You've Gotta Understand

She started with a list of short comings and insecurities and Chimera gave his head a single, brisk shake. "Whatever you think is wrong with you, those things don't matter to me." The beast threatened to smother her with his gargantuan frame. "I need you, Viper." He was incapable of seeing things from her point of view. To him, she was simply being jealous and stubborn. She said that she needed him too, but not enough to make little concessions to keep him. It didn't make sense to the man.

It was obvious how difficult it was for her to speak the words that she shared with him and he was proud of her for speaking them so clearly. Mismatched ears listened as the woman gave her true name and her upbringing. She'd had a sad start to life, but she was doing very well for herself now. The past shouldn't matter. Only the present and future.

One paw drifted down to rest upon the fae's swollen belly. It was the first time that he'd even acknowledged her pregnancy. Even now he didn't do it for himself, but for her. "You would have me give up others in my life who are important and I cannot do that, Viper. You are equally as important." From his place above her, the brute's gaze steeled over as his walls began closing down once more. Somehow, he already knew that she would deny him. "The only way that you end up alone is if you choose to be alone." And may the gods help her if she did.

"Speech"