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Having a soul pair is more complicated than I expected.
The instant attraction seemed to be one-sided. She was uncomfortable and didn’t want to be in a form in which we can communicate. And she was interested in another. Our situation looked more dismal with every hour.
It is only a problem if she wants only Charlie,a voice whispered in my head.
It was an interesting suggestion, and I was so eager to please her I would allow her anything as long as I got some small part of her time. Her affection.
It was not the time to dwell on such things when everything was still so new. I trusted my gods and knew they wouldn’t lead me astray. Not after all they had given me. This was just another challenge to overcome.
Making a small coughing noise, she looked away and changed the subject. “I can’t see Winnie’s laptop down here. I think we should check her room.”
I followed her up the stairs, but since she was wearing clothing that was not suited to her slight frame, I could not admire her figure. She had to hold on to the trousers and flick her legs so as not to tread on the bottoms. I sighed.
“I do not have a tail,” I remarked absently as we trudged.
As we reached the top of the stairs, she turned to me, grinning. My breathing faltered for a moment. “I have noticed,” she said in the same teasing tone. I wanted to hear it forever.
I continued, staring earnestly into her violet eyes, “I do, however, have hair as long as a tail.” She gave me a curious look, unsure of where I was going with this line of conversation. “In my culture, we keep our hair long and braided as a symbol of strength and honor. When we suffer dark times, we hold on to our hair because it is all that is our own.”
“That’s … tragically sweet.”
“My point is, while you don’t have your own tail, perhaps holding on to my hair might offer you some comfort.”
I reached behind me and pulled the white braid over my shoulder. She stared at me. “Do not feel pressured to. It is something my people do when they are feeling vulnerable. I don’t want you to feel pained as a human and thought perhaps giving you things you enjoyed about your cat form might help you. I can also offer to comb your hair to keep it glorious. And you can continue to bother Charlie. Although Charlie might have something to say about that,” I rambled nervously.
She was quiet as she continued to stare at me. I resisted the urge to look away. Finally, she said, “Thank you. I appreciate all that.”
My smile rose on my face as hope rose in my heart. “You will hold my hair?”
Color flooded her cheeks, but she nodded and gave me a sweet smile. “Maybe not now, but I will if I need it. For as long as I am human.” It was a stark reminder that she wanted to be a cat again, but I refused to let that bother me. I wouldn’t tell her she was my soul pair, that had already become attached to her. She would hold my hair and let me comb and braid hers, as a mate should.
Perhaps she would come to want to stay human with me, not because I need her to, not out of duty, but because she had fallen in love with me. I beamed my joy at the thought.
The sound of keys in the door had us both freezing.
I looked at Clawdia wide-eyed, and she quickly grabbed my hand and tugged me into a small room. Shrouded in darkness, there was only a blue light coming from a large box on the wall, which made a droning sound. A “boiler,” I recalled from Charlie’s tour of his own home. She closed the door behind us.
Squashed into the tiny area, I was suddenly very close to my soul pair. Her hand, small and dainty with long fingers and soft skin, was still in mine. She had taken my hand. No one had ever done that.
My scars glowed in the darkness, so I could see Clawdia staring up at me, her expression a mix of awe and fear. I rubbed my thumb across the smooth skin of her wrist, trying to comfort her. I relished in the feel of the small, ridged lines of her veins. It told me she was alive. She was real. I loved her nearness, the warmth of her body pressed against mine.
She shuddered, and her breath hitched against my chest.
I breathed her in. The smell of the soap she used to wash her hair, her body—it was a spicy scent that didn’t suit her but still drove me wild with lust.
But my desire wasn’t yet controllable, as I hadn’t experienced it before, and I tilted my hips slightly away from her so as not to alarm her. My backside moved something behind me, which clattered against the wall. We both gasped.
“Clawdia?” a voice called.
I assessed my soul pair for signs that she recognized the voice, but with her brow furrowed, I could tell she did not.
We waited, breathing quietly so we could catch the sounds of the stranger as they moved about the house.
There were four loud taps of a metallic object against another metallic object. “Clawdia! Food!” the stranger shouted again.
When Clawdia’s stomach rumbled, I had to restrain my laugh as she glared down at herself and then at me.
After a few long minutes, the front door closed, and we let out a sigh of relief. We waited a few moments more before I whispered, “Let us be quick with our mission and get back to Charlie’s.”
