Page 17 of Zodiac Hybrids

I hugged her tightly against me, until her neck was close enough to brush my fangs. I extended slowly, penetrating her carotid artery with care, assuring the pain would be minimal—an exercise in absolute madness and impossible discipline when that flavor danced on my tongue once more.

Fuck, she was everything. I was hard again just from the rush of her fluids filling my veins. It was too risky to fuck her twice, even if I wouldn’t mind her waking up while writhing beneath me. But not tonight. I had to finish this before I lost any more control.

I withdrew my fangs forcefully, then shoved them into my own lip until my blood was flowing freely. When I mixed our essence together, the wound on her neck closed, leaving behind a scar that resembled the symbol of the Leo.

The bond wasn’t completed, since she hadn’t given me consent, but my mate mark would remain on her body until she chose to accept or reject it. A convenient little tool thanks to the shifter half of my blood. Particularly helpful because…

Her dorm room door opened for me easily, and I walked freely into her space, no longer needing an invite when she bore my symbol on her flesh. I placed her atop her bed, tucked her in neatly, then lofted one last kiss on her forehead. Before I left, I took a moment to finish up the mostly done homework on her desk, just to make sure she didn’t find herself stressed and missing classes tomorrow, then I plugged her phone into its charger, and placed her glasses neatly on the nightstand.

In the morning, she’d wake up and likely wonder if all of this was just a dream.

And my, I looked forward to reminding her that it wasn’t.

Chapter 9

My eyes fluttered open slowly and naturally, while I woke from what was the most blissful and fulfilling sleep I’d ever experienced, despite having been plagued by bizarre dreams. Or maybe it was because of those dreams that I felt so well rested.

A dream. Was it really?

I was in my bed in my dorm room, tucked in and secure, and not at all in the cafeteria, splayed out on a table. No, I was under the covers more neatly than I could imagine having done myself. Did that beast carry me back here? I hadn’t locked the door, had I? Did I even really leave?

I sat up and rubbed my eyes before reaching for my glasses on the nightstand. My homework was still spread out on my desk. I didn’t recall completing it, yet it looked like every problem was solved and every question had been answered. My phone was plugged in and resting atop my desk, and nothing at all appeared out of sorts. Well aside from the fact that I was naked. Not only did I never sleep naked, but the clothing I would have discarded was nowhere to be seen.

None of this helped my resolve to believe it was a dream. If it had been, how would I have blacked out while finishing my homework? It’s not like someone would have had the opportunity to drug me. Even if they had, what would be the point of slipping a roofie to the boring nerd spending her night doing homework?

Which either meant I’d been abducted by aliens and had crazy memories implanted into my brain while they anal probed me, or that rough and violent monster turned out to be shockingly considerate with the after care.

With a deep breath, I slipped my hand between my legs, wanting to prove once and for all that I wasn’t gaslighting myself. I held my lower lip between my teeth as I felt how wet I still was, to the point it couldn’t have possibly been only my own fluids involved. My fingers were soaked when I removed them, and I dared not look at my sheets.

So naturally, I tried next to tell myself it was just my body’s reaction to my own lucid dream, and I was extremely well hydrated.

That seemed reasonably believable up until I stood up and felt something dribble down my inner thigh. My eyes widened, my lip quivered, and my heartbeat started to hammer in my chest at the sensation of a thick liquid sliding out of me and rolling down my skin.

Mortified, I grabbed my phone, where my texts to Marcus were still open, erasing any possible doubt that I’d imagined the whole thing. Why hadn’t he ever come?

No, the door was open. He must have just unlocked the cafeteria door and left. He wouldn’t have known I’d needed help after that. Professor Karras didn’t change until he was already gone.

That was why. I had all the excuses already prepared for everyone else involved to make sure I knew how much I’d fucked up all by myself.

Still processing everything, holding tight to my haze of disbelief, I walked into the bathroom and got in the shower to try to scrub away any sign that I’d just been fucked by some monster parading as my professor. I felt more numb than horrified by the whole thing. I should have been freaking out and shutting down, not going about my routine like it was just another day.

And yet, I couldn’t muster any extreme emotions at all. Was I traumatized? Or just… unbothered? I really couldn’t say. What was real and what was a dream? I’d swear I watched him transform right on top of me. I felt him inside me. I could still feel him on my skin, clawing and squeezing and using me for his satisfaction as much as my own.

Monsters aren’t real. Incubus aren’t real. Capricorns aren’t real. I told myself, despite the undeniable proof that had just pounded me into a table. Though the legends of the incubus would track for all the questionable thoughts I’d had around him, and the traits of the Capricorn would track for his subtly controlling actions.

I lathered up my loofah and took extra, extra care scrubbing myself.

What if that thing got me pregnant? Was that possible?

It would be completely my luck that I would get pregnant the first time I ever had sex. Did Plan B prevent demon babies? I didn’t want kids in general, and I definitely didn’t want Satan’s kids, no matter how big and satisfying his dick was. Real or imagined, waking dream or living nightmare, I’d get the morning after pill and a pregnancy test later just to make sure. Next time, I’d make a point to ask the big, violent monster to wear a condom.

I exhaled at my own ridiculous predicament, then I turned off the water. I used a towel to clear the steam from the mirror and started brushing out my hair. That was when I noticed a weird mark on my neck.

I lifted my chin and turned my head to the side to try and get a better view of it in my reflection. It was a strange, swirly u-shape with a little circle on the end, situated just under my ear. The same spot where I placed my fingers to feel my pulse and calm myself down whenever my anxiety started acting up.

I wanted to say the design was familiar, but it was unspectacular enough in its shape that it could have been a lot of things. I traced the loop and frowned.

What the hell.