Page 48 of The Naga

"I love you," I said, my voice strong and full of conviction. My confession might've been the first time someone told him that, but it certainly wasn't going to be the last. "I love you so fucking much, Khush. You're smart, and sweet, and a little bit complicated but in the best of ways. You make me smile, and you paint my nails and never once questioned the way I present myself. You've accepted me as I am from day one, and I couldn't have found a better partner than you. I love you, and I'm going to make sure you feel loved for the rest of my life."

Khush listened to my whole little speech with rapt attention, and I couldn't help noticing just how beautiful he looked even as a single tear trickled down his cheek. I wiped it off with my thumb, then leaned down to press a soft kiss on his lips.

He was shaking, I realized as I leaned over him. Trembling softly as he held onto me, and I climbed on top of him, wrapping my arms around him and holding onto him. If he felt like he was going to break apart, I was going to do my best to hold him together.

Khush

Dustin's passionate words had broken something in me. I'd never realized how much I'd just needed someone to tell me they loved me.

Growing up in a house where I was nothing but a disappointment, I'd learned quickly to bury all my wants and wishes deep inside me so I wouldn't be hurt every time they went unanswered.

Over the years, I'd forgotten about all those wishes, or rather, I hadn't allowed myself to remember them.

But now, with three little words from Dustin, they all came rushing back, all the little dreams and hopes I'd hidden away. Some of them had managed to sneak through, like the things on my bucket list, but there were other things, stuff I'd never voiced because it didn't fit in with who I was supposed to be.

"You're okay," Dustin murmured, his arms like bands of steel around me. How could someone so small be so strong? Not that I'd ever doubted his strength. Dustin was strong, possibly even stronger than me. He was always there when I needed him, lending an ear or offering a supportive arm.

"I love you too," I said in a choked whisper, and he pressed a kiss on my cheek before resting his forehead against mine. I opened my eyes, gazing up into his blue, blue eyes. They were sobeautiful. Everything about him was, and I felt lucky to call him mine.

"My, uh, my parents," I started to say, remembering my earlier promise to talk about it later. Dustin slid off me, lying on his side and pulling at my arm until I did the same, tangling my tail with his legs once again. He nodded at me to continue, and I exhaled roughly before continuing.

"My parents aren't the most expressive people, but they're proud of their heritage. My parents...they're basically royalty among the naga folk. My mother's family is descended from the king of the nagas, so they have a certain clout and reputation. And I guess it wouldn't have suited their reputation if people knew my mother had given birth to a defective naga."

My breath hitched, and Dustin ran his hand up and down my arm, comforting me as he snuggled closer. I didn't think I could talk about this with anyone besides him.

"Nagas have many different forms. They can take a fully human form, or a fully snake form, or something like me. They can also alter their snake forms—grow more heads, more tails, it's endless. But I only have two forms. This one, and my snake form. I wasn't fit for company, and they certainly couldn't afford to be seen with me. So I was confined in our house, never allowed to step a foot outside."

I turned my gaze to the sky above to remind myself I wasn't locked in that house anymore. That I was free, and that no one would ever cage me up again. Distantly, I noticed that the sun had almost set. It'd be dinner time soon, and I remembered promising the others I'd talk to them then.

"I managed to sneak out sometimes, of course, and I was punished for it, locked in a room so small I could only survive by staying in my snake form. It was...it was hell." I swallowed hard, watching the leaves flutter outside even as they turned blurry. Dustin's hand on my side was a constant source of warmth, areminder that I wasn't alone. "I had siblings, but whatever my parents told them about me made them keep their distance. I was so...alone. Always. My parents would go months without visiting me, and I was nothing more than a job to the people they'd hired to keep me alive.

"As I grew older, I started having...episodes. I'd grow uncontrollably angry and then cause some kind of disaster. My parents thought it was because my powers didn't have any other outlet, since I couldn't shift into many forms. The episodes grew worse as I became older, and the last one almost destroyed the whole city. That was when my parents tracked down Headmaster Morrigan, and I've been here since."

The silence was heavy after I stopped speaking, and I couldn't bring myself to look away from the open sky, to see the look on Dustin's face. It'd kill me if he felt pity for me.

"How old were you? When you came here?"

I sighed. "Twelve or thirteen."

Dustin pressed his face to my chest, squeezing me tightly, and I startled when I felt wetness against my skin. Was he...was he crying?For me?

"Dustin?"

"If I ever come across your parents, I'm going to verbally eviscerate them," he growled into my chest, and despite the ache in my chest, I laughed.

"I'm sure you'll destroy them."

"I will. They have absolutely no fucking idea what they missed out on. You're a wonderful person, Khush, and I'm so fucking glad I found you." Dustin pulled back to glance up at me, his eyes red-rimmed but still just as stunning as they met mine. He was such a fierce little human, and I felt lucky I got to call him mine.

"Thank you," I murmured, and I hoped he knew I wasn't just thanking him for listening. I was grateful to him for caring, fordoing the stupid things on my bucket list with me, for being the best mate I could've asked for.

For a while, we just lay there in silence, letting our bodies do the talking. We didn't have sex again, but what we did felt just as intimate. Dustin traced every little spot on my body, every little scar I'd gotten messing around in the trees at the Sanctuary, every little freckle or mole he came across, and I did the same in return, admiring the way his body was an enticing mix of soft and firm, his hips with just the right amount of padding for me to grip them, the little hairs on his legs soft and silky like the rest of him.

We explored each other until the sky turned dark, then reluctantly separated when both our stomachs started grumbling. Apparently, sex and emotional conversations took a lot of energy.

Scrappy had already taken off downstairs to have her own dinner—she had an automatic feeder, which was the best thing humans ever created—and we stumbled out of bed slowly, swapping gentle kisses as we made our way downstairs.

Dustin insisted on taking a shower when I casually mentioned that almost every supe at the Sanctuary would be able to smell us on each other. I didn't tell him that I doubted even a shower would be able to rid him of my scent. I'd wrapped my tail all around him after we mated, and there was no way he'd be able to wash all of me off of him.

---