now, though," he said, his voice light again. "Have you ever...?" He trailed off suggestively.
"Of course not!" I flushed. "I told you I've never felt like this about anyone before, not even close."
"I know, I know. It's just that I know other people's thoughts. I know love and lust don't always keep the same company."
"Well they do for me, mister. I'm human." I crossed my arms. "Now I am, anyways." I sighed.
"That's nice. We have that one thing in common, at least." He sounded satisfied.
"Your human instincts..." I began. He waited. "Well, do you find me attractive, in that way, at all??"
He laughed and lightly rumpled my nearly dry hair.
"I may not be human, but I am a man," he assured me. "I've answered your questions, now you should sleep."
"I'm not sure I can..."
"Do you want me to leave?"
"No!" I said too loudly.
He laughed, and then began to hum that same, unfamiliar lullaby; the voice of an archangel, soft in my ear.
More tired than I realized, exhausted from the long day of mental and emotional stress unlike any I'd never felt before, I drifted to sleep in his cold, dead arms.

312

Chapter 14

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