“Of course,” she said with a note of confusion, unsure why he was even asking at all.
Orpheus promptly sat on the ground next to her and plonked his head on her lap when she’d been expecting him to sit on his own chair! He’d pushed her book to the side with his snout, making it fall between the armrest and her thigh to make room for himself.
He gave a loud snorting huff of contentment.
“I haven’t been alone with you in quite some time, even before we left.”
Her hands had flung into the air near her chest in surprise, but they fell now to sit around his head.
“Well, you did go out hunting for me before we did.”
“And then you did not speak to me, even though I brought you meat and got stung by bees for you.”
Reia pursed her lips and squinted her eyes at him. She wanted to tell him that he’d deserved it, but she’d ignored him because he’d implied that he wouldn’t believe her promise to stay inside if he left – except she hadn’t waited for him to tell her why.
We were gone for a long time. She couldn’t imagine what she would have tried to do by herself had she been left alone for eight days. I would have been bored brainless.
Instead, she’d gone on an amazing adventure, and knew she was only the second human who had ever done it.
“Why are you wet?” she asked when she felt a slight amount of dampness soaking into her dress.
“Washed in the stream while I was there.” He pushed the tip of his snout against the book in the gap between her and the chair. “Is that one of the books the Witch Owl guided you to take?”
Reia nodded before pulling it up to hold it. “I don’t know why, though. It’s just full of children’s stories.”
“Are they truthful tales?”
“No, just made-up ones.”
“Would you be interested in reading one?” He lifted his hand to place a claw around the book’s spine edge to lean it
towards him. “I can read, but I am slow, so I don’t read for enjoyment like you humans do.”
“Are you really asking me to read to you?”
The audacity! Reia didn’t even read for herself.
“Why not? It would please me if you did.” He lifted his head so he could reach up and cup the side of her face while facing her. “Your voice is lovely. I would like to hear it.”
A compliment like that made it hard to deny him.
She started going through them, trying to decide which one she should start with. The feather that the Witch Owl had placed inside it was still present, like a bookmark, and Reia paused when she got to the marked tale.
I might as well, I guess. She started with Beauty and the Beast, feeling remarkably silly for reading it to him.
Reia was only a quarter way through it when she lifted the book away to check on Orpheus to find his glowing orbs had turned black. Waving her hand in front of his face, she understood he’d fallen asleep.
She continued to read it out loud, allowing him to stay how he was.
It was a relatively short folklore tale, and she was done within a few hours, placing the book down to think.
Belle and the Beast, huh? She placed her hand over the top of Orpheus’ long snout, between his eyes and nose, and gently stroked the hard bone. She dwelled on this, wondering if perhaps that was why the Witch Owl had told her to take this book, had left a feather at this particular story.
Could I stay with Orpheus? She still didn’t know the answer to that question, but she was feeling less and less inclined to leave. The will for it dying with her growing fondness of his home and of him.
She continued to stroke his face, peering down at him as he gave a deep huff, like he could tell she was petting him. I still don’t know, but what would have happened in the story if Belle had fucked the Beast before he became a human?
There would be no magical transformation for Orpheus, and she knew that. She tried to imagine what he would look like as a human, but she couldn’t see him any other way than what he was.
A Duskwalker, with an animal skull for a face, who expressed himself through his ethereal glowing eyes and his actions. Someone who was unbelievably sweet, who was trying his hardest to make her like him even though he was sometimes a little stupid and aggressive.
How many times has he tried to eat me? But she was still here, and she no longer was worried he would.
What if Belle... She stopped that train of thought to really ask herself what she was trying to. What if I had sex with Orpheus? She wanted to. She dreamt of it, thought of it when he touched her, ached for it.
The only thing holding her back was that she feared there was no return from it. But wouldn’t there be? I could still leave if I wanted to. It’s not like I’d be giving him my soul.
And-and I’m not in love with him or anything.
She’d almost begged him to in the forest. Having him face her while he delved his fingers, watching her, holding her, had been more intimate than any other time and she knew that was what she’d see if they did. And she’d liked it. His purple orbs filled with obvious desire staring into her was dragging her further and further under some kind of spell.
Enchanted and not wanting to be woken from her hypnosis.
Reia hadn’t realised she dozed off until she felt Orpheus’
head moving around erratically on her lap.
She opened her eyes to find his were still black, but he was now clutching her legs, one of his hands underneath her skirt with his claws digging into her inner thigh.
