Page 34 of His Human to Adore
“But not my mate?”
“Your mate didn’t believe in it, but if Hell was going to be real, I suspect it would be where all the demons live.” I poke his chest, reminding him he is perfectly fine with me calling him a demon, even though those are supposed to be bad guys on Earth, too.
Dath shakes his head but just pulls me tighter to him. “Well, I will fight to keep your sign up, then. I hope you do not mind that we will raise our young in Hell.”
“It’s a great name,” Kendra says as she skips past us and back into the tribe so she can go get her mates. “Imagine all the ferocious warriors from Hell.”
“I do enjoy being seen as ferocious,” Dath stands a bit taller, even though he knows that we all know he could tear into any male at any time with his claws and rip them to shreds. I mean, we’ve already seen it happen once. It’s best if we have a name that conveys the kinds of monsters we have in our tribe. Maybe the others will learn to fear our males and won’t try to attack us again. “If the human females want this to be our name, then you know the males will make it happen.”
“What else will you make happen?” I look up at my mate through my lashes. Something about remembering him tearing into other demons to keep us safe has me getting all hot and bothered. Sure, it’s probably a little messed up, but I’m tethered to the warrior for a reason, so I’m going to blame the tether.
“Anything my mate desires, you know this.” Dath holds me tighter against him, the sign and the others falling away in our minds as he takes us back through the tribe and to the small house we share not far from his workshop. “Tell me what my mate needs, and I will provide it all for her.”
Dath
Twenty-Three Years Later
Ieyethemalestanding in my doorway, waiting to be let in to have dinner with my family. This day was bound to come at some point, but I wanted to push it off for as long as possible.
Even when I knew my sweet Mara was speaking with males, I tried to stay calm and not let the rage under my scales consume me. Not that I think any of the males are dishonorable because I know they are not. My daughter will be taken care of and cherished by any of them. I do not have to like that she will find her comfort and protection from another male instead of me, though. I have provided these things for her for the entirety of her life, and now a gangly male with hair like a human between his horns is here to say things to convince me he can protect and care for her better than I can.
“Blake,” Deja sounds much happier than me as she squeezes in front of me so she is greeting Blake. I am content just staring at him until he feels so uncomfortable that he leaves. Unfortunately for me, he has kept my eyes this whole time, even when he can probably feel the anger I am trying to keep under control. “Come in, don’t let Dath try to scare you.”
“Thank you.” Blake looks at my mate and gives her a sweet smile. It makes me frown, even though I know I am being irrational yet again. He is a charming male somehow. His father is Almaac, which means he should be very not charming and awkward and stoic and not able to woo my daughter as easily as he has. Blake holds out a bundle of flowers to my mate. “My mother told me it would be smart to bring these for you.”
“Your mother is a smart female,” Deja laughs as she takes the flowers. “Move over, Dath. Let the poor boy in.”
Blake’s eye twitches slightly when my mate calls him a boy, and that helps to soften the anger inside of me.
“Yes, of course,” I mutter as I stand aside and let Blake in the house.
I follow close behind him as he follows Deja into the dining room, where two of my other daughters, Vara and Lara, are already sitting. They giggle with each other when they see Blake because they know why he is here, too. None of us are fools. Even the youngest, Zara, is rushing into the room to stare wide-eyed at the male who is soon to be our blood if he and Mara have any say in it. Which, unfortunately, they do. Their choice in the matter is the only one that matters, no matter how badly I want her to stay my young forever.
It doesn’t help ease my heartache when Blake stands near my daughters. They all look like their mother. Not a single scale on their entire body, no horns, no red eyes when they are upset. No, they look more human than anything else, and their bodies are small, just like their mother’s. I do not think my daughters are weak because their souls and their minds are strong. Their bodies, though, their bodies are much less strong than their will.
“Mara, your boyfriend’s here!” Vara giggles even louder as she watches Blake rub his horn and glance over at me. Yes, he has been seeing my daughter for a while now, and my girls have all decided to call him a boyfriend, like humans used to call their mates before they mated.
“Vara, behave,” Deja scolds our second youngest daughter. Lara keeps to herself even though she takes peeks at Blake every once in a while. She will be the next to find a mate, and I just pray to the goddess it will not be one of Erkoz’s and Xoth’s sons because they are just as annoying as their fathers.
“What she made fun of me for talking with Aran the other day, it is only fair I make fun of her too.” Vara tries to defend herself, but it only has Blake and me both snapping our heads in her direction.
Blake’s eyes widen at the mention of one of his brothers talking to another of my daughters, and I just sigh as I shake my head. I need my daughters to go back to being young when they just ran around and screamed and giggled all day instead of fretting about males that will never be good enough for them.
“I was making fun of you for talking to Aran because he already has a girlfriend,” Mara sticks her tongue out at her sister as she joins us in the dining room. Her eyes meet Blake’s, and then they are traveling down his body in a way that makes my stomach churn.
“Food,” I snap at no one in particular. When heads whip around to look at me, I rub my eyes and then try to speak again without sounding so angry. “We should eat, yes?”
“Yes, of course,” Blake is quick to agree with me. Smart male.
He pulls out a chair for Mara and looks at her when she doesn’t immediately sit down. His eyes move from hers to the chair and back again, and finally, he gives a subtle head tilt toward it like he is trying to explain to my daughter that he is getting the chair for her. It is a human custom that my mate has told me about, but I do not think we ever told our daughters about it. A more demon custom would be to pull her into his lap and feed her, so I am glad he is choosing a human custom instead.
“Sit in the chair, sweetheart,” Deja says, breaking the awkwardness with her soft voice. “I’m assuming you’ve been sitting in his lap, and that’s why you’re confused?”
My face screws up at the thought of my daughter in anyone’s lap, but then I remember how I used to be with my mate when we were first mated. She did not ever leave my arms, so it is probably difficult for Mara and Blake to be away from one another if they are feeling called to be together, even half as much as I was to Deja. I rub my temples and hope that everything will be settled when I open my eyes again. More chairs move, and when I open my eyes, we are all sitting at the dining room table, looking at the beautiful meal my mate has made for us.
We eat in an awkward air that is filled with Deja making small talk with Blake like we do not already know everything about him since we have watched him grow the same as we have watched all the other young in the tribe grow. She asks if he is still enjoying hunting with his father and cousins, and when he says he is and that he is outperforming his father, I know it is true because even Almaac has told me his shame. I also know that Blake is saying this in front of me to prove he can provide for my daughter, even though I already know this. Sure, he may be scrawny for a male, but he is half-human, so it is to be expected. He is unmatched with his bow, though, so it gives me hope he can keep my daughter protected and fed.
“He took me out in the trees the other day,” Mara says excitedly when she can speak about something. My body tenses, thinking of my daughter out there without telling me so I could be there to watch over her. Deja grabs my thigh under the table and gives it a warning squeeze. “It was beautiful. I didn’t know there were buildings out there, either.”