Page 25 of His Human to Charm

Toron lets out another shaky breath. His head comes to rest on my chest as he slides further down my body. His hands release mine, and he’s wrapping me in his arms, holding me tight. I drop my hands to the back of his head, stroking his scales softly. I want to tell him that it’ll be okay, that everything’s okay.

There’s something more pressing we need to do first, though. “I need to mate with you.”

Toron’s entire body stiffens, and he keeps his head against my chest. “No, not right now,” he says it like it’s definite.

“We need to get help,” I say, pushing at his horns and trying to make him look at me. “Toron, it’s been days since you’ve been asleep healing. I don’t know when you’re going to pass out again. You’re just horny right now.”

Toron hisses deep in his chest before his red eyes gaze back up at me. “Say my name again.”

I bare my teeth at him, getting him to smile in return. Not the reaction I was hoping for, but it’s one that takes my breath away when I see it.

“So fierce,” he laughs as he presses his cheek back down on my chest.

“We need to mate,” I say again, trying to sound more stern this time. “We need to get help now.”

“They are coming,” Toron sighs against me. His arms squeeze me even tighter, making me realize if I don’t get out of this hold before he passes back out, I’ll be trapped like this for a while. I squirm in his hold, which only has him laughing softly and holding me tighter. “You are mine, little mate. I am never letting you go again.”

“Toron, you don’t understand,” I start to try to explain what has happened since he’s been passed out, how he’s been asleep for a couple of days, and we are running out of food. A banging on the door to the safety building distracts me. Toron’s eyes flash open, his fangs immediatly dropping when he hears the sound. I have only a moment to act. I wrap my arms around his head and keep him pinned to my chest. “It’s Thro, the child, the young, do you remember?”

Toron hisses again, this time his claws extending before he takes a deep breath and retracts them. “The young you protected from me?”

I nod, hoping he can feel the affirmation because I’m not letting him go.

“Alice!” Thro’s voice on the other side of the door is too high-pitched to be a grown male, and it settles Toron’s nerves. “Are you dressed?” Another voice is muffled by the door, but it is distinctly male. “No, she is bathing.”

The door rattles again, but it sounds more like one person is keeping it closed as another tries to push through. A growl reverberates through the safety building until the door flings open. An angry Dath stands in the doorway, his eyes bright red, claws fully extended. He snarls once at the scene of Toron pinning me to the floor, me pinning Toron to my chest, and then turns back to the doorway and tries to slam the already broken door shut. It bounces against the frame, opens again, and reveals a very confused Thro and an apologizing Dath.

“Get off of me.” I push at Toron now that I realize what he meant by saying we were fine. He had already pulled on the tether, and it just took Dath a little while to get here.

Toron doesn’t move from on top of me, though. No, before I even realize it, he’s passed back out, using me as his pillow. I let my head rest against the floor, a small wail coming from my throat. Dath and Thro stay outside speaking with one another for long minutes before I finally decide to let Dath deal with whatever this mess is.

I close my eyes, listen to the soft drumming of Toron’s heart, and find my own sleep. The first restful sleep I’ve gotten since the night he held me in his arms for most of the night.

15

Toron

It’s becoming harder and harder for me to know what is real and what is not. There was a small moment of clarity that I had when I woke from my slumber and held my mate in my arms for a few long moments. She asked to mate with me then, but I knew it was not because she truly wanted to be with me.

Telling her no was probably the hardest thing for me to do, but it is not like I would have been a very good lover in the state I’m in anyway. She was fearful of her survival and the survival of the young male she is apparently caring for now. That is the only reason she was willing to mate me, so I denied her. Now, my dreams are filled with her asking me over and over again as though it does not burn me up inside to know I am not mated to her yet.

“His wounds are healing.” Dath’s voice cuts through the hazy fog of my dreams.

I want to gnash my teeth at him and tell him to leave me to rest in peace so I can continue to feel Alice’s soft skin against my scales. I do not know if I will ever actually feel it again. I tried to hold her close to me for the few moments I was conscious, but even being near her relaxed me enough to fall back asleep much too soon.

“How long until we can go back?” Alice’s voice is so close to me, so close that my fingers twitch. My hand instinctively reaches out for her. Maybe she knows my intention, or maybe I manage to move further than I think. All I know is her warm hand is holding mine in an instant, her fingers tracing over the ridges of my scales.

“We leave as soon as he fully wakes,” Dath says, causing me to try to open my eyes.

I want very much to leave this safety building where so much bad has happened to my mate. I have seen the bruising around her neck and wrists. I saw the broken horn on the young male. Many bad things have happened to both of them, and I do not want to force them to stay here any longer than is necessary.

“Will he be himself?” The higher-pitched voice of the young male asks.

There is a long silence. A silence I want to fill and tell them that I am fine. I am myself.

Yes, I am fully focused on mating my female, but I have no will to want to hurt either male helping her right now. The anger under my scales has faded, probably due to my injuries but also because I have been close to my mate while healing. Even without mating, she is calming me. Not to the extent that we all would like. Compared to how close to madness I was when searching for her, I can almost be considered normal right now.

“He won’t hurt you,” Alice says, not a hint of worry in her voice. I will my fingers to squeeze hers and feel my chest beating a bit harder when she gasps. “Toron?”

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