Page 35 of A Soul to Touch

Mayumi looked down into the yellowy contents of her mug. “Would you... perhaps like some?”

“No,” he quickly stated, moving to another spot. “It just smells nice. Yesterday there was a horrible scent on you, but it was one I’ve noticed humans have when they are unstable on their feet.”

Her back went ramrod straight defensively. “Are you talking about alcohol?”

“Is that what you call it?” he asked casually, pushing a nail in. “Then yes, alcohol. I don’t know what it is, but it wasn’t pleasant.”

“I’m surprised you could even smell it, considering I hadn’t drunk another drop since the night before and washed myself in the morning.”

Just how good is his nose?Mayumi bit at her bottom lip only enough to slip it between her teeth.I wonder what else he’d be able to smell.

Hell, Mayumi could only just perceive the contents of her steaming tea, and it was swirling right below her nose.

Would he be able to smell if I’m turned on?

The bigger question was if that made him react to her.

But watching him awkwardly bent inside her home right now wasn’t enticing at all. She just felt pity for him. It was probably straining his body and would be painful.

Would it be weird if I offered him a massage afterwards?The idea of digging her fingers into his body, preferably shirtless so she could discover what was beneath it, sounded delightful.

She opened her mouth, but her lips only opened and closed, the desire to ask him on the tip of her tongue. Her hesitancy caused her to remain quiet.

Just as Faunus had his thumb below a nail head to drive it upwards, he paused.

“There are humans approaching your home,” he said as he calmly pushed.

Mayumi nearly choked on the sip of tea she’d been sucking in.

“Pardon? There are people approaching?” She turned her head in the direction of the front door. “How do you know?”

“I can hear them.” He lowered his arms and turned to face her. “I can’t quite make out what they’re saying, but they aren’t being quiet.”

Mayumi’s eyes widened as she looked at him standing inside her home. “Well, then you need to get out. They’ll probably want to come inside.”

“It’s too late for that. They’ll most likely see me leaving. They aren’t far.” He came forward so he could offer her the two nails he had left, and she had to crane her neck to look into his yellow orbs. “Do you have another exit?”

One side of her face scrunched up before she dug her fingers into her hair to scratch the side of her head.

“Not really. None of the windows open very far, for obvious safety reasons, and you wouldn’t be able to fit through the attic trap door from the inside, only from the outside. You’re too big.” She lowered her hand and then drifted her eyes over him from his bony head to his paw-like feet. “Look, just stay inside. I’ll figure out who they are and what they want, then get rid of them.”

Faunus crouched, bringing himself just above her height, then stepped back to allow her to pass. She pulled her fur jacket from the coat rack next to the door to slip it on.

When she was reaching for her weapons belt, she heard a muffled back-and-forth conversation from the people who were approaching.

“I want you to know,” Faunus stated as he followed her to the door on all fours but remained in his more humanoid form. “That if you are at risk of being in danger, I don’t care that they are human. I will kill them.”

Mayumi cocked her head over her shoulder and raised both her brows at him. “I’d prefer you didn’t kill my kind, to be quite honest.”

“And I’d prefer you didn’t come to harm whatsoever, no matter who or what has provoked me.” The threat was made even darker by the unnatural grit he had in his voice.

“And what if one of your own kind tried to kill me? I doubt you’d harm one of them.”

When he didn’t respond, Mayumi gave a snide and mocking snort.

That’s what I figured.With anger burning in her chest, she gripped the door handle tightly to go outside. He’d blatantly threatened her kind but wouldn’t be willing to harm his own.

“You are angry with me.” He reached around her to slam his hand against the door to prevent her from opening it. “Why?”

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