Page 108 of Galaxy Circus Act One

“He just doesn’t have the same pizzazz I do. I keep telling him he needs to be showier.” Eric gestures wildly with his hands like he’s putting on his own performance in the crowd. He’s not wrong though. Unlike Eric’s sparkly outfit, William’s is more sedate, missing the sequins and glitter, but he still looks the part of ringmaster.

He does the opening spiel, getting the crowd hyped up even more than they already are, and Caspian’s troupe comes running out to start their show. This time instead of Dylan and Caspian wandering through the crowd, it’s Cas and two other men. One of them breaks off from the group as Cas and the other do their juggling acts.

He starts to pace around the ring, looking at all of the audience members. I’m so busy watching what he’s doing I miss Cas’s transformation, but I hear the gasp of the crowd when it happens and quickly turn back to see my gorgeous mate juggling a whole crap load of knives. I clench my hands into my pants as I watch, holding my breath until he’s finished and unharmed.

In fact, I’m so distracted with worry, I don’t notice that the other performer has stopped right in front of me. Cas puts down his knives, the dragon blows out his fire batons, and they both stand and watch.

“What are you doing, Silac?” Cas calls, and Silac paces back and forth in front of the audience.

“I am hungry,” he calls back.

“But you can’t eat our audience. I won’t allow it,” the man standing next to Caspian tells him. He’s Dylan’s dragon replacement, but so far, he’s holding his human form.

The audience rumbles at his words, a bit of unease and curiosity rippling through the tent.

“Eat us?”

“Why would he want to eat us?”

“Maybe he means he wants a snack from the concession stand.”

“Damn, he’s hot. I volunteer as tribute for him to eat me.”

“Don’t do it, man. We can get you something to eat once the show is finished. How about you come back here and finish our act so the next one can go on? You’re supposed to be throwing knives at a member of our audience,” Cas reminds him, but Silac ignores him and steps in front of me, and I finally get a good look at the man.

Like Cas and the dragon, he’s only wearing a pair of sparkly black pants and his feet are bare. His body is all sleek, lean muscle, much like Xavier’s physique, and he has a ring through each nipple. He has short, tousled, emerald green hair and a bit of scruff around his jawline. It’s his eyes, though, that have me staring. They are reptilian, with a black pupil and orange sclera. They look like Halloween contacts, but I’m almost a hundred percent sure they are not.

“No, I want this one!” he calls back to them without breaking our stare down, and with another flash of smoke and light, he shifts into a ten-foot-tall snake man. From his waist down, he has the tail of a snake, and a hood like a cobra’s now flares out over his head, replacing his hair. His scales are emerald green with orange, horizontal stripes running across his body and black diamonds lining the length of it intermittently. His tail, which must be at least fifteen to twenty feet long, is thicker than my waist until it tapers daintily at the very end.

The audience gasps and screams, but they don’t run in fear. Caspian’s change has already prepared them.

Instead, it only amplifies their anticipation of what will happen next. I can see people beginning to stand, trying to get a closer look at Silac as he plays the rebel performer.

Silac slithers closer, his gaze locked on mine in a way that holds me hostage. His tail flicks out, and before I can saysnake,it wraps around me. It feels cold and dry against my skin, and I try to struggle, but it just tightens until I can’t breathe, so I stop resisting and it eases slightly.

Fuck my life. This is what I get for sitting in the front row. I’m being strangled by a snake, and although it would be a fascinating scenario in bed during most days that end in Y, it’s far from a turn-on right now. My throbbing core and tight nipples probably make me a liar, but it’s not true unless I acknowledge it, and I’m not sure I’m ready to acknowledge that I’m turned on by a snake man.

Eric and John are on either side of me, beating furiously at the snake shifter’s tail, but he ignores them and lifts me into the air before slithering back into the middle of the circle. I’m not ashamed to admit the scream that leaves my mouth is not at all dainty. I go full serial killer victim and thrash my arms around, but with a quick flick of his tail, I’m suddenly face-to-face with this exotic, albeit terrifying, creature, and my frenzied movements stop. He brings me closer to him, close enough that I can reach out and touch his naked torso. Now that I’m closer, I see he has a tattoo all over his body that is the same pattern as his scales. Unable to stop myself, I reach out to see if it is skin or actual scales, and his mouth drops open in surprise. I snatch my hand back, kicking myself for my curiosity, as his fangs extend and he pulls me closer to him. His pupils dilate and contract, and a forked tongue slithers out of his mouth and licks up my cheek. A shudder runs through my body as he leans in and sniffs me.

“Who are you?” he asks, unable to hide the confusion in his voice. He sounds as surprised about his reaction to me as I am about my reaction to him.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you continue to lick our audience volunteer,” the dragon tells Silac.

“And what exactly are you going to do about it? Throw one of your puny knives at me?” the snake sneers at him while heholds me immobile. I try to turn in his hold so I can see what is going on, but I’m well and truly wrapped up, and it’s actually not uncomfortable. His scales have taken on the heat of my body, and it’s warm and cozy, so I stay still, waiting for this to play out. I’m seriously hoping this is part of the show.

“No, but I can do this.” Unfortunately I’m facing the wrong way, but once more the crowd gasps and I listen to their responses to learn what’s happening.

“Holy shit, is that a dragon?”

“How are they doing this?”

“It’s got to be an illusion or special effects.”

“Maybe it’s animatronic, like the dinosaurs and other animals are.”

“You think your dragon is a match for me?” Silac bellows and loosens his tail. I start to fall, but he snatches me out of the air before I can go anywhere.

I’m now chest to chest with him, our breathing erratic, and as he slides me gently down his body, just past his pelvis, I feel twin bulges that make my eyes widen. He smirks at me before my feet finally hit the ground. Does he have two dicks? Is he like Steve the stingray—I mean Mithus, and have them permanently, unlike Link who can just whip two up at my whim? The possibilities are mind-boggling, and I’m very glad they are hidden within his body, because what I felt was not PG at all. He tries to gently move me out of the way, but the dragon lunges at him, and I get tossed to the side by his tail. I land hard, the breath whooshing out of my lungs, and it takes me a moment to recover. I hug my hands around my belly, worried for my babies.