Page 22 of Zodiac Hybrids

“A moment of your time to talk about our lord and savior, Lila Denton.” I rolled my eyes, and pressed my hand against the surface of the door to help him open it all the way. He gave to my superior vampire strength, and I reveled in the eye twitch that elicited. That gift of mine had pissed him off since we were young.

With a growl, he stepped back from the door, and I entered his cute little home. It was a fairly ordinary place, with bland furniture and blander décor, full of colors like “beige” and “sepia” and whatever other pretentious banalities suited his illusion of sophistication and warmth.

Adrian headed to his kitchen to take a seat at the breakfast bar, knowing it was futile to fight me any further.

“Why would I want to talk about Lila Denton?” He reserved his eye contact for his mug of coffee. Telling.

Also rude, since he didn’t offer me a cup. But then, he drank his coffee black like a psychopath, so it’s not like I wanted any anyway.

“Because she’s the first woman you ever fucked bloody in your place of employment?” I waved a hand dismissively. “Not the first you’ve ever fucked bloody in general though, I’m sure.”

His brow twitched, and I resisted the urge to laugh. That would only feed the tension in our relationship, and I needed answers first. Ask questions now, taunt later.

“How did you know about that?” There was no attempt to deny it. He knew better. I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t have irrefutable proof.

“How were you so dazed that you didn’t notice me unlocking the door?” I smirked to his mortification.

“Bullshit vampire speed.” Adrian sneered, then returned to his coffee. I think we both knew I was the superior hybrid, and that must have been difficult for him. “So I can thank you for ruining the poor girl’s fucking life by permanently tying her to me.”

“That seems a bit extreme. Just because she’s a Virgo and you’re a Capricorn, doesn’t mean the stars have turned you into fated mates or something.” By the devil, he was so full of himself.

Adrian’s knuckles tensed around his mug to the point I thought he might shatter it under the pressure. “I’m an Incubus, Marcus. I’m not a fucking vampire like you. Sex isn’t disposable to my kind.”

“How so?” I raised a brow. I had assumed sex was specifically disposable to an incubus, considering they fed on it like I did blood. “You’ve never in your life had a girlfriend or a boyfriend or even an it’s complicated. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’ve never even slept with the same person twice. Since when is getting your dick wet some kind of marriage contract?”

“Since she was a fucking virgin.” The porcelain gave under his iron grip, and the cup shattered in his hands. Scalding coffee splashed all over his forearms, and he didn’t so much as flinch. I, however, was completely wide eyed and taken aback.

“Why would that matter?”

“Twenty-six fucking years and you still don’t know anything about me.” Adrian growled, and I’d be lying if I said the anger in his voice wasn’t a touch startling. Though, in my defense, it’s not like he was an open book. “First of all, Incubi don’t fuck virgins.”

“Your father did.” I reminded him, staring at my nails in nonchalant disinterest. What’s another day of rubbing sandy lemons against his open wounds. It wasn’t my fault he wouldn’t let them heal. I was fairly certain he would never forgive me for having the audacity to exist, so may as well lean into it. “Got her pregnant even. It was my father who waited until she had eight years of experience first.”

He swung at me, and I happily obliged his fist with my cheek. I could have dodged in a flash, but I didn’t mind having my mouth filled with blood from a good hard hit from time to time. It would heal in a matter of seconds anyway. Although, admittedly, the blood that burst from my veins wasn’t that delicious at the moment.

I should save the taunts about his mother cheating with my father and destroying his whole family for a time when I’d gotten a fresh bite on Lila. I adjusted my jaw before I addressed him again. “Got that out of your system, brother dearest? Can we move on now?”

He shook my blood off his knuckles, surely staining his “Bavarian Cream” rug, then he returned to his kitchen to pour himself a new mug of coffee. I waited patiently for him to finish.

“Since you seem lost, let’s clear a few things up. She married my father, and she made a mistake with yours.”

“Which she did over, and over, and over again. Still is making that mistake, last I spoke with her, despite getting your daddy’s dick every night, too.” I couldn’t care less if my mother enjoyed multiple men. If neither of our fathers were enough on their own, why shouldn’t she get all the cock she craves. It was a fantastic show of her dominance and social prowess that I fully supported, on top of being the ultimate Alpha move. I would not be proud to be anything less than the son of an unapologetic Alpha Shifter. “So get to the point. Why the fuck is the fact that you broke her hymen such a big deal to you?”

“Because I’m not just a goddamn incubus, just like you’re not just a goddamn vampire.” He continued once my expression was thoroughly flattened. “Our Zodiac blood seeks out a compatible mate at all times, my Capricorn designation specifically seeks out permanence, and my incubus blood seeks out a sexual partner to implant on. Ordinarily, I fuck succubus, who’ve had so many partners, my scent barely registers.” Shit. I was actually starting to pick up what he was putting down, and a sense of dread was building in my gut. “But if I fuck a virgin and mix my semen with her blood…”

“Oh.” I heard myself say.

“Oh is fucking right. I can’t control my Zodiac form on a full moon as is. You know as well as I do what happens when a half breed is exposed to lunar magic. How many times have you been trapped in lion form for an entire night?”

I swallowed, but tried not to be obvious about it. “A few.”

“And how many times have you done something you regretted while turned and on a lunar high?”

“… A few.” I hated when he had a point.

“Exactly. And now she’s scented as mine, and that beast inside me is going to seek her out, time and again, so long as she’s in hunting distance. And considering my incubus form provides wings, that’s pretty goddamn far.”

Huh. Maybe I did fuck up then. “Interesting.” I nodded along, trying not to appear as fazed as I was. “So she just needs to ride enough dicks to erase your scent, and we should be fine then.” I volunteer as tribute. “Did I get that right?”