Page 9 of Their Human to Entice

Deja rolls her eyes, not seeming to care that Beren seems genuine in what he’s saying. Vex told me she was mated to one of the strongest males in the tribe, and here’s mine telling her that he doesn’t care in the slightest.

“Can you keep my mate safe while we finish getting our home ready for her? It will be a day or two, and I plan on Lyath and me sleeping out there so we can work late.”

“Are you going to be in a better mood when you come back for her in a few days?”

Lyath snorts a laugh before answering for Beren. “You know him very little, Dath’s mate. This is him in a good mood.”

Deja groans and throws her head back against the back of her chair. “Well, go away then. I’ll keep Nia safe, and you both can go get the house ready.”

“Both?” Lyath turns to Beren with wide eyes and a look of betrayal on his face.

“Yes, both.” Beren wraps his arm around Lyath’s shoulders and pulls him away from the table. “I will make it up to you tonight.”

“You will.” Lyath nods, shooting me a look over his shoulder. “Your new mate will not mind?”

I can feel my cheeks heat as Lyath’s lips spread into a wide smile as if he senses my embarrassment. Instead of giving him an answer, I turn toward Deja, hoping she can distract me from the thoughts running through my head right now.

I end up having to rub my eyes when images of Lyath and Beren in bed, tangled with one another, pleasuring one another, start flooding my mind. The warmth spreads from my face down my chest and settles low in my abdomen. I’m going to hell for fetishizing two gay aliens. Maybe I can squeak by the morality of it by explaining that I’m mated to one of them. Yeah, I’m sure that makes my thoughts completely and totally okay.

“You good?” Deja asks when I’ve been rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands until I see dark spots in my vision.

“Yeah.” My voice is a bit higher pitched, causing her to give me a wry smile and lean into me. “Do not.” I stop her before she can say anything to embarrass me further.

Deja throws her head back and laughs loud enough that I’m sure we have so many eyes on us. If she mentions how she knows I’m definitely fantasizing about my mate, they’re all going to hear about it. I scramble over and cover her mouth with my hand which only has her laughing harder. Tears start falling down her face, she starts snorting in the most unflattering way, and finally, after what seems like an eternity, she stops.

“Nia,” Deja starts to say, but I cut her off in a hissed whisper.

“I can fantasize about my mate.”

Another snort. “Yeah, but just know they’re definitely with each other.”

“I know that,” I keep my voice hushed because I can see some of the others leaning closer, wanting to hear what we’re whispering about. They’re nosy in this tribe. “It was a moment of weakness when Lyath turned around. You can’t deny I got two pretty cute ones.”

“Two cute ones that are more interested in each other’s pockets.”

“Who are you talking about?” One of the demons manages to squeeze between mine and Deja’s chairs, his dark scales setting him apart from all the other demons because of their almost black color. “We are all curious, and the new human seems to be speaking too quietly.”

“Go away!” Deja swats at the dark demon, who only laughs and crawls back away from our chairs before dragging a chair over and sitting too close to my other side. He leans in, his head in his hand, tilting his head to the side.

“You can speak with all of us. We are all very interested in the new human,” the demon says, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

“Not interested enough to mate me,” I look around the room as I say the words. All of them are hyper-focused on our conversation, but as soon as they’re called out, they cast their eyes down to their laps—all of them except for the one sitting next to me.

“I am mated, and this worked out,” the demon says. “You do not want Erkoz as a mate. I also share my family, so maybe you and her will have things in common.”

“Oh, actually, yeah,” Deja says a little more enthusiastically. “How about you go and get your mate, and then we’ll all have a big talk with you?”

“Truly?” Erkoz sits back up in his chair, his eyes narrowing a fraction as he tries to sus out whether Deja’s lying to him or not.

“Truly.” She nods her head, making a cross across her heart that has the demon tilting his head to the side. “Now, go.”

Erkoz wastes no time in pushing away from the table and running down one of the halls. Deja grabs my hand, pulls me out of my seat, and drags me through the dining hall.

“Where are we going?” I ask as she drags me out of the doors and out into the tribe. She doesn’t stop to let me admire how tall the trees are. The tops of them look like they’re almost disappearing into the sky. The sky is blanketed in dark clouds tinted a soft green like a storm’s about to roll in. I don’t get to admire or ask any other questions before she pushes me inside one of the buildings close to the great hall and closes the door behind me.

“This is my mate’s workshop,” Deja says as she locks the door. “I figure we can get a little bit of alone time without all of the others bothering you. They’ll pester you incessantly if they get the chance.”

“Oh.” I look around the small workshop, noticing the various sketches on almost every flat surface in the building. I look at all of them, smiling to see so many sketches of my best friend. Well, I’m smiling until I see a sketch I definitely did not need to ever see in my life. My cheeks warm again, and Deja is snatching the sketch away. “Maybe clean up all of your porn before inviting me over.”

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