Page 55 of I Married A Syllen

“Our situation isn’t comparable at all,” he countered, seeming a bit offended.

“I know,” I said in an appeasing tone. “But women fought hard to get the right to bodily autonomy. And with time, it has become an important part of our upbringing, for both boys and girls, that you are never entitled to someone else’s body. Being married doesn’t give you the right to just do with them as you please because you want it.”

His frown deepened, and I kicked myself inwardly for failing to properly explain my meaning.

“What I’m trying to say is that my self-imposed restraint is both a result of my upbringing but also a show of respect towards you. You’re not a toy for my entertainment. You say you’re mine and, therefore, I can touch you whenever I want. But only a day ago, you were distraught that your soulmate was a human. When I touch you, I need to feel confident that you welcome it because you want it, not that you simply allow it out of some sense of duty. I don’t know you enough to tell the difference.”

To my relief, he nodded slowly, as he carefully listened and digested my words. I loved that I could speak openly of my feelings without him judging me for it. He acknowledged that our cultural differences created a disconnect between us, but he genuinely seemed eager to understand where I was coming from.

“Unlike you, humans have no way of knowing when they found their soulmates other than by spending many months, sometimes years getting close to someone. And as our bond grows, so does our comfort level interacting with our partner. Enthusiastic consent from my partner is very important to me.”

“And you don’t think it’s the case with me?” he asked, curious.

I smiled. “Honestly, I didn’t expect to get that from you for a while. Obviously, I knew you loved my hair. But I didn’t think you were particularly drawn to anything else about me, except out of a sense of duty to fall in love with me because we’re soulmates. Your comment changed that. I heard the sincerity of your curiosity about me, about liking when I touch you. And that threw me because I didn’t expect it so soon.”

“Does that please you?” Taelen asked warily.

My smile broadened.

“Yes, Taelen. It pleases me a lot. I want to touch you and discover everything about you. So I’m very happy that you feel the same about me. You’re incredibly handsome, and very sweet. Even before Kayog told me we were soulmates, I thought you were the most breathtaking male I had ever laid eyes on.”

To my utter shock, Taelen’s skin took a darker shade of bronze while a timid expression fleeted over his gorgeous face. That he could be shy about a few heartfelt compliments blew me away… and made me like him even more.

“You dreamt of meeting my species for years. I just happened to be the first one you met,” he mumbled.

I snorted.

“You know, I actually wondered about that. And then I met Drannor. I literally thought to myself that he was also very handsome, but he wasn’t you,” I admitted sheepishly.

“He absolutely isn’t me, and definitely not for you. Remember that well,” he said in a falsely menacing tone that had me giggling. “You’re mine.”

“I am,” I concurred.

His eyes took a darker shade of green, turning almost black as his gaze roamed possessively over me. My stomach fluttered, and my breath hitched when he peered back at my face with a raw, almost predatory edge.

“I’m going to touch you, Mirella,” he said, his voice dipping an octave.

My toes curled with anticipation, and a pesky dull throbbing reared its head.

“Yes, Taelen. I want you to touch me,” I whispered.

The way his face softened messed with my head. If he could look at me with such tenderness when we still barely knew each other, what would it be like once we were deeply in love?

At first, I was shocked when he didn’t do the usual teasing I expected of slipping his hand under the hem of my nightgown, and semi-subtly lifting it while caressing a path up my body. Taelen just grabbed the bottom of my garment and pulled it off me before discarding it the way one would something that had annoyed them for a long time. He tossed it away, then took his sweet time looking at my naked body from head to toe.

The self-conscious part of me was itching to cover myself with my arms and hands. The naughty part of me was reveling in the fascinated way he examined me. But my nerd brain had taken the helm and was too busy assessing his reaction to potentially seeing a bare human woman for the first time.

Contrary to my initial assumptions, Taelen didn’t immediately go for one of my girly bits. He started by caressing my smooth forehead which didn’t have the three bumps that acted like the melon of a dolphin for echolocation and ultrasonic sounds. Like he had done by the beach, he once more caressed the round shape of my right ear before tugging on my earlobe in a way that made me smile. As I wasn’t wearing earrings today, he seemed intrigued by the hole. Finding a similar one on my other ear probably made him think it was a natural feature for humans. I almost explained what it was, but I didn’t want to interrupt his exploration of me.

He then caressed my neck. Feeling my carotid under his fingers surprised him. It took me a second to realize that his people didn’t have that main artery right there as they had gills on both sides of their necks. It made me wonder even more about their internal anatomy.

He then pursued his journey down my shoulder and chest. The flame of arousal that had been waving timidly in the pit of my stomach perked its head up when his palm finally settled on my left breast. Since their females also possessed prominent breasts like we did, I didn’t expect him to spend so much time fondling and assessing mine.

Aside from the vines covering the nipples, which Nym had unraveled to feed the Kalrin, I hadn’t noticed any differences. As her boobs had been a bit smaller, somewhere between a B and C cup and incredibly perky, I wondered if his interest in mine was due to their slightly bigger size and the fact that they weren’t as firm as hers. As Nym was my only point of reference where their females were concerned, I couldn’t tell whether she was the norm or if their sizes varied as much as ours did.

My breath hitched when Taelen suddenly leaned down and covered my nipple with his mouth. His warm breath and the softness of his tongue instantly had moisture pooling between my thighs. To my dismay, I couldn’t help a moan as he began to suck on it. That sound took him aback, and he jerked his head up to look at me in surprise.

“Nipples are erogenous for us, remember?” I said, my cheeks heating.