•••
"I used to wonder at how humans mate for pleasure. Why did you choose it? As I have told you, it is mandatory with us. The males derive some pleasure, but it is brutal for the females. It was the only thing I ever considered brutal about my race—until now."
Her gaze holds mine.
"And yet, with you, it was beautiful. I have never experienced such feelings. None of my race has. When I presented this to the council, they called it blasphemous. They demanded that I deny it because they are all stuck in their old ways."
A faint, bitter smile touches her lips.
"The council is mostly male. They are all rigid and do not wish to understand."
She rises slightly in my arms, and I feel her mouth brush against mine. Everything I've learned—about demons, about betrayal, and about our impossible children—crashes over me all at once.
But when I kiss her back, the weight eases.
For just a moment, in a world of red sand and twin moons, everything feels survivable….
…..
