Page 40 of Zodiac Demons

She only bit her lip in return, but my good girl always did as she was told. She took control, sliding up and down my cock in intentional rhythm, moving her hips in just the right way as she sought out just the right spot. She was unexpectedly fluid as she kept her movements in time with the bass drum’s kick, and as the song sped up, she did too. I could feel every ounce of perfection as she edged herself higher and higher on my dick, while I was barely holding on myself anymore under the intensity of our shared connection.

“Fuck, Lila.” I groaned against her, not even able to keep up the ruse myself anymore. To our convenience, most of these partygoers were drunk, drugged, or running on a lunar high, and no one was going to bat an eye. Maybe it was the moon getting to me, but I buried my face into her neck, and I couldn’t resist sinking my teeth into the smooth skin of her delicate neck. The surge of lust and euphoria hit me all at once, transferring the high of my own vampire bite through our bond, and I was holding her against me, fucking that tight cunt and reveling in her flavor all at once, until I completely lost myself to a surge of pleasure that rocked my entire soul.

When I started to pull out, she held me tighter against her and shook her head. She directed my hand down her body, lifted her skirt, and positioned my fingers between her legs. Then she whispered, only loud enough for me to hear, “One more.”

At some point, I’d completely forgotten to breathe, as working her clit until she was panting through another orgasm while she kept me inside her had me rock hard again. There was very little semblance of dance left as I fucked her in the crowd, and no one seemed to care. We were hardly the only ones. Primal need had a way of hitting its peak on a night like this.

But there was no reason I should shift tonight, so long as the evening continued like this. I knew she was safe with me, and there was nothing here to protect her from. We could just enjoy this moon fueled bliss as mates, and let our relationship be easy and effortless for once.

“Let’s go back to the room,” she said, and I didn’t hesitate for even a second to accept that invitation.

Chapter 16

I watched the sun set and the moon rise from the safety of my room, and I questioned why I’d come here at all. The first twinge of bond sickness hit my stomach, and I tried to ignore it. I was in close enough proximity that it shouldn’t be at its worst. From what I’d read and what I’d been told, I should have about half a kilometer of breathing room, which wasn’t much, but it wasn’t nothing. It was far enough that Lila partaking in the festival would only tug at our link, and I could suffer in quiet discomfort.

I thought back on the moment Marcus had noted I didn’t have to come on this trip. If I’d just ignored the invite, we could have worked something out without the tension of the full moon lingering over our heads. Without the forced proximity of classes and having to go to the academy every day, it was much easier to avoid having the much needed conversations, and I was using that for as long as I could get away with it, and this situation could have been avoided entirely.

But when Lila lit up at the mention of it all, I couldn’t bring myself to do that. I knew I’d have to suffer if I kept too much distance between us tonight, but the least I could do was not hold her back from everything she wanted to experience. I wouldn’t be the reason she lost opportunities or felt trapped.

I knew enough about feeling trapped to not want to perpetuate that.

I sighed as I settled into an armchair in my hotel room. I was making an active effort to block out any residual feelings from our mate bond. I was well versed in masking and mental shields, and having been partially mated before, I had some semblance of what to prepare for. I wasn’t certain if Marcus could or could not read my thoughts, but I had a long enough run in with his telepathy to have sorted a way to block that out too. The first month or so where he had unfettered access to my mind was… unpleasant for me.

But the enchanted pastries from Toast of the Magi had all sorts of helpful spells attached, and being the bakery was also owned by a founding family of Graves, the Wongs and the Aryas had more than enough rapport that they didn’t bat an eye at a special request for a cookie that could block out mental intrusions. The hybrid warlock shifter who worked the counter hadn’t asked any questions this time either.

Funny how many of the ancient bloodlines had been polluted with mutts.

If only there was some way to block out the separation sickness, and I would be able to manage a more normal relationship on full moons. Maybe there was. I’d been so focused on dealing with Marcus that I didn’t even ask. Witches and warlocks could figure out a spell for anything, right?

I rolled my eyes just thinking about the fact that born-humans had somehow found a way to create one of the most over powered races among all magic kind. I wished my bloodline came with more flexibility instead of just lethal power.

A sparkle of warmth and joy flooded my bond, and that had to be the feel of Lila shifting. The genuine happiness while I knew she was with Marcus was something I envied a bit. I was always so stressed about everything in my life, I never really let myself enjoy our time together. In all of his faults, he was still…

My face heated, and a heavy shot of raw lust arrested my lungs in my chest, while my mind opted to share with me a visceral memory of the too many times I’d used my library key to let him into what should have been my sanctuary. The mix of fear and excitement hit me like I was there, as he caged me against the book case with his lips on mine in a possessive claim, his heat overwhelming me, his hand on my throat, and the whole of that Alpha Vampire shifter getting just a little too close to my heart.

The alternate flash of Lila’s orgasm struck me next, and that black hole dragged me back into my own bed, where my pretty doll was so helpless and compliant beneath me, and fuck—I needed to shut this out. I forced up my mental shields, tempering the intensity of my mates undoubtedly getting each other off, while a cold sweat bloomed on my skin, and a shiver shook through my spine.

That was… new. And a lot. I hadn’t been prepared for that. I knew it was common to get both arousal and fear signals through a mate bond for… protective purposes, but I was not ready for how powerful it would be when it was coupled with orgasm. When I was mated to Marcus, those events always happened together, and it wasn’t as though I could draw on knowledge from a long line of shifters that had played with multiple completed mate pacts among hybrid species. So much of this was completely uncharted territory. At best, I understood that, as an Omega who could be forced into the role of an Alpha’s conduit, I would be able to sense my Alpha’s commands once a link had been formed, but sexual gratification was only a part of actual mate bonds and not conduit slavery. The marks weren’t the same in any sense, as an Omega could be used as a conduit for passing on the dominant shifter’s DNA signature for multiple Alphas, but the conduit arrangement was only as permanent as the Alpha chose for it to be. That wasn’t a true mate pact at all.

She was definitely a Beta though. There was nothing Alpha or Omega about her.

I threw my head back in the chair, trying to ignore how intensely hard I was. If I took care of this myself, would they feel it like I’d just felt them?

No, I wasn’t doing that. I wasn’t going to get baited into a game I couldn’t win. One bad idea would only lead to another, and I wasn’t shifting around him or anyone else. I didn’t trust my Gemini, and if anything, Lila had already showed me that I was right not to.

No reason to engage.

I ran my hand down my neck, then popped the top buttons of my dress shirt to cool myself down.

Just one night. I could make it through a single night.

This was maddening. In theory, I could block them out, but in practice, I was shaking and couldn’t concentrate and couldn’t think about anything but how much I wanted to… to…

A knock at the door was a welcome interruption of my thoughts, before I remembered that there was literally no one who could be at that door that I could rationally welcome anywhere right now. On the unlikely possibility that it was someone from the sewing club, I would have no mental or emotional patience to keep peace.

If it was Lila, I would have no restraint.

If it was Marcus…