Page 38 of Zodiac Demons

“So will this be our first group date then? Or are you going to hide out until the separation sickness starts to eat you alive?”

His brow furrowed as he averted his gaze. “I’ll tolerate you until I can’t. For her sake.”

“You’re so adorable.” I approached, and paused in the doorway. Then with the speed he could never follow, I gripped his chin, lifted it, and pecked a quick, chaste kiss on his lips, before I stepped out and left him to wallow in solitude for an hour. The bright red that took his cheeks before I disappeared was already permanently etched into my memory.

And his spare room key may or may not have also been in my pocket.

When I headed back up to the suite, I found my Baby Doll in the shower, already getting ready for the big event. I sauntered in on silent steps, then I pinned her against the tile and took her lips in a deep and probing kiss, before she even had the time to register I was there.

She relaxed against me near instantly, while our mate bond was flooded with a mix of lust and contentedness and safety. I hoisted her leg up around my waist, and I fucked her against the wall, while hot water poured down on us, reveling in every shared sensation and surge of excitement and adrenaline.

Everything about this arrangement was almost too perfect.

Chapter 14

It was the night of the party, and I was as nervous as I was excited. I’d brought a couple different dresses to choose from, and I teetered between the perfect sundress that Ceto had made me, or something less flattering with less loaded implications.

Which was weird because I was literally mated to him as much as I was Marcus. But Marcus felt like my boyfriend, in the way he actively pursued and pampered me and seemed physically incapable of keeping his hands off me—not that I was complaining. Ceto, conversely, was shy and reserved when he wasn’t a psychotic Gemini demon using me as his doll, and I didn’t have a good read on our relationship at all.

At least Adrian made it clear he didn’t want to want me. I didn’t think he was entirely honest about it, but he actively made a point to turn me down, and avoided me as much as possible. With Ceto, we’d just been kind of pretending it never happened and avoiding the elephant in the room as we coexisted together.

The fact that he and Marcus used to date or something, was another factor on top of everything else that I didn’t even know how to wrap my head around, beyond the fact that it meant Marcus wasn’t mad at me. I also had to assume that Ceto knew I had Marcus’ mark on me, specifically, since these guys sniff everything so much, so he couldn’t have been completely ignorant to what he was signing up.

Well, I didn’t know how in control Ceto was when he did mark me, but that was neither here nor there.

What kind of drama have I gotten myself into? Why were relationships so complicated? No one told me that romance meant playing mediator and therapist for a bunch of emotionally stunted monsters, mostly using my pussy as the common interest.

Rough life. I was not equipped for this.

“Ready?” Marcus called over from the door of our honeymoon suite. He was always ready, with his tousled blond hair that was hottest when it was messy, and his golden eyes that sparkled under even the dimmest lighting. The black dress shirt that was only buttoned to mid chest teased at his perfect physique, and contrasted with his vampiric complexion. Effortless. I still couldn’t reconcile the fact that he liked me.

“How do I look?” I demonstrated a spin in the sea blue dress I’d decided on, hoping to capture the essence of the Cancer by using what I’d read was one of its associated colors. “Zodiac appropriate?”

Marcus raised a brow with a smirk. “In a dress like that, I can’t even promise we’ll make it to the lobby without making you publicly inappropriate.”

I laughed at what was only maybe a joke, and he just smiled and offered his arm.

This was like a real date, and I was going to a real party. Maybe not a frat party that I always saw in college movies or anything, nor was it one of those house parties that I was always explicitly not invited to when the popular kids’ parents weren’t home in high school, but it was a celebration with dancing and alcohol and questionable decisions.

Maybe I could make a few of those tonight.

We started out in a festival area, filled with different kiosks and booths, some selling local goods, from snacks to charms to souvenirs, and some with carnival games and silly prizes. It was all very human-esque, like a magically charged county fair.

Marcus stopped at a few choice stalls, one with locally made candy, and another with handmade jewelry. After a few seconds of debate, he picked out a bracelet, and examined the small pearls and interspersed pink stones with a discerning eye.

“This will suit you tonight.” He offered me the bracelet, and helped me clip it around my wrist. “Moonstones and Pearls are the gemstones most strongly associated with the Cancer, both in how they represent the sea for the zodiac crab, and how they represent the moon, its ruling celestial body.” He rolled his eyes in a way that was directed only at himself. “Not to sound too much like Adrian right now, but the beautiful parts of astrology do suit you.”

“Thank you.” I admired the sparkle of the smooth pinks and whites, trying not to visibly frown at the mention of his brother. I hadn’t stopped thinking about the way he’d rejected me earlier this month, not the least of which because he was doing so on what sounded like life or death terms. It was one thing when he turned me down in the classroom, when there were no stakes beyond whatever magic ties him to me, but when he can look starvation in the eye and still say no, it revived the insecurities I’d slowly been trying to forget.

I was here with Marcus, and as always, my head wasn’t where it should be, and that was never fair to him. Maybe I had started to care about Adrian on a genuine level, despite how hard he always pushed me away, and the thought of me being what caused him pain and anguish didn’t make me particularly happy. But I couldn’t fix his stubbornness. All I could do right now was focus on the great guy who was here with me, right now, by his own choice, with no ulterior motive, who has only ever looked out for me.

We continued enjoying the festivities

“It looks like the concert is starting.” I pointed to a festival area with a stage made to look like a giant rock on the sea side. Waves lapped up behind the stone platform, misting the performers who were finishing their set up, while the beach itself was filling up with women in little more than bikinis and men who were barely any more dressed than that. I looked at my companion, determining if it would be weird if I was the one who asked him to dance. If I was full moon Lila, I wouldn’t hesitate. But sunshine Lila, sadly for us all, was still fighting imposter syndrome.

“You want to dance, Baby Doll?” Marcus asked, with the most effortless grin in the world.

“I don’t really know how to,” I admitted, again, wishing I could will my full moon boldness into my unshifted body.