Seeming to understand why she’d evacuated so suddenly, she saw him standing in the hallway with his arms folded and blocking her path. He was wearing his shirt, and she couldn’t help being... a little disappointed.

He may look strange, but surprisingly, she had liked his body. He was different, but it just added to his other-worldly

beauty that Reia was growing more and more accustomed to. She also knew just how firm it was, how much resistance his muscles gave as she dug her fingertips in.

“Reia,” he started, but she cut him off before he could continue.

She put her hand up.

“I’m not ready for that torture yet.” The idea of his hands rubbing over her body, leaving behind thrilling tingles, was already making her gut feel warm. “Can I eat first? I’m really hungry.”

He snorted a huff, his orbs tinging red slightly before they faded back to blue.

“Yes. If you are hungry then you must eat. But you cannot go outside until we have and you are wearing the amulet again.”

“Could you get me raspberries and boysenberries?”

The colour deepened. “I’m sorry, but the raspberry bush has been destroyed. I will have to use what I can to plant seeds.”

Reia bit into her bottom lip. The raspberries were her favourite fruit in the garden. She nodded, and he promptly left to get her whatever he could.

“I saw that you hung trinkets outside,” he said as she was scooping fruit into her mouth a few minutes later.

She was sitting at the table while he was standing on the other side, obviously impatiently waiting for her to finish.

“Yeah, I was worried the ones you put up would decay.”

Then she pointed her spoon towards the short hallway. “I also hung them in the corners of your room.”

His head twisted, turning slightly on its side.

“You did? I didn’t notice that.”

“Well, I thought if the Demons got in the house because the ones I couldn’t get to were probably withered, that it might keep them out of there.”

His eyes flashed bright yellow. “That was very smart of you. I’ve never had to do that, but I’m sure it would have

worked.”

Reia blinked, her brows drawing together.

“I thought your eyes only turned yellow when you were curious or thoughtful.”

He brought one of his hands up to cover a glowing orb.

“No, the colours can mean various things. It also changes to yellow when I am happy or feeling pride, like just then.”

Her cheeks heated. He was proud of me?

Damnit. He makes it so hard for me to dislike him. She scooped the last bit of fruit into her mouth with a pout, both because of that fact, and because now she had no other excuses not to have a bath.

Reia felt much better after having a good few sleeps and being comforted in his embrace and their conversations.

He’d eased her about her guilt and how she’d been called a harbinger of bad omens all her life.

Now... now she would have to face the feelings that had caused her to run in the first place. She wasn’t looking forward to that. She didn’t want to face them. She’d much prefer to bury them under a façade of ignorance.

She still didn’t know if he truly understood what he’d been doing to her when he licked between her thighs. That he’d made her come and what that meant.

How insane would it be if I felt desire for a creature that can’t even feel it? He obviously knew enough, but she wasn’t keen on the idea of being attracted to something that may not even have genitalia.

He didn’t seem to react the same way to her, and that made her feel inherently foolish.

Ugh, why do I even care so much? No one, besides him, was around to judge her. So what if she felt desire and he may not? It’s not like she was asking for these feelings.

Screw it, let’s just get this over with.

She was going to have to learn to get over it. Bath time was going to keep happening, and she just needed to teach her body not to react.

It seemed much harder than it sounded.

“Reia,” he warned after she’d placed her spoon in the bowl and sat there for a while.

“Alright!” She shoved away from the table to get to her feet. “Let’s go get rid of my human scent.”

She watched him as he prepared the area, lighting the candles that made the crystals twinkle with its reflections.

He added new dried herbs to the crudely made metal bowl to create a sweet incense in the air. Then he used his claw to cut into his wrist, giving a few drops of his blood in sacrifice to conjure the bathwater that was already steaming once it filled the tub.

He knelt behind the head of the oval-shaped, long, wooden tub that was large enough to fit his gigantic frame.

He was waiting for her to gain the courage to strip and hop into the water, staring at her with his blue glowing orbs that always made her think them prettier when he was in a darker environment.

It’s a bath. Just a bath. There was no reason to get excited.

She quickly pulled off her gown. Covering herself with her arms to shield her nudity, as if he wasn’t about to touch and see it all, she walked over and stepped inside the water. She crouched inside, submerging herself before she slipped her legs out so they were slightly bent.

Delectable heat surrounded her, trying to ease her worried and anxious filled muscles.

“If you are not bothered by my body, would it be alright if I rolled my sleeves up?” he asked, before his voice filled with an awkward kind of humour. “It is bothersome to change in order to dry them once we are done.”

Her heart nearly palpitated in her chest.

“That’s fine,” she answered with a shaky voice, dipping her head back to wet her hair in preparation.

She heard his clothing rustle, and then the familiar squelch of his fingertips dipping into the thick oil.

She could tell how hard her heart was thumping by her left breast floating in the water, jiggling lightly with each beat. Taking in a deep breath, Reia tried to calm herself.