A Soul to Embrace (Duskwalker Brides #8)

Chapter 41

When Zylah entered her new home alone, she hadn’t expected Jabez to already be inside it. I thought he was mining stones. She didn’t know why, but she felt the need to hide the bag she was carrying behind her hips as her sight turned reddish pink.

He has a gash on his forearm, she thought with dismay, noticing claw marks and dried blood. The smell of it had been spicing the air, and she hated that it did – despite how delicious she found the aroma.

She made no comment on it; it would only bother him, and he’d refuse to let her heal him anyway.

“And just where have you been?” Jabez asked, his tone hinting at playfulness as he stood from one of the yellow lounges.

There was a suspicious, although curious, hint to his warm gaze as it slipped to her hips. Zylah’s hands tightened on the bag she was hiding.

“One of the councilmembers took me for a walk while you were gone,” she mumbled coyly, stepping to the side to enter deeper into their home.

His expression dulled in a way she knew meant he wasn’t pleased. “Was it Raewyn?”

Her head jerked in surprise. “How did you know?”

“She’s the only one who can speak English, and the only one I can think of who would try to form a bond with you,” he answered, stalking closer with a predatory glint in his eyes. “Did she tell you she is my half-sister?”

“Maybe.” She chittered nervously, her sight deepening in her embarrassed hue at being caught. “Is that okay?”

“I expected that she’d try to speak with you while I was out mining with Merikh. I just didn’t think she’d be so diligent to try the very first time. I can already tell she’s going to be a nuisance.”

“Why didn’t you tell me she was your sister?”

Jabez shrugged. “I don’t know her, and I’ve only spoken to her a handful of times now, but it’s been about business.”

She wasn’t surprised that their interactions had been limited, since they’d only been in the city less than a week. Almost twice a day, Jabez had been called away to do something for the council. She usually remained behind due to him feeling bad she wouldn’t understand anything that was said.

She tried not to be annoyed that they were apart and was just relieved it was always for short periods.

He’d already started teaching her Nyl’kira. It was something they did every day, but it wasn’t an easy language to learn. She was also trying to learn to read and speak it at the same time, making the process even slower.

“Now...” Jabez started, before stepping to the side suddenly and going behind her. “Just what are you hiding?”

Zylah squealed and spun to evade him, giggling as he chased her around their home. “Raewyn took me to the markets.”

“You went shopping? Without me?” He stopped and placed a hand over his chest. “That hurts, Zylah. If you wanted something, I would have liked to go with you again.”

Zylah grumbled, knowing he probably wasn’t upset at all, and wiggled her head. “I didn’t know I’d want something.”

“I guess it’s only fair, since I procured something while you weren’t with me as well.” He gestured towards the lounges he’d been seated at. “I have a few things for you.”

Her chest filled with tenderness and excitement. He always gets me gifts. At least once a day, he brought her something new.

Zylah followed him, her sight drifting over the new clothing he’d bought for himself while they’d been exploring the city beyond the central tree.

A dark-navy, metallic singlet covered his torso. The straps of it were wide and rested over the rounded joints of his shoulders, and always left his arms free for her to drool over. The neckline was a thick collar around his throat, and the front of it crossed over to his left hip, where it was tied. Light-purple harem pants were tied up around his knees, and the loose material fluttered around his legs.

He wore nothing else, and the gold bangles that had been around his left ankle and right biceps had been removed when he entered the city. He said something about starting over new, and he no longer wanted to wear those self-appointed achievements.

His hair had also changed since their arrival. In order to balance it, he’d gone out of his way to shave the other side around his ears. He often tied the top half of his hair into a loose bun in order to stop it from slipping in front of his eyes, and she liked that it meant his handsome face was always clear to see.

As soon as Zylah sat down, she bounced forward on the plush seat when she saw what lay on the table. “Is that my bag?” she asked, reaching for it.

“I convinced Merikh to let me go to the inner sanctum of the library to obtain it.”

“Convinced or forced?” she muttered, before opening it, doubting he’d actually given Merikh a choice. Her sight immediately shifted to bright yellow as she kicked her feet. “My book from Rook is still here and so is my dress from Goldie!”

She opened the book and her heart nearly wept in joy. She thought she’d lost this forever, and she hadn’t even managed to read it yet. It was one of her most prized possessions, and she hadn’t really had any.

She looked up at him while hugging everything to her chest. “Thank you, Jabez. I appreciate this very much.”

Her gaze flicked to the stacks of books he’d obtained for her already, but she knew she had to return those. The few books in this bag were all hers to keep.

A small smile curled his lips. “I thought you might.”

Then he dug into one of his pants pockets and pulled out a pouch. Considering the last one had held a translation mana stone, she was giddy to learn what was inside it. When he held his fist out, Zylah offered her palm so he could drop two bands onto it.

Both golden and thick, the bands were open as if they were designed to be fitted around something. On both, two little gems – one red and the other teal – dangled from them on a short chain.

Jabez sat down next to her and revealed two others that looked similar but were also different. In his hand, four golden bands with a long chain linking two together gleamed in the bright mana-stone-powered light above. On rings, a teal gem was connected to the bottom of a red one.

“What are they?” she asked, brushing them with her fingertips of her free hand.

He placed the ones he’d been holding on the table, stood, and took the ones from her palms.

“Demons have their own way of forming bonds with the mates they choose. Since most of us have horns, we tend to fit the bands to them, although those without them will pierce their ears instead,” he answered, as he fitted them to the singular forks on each of her antlers. “Since Demons can be polyamorous, wearing one on only one horn informs everyone that the bond is open and allows others to join it, while wearing two means it’s closed. It’s how we silently communicate we’re taken, and the level of it.”

He took the ones he’d been holding and fit them to his own horns. One thick band was clasped and bent halfway down, while the second sat closer to the tapered points of his horns. The long chain connecting them allowed the joined gems to glitter and shift freely between the two bands. He applied one to his right horn, and then the left.

“I have no interest in anyone else, and I know Mavka are possessive creatures.” His smile brightened at her pink orbs and the way the bottoms of them wavered. “Although that’s not why I got them. I doubt the Elysians do this, so most of the population likely won’t understand this custom. It’s mainly because it makes me feel better, and like we have done this properly in both our customs.”

Zylah leapt to her feet to wrap her arms around his shoulders and hug him tightly. He returned her embrace by enclosing her waist and burying his nose into the fur of her neck.

“Now, are you going to show me what you bought or leave me in suspense? I’m curious, since I never know what to expect with you.”

She knew that was his way of evading any kind of conversation that was too heavy or emotional. She didn’t mind that he avoided things like this when he was open in the ways that mattered.

“Wait here,” she said, grabbing the thin bag she’d been given to carry her shopping.

Taking it to the empty private room so she could change her clothing, she removed the light-purple dress she’d been wearing and donned her new purchase. I’m really glad I have my dress from Goldie’s. They don’t have anything like that here. Most of the Elysian clothing was loose and flowy.

Zylah stepped out while patting down the skirt of the dress she’d bought today. She’d been thrilled that it fit, and the design allowed for her to tighten it to her body, rather than being loose around the waist and chest.

Jabez had moved and now sat on the edge of the bed. He liked sitting there, and she often found him lying back on the mattress like he wanted to be lazy. She noticed a coil of strange rope beside him.

His crimson eyes drifted down her body as she walked over and then came back up when she was right before him.

“I was drawn to the colour,” Zylah admitted.

“It’s similar to the colour of your orbs,” he answered as he looked over the teal dress.

Then his hands came up to touch her bare hips and outer thighs, since the split in it nearly made it to the bottom of her ribcage.

A thick collar sat around her throat, but the ties at the back of it meant her plush fur didn’t get in the way. There was a diamond-shaped chest window that allowed her to show cleavage, and the bottom point met her waist. At the same point, the sides of the dress opened up, while the back and front tapered before turning into triangular points that came to her knees.

She’d also been attracted to the etched, swirling black designs on it.

“It’s very revealing,” he commented, easily snaking his hands inside it from the sides to touch her back.

Uncertainty clasped her sternum. “Is that a bad thing?”

His lips quirked. “Not at all.” Then he grabbed her hips and forcibly spun her around until her back was to him. Zylah gasped at a tearing sound. “That’s better.”

Her tail was freed by his nimble fingers, and she looked over her shoulder to inspect the new slit in the back of the dress for her tuft to poke through.

“Thank you. I was going to do that.”

“Well, I already know you don’t like your tail being covered or pushed down.”

The tuft swayed softly as she turned around and lifted her arms. “Do you like it?”

She was hoping to find other designs similar to it, as she didn’t like the long, flowy dresses these people wore.

Placing his hands on the backs of her thighs, he pulled her closer to nip at her exposed side. “Very much.” Then he pressed his chin against her when he looked up. “I have one last thing to show you.”

Zylah squealed when she was thrown against the bed suddenly. Before she’d managed to settle, he held the coil of rope that had been at his side and licked at the seam of his lips. He pulled back as he wrapped both ends around his hands and snapped his arms to the sides until the rope was taut.

“I found it in the library. Since it’s enchanted, you won’t be able to break it.”

“I don’t understand,” Zylah admitted, her sight shifting to dark yellow.

She wanted to shrink under the devious grin he produced. “Since you’re strong and have a habit of clawing me, I’m going to bind your hands to the wall and have my wicked way with you.”

When she chittered nervously, despite her pussy walls pulsating at what he insinuated, he leaned down. He pressed a kiss to the side of her snout with a hungry rumble vibrating from his throat – or maybe it was a mean chuckle, she wasn’t quite sure.

“You’ll have to take that dress off for me, though.”