Page 27 of Zodiac Hybrids

What I wouldn’t do for just one more taste.

My fangs started to extend, and I forced them back to a normal, acceptable length before I could prick her lip. I separated myself from her slowly, then I took a single step back to admire this curious woman.

By the devil, she was a sight. Perfect, pouty lips that I wanted to bruise with mine, reddened cheeks that radiated off pale skin that contrasted beautifully with her dark hair, her full figure, soft and curvy and heaven in my hands, and those pleading eyes that wanted more and more and more.

Everything I wanted to give her.

She turned away suddenly and opened her door, her innocence winning out over the hunger in her nervous eyes. “Goodnight.” She squeaked before she slipped into her room.

“Goodnight, Lila. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said softly before the door had shut between us.

Wait, what the fuck.

A wash of confusion hit me like a jolt, and I took two stumbling steps back from her door. My heart was pounding the wretched, flavorless blood from the blood bank back through my veins to every inch of every limb, and a cold sweat broke out across my brow. I blinked several times, wrangling myself back into the present.

Now that this barrier was between us, a semblance of sanity started clawing at the back of my mind.

Though the moments were small, time and again I found myself wanting to say entirely too much. It was as if I couldn’t regulate what information I kept in my head versus what I wanted to share. Even if I was finding myself a bit taken with her, that still didn’t explain why I was opening up to her like this. I hadn’t intended to talk about myself much at all, yet it had felt like she was drawing those thoughts out of me, and I had to keep reeling them back in.

Being in her presence was intoxicating, literally and figuratively, and I hadn’t quite noticed how strongly until it was just the two of us and she was actually asking me questions.

Or maybe it was because this Virgo wasn’t a virgin anymore. Could that have activated something in her magical soul? Some quiet part of my soul wanted her from the moment I’d encountered her, but now that attraction felt different. Stronger. And not because I’d marked her.

Curious. What was the story behind this little dove? Adrian was definitely right about her ignorance. That much was certain. She had no clue what she was or what we were. She seemed completely ignorant to everything that was the magical realm. Humans were the only species we couldn’t breed with though, so whatever accountant her mother married, he wasn’t human, and she wasn’t human. Especially not if they’d taken the initiative to enroll their daughter here.

What a disservice they’d done her by telling her nothing of her own species. That was cruel.

And also inconvenient, considering I couldn’t figure out what she was either, and I couldn’t compel the information out of her if the knowledge didn’t exist in her head to begin with. On the contrary, it felt like she was better at compelling information out of me.

I wonder.

Could she hold the partial blood of a vampire? She didn’t taste like one, but… then again, who knew what her cocktail of magic was mixed with. One full moon at a time, I was going to figure her out. Somehow.

Chapter 14

The most delightful dreams got me through Sunday night, preparing me for the nightmare that would be Monday morning. While I was on cloud nine after an easy, comfortable date with a really cool guy, facing my professor with all the baggage between us had already shooed away my white fluffy happiness.

The one and only thing I knew for certain was that I wasn’t going to back down and let him ruin everything I’d worked for and dreamed of. Marcus was right. I had the power here, really. He slept with a student after all. He was the one who fucked up. He was the one who would lose his job if I ever spoke up. I’d been bullied my whole damn life, and I wasn’t going to stand for it anymore.

I had breakfast with Marcus again to build my courage, which I was happy to add to my daily rituals, then I steeled myself for Physics. So far, it seemed that Adrian wasn’t going to make a scene in front of the rest of the class, considering he tended to hit a personality switch between teaching and talking to me, so I was safe to show up on time. If I didn’t linger too long, all he would have to agree to do was be professional about it, and I could do the same. Setting aside the fact that he was literally a sex demon, he was in his thirties, and he was gorgeous, so it was within reason to assume he’d probably had a thousand partners in his life. He should be old and mature enough to be able to keep his cool around someone he had sex with one time.

If anything, the fact that he turned into a monster in front of me should have been more worrying than the sex part. But it’s not like anyone would believe me if I tried to expose him as a… whatever he was. I didn’t even have a name for it, so I wasn’t exactly at risk of broadcasting it.

I stepped into the room only a few minutes early, and I took my seat just two rows from the front. We made eye contact for only the briefest moment, and my heart skipped a beat in anticipation for a sneer or a glare or a subtle raise of his brow. This act of defiance should have at least merited a talking to. But instead, He said nothing and taught as normal.

My heartbeat steadied. Though I’d built up a very elaborate confrontation in my head, complete with him shouting his arguments in a dramatic fashion in front of the whole class, only to be put in his place by my well-formed rant, filled with sharp wit and articulate boldness. I knew, in real life, I would shrink away under confrontation and forget everything I wanted to say, but I still felt a bit pouty when the blow up I’d fantasized about in the shower never came to pass.

The clock ticked on, and when class ended, I packed slowly, waiting for him to call me out. When he instead occupied himself by wiping down the board, I left just after everyone else, deciding to prove that I could also be professional and reasonable. A blow up never actually had to happen. He could just acknowledge that I wasn’t going to drop out, and I would keep showing up and not make trouble.

This was great. Just avoid the problem, get through the year, and everyone wins.

I went about my classes on Tuesday, I saw him again on Wednesday, and everything continued to go fine.

I was so happy about this. Completely content that he wasn’t making a big deal about it, and that he was letting me go about my semester after all. No need to switch majors, no tension or expulsion. Like I said: fine. This was what I wanted, obviously, and I was totally thrilled.

That weird sinking feeling in my gut after every encounter could easily be explained away by late nights studying and new-environment-nerves messing with my stomach.

On Thursday, it was time for Astrology Club, and I mentally prepared myself for it to play out exactly the same. At least in this class, I sat next to Marcus, so I would have a reminder of why I shouldn’t care at all about the Professor. I mean, because I didn’t care about the professor. But the distraction would still help.