Page 16 of Their Human to Entice

I’ve just stepped out of the great hall when her eyes peek up from where she has them tucked against my chest.

“I’m sorry,” she says with words much more coherent than I expect from her when she is staving off sleep.

“What for?” There’s nothing she has done, probably nothing she could do, that she will ever need to be sorry for.

Well, anything except for sharing a bed with any other males who are not Beren or me. That would hurt, and I would like an apology for that, but that has not happened and will not happen. So, once again, there’s nothing she could do to need to apologize for.

Nia puts her cheek back against my chest, and I wish I had not worn a tunic. I would like to feel her warm skin against my scales, even if it does not lead to more touching.

“For tonight.” She pauses and lets her body feel heavy in my arms for a moment. “I’m sorry for tonight.”

I still do not know what she means because she hasn’t done anything tonight that could warrant an apology. Sure, scheming ways to get males to try to woo her is not Beren’s or mine’s favorite thing, but she has not done anything wrong. Females and males are allowed to want to be wooed. I make Beren woo me all of the time, even if he is not the best at it. They should all be wooed, especially ones as beautiful as our Nia.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” I say to her. Her breathing is already deep again, and I am sure she has already slipped back into sleep. I feel the need to say them anyway. Whatever wrong she thinks she has committed, I will right it in the morning when she is thinking more clearly and not fighting off sleep. I squeeze her tighter to me, wanting the journey back to the house to be even longer so I can keep her in my arms.

Our home comes into view much faster than I want it to. Nia rolls to face me when I place her in her bed. She whines softly when I cover her in the thin blanket that she will toss off herself if she is anything like the other females who all get much too hot on our planet. I stand in her doorway, watching her sleep until Beren returns home. Then, we both stand in the doorway until we are tired and retreat back to our room across from Nia’s.

7

Beren

Falling asleep with both of my mates in my home is the easiest thing I have ever done. It will only be made easier when Lyath and I can show Nia that she can ask us for help with her female desires. Yes, then I will be living the most perfect life. It is the life I am dreaming of when I am pulled from my sleep much too early.

I do not know why I have woken long before the clouds have begun to lighten, but I can feel a buzzing underneath my scales like I am ready for a fight. My claws are fully extended, and my body is tense. I begin to roll Lyath off me as gently as I can so I do not wake him if my instincts are wrong. My feet have just hit the floor when I hear a cry from Nia’s room.

My head snaps in the direction of her room. She’s so close but still much too far away. We closed the door to her room last night so we were not intruding on her privacy if she wanted it, but now I am regretting that decision. I cannot just see into her room to see what is distressing her. Not that I have any issues with barging in, because I most definitely do not.

“Get me out!” Nia screams the words as I throw the door to her room open. “Please, make it stop!”

I kneel next to Nia, not wanting to wake her since we’ve always been told waking someone from their nightmares only makes them last longer. The twisted pain on her face, the way her body thrashes against the mattress, and the tears streaming down her face have me wanting to forget all that I have been told and wake her.

“Get me out!”

“Nia.” Her name is out of my mouth before I can silence it. I place one hand on her shoulder, the other cupping the back of her head as I begin to shake her. She whimpers a terrible sound that has my scales burning and feeling tight. I shake her harder, making sure to support her head so she does not get hurt. “Please, mate, wake for me.”

A warm glow engulfs the room as Lyath joins me in trying to soothe Nia. He places the torch in a bracket on the wall before kneeling down on the other side of the bed. Worry mars his face, but he says nothing about me trying to wake her. His eyes flicker between black and red, and I wonder if mine are not stuck in red with how much fury is coursing through me at not being able to help my mate right now.

“Get me out! Please, make it stop!” Nia’s hands wrap around the arm I have on her shoulder. Her nails try to cut into me, but they are much too fragile. A hiss rumbles deep in my chest. I lift my mate into a sitting position and move my body behind hers so I can hold her close against my chest.

“Wake for me, Nia.” My words are desperate and edged in anger as I try to keep myself calm. “Now,” I bite out the command as I nuzzle my head into her thick curls.

One final whimper, and then Nia’s body jerks in my hold in a new way. Lyath’s body relaxes, and that is how I know that Nia has woken. My face is still close to her as I keep my arms wrapped tightly around her chest and abdomen. I want to keep her pinned to my body so I can make sure she does not hurt herself now that I have woken her.

“Lyath?” Nia asks, her head lifting toward him. “Where? What?”

“Shh,” I whisper against her hair, hoping to keep her calm enough so we can figure out what just happened. I do not want her to have many nightmares, not when she is safe now. Wherever she was trapped, whatever was done to her, it will never happen again. Not while I am here to protect her. “You are safe, Nia.”

“So safe.” Lyath nods. His eyes are black again as he sits on the mattress next to Nia.

She reaches one of her hands to him, and he wraps his fingers in hers. With her other hand, she reaches up behind her, patting around on my horns until she finds my cheek and rubs it. It is a wonderful feeling. I want her to do it when she wants to be intimate with me, not when she is just making sure her surroundings are real after a terrible fright.

“I’m sorry,” Nia says. Her body relaxes further against my scales, and it has my chest swelling in pride that even if she does not want to be with me in the way mates are, she will at least allow me the pleasure of keeping her safe and protected. “I should’ve warned you about the nightmares, but I was already such a hard sale with the probably infertile thing.”

“Shh.” This time, it’s more of a hiss as it leaves my lips. I do not like my mate talking down about herself. I do not allow Lyath to do it, and I will not allow Nia to do it either. “You were not a hard sale, whatever that means. My brothers are fools not to want to mate you as soon as you offered.”

“Such fools.” There’s a smile on his lips as he speaks. “Allowed us a chance to take you for ourselves, though, did it not?”

Nia lets out a huff of a laugh before shaking her head. I cannot tell how awake she is or if she is in that part of her wake where she will remember very little of what we talk about tonight. I hope she remembers it all. I hope she recalls how her body relaxes into mine, how Lyath brings her ease, how we both wish for her to be my mate in all ways.

---