He grinned at me, canines gleaming in the low light, and I fought the urge to fan myself. Damn, he should smile like that more. Only at me, though. A gentle, sultry tickle down my spine at his softening smile. A brush of something on my palms while a rhythmic thrum sounded in my ears. I swallowed a groan, unwilling to look away from him for even a second. My Sunshine. My Fyn.
“Sleep.”
“I can’t.”
“Hmm,” I said. “Then tell me why you drakcol have permissions.”
“Humans don’t do that?”
“Not really.”
Fyn wiggled until we were sharing the same air. Well, we would be if I breathed. Still, I liked him being so close. Fyn said, “I told you we used to be a warring species.”
“Yep.”
“Before our people were unified, it was common to take.”
“Take?” I repeated.
“We would steal mates, people, possessions, or rather, anything we coveted.”
“Ah.” That… sucked, but it’s not like Earth didn’t have the same history.
“We took lives, freedom, spoils, people.” He shook his head. “We took and took and took, hurting each other. When we unified, that was one of the first struggles to overcome—our innate fear and distrust of each other. Permissions became the first thing that helped. We try not to touch people without theiragreement, but we do not always succeed. The instinct to claim and possess is still strong within us, especially when it comes to our mates.”
“So you ask?”
“We ask. It has been a part of our culture for so long it’s near instinct now. It’s difficult for us when we don’t have permissions. We can feel lost without them.”
“Which is why you asked for mine,” I said.
“Yes.”
I ran a finger over him, and he groaned. I smoothed my thumb over his cheek, trying to imagine the scrape of his scales. “Go to sleep.”
“Don’t leave. Please.”
“I won’t.” And I wouldn’t. I never wanted to leave him.
It didn’t take long for him to fall into a deep sleep. I traced his face. God, I was so happy. I didn’t know if I’d ever been this happy; if I had, I didn’t remember it. Zoltilvoxfyn liked me. He wanted this.
I should long to go home. I should miss my family, and a part of me did, but a bigger part wanted to stay with him. There was something about Zoltilvoxfyn. From the moment I saw him, I was attracted to him.
This wouldn’t end well. I was dead. Even by his own admission, there was nothing he could do to change that. We couldn’t ever be together, and it wasn’t about sex. A relationship without sex was as valid as one with it.
It was about what separated us.
Zoltilvoxfyn would age and change. He was alive. And I… wasn’t. This would never be more than a half relationship.
A light snore came out of his lips and his tail moved to drape over his thigh. I ran a finger down the length and paused. I saw his scales through the tip of my finger. That was not good,probably. I mean, it might be fine. What did I know? My finger solidified, but the tip was gray, without a hint of color.
My gaze moved to Fyn, and I smiled. Everything was alright, and we would be together. For now. That was enough.
Chapter 19
Dating. We’re dating.
I sat on the floor in front of Fyn. Kal and Seth were on the couch directly across from us. Kal had his tail wrapped around Seth’s ankle and an arm draped over his shoulders. We were in their apartment, and it was the same as the last time, besides Lucy. She was hiding. That fucker. God, I’d planned to make faces at her. She was too cute.
