Page 102 of A Soul to Touch

She was all he had left in the world.

“Yeah, but I thought–” Mayumi rubbed at the side of her neck while giving a pout and looking off to the side. “It doesn’t matter. Why are you outside?”

Dropping the blanket from her shoulders, she began to walk past him.

“Why? Did you miss me?” he asked, forcing himself to chuckle despite his despondency.

She turned her nose up at him. “I was cold.”

Then she flung herself out into the snow.

She squeaked when her entire body sunk into it, and he immediately watched her flesh turn pink and prickle. Her cute, perky arse was showing for him. With a swipe of his tongue across his snout, he thought about how he’d like to rewarm it for her. It was firm, and he liked holding it, touching it, nibbling at it.

Faunus often had to force down the urge to bite at her. And not just a delicate little nibble either, but he wanted to sink his fangs into her – show her supple body that he was the master of it. That he could give it both pleasure and playful pain if he wanted to.

He couldn’t, as it would be disastrous if he were to taste even a drop of her blood. He often held his breath if he even smelt a small fraction of it – except when he’d changed her body to take his.

He’d been distracted by more pressing desires rather than hunger at the time.

Although she preferred to drink her tea, he’d watched Mayumi do this morning routine many times. Usually, she rose from the bitter cold within seconds. This time, face down, she groaned into it.

“Ughhh.I’m so tired.”

His heated thoughts died when he realised he’d been the cause of a troubled sleep for her.

When Mayumi returned inside, she debated whether to bathe in the outside spring bathtub or to wipe them down with a bucket of water and cloth. She decided just to wipe them down.

I wouldn’t want to face something I’m wary of after revealing why.After she calmed down from initially thinking Faunus had left, she still found it alarming that he’d been outside by himself.

Usually, Faunus would stay asleep until she woke or at least continue to hold her until she did. He seemed fond of holding her, and she often woke to him caressing her skin from her forehead all the way to her thigh some mornings.

She didn’t know how Duskwalkers processed trauma. If it was anything like a human, she imagined it would be a difficult process – especially considering the severity of it.

Now that she understood why he always placed himself as far from the fire as possible or looked into it seemingly mesmerised, it made her heart radiate with a tender ache. He’d been exposing himself to things he hated or was fearful of, just for... her.

He must care about me a lot,she thought as she wiped down his torso and thighs after already cleaning her own body.

He’d offered to do it himself like he did every time she came at him with liquid soap in her hands while in the tub, but she wanted to do this. She liked touching him. It felt as though she was worshipping him in more ways than just sexual.

She considered it aftercare to show she cared too.A lot.

Okay, maybe more than a lot, but Mayumi wasn’t used to feeling anything for another. People were just in the world to dieat some point, and there were so many complications when it came to having a relationship with a human.

He’s a Duskwalker, though.To entertain the idea of an actual relationship with him was absurd.

And yet, here she was, contemplating it as she wiped him with long and passionate strokes. It would be just as complicated to form something more solid with him, but perhaps not in the ways she’d noticed within humankind.

Pulling her gaze away from his strong, bulky, muscular chest, Mayumi lifted it to his face. His orbs were yellow and already watching her. Usually, they would have started turning purple by now since she was rubbing his seam. They were both naked, as they often were together, but he just twisted his head at her when she paused.

Is it wrong of me to have feelings for him?Something had shattered inside when he told her of what happened to him.

She’d needed him to be vulnerable. She’d needed to know that he’d faced hardships, to understand what it meant to feel pain and sadness.

Faunus had finally revealed something abouthimself.

He already knew so much about her, but up until last night, she only knew of him as a Duskwalker. He’d never revealed where he lived, what area of the Veil he’d come from, what he’d been doing.

She’d known nothing because he often hid things from her.

---