Page 8 of His Human to Charm

Every time, and by that, I mean the once I’ve tried to talk to him about it, I get all in my head worrying that he won’t like me anymore if I say what I need to, which makes no sense. Olivia told me that these aliens believe in soulmates, and Skylar told me the same thing before she went running off into the forest with one of them. If what they’re saying is true, then the one I’m supposed to be with will only ever want me. So why do I feel like it’s not going to work out?

A soft knocking at my door draws me from the pity party that I’m throwing myself. I assume it’s just Olivia, so I yell out, “Come in,” and hide my face under my arm as I flop back down on the bed.

The door creaks open, but instead of Olivia’s voice filling the air, it’s a rattling hiss that has my body turning to goo and my thighs rubbing together in search of more friction. The sound makes something deep inside me pulse. The hiss is cut off almost as quickly as it was made, but my reaction to it takes a bit more time to adjust to. I don’t need to move my arm to see who it is because Toron’s entire being seems to call to mine when we’re near one another.

There’s a long silence where I stay with my face covered. I’m probably beet red, and I’m not trying to let him see just how affected he makes me. Not because I have any dignity. That died after my twelfth time crying in this place two days ago.

“You are hurt?” Toron’s voice is hoarse when he finally speaks, and it has my eyebrows raising underneath the crook of my arm.

“No,” I say, not moving an inch. “Not hurt unless we’re talking about my ego, which has been taking shots since I got here.”

I can almost hear the change in his demeanor, the hardness in his eyes sharpening as he takes my words too seriously. “What is your ego, and who is hurting it? I will make sure they cannot do it again.”

My laugh is soft and smooth as it escapes my lips, and the feeling of it is so nice that I find my body relaxing for once. I move my arm from my eyes and move myself into a seat so I can look at Toron. I’m surprised to see he’s very purposefully looking into one of the corners of the ceiling, but as I shift around on the bed, I realize why.

When I flopped down, the tunic rose high on my thighs, and the wiggling I did when I heard his hiss didn’t do much to help the situation. I don’t know if I’m pleased he’s making sure not to look or irritated because why isn’t he looking at me?

“My pride is hurt,” I settle on saying as I grab a blanket and toss it over my lap to make sure I’m covered as much as possible. “You can look at me now,” The words come out as more of an invitation rather than an alert that my nudity is covered. I silently berate myself before adding, “If you want.”

Toron’s eyes move over my body in an instant. “I always want to look at you.”

My heartbeat picks up in my chest, and my lips part. His eyes track the movement of my lips as his forked tongue flicks against his own. We stay like that for a moment, both of us staring at the other’s lips.

Is he thinking about kissing me? I’m thinking about kissing him, and I would really hate for this to be a one-sided want. Toron seems to shake himself from the spell we’ve put one another under before I can, and I don’t know whether to be upset about it or grateful.

“Your pride was hurt by what Lyath said?”

“Hm?” It takes me a second to figure out what he’s asking, but when I do, my eyes widen, and fresh blood warms my cheeks. “Oh, no. My reaction is what hurts my pride.”

“Your reaction to hearing about my cock was to cry.” Toron furrows the little raised scales that make up his brow. “I promise I have no intention of making you cry because of my cock or any other part of me.”

My brain’s first reaction to hearing that is to quip back that I’d love for his cock to make me cry, but that’s not something I will be saying to him or anyone for a very long time, if ever. I don’t even know how my mind got the gall to think it in the first place. No, instead, I stare at him with wide eyes and a need to explain to him that it isn’t the thought of his cock that is hurting me, at least not in that way.

“I didn’t…” I let the words trail off as I try to pick the right words. “It’s not that…”

“You do not want to make love with me, I know this,” Toron says a little too quickly as though he’s trying to remind himself and me of the words I said three nights ago when I was scared of how fast things were progressing and how easily my body was responding to him. Hearing them back to me now, they sour my stomach and make my lips pull back. Toron notices the small reaction, and his lip twitches up in what could almost be called a smile. “I did not come in here to woo you. I only wanted to make sure that you were not hurt. Now that I know it is just the thought of my cock that has you running away from everyone crying, I can leave you in peace.”

I open my mouth to tell him not to leave, to maybe stay in the room for a little while longer so we can talk. When no words come out, he gives me the smallest smile and turns to leave.

“Wait!” I practically yell the words.

Toron turns around so fast. Hope fills his eyes and makes me feel even more confused about everything I’m feeling. I want him to get in this bed with me. I want to fumble around in the sheets until I figure out what I’m doing, and I want to do it with him. I can’t get the words out of my mouth, though. Something about asking this alien to share a bed with me is a lot, and it doesn’t help that I always fumbled when it came to asking normal human men to sleep with me, too.

So, I say something stupid and probably a bit hurtful. “Don’t tell anyone why I was crying, okay?”

Toron’s eyes harden again, a tick in his jaw telling me he’s unhappy with my words as much as I am. “I will never tell anyone you cried because of thoughts of my cock. That is a shame I will take to my grave.”

I don’t have time to tell him that’s not what I meant and that I don’t want him feeling even worse about it. My face screws up tight as I try to salvage this interaction in any way I can. Toron is already out the door and closing it gently behind him when I’m able to calm the thoughts that are telling me how shitty I am for what I said and how I made him feel.

I throw the blanket to the side, wanting to run out there and fix it. I don’t know how to, though. Everything I say makes it worse, and every time I’m around him, I seem to hurt him. Still, I don’t stop myself from running to the door and cracking it open. I just want to see him, to make sure that he’s okay. Maybe I can think of something to say before I get down to where he sits to guard my hallway.

When I open the door, a loud growl reverberates through the hall, and it does the exact same thing to my core as the hiss did. My thighs rub together, my lower abdomen warming. Toron throws the demon who embarrassed me earlier, Lyath, against the wall. Their horns clash against one another. It isn’t a fair fight since Toron is already bigger and stronger than Lyath. I would think their horns would offer different advantages since Toron’s spiral upward and Lyath’s curl down around his head, but they clash against one another only against the base of the other’s horns.

“I want to make amends,” Lyath says, holding his hands up and averting his black eyes from the searing red gaze Toron is glaring at him with. “I did not know she would react the way she did. I thought I was helping my friend and his mate.”

“I will tell her of your apology,” Toron seethes through gritted teeth. “You do not get to speak with her now.”

I gasp as Toron’s claws extend, scratching against the stone wall near the other demon’s head. The sound has both males looking over at me. The one being pinned to the wall gives me an excited smile and a wave of the hand. Toron, on the other hand, looks mortified about seeing me. His eyes widen, his claws retract, and he stumbles away from Lyath, shaking his head as he does so. Lyath turns to Toron with a look of concern before grabbing him by the shoulder.

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