Page 5 of The Naga

Keoni's eyes widened. "Oh my God. Khush, do you have a crush on someone? On a human?" he demanded, his voice going up.

"Shhh! Shut up!" I hissed—and it was a real, 100 percent Naga hiss, not the paltry human excuse of the sound—covering his mouth with my hand. His eyes twinkled at me, and he patted my hand.

"Sorry," he mumbled under my palm, then proceeded to lick it. I made a face as I jerked my hand back, then wiped it on his shirt. "So, you like a human."

"It's...a bit more complicated than that," I said, and he raised a brow, waiting for more. "Dustin...is my mate."

Keoni's eyes widened, and he skittered a step back. "What? Are you sure?"

I nodded. I'd known it the moment our hands touched. Of course, I'd been too shocked to react in any normal way until we got back to the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary was my home, my safe space, and it was only when we were inside that I'd felt relaxed enough to deal with the fact that I'd found my mate. That my mate was a spunky little human.

"Wow, that's incredible. I mean, what are the chances of you two crossing paths on your first visit to the human world?"

"Yeah, I know."

"So what exactly did you need help with?"

"Well, he gave me his number, and I texted him, and now we're talking, but I don't know exactly what to say. I want to know more about him, but I don't want to scare him off, you know?"

Keoni was watching me with a weird smile on his face, and I stopped talking.

"What?" I asked a touch warily.

"Nothing. I just didn't think you could look so...cute."

I scowled. "I'm notcute," I spat out, reaching for him. He ducked away from me, then took a few steps back, the cart supporting his back half rolling back. It was one of Draven's—our resident dwarf tinkerer—many inventions, and it made it possible for Keoni to run all over the Sanctuary without the use of his paralyzed back legs. His legs were the reason he'd beencut out of his centaur family, but they were also the reason he'd becomeourfamily.

"Do you want my help or not?"

Sighing, I stopped trying to attack him. "Yes, please."

"Socute."

"On second thought, I don't need your help after all."

Dustin

Khush and I chatted for a while yesterday evening. While I'd given him my number because I'd felt a spark between us, I was starting to discover he was a genuinely nice man. He could be gruff sometimes, and his knowledge of pop culture was abysmal—which I could totally remedy, starting with a playlist of my favorite music—but he was a fun person, and I'd enjoyed talking to him.

He hadn't asked me out last night, so I decided that if he didn't do it by tonight, I would. Sure, I'd put myself out there first by giving him my number, but that didn't mean I was going to wait around for him to ask me because of some abstract dating rules that I was pretty sure he didn't even know existed.

While Khush looked to be in his mid-twenties and sometimes sounded like he'd lived for much longer—judging by my assessment of a one-day interaction—I got the feeling that he was still inexperienced in some areas, namely flirting and dating. I didn't want to make assumptions, but every flirty text I'd sent yesterday was taken literally by him. What else was I supposed to think?

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I ended the chat with the customer, after helping them out with their problem, before checking it.

Khush: What's your favorite animal?

Well, that was an interesting non-sequitur.

Me: Hmmm, I guess my absolute favorite would be a cat. (I have to say that or Scrappy will kill me)

Khush: I'm guessing Scrappy is your cat.

Me: Yep. Wbu? What's your favorite animal?

Khush: Elephants. They're huge, and they have trunks. They're also very smart.

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