The Hissing Beauty (Undergoing Edits)

Chapter 12

Sariff's POV:

I felt myself waking up but didn't want to come back to reality yet, but that was before I tasted Daniel's scent on my forked tongue and knew that he was close by. Very close. I felt my eyes spring open and I realize that I'm in Daniel's arms right now and that he's asleep. I fought my panic down as I tried to remember what could have happened for this to have happened. I remembered crying on the roof, and then the sun setting faster than normal and I felt the air temperature drop before I could make it back inside.

I remember feeling too cold and stiff to move, and then my eyes feeling heavy as what looked like the earliest snow we've ever had begun to fall. Then.......I remember nothing. He must have been the one to get me off the roof, none of the others have been able to. Did he stay with me like this the whole night? He could bare to touch me let alone sleep with his arms wrapped around me? I pause in my train of thought as I see him smile some in his sleep and murmur my name before pulling me close to him.

I feel my face heat up a bit in a blush as I see he isn't wearing a shirt and I'm pulled very close to his chest. I admire him for his handsome features and realize that I was wrong the first time I saw him. He may only appear as a simple form of handsome on the outside but combined with his heart he is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. I gently touch his hair that hangs just over his forehead before pulling my horrid scaled hand away from him.

I don't want to move from this spot in his arms ever, as it's the most normal I've felt in nearly five years, but I don't want to have to see the look of disgust on his face when he wakes either. I slowly pull away from him and get out of his grasp as I stand up from the bed, shivering as the air nips my bare scales. I throw on a long pair of pants, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves, and a cloak with a hood before sitting in the chair next to the fire.

It was another hour or so before he woke, and I found myself throwing the hood over my head so I could hide from him in a way. He yawned and noticed that I was gone before he sat up with a worried look on his face scanning the room and quickly finding me sitting next to the fire, dressed as if there is a blizzard coming. He yawns again before standing up and walking slowly over to me.

"Good morning Sariff. Are you feeling better?" (Dan)

The kindness and concern in his voice make me hesitate in my answer as I look at him from underneath the hood. I am thankful for it at the moment as it allows me to look at him without him being able to see me at all. I didn't expect such concern from him after he had to hold me all night to keep my from dying.

"Much. Thank you. You are free to go back to your room. I apologize for the inconvenience I wassssssssss earlier. You will not have to do that again. Again I apologize." (Sariff)

"Why are you so sorry, you didn't mean too I'm sure. And I didn't mind helping a friend in need Sariff. So what are you sorry for anyway?" (Dan)

"I am sssssssorry for having to touch a monsssssssster like me. Pleasssssssse excussssssse me." (Sar)

I stood to leave the room, since it appeared that he was taking his time in leaving. I made it to the door and had it opened before he pushed it shut from behind me. I froze and tensed against the door before I felt his hand on my shoulder. He turned me around and forced the hood back over my head as tears began to fall from my eyes.

I refused to look at him as he stared at my face, refusing to see the disgust replace the happy shine he always had in his eyes. I pulled away from his arm and stood backed against the wall as he stared at me, wrapping my arms around myself as his did all throughout the night, while I fought to hold myself together in his presence.

Daniel's POV:

I watched with a heavy heart as tears began to fall from her beautiful eyes, and she refused to look at me. She pulled away from my grasp, leaning into the wall and wrapping her arms around herself as she stared at the floor. I didn't know how to comfort her as everything I did seemed to make her cry. I decided to do the only thing I could think of and take her into my arms and hold her against my chest as gently but firmly as I could.

I felt her entire body freeze against mine as I wrapped one arm around her shoulders and the other one started to comb gently through her curls. The were softer then they looked and I smiled as my fingers felt at home in her hair. She pushed against me only once and looked up at me with pain written clearly on her face.

"You sssssshouldn't......I'm.....well look at me." (Sar)

I gently raised my hand to her face and wiped one of the tears that was sliding down her cheek and I knew she was only holding the rest back. She shied away at my hand but at the same time I could almost sense her longing for human contact. I knew what she was saying when she said that, she truly believes herself to be nothing but a monster. I pulled her back into my firm embrace and held her as gently as I could.

"Shhhh, Sariff, it's alright. You're not a monster. Not to me. Shhh it's alright." (Dan)

I felt her chest begin to heave with sobs that she had attempted to hold back so I took the next step and gently scooped her up into my arms and carried her swiftly back over to the bed. I laid down with her in my arms just as we had laid together last night and continued to run my hand through her gentle curls as she cried against my chest.

A few minutes later or perhaps even an hour she pulls away from my embrace and I let her go as she goes to sit up on the side of the bed. I follow suit and sit against the headboard of her bed and watch her. She seems to be bracing herself as she wraps her arms around her knees and looks back at me, her green eyes still leaking tears as she stares.

"What do you sssssssee, when you look at me?" (Sar)

"I see a friend that has shown me nothing but kindness since I've arrived. I see the woman that taught me to read, and has made me feel like I finally have somewhere I belong." (Dan)

"That'sssssssss not what I meant." (Sar)

"I know. But it's what I see when I look at you Sariff." (Dan)