My Pet Fox Is Actually A Demon Prince-Chapter 49: A Little Taste Of Her

Kyva returned to her chamber where she had left Snowpuff.

By virtue of Calhoun’s gift of materialization, he had reached the chamber before her and taken once more the guise of a fox.

Unaware of this, Kyva stepped quietly inside and found Snowpuff curled upon the bed. Seeing him safely inside, the strain in her features softened immediately.

Crossing the room, she gathered the little fox into her arms.

"Snowpuff, I have only been gone for a few hours, and I already missed you so dearly," she murmured, pressing him against her chest.

At last, here within the stillness of the chamber and with her little cub safe in her embrace, Kyva found herself able to breathe again.

"Only when I am with you do I feel truly at peace, Snowpuff," she whispered, stroking the soft fur behind his ear. "Today has been... difficult for me."

While Kyva found comfort merely in holding the little fox, Calhoun found himself oddly resentful of the action she so freely lavished upon this borrowed shape. She cradled him close, spoke to him with tenderness, and looked upon him with such fondness.

Yet when it came to his true form, she kept her distance, as though he were someone to be endured rather than trusted.

To be honest, he had anticipated the complete opposite. He had not fashioned himself into a figure so striking for the sake of every witless fool who happened to stare at the Convocation hall. No, if he had taken such care with his appearance, it had been with Kyva in mind.

And still, it gained him nothing.

She scarcely looked at him. When she did, there was caution in her gaze, and a distance he did not know how to properly cross without exacting dominance.

The realization stung far more than he cared to admit.

That alone made him all the more skeptical about revealing his identity to her.

Nestled in her arm, Calhoun’s attempts to stay focused were thwarted by the unexpected softness against his nose. Unconsciously, he pressed closer, rubbing his face against her chest with shameless delight, intoxicated by the yielding warmth and the way it seemed to invite him deeper into indulgence.

’She smells so divine,’ he thought, his paws splayed against her bosom as she embraced him.

The sensation was perilously addictive, coupled with her soothing fragrance, the gentle rhythm of her strokes. Each moment made escape inconceivable, yet as the mischievous fox that he was, he gladly succumbed to this newfound pleasure.

Kyva, of course, thought nothing of it. To her, the pampered fox was merely trying to get comfortable, and his adorable antics drew from her a small, unguarded laugh.

"Ah... it seems I am not the only one who missed you."

She held him up slightly, gazing into his wide, slanted eyes with such tender fondness that, for a fleeting moment, Calhoun felt every grievance he had nurse dissolve into silence.

His tail flicked once, deliberate as a gesture of claim.

She obviously owed him this much. Yet he was tempted still, to feel again the yielding softness beneath his paws.

Has it always been so impossibly, dangerously squishy?

As they stared meaningfully into each other’s eyes, Kyva found herself involuntarily conjuring the image of her new master. The uncanny resemblance in the color of his eyes to Snowpuff’s was unsettling.

But she forced the thought away.

Snowpuff was Snowpuff.

Her baby.

Who could despise such an innocent, adorable creature?

The very notion was absurd, yet the master’s behavior and his dislike for what he was was already a warning too stark to ignore.

He was not to be trusted. No of them were.

And she had already learned her lesson the harshest of ways.

Calhoun, however, had noticed the way those mesmerizing eyes narrowed suspiciously, and the sight unsettled him. It was how seriously those gaze locked on him that made his heart race. Was she beginning to sense the truth?

To divert her doubt, the snow fox cub released the most endearing little yelp.

He was the very embodiment of innocence, unflinching in his own shameful deceit.

As if waking from a trance, Kyva lowered her gaze and gently placed the fox upon her lap, her fingers tracing the silken softness of his fur.

"Snowpuff, what do you think I should do?" she whispered, her breath escaping in a quiet sigh. "The new master said he would make his decision by tomorrow. Until then, we must rest here. I couldn’t bear to remain in the same district as him, so I returned to you."

Her lips pressed together as she tilted her head, eyes clouded with unease. "A part of me still wishes he had chosen someone else. Snowpuff, do you realize he is the same one I told you about—the one whose name I confused with yours? Thankfully, he did not seem offended when I laid out my apology, but still... something about him feels wrong. He’s... a bit weird to be honest."

Though she resisted, Kyva’s thoughts circled back to him, unbidden. It was no wonder the others had been astonished when he chose her. He could have selected someone stronger, someone more fitting. Yet he seemed resolute in his decision to train her.

Anyone else would have accepted such an honor without hesitation.

Kyva’s heart, however, remained unsettled.

"I want to prove myself first," she murmured, the words meant more for her own ears than for the fox nestled contentedly against her. "I don’t want to be seen as a slave forever, and it bothers me each time I hear that word. I don’t even know what my new companions think of me now. It frightens me."

Another sigh slipped from her lips, heavy with longing. "But whatever comes, I pray the master chooses to remain at the Aquiline Quarter. Perhaps there, I might find the will to push myself further. Seeing other people would be distracting."

As much as Calhoun understood where she was coming from, hearing her first impression of him nearly brought him to tears.

Kyva suddenly yawned, stretching her weary limbs. She had intended to wash before bed, but exhaustion weighed too heavily upon her. Instead, she lay down, convincing herself she would only rest her eyes for a moment before bathing.

But sleep claimed her swiftly. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

With Calhoun nestled in her arms, she drifted into a peaceful slumber. Yet, as her embrace tightened, Calhoun’s fox form shifted into that of a young man.

For a long while, he did not move.

Her arms remained looped loosely around him, one hand curled against his chest like she sought refuge in his heartbeat. Strands of her dark hair had fallen across them both, and it tangled with the silver cascade of his own, until the sight looked as though it was woven together by fate.

Moonlight spilled from the window, painting the chamber in a pale, enchanted glow, and beneath its glow, they looked almost unreal.

Calhoun lowered his gaze to her sleeping face, and his golden eyes narrowed into a conflicted glare. They trembled with thoughts darker than what he could neither name nor banish.

He ought to have been angry.

But, unable to restrain himself, he lowered his head to the curve of her neck, teeth grazing her sensitive flesh with a dangerous promise. The urge to bite, to punish her insolence, and all she had said about him surged through his veins like fire.

Yet the moment her skin yielded beneath his mouth, the taste of her dissolved his wrath into something darker, more consuming, like unrestrained longing.

He sucked mercilessly at her skin, drinking in the taste as though bewitched by it.

Kyva stirred faintly at the wicked sensation, her fingers clutching at his robes in a fleeting plea before sleep reclaimed her. That single touch seared into him more than any blade. His silver hair fell forward, veiling them both, a curtain of silver and shadow that quietly sealed them in their own secret world.

Calhoun went still.

Then, with a quiet exhale, he let his head rest lightly beside hers.

"Fine," he muttered into the silver-dark hush of the room. "You win. We’ll go to your stupid Aquiline Quarter."