Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 2019: Changed People

For a while, Quinlan listened to the stream below their tower, content to lie beneath the stars with Black Fang’s head on his shoulder.

Her hair stirred across his chest when the breeze returned. He slipped his fingers out of hers to brush a few strands away from her face, then let his thumb linger against her cheek.

Black Fang looked up at him.

"What?"

"You’re soft."

His thumb pressed into her cheek. The lovely skin yielded beneath it, and his smile widened as he took a gentle pinch between his fingers.

"Where was all this when we first met? You were terrifying."

*Smack!*

Black Fang slapped his hand away without changing her expression. The impact left his fingers tingling; a lesser man’s hand would’ve broken on the spot.

Her head remained on his shoulder, and she behaved as if nothing happened.

"I was the same person."

Quinlan flexed his fingers, admiring her.

"Were you?"

"Vex was dying, and you were surrounded by lionkin. What expression would you have preferred?"

"Well..."

"And the next time we met, my home had just been attacked."

"I remember. You called me and said ’Portal.’ Very informative."

"You understood. Eventually."

He chuckled, delighted by the muted feistiness in her otherwise level voice. Beneath the black silk at her waist, her body was warm against his side, and she seemed perfectly content to remain there while criticizing him.

"Fine." He caught her cheek between his fingers again. "But you can’t tell me that the woman who wouldn’t even return my greeting and this gorgeous woman getting teary beneath the stars are exactly the same. Even you don’t believe that."

She removed his hand with another stinging slap.

"I react differently to different circumstances. I am still myself."

"Hmm. I see. Just circumstances." Quinlan rested his palm over her waist again, his grin becoming thoroughly shameless. "Then, under the right circumstances, you’d let any man hold you like this?"

Black Fang turned her face toward him.

Although her delicate lips formed no answers, the violent look he received told Quinlan that he was venturing into dangerous waters.

He enjoyed her answer enough to draw her closer, keeping her tucked against his side while she studied his face.

"You have changed considerably yourself," she finally spoke.

"Me?"

"You used to call me Lady Black Fang. You were much more respectful."

"I was scared shitless."

Her eyes lingered on his face, waiting for him to continue, which was exactly what he did, smiling as he reminisced.

"I couldn’t even simp for you, despite you being exactly my type. A gorgeous, dangerously powerful, just ever so slightly unhinged woman." He chuckled, looking down at the beauty resting against him. "You were so frightening that even my suicidal tendencies decided to behave for once."

Black Fang looked pleased. A faint curve touched her lips as she considered that admission, and Quinlan was enjoying the sight enormously when she turned her face away.

"So it wasn’t love at first sight..." Her voice had grown quieter. "I see."

"Huh?"

Quinlan reached for her cheek again, unable to help himself. He gave it an affectionate pinch, turning her face back toward his, and her hand closed around his index finger.

"I will break this."

She held his gaze with perfect composure, his finger caught firmly between hers.

Any other man would’ve seen a terrible fate waiting in those violet eyes. Quinlan found himself admiring an adorably feisty kitty, overwhelmed by the desire to gather her up and rub his face against hers.

He loved this woman so fucking much.

"Of course it was love at first sight."

"That is not what you just said."

"Didn’t you hear me? A gorgeous woman appeared and made me quiver in my boots. What’s that if not love?"

For a long time, Black Fang stared at him. Her grip on his finger loosened as her gaze traveled over his face, growing so wry that he began to chuckle.

"That doesn’t even make sense. Stop trying to weasel out of this. You’ve already admitted the truth."

Quinlan’s grin refused to leave. Happiness filled his chest until he wanted to squeeze her against him and stay on this roof for the rest of the night, listening to whatever she felt like saying.

The longer he looked at her, the more her eyes narrowed.

"...What now?"

"Nothing. I just can’t believe I’m having this conversation with you."

"..."

She released his finger, allowing his hand to return to her waist.

"In case it wasn’t obvious, I was not serious. I’m not Vex. I’d prefer that you were afraid of me when we met, rather than in love at first sight."

"I know." His grin only widened. "That’s exactly why I’m so happy."

Black Fang studied him, her head still resting on his shoulder. His thumb moved idly against her waist while she took in the joy he made no attempt to hide, and he kept smiling at her until she finally looked away.

"I don’t understand..."

Quinlan turned his eyes back toward the stars, merely grinning instead of elaborating any further.

They lay together for a little longer before another thought brought his attention back to her.

"Do you miss Myrasyn?"

"Why would I?"

"She’s your best friend."

"I have no best friend. I have no friends at all."

Black Fang looked at him, her expression becoming colder as she watched his smile grow.

"I dare you to pinch me again."

Quinlan hadn’t even moved his hand yet.

Every survival instinct he’d spent the evening ignoring spoke up at once. There was utter seriousness in those violet eyes, and his fingers remained exactly where they were, resting safely over her waist.

Wild kittens needed their space.

Thus, instead, he took on the most dejected of tones.

"After everything you went through together? You won’t even call her a friend?"

"We were imprisoned together."

"There is so much more to your relationship than that."

Black Fang didn’t seem convinced. "While you were off meeting an ancient vampire, I had to listen to her talk. Incessantly. Four thousand years old, and that hyperactive thing could not endure a few moments of silence."

Quinlan’s thumb moved against her waist, drawing an immediate glance from her. He left it there, smiling innocently.

"Come on. You’ll make poor Myra weep. She was trying to keep you company, to make sure you came out of there in one piece."

"She certainly made herself heard."

"She even milked me to save your life. That’s a brave hero if I’ve ever seen one."

"..."

"A woman who sacrificed so much for her best friend..."

His voice grew thick as he lifted his free hand to dab beneath one eye.

"And that best friend won’t even consider her an ordinary friend. Poor Myra. How could anyone be so cruel?"

He sniffed loudly.

"All that courage, all that devotion..."

Black Fang lifted her head from his shoulder to glare at him. He wiped beneath his other perfectly dry eye, visibly struggling to contain his grief.

"Saving my life was the perfect excuse that perverted elf needed."

"How can you say that about our noble heroine?"

"She is a submissive woman who couldn’t wait to grovel at the Holy Son’s feet. Among other things."

The irritation in her voice made his efforts to look sorrowful considerably more difficult. He pressed his lips together while she continued, her gaze fixed on him.

"She spent half our captivity praising you and your mother."

Black Fang lowered her head back onto his shoulder, her words becoming a low mutter against his shirt.

"She went on and on about you... So much..."