I was a linguist, damn it. I knew the importance of words. And the one I’d just let slip was a special one.
One I had never admitted to anyone before.
My chest tightened as my heart raced faster. It wasn’t quite anxiety, but something similar. Anticipation? Excitement?
What was there to be excited about? Farr’vye was obsessed with me, and I knew he cared, but to assume he loved me was a stretch.
I wasme. Was I even lovable?
I hope I didn’t just make this weird…
“Never mind, forget I said anything,” I said quickly. “Please, just keep fucking me.”
“Human.”
I winced as Farr’vye’s voice, low and powerful, cut me to the core. Without the cute adjective attached to the word, it felt solemn and grave. It feltalien.
It forced me to remember where and what I was—a weak human stranded on an alien planet, pinned to the floor by a powerful older Maeleon, having an awkward conversation while his giant mystifying cock was inside me.
“Y-yeah?” I rasped.
He leaned forward, his snout approaching my face. My pulse went wild. A stupid thought flashed through my mind: Was he about to open his mouth and eat me?
Honestly? Not a bad way to go.
But then, Farr’vye kissed the tip of my nose.
I couldn’t hold back a tiny squeak of surprise.
“You are,” Farr’vye breathed, “adorable.”
“Bwuh?”
“I love you.”
Thunder boomed.
It rocked the floor with a strong tremor, shaking my entire body. Any other time, I might have screamed in terror. But right now, all I could think about was the words Farr’vye had just said to me.
“You…?” I repeated, barely audible over the rain beating down on the roof.
The orange depths of Farr’vye’s eyes were intensely vivid. They were surreal.
“I love you,” he said again, then chuckled. “Was that not obvious? I assumed it was clear enough.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I stared back up at him like an idiot.
A short silence stretched on. Torrential rain poured down on the village relentlessly, filling the air with a constant hum. But it was overpowered by the pounding of my own blood in my ears.
“Um,” I said eloquently.
“Let me show you.”
Farr’vye’s feelers wriggled toward me. Their scalloped edges pulsed with pink as they burrowed into the surface of my skin.
And as he poured his emotions into me, I felt them.
His love. His passionate, obsessive love that he’d harbored since the first time he’d laid eyes on me months ago. The feelings surged through me like an overflowing river, coating my soul with his unfaltering affection. I was swept away by his current like a dry leaf taken for a ride, but the rushing waters cradled me with care.
