Page 18 of Their Human to Entice

“Such a good mate,” I nip at his shoulder, eliciting another whimper from him. It is my favorite sound that he makes, and I cannot wait to hear it more when we wake because I will continue being cruel to him for almost letting Nia touch him.

He will be begging me for release by the time I actually give it to him. Maybe I will make him wait until Nia decides to be shared between us. Yes, that seems like the perfect punishment for my mate. It is such a good idea that it is all I think about until darkness takes me back to sleep.

8

Nia

The window in my room is covered by a sheet of wood tarred and nailed to the outside of the house. Based on what Vex told me about how one of the women was kidnapped by other demons, I’m sure it’s Beren and Lyath’s way of keeping me safe. Not to mention, storm season is going to be here soon.

There’s a small sliver of warm light from somewhere else in the house, I think right outside my door because there’s the faint orange glow of a fire. It’s just enough to give the room enough light so I can look around and guess what the shadows are.

I don’t remember coming to bed or most of what happened when Beren woke me after my nightmare. I know he was in my bed, holding me. I wanted him to stay with me all night because I needed someone there to make sure the nightmare didn’t come back. I can’t really ask that of them, especially when it’s clear they were in bed together.

Ugh, and I definitely checked out Lyath for way longer than is okay. Pretty sure I almost groped him, too.

I groan and hide my head under one of the pillows before looking around my room. I have a small wardrobe, a chair in one corner, and my covered window. That’s it.

After taking inventory of everything, I crawl to the foot of my bed and take a peek out of my door. A squeak escapes my lips when I’m staring at the sleeping bodies of my new roommates softly illuminated by a fire that’s in their room.

I duck my head back away from the doorway, unsure if I woke either of them. I didn’t know the house was so small or that they would have their bed set up so that the foot of it was only a couple of feet from the door. The rooms are small, so it makes sense that there’s not much room for the bed. I still didn’t expect to see the giant men cuddling out in the open.

“You are awake?” Beren’s voice is rough like he just woke up. I really hope it’s not because of my squeal.

I peek my head around the doorway again. I want to pull back when I catch Beren’s eyes staring right where I am.

Lyath is lying next to him, one arm thrown over his torso. A torso I should not be staring at as Beren scoots up the bed to more of a sitting position.

“Nia?”

I know that the males of this planet only say someone’s name if they want to bed them, but I’m almost positive he’s saying my name in a platonic way. It’s the only thing that makes sense with how he’s said it twice now and yet hasn’t made any actual moves on me. I keep thinking, or more like hoping, that the two demons lean more bisexual, but that hope is slowly dying every time my name is said without a hint of lust in Beren’s voice.

“Beren,” I say his name in response, eyes shooting up to see what his reaction is. His lids narrow until his eyes are just slits of black under his scaled lids. So, he’s angry about that. Maybe I’ll stick to not saying any names, then. There’s no need to upset the roommates before it’s even been a full twenty-four hours of sharing a house. “I didn’t know our rooms were so close.”

“They are,” Beren answers. It’s my turn to narrow my eyes at him. Is he always short with his words, or is this just special treatment for me?

“Okay, well, good morning to you,” I say, keeping my eye roll to myself as I roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling. I can still see Beren and Lyath in my peripheral, but I don’t want to seem like I’m forcing myself into their lives.

“Very good morning.” Beren’s words are sharp and sound like he isn’t having the morning he is talking about. I’m about to make a quip about it, to tell him I can just stay in the great hall if he doesn’t want me here. I didn’t even know I would be so much in their business. I don’t get the chance before he adds more to his statement in the same cold tone. “Waking up to both of my mates. A male could get used to such things.”

I ignore the flutter of my heart and the pulsing in my core at his words. He’s just kind, or as kind as he knows how, since his words lack the warmth of a sincere compliment. He wants to make me feel more at home, not wanting me to feel like an interloper even though I one hundred percent am.

“I normally watch Lyath sleep in the morning until he wakes,” Beren says after a long pause of silence. “If you are not in any rush, we can just sit in one another’s company. But, if you would like to go back to your sisters, I can escort you.”

“I’m fine with hanging out.” I don’t want to be more of a burden for them than I already am, and sitting here with Beren doesn’t seem too bad. Maybe he’ll start to warm up to me.

Of course, the idea of him warming up to me is a pipe dream because we spend what feels like an eternity sitting in relative silence. Every time I look over to where Beren is sitting with Lyath draped over him, he’s staring at the other demon with so much love and adoration it twists my heart into knots.

I want someone to look at me like that, but as far as I can tell, I’m mated to two males who only want each other. Every time I look over at how in love Beren and Lyath are, I feel even worse for myself until, finally, I throw myself back on the bed with an unpleasant whine and wait for Lyath to wake.

“We will be working on the farm today,” Beren says to me when he drops me off at the great hall’s doors. He has one arm wrapped around Lyath’s shoulders. He offered his other to me when we first started walking over here. I felt strange intruding into their happiness like that, so I shrugged it off and followed them to the tribe in relative silence. “If you need anything, send one of the other brothers to come get us. I do not want you going out into the trees on your own. Not until we have a path cleared to the house, at least.”

“So I just wait here until you come get me?” I ask, a little confused about why they even want me in their house with them. It seems kind of silly to sleep in the same house every night for them to drop me off in the morning like a kid going to daycare.

“All of your sisters are here, as well as food and water.” Beren narrows his eyes at me like he’s trying to figure out what’s not to like about the setup, which is fair. I just thought I was going to get to hang out with them a bit more. Makes sense that they want their alone time, especially if they won’t be getting it at night. Beren leans down, eyes scanning over my face before he stands back up and sighs. “You are unhappy?”

“No, it’s fine,” I lie straight through my teeth, and Beren seems to catch it.

His eyes narrow again, this time barely a movement at all. His lips slide over his teeth from side to side, and then he’s placing a hand on his hip and rubbing one of his horns.

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