Page 461 of Once Upon a Fable

Yep, my dad would go nuts for that sort of thing!

Yes! Tell him to share everything so we’ll be ready for the zombie apocalypse!

I laughed at the last one, nodding as the idea snowballed and excitement for Kas’s potential stardom built. I’d have to open him a bank account, get him a social security number, find his real name if possible or insert him into society with proper paperwork if we couldn’t.

There’s so much to do.

But...if he wanted to earn his own keep, this was a way of doing that with things he knew firsthand. He could be as open or as closed off as he wanted.

He could be huge.

Kas cleared his throat as he averted his eyes from the screen as new comments appeared.

Tell him to get naked. I want to see if he’s as hairy underneath his clothes!

What I want to know is, what is he like in bed? I bet he’s wild.

I want to lick him!

I closed the comment box.

Sex and Kas would always come with triggers and torments.

Smiling into the camera, I did my best to hide my worry over how Kas was feeling. “Okay, guys, that’s it for now. At least you know that I’m back! I’m not dead! And I’ll have stacks of exciting content for you soon!” I waved at the screen. “Bye. Happy climbing!”

I turned off the video, posted the link to my static channel and website, and closed my laptop.

Kas didn’t turn to look at me. His forehead remained scrunched up, and eyes narrowed as if he found all of that distasteful.

I couldn’t blame him.

Online could be an onslaught to the senses.

After a strained few heartbeats, I murmured, “We don’t have to do a thing if you’re not comfortable, Kas.”

He sniffed and stood. Prowling around my living room, he raked a hand through his hair, noticing the blades of grass as they danced out of his strands and landed on the carpet. He winced. “I am what they call me.”

I stood too, going to stand in front of him. “You mean sexy? Lickable? Swoon-worthy?”

“No, a caveman.” He bent to pick up the grass, but I stopped him.

Cupping his cheeks, I whispered, “I’ll say this countless times over the next little while, especially as you have a massive adjustment to make as life carries us forward into more and more things that you’ve been denied or never been given, but I need you to listen to me, okay?”

His head tipped down as his large hands landed on my hips. My skin tingled beneath his hold. Electricity hummed between us, and the urge to kiss him sparkled on my lips. Standing on my tiptoes, I pressed my mouth to his.

No tongue.

No demand for more.

Just delicious contact and connection.

Pulling away, I said, “No one else’s opinion matters but yours, Kas. No one can touch you. The sexualized comments mean nothing—it’s just the way of today’s society which is very open and graphic in their likes and dislikes. Ignore those who are cruel and not willing to learn. Don’t let their misguidedness hurt who you are. They’re not worth it.”

He wrapped his arms tight around me, resting his chin on my head. “But there is truth in what they said. And you lied to them. You made it sound as if I was the hero in looking after you. That you were some damsel in distress, trapped in a valley, completely helpless. When...the opposite was true. You are the reasonIsurvived. You’re the reason I’m here. You’re the reason I can look at myself in a mirror and not have the urge to smash it into a billion pieces because of the ghosts haunting me.”

I hugged him back. “It doesn’t matter how we met anymore, Kas. What’s important is that wedid.”

He tilted my chin up, locking eyes with me. His stare lost some of its annoyance and confusion, softening to pure love. “I will never raise a hand to cause you pain again, Gem. I would rather carve out my own heart.”