whether she had imagined everything or not—again.

With the mundanity of her daily life, memories of Kilean slowly faded. Every day, she wished she had something of him. No one was supposed to know of his existence, so she couldn’t ask him to take a photo together, no matter how much she wanted to. And he never wore anything, so it wasn’t like she could “steal” some of his clothes, the way girlfriends usually did with boyfriend’s hoodies.

Boyfriend… it felt so odd to think of Kilean like that—because the word itself didn’t fit his not-so-human nature, and because despite the sweet words they exchanged, they never defined their relationship.

Kilean was a very straightforward type, never beating around the bush or hiding things purposely. He needed clear words and instructions to figure out things properly, so the fact that he never brought up the topic himself made Naomi think that demons weren’t used to the same types of relationships as humans. Maybe demons didn’t need to speak about it. Or maybe the two of them already did something which, for Kilean, was a clear sign that they were fully committed. For all she knew about demon culture and habits, Naomi might have even married him already.

Frustrated by his absence and worried about memories of him fading, Naomi decided to pick up drawing. Since she was a newbie, her drawings weren’t good at first. But Naomi practiced every day—first learning human anatomy, then trying her hand with more monstrous features, hoping that she’ll be able to draw Kilean properly someday, and have something to look at whenever she missed him.

When the time finally came to go back to the chalet, Naomi packed all her usual bags and boxes, then set off.

Her heart raced when she saw the house from afar, as if something inside her chest was tugging her closer and closer. She wished she could control her expectations, but her hopeful heart betrayed her every time, causing her mind to wander further away than it should.

Naomi did her best to act normal, like she would on any other trip, and not as if she was waiting for something. During her stay, she rewatched all the movies and shows that had krampus in it, just to feel closer to Kilean somehow. However, they were all horror stories, and none of the krampuses looked like him, so they never completely filled the hole in her chest.

Eventually, she spent her whole days reading, having recently found that romance books where people fall in love—and bang—monsters and other fantasy creatures were a real (and very popular) thing. However, the more that she read about scary-looking monsters being lovely with their humans, the sadder she became.

Those books made her horny, too, since any time she read a sex scene, she was unable to stop thinking of Kilean and the intimacy they shared. And then that, too, made her sad, as she remembered they may not share such intimacy any time soon—or maybe ever again.