She wanted him to keep talking to her, his rich voice like a pet over her tingling senses.

Her mind felt dazed as her body sunk in the water.

Everything seemed brighter, like her pupils were still dilated from euphoria.

He brought his hand away from her breast to brush it through her hair again, his claws holding her just as much as his palm.

“Why is it you think I wanted a bride, Reia?”

“For a companion... because you were lonely.”

He made a thoughtful noise as he nuzzled the tip of his snout against her. “That is true, but I have many hungers, little human, and this is one of them.”

Her core had been fluttering around his fingers contently, and she moaned in loss when he started pulling them away.

A part of her ached for more, but another knew she was too sensitive to come again. Her body was new to pleasure, and she felt a slight twinge from him stretching her with just his digits.

Reia lay in the tub panting, her muscles giving after twitches. She felt like she was floating, the water giving her the buoyancy to aid this wonderful feeling.

“I’m sorry, but I must continue the spell.”

To have Orpheus’ hands massaging the rest of her body while she levitated in the afterglow of her bliss? That sounds like absolute heaven.

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After having one of the best sleeps since she’d arrived in the Veil, Reia had happily sat in the garden while eating her breakfast. Surrounded by the lush greenery of varying vegetables and plants, she took in a deep draw of breath, smelling the stronger herbs, like mint and dill, that wafted around her.

Surprisingly, Orpheus didn’t stay to overlook the area to make sure she was safe.

The day was chilly with the wind that blew rather heavily than normal, and the clouds were moving fast, casting shadows over the area.

As much as she loved the garden, her heart panged her at how torn up it was. Those stupid Demons sure did a fantastic job of ruining this.

Many of them still lingered, walking along the salt circle as they uselessly tried to frighten her when she felt perfect safe inside it, especially with her amulet once more clipped through her hair.

Many of the plants had been kicked and pulled from the ground, and her delicious little raspberry bush was in tatters. The strawberry tree wasn’t fairing much better, but she’d already picked most of it before then.

This isn’t actually a lot of food. Without meat, Reia was supplementing her diet with the use of the fruit and vegetables and was quickly consuming it.

Only when she was partially through her breakfast did Orpheus enter the garden. He was shielding something behind his back, but she knew he would show her what it was if he wanted to.

“I was wondering,” she said when he approached, walking between the shrubs on the dirt path through the middle of the garden. “Would you be willing to hunt for me?”

He paused mid-stride when he was almost to her. “You...

want me to hunt for you?”

She could tell he was concerned, especially when his orbs deepened in blue.

“I’m going to run out of food if I only eat from this garden.

If I have some meat, it means I can save some of it, and hopefully more will grow before I need it.”

He began to approach again, more hesitantly than before.

When he was right in front of her, she squirmed in her seat.

She had to crane her neck up to him as he towered over her.

He looked much more massive than usual when she wasn’t standing.

Seeming to sense her discomfort, he crouched down onto one knee, but in a way that was almost caging.

“Is that truly why you want me to leave?”

Guilt squeezed her heart. “Yes.”

It was the truth, but his question deeply cut her after what she’d done; running through the Veil to flee his home and getting caught in a terrifying spiders web. Reia knew what would have happened to her if he hadn’t come in time, but she couldn’t help wondering what would have happened to Orpheus.

Would he have been sad? Could he have possibly missed her if she died? How many humans had done exactly what she’d done, and he hadn’t been able to save them in time?

He lifted a hand slowly to tentatively touch her cheek with his thumb and fingertips, making sure his claws didn’t prick her skin. When he saw she accepted them, he then cupped the side of her face, and the roughness that greeted her in his touch and warmth of it was utterly soothing.

“I do not want you to leave me, Reia.” Her eyes almost watered instantly at the sincerity and the deep well of loneliness and sadness she could hear in it. “You are beautiful.” His thumb and claw tip lightly caressed her cheek near the crease of her nose. “And your personality is shiny. I have missed many humans that have left, but I like you more than any other that has come here. Even if you safely make it out of the Veil, you will be gone.”

“I promised that I would stay and wouldn’t try to leave again.”

“But you still want to, don’t you?”

Fuck. His eyes turned an even deeper blue and her gut tightened while her intestines felt as though they were tying into a bow.

“It’s not you, Orpheus.” She reached her hands up, and for the very first time, cupped the sides of his long jaw. “It’s just... I don’t know. It feels like I’m trapped here. I don’t feel free.”

“What can I do to not make you feel this way with me?”

With me... He was asking how to make Reia happy to stay by his side, and she didn’t know the answer to that.

“I’ve always wanted to travel.” She lowered her hands to place them in her lap so she could stare down at them. “I’ve been trapped in my whole life. I’d always hoped that one day I would be able to leave the village and see the world. I wanted to become a Demonslayer for that very reason.”

“Even if I could do that with you, it would be very dangerous. Here you are safe. Here you will not catch a disease or be hurt if you stay within the protections.”

“I know,” she answered with a small voice. She knew she probably wouldn’t have lived long as a Demonslayer,

foolishly trying to travel the dangerous world, but she thought she would have been satisfied just seeing a small part of it before she died. “Anyway, I don’t plan to run away again. So, if you could get me more food, it would make me happier. I miss meat. We had hunters that would hunt deer for us, and farmers who had animals.”

He lifted her head by placing two fingers under her chin so she would face him.