Page 17 of Demon Shock

“I could jump from the ground to your cabin’s roof without strain. Higher, too.”

“Higher than your brothers?”

Ava wanted to know more aboutme. She wasinterested. I tried to hide my excitement, but Repeat lifted his head to stare at me when my cock twitched under him again. I petted him and silently begged him not to move.

Ava had looked so lost and afraid when she’d asked if she would be hurt if she left with us. I didn’t want her to think I had only asked her to return with us so we could have sex.

“Most of them. I can also hear better. When Pete and Repeat aren’t purring so loudly, I can hear your heartbeat.”

“Wow. So…faster, stronger, better hearing, and immune to getting sick?”

“Yes.”

“I can see why some humans don’t like you,” she said.

My hope shriveled inside of me.

“Especially human men. Based on my experience, most of them can’t handle being shown up by someone—male or female. It’s sad, really. I think of all the female friends I’ve had who’ve cheered me on to do more and be more, and I can’t imagine living a life where I didn’t have that support. A life filled with thinking I’m competing against everyone or everyone’s competing against me just sounds exhausting.”

She flashed me a smile that melted my insides.

“Don’t get me wrong. I can be competitive, too. But it’s not all the time. I don’t feel an ever-present need to prove myself.”

“You think human males do?” I asked.

“Oh yeah. Definitely.

“There was this dick at work who liked putting me down. That’s why I was at the cabin. To prove that I was better than him.”

A male had pushed Ava down with his dick? I remained very still so she wouldn’t know how angry that made me. Pete and Repeat knew. Their ears flicked in my direction even when they didn’t look at me.

If Ava had a bad experience with dicks, would she become sad like May? I didn’t want her to be afraid of them. Of me.

“He won’t ever hurt you again,” I said when I could speak without sounding angry.

“Oh, I never let him hurt me. He was just an annoying ass.”

Could a male’s ass be annoying? I frowned, wondering if this was one of those miscommunication moments that Angel often mentioned to us.

“How long ago were the cities bombed?” she asked.

“Almost five months now.”

She sighed as she followed the truck in front of us around the bend in her road.

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice something like that. Is there any chance my family is still alive?”

She wasn’t the first survivor who’d asked that question this trip. So I gave her the answer I heard Bram give the others.

“It’s impossible to say right now with our limited ability to communicate over any significant distance, but it’s part of why we’re out here. We’re noting the names of the people we find and marking our maps. We won’t give locations away, but if someone in the future asks about a certain name in a certain area, maybe we’ll have an answer.”

“Wow. That’s really…nice.”

I nodded. “I am not the kind of male who will push you down with my dick.”

She made a little sound and glanced at me with visible surprise.

“I won’t push you down with any part of me. Ever,” I promised.

---