Page 54 of Zodiac Demons

He stopped dressing and turned to look me in the eye.

He didn’t say anything, so I kept going. “You’re fun, and every day with you is something new and exciting. You make me laugh, you always take care of my needs, and I think that even though Earth and Fire signs aren’t supposed to be the best matches, I’m not even sure your flaws are real flaws, because I don’t want you to be any different than you are.” My whole face was red as I said the words.

He had me swept up in a kiss faster than my eyes could track his movements, and I also loved how passionate my Leo was. I couldn’t wait to spend his birthday with him.

After ending up naked and underneath Marcus for the second time that day, I snuggled up against him, and finally worked up the courage to bring up the more complicated part of this coming moon.

“S-so, speaking of the full moon,” I started, then paused to better parse my words. “I think we need to talk about… uh… my other mates.” I exhaled, not sure how to even broach this topic. “I know Adrian has been doing a good job of keeping his distance, but I can’t tell if you and Ceto like each other or hate each other, and he has inventory scheduled for your birthday this month, so I was kind of thinking it might be the latter?”

Marcus groaned and rolled over, leaving me cold on the bed. “He seriously scheduled inventory for that night?”

“It’s when he always does inventory.” I sat up and started smoothing out my messy hair. “I mean, last month he made an exception, but this month he insisted on staying behind his wards. Something about not wanting to get caught up in your rhythm again. I asked, and because no one ever explains anything, that’s all I got.” I threw up my hands with exasperation. “So I want to spend your birthday with you, but will that be okay for… everyone?”

“Probably not, but I suppose I can try and convince him to come out and play.” He leaned over and pecked me on the forehead. “But I’m not going to let his stubbornness ruin my night, and you shouldn’t either. He knows the risks.”

“I just think maybe we should start getting this sorted out in a way that no one feels like they have to suffer if they don’t spend the full moon night with me every month.” I frowned as the thought left my lips.

Marcus just laughed at that. “Not spending the night with you is suffering either way.” He ruffled my hair. “I promise there is not one person who has placed a mark on your body who feels any other way.”

“Adrian does.” I finally let myself voice my real concern. He didn’t look great last month, and even with the escapades at Fazer Island to help feed his reserves, I doubted he was much better off now, considering I was his only available food source.

“Adrian is a liar.” Marcus rolled his eyes, before he got up to attempt to get dressed a second time. “He just puts on a good front around an audience.”

“No, I think it’s more than that.” Being Marcus was his brother, maybe he would listen to my side a bit more. Or maybe he could reason with him better than I could. “I… I offered to let him feed on me like you do, since he can’t feed on anyone else anymore. And even when it was just him and me, in his house, no one else around, with a look on his face that bordered on locking eyes with the grim reaper, he still turned me down.” As much as the rejection had hurt, it was the severity of it all that hit me hardest. That he would admit, in a life or death situation, he still wouldn’t sleep with me by choice.

That… that was what stung the most. Some days I thought we were getting closer, and that had proved all of those thoughts were purely one sided.

“Wait, what?” Marcus blinked, genuine surprise written all over his face, and I immediately flushed with my whole body.

“Sorry, I should have told you. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. He’s just also one of my mates, technically, and he was in bad shape, and I don’t know what I was thinking, other than he’s an incubus, and it’s not really an intimate thing necessarily, and he told me that he’d tried to feed on other people but his body wouldn’t let him, so it was just—”

“No, stop, calm down, you’re good.” Marcus held up a hand and shook his head, cutting off my rambling. “The whole offering yourself to him for feeding is fine. All of that is fine. I don’t care at all that you did that, and I would have even encouraged it if you’d asked me. But what’s this about him being able to only feed off of you? Like, he can’t feed at all without you? Not even Succubus Dens? Random women on the street? Nothing?” He had a look of genuine concern, and it was instant relief to have said something and finally be able to talk about it.

I nodded. “He told me he tried and his body wouldn’t respond. Something to do with the whole taking my virginity thing? You would probably understand all of that better than I do. He wasn’t really specific.”

“Fuck, that makes so much sense now.” He looked positively distraught, while not sharing any of his thoughts with me in the process. Try as I might, no amount of concentrating let me read his mind, so I just waited patiently for him to tell me what was going on.

“What makes so much sense?” I nudged, wanting in on the secret.

“I saw him last week and he looked like death, and he got pissed at me when I told him you’d understand if he had to feed on someone else.” He stopped himself, “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that to him on your behalf, when I don’t know your feelings on the matter.”

“I could live with it.” I nodded, though I wasn’t entirely sure that was true. When Marcus stifled a half laugh, I gathered he heard me admit the second part. “I mean, obviously I’d prefer that to him dying or going into a coma.” But I’d really rather he do it with me.

“You’re so fucking adorable.” He snorted and grabbed me in a squeeze. “I’m sure he’ll come around. Or he won’t, and he’ll suffer for it. But that’s not on you, Baby Doll. Thanks for letting me know. He’s always been stubborn and doesn’t let people in. Don’t take it personally. I’ve been struggling to have a relationship with him my entire life.”

For what sounded like a melancholy statement about a subject that was quite dire, Marcus was unexpectedly chipper. Had I missed something here?

“Even so, it seems dangerous for him to just keep abstaining. Even if he gets some residual energy when we’re together, won’t he die if he doesn’t feed at some point?” It was more frustrating than helpful for him to be so dismissive, when I was the ultimate catalyst for everyone’s problems. “You can technically feed off of anyone,” even if I’d rather you not, “so even if I like having you drink from me, you would live whether I was here or not. He won’t, and I can’t ignore that. If something happens to him because of our situation, I’m at least somewhat responsible.”

He raised a brow. “Well, how do you see yourself solving this? Climb into his bed one night, and hope his instincts take over? You said you straight up offered a no strings attached, ‘purely for feeding’ option, and he chose not to take it, so I don’t see what else you can do here, short of forcing yourself on him.”

“No that’s…” My mouth fell open, and I didn’t know how to respond to that. “I don’t want to force him to do anything. I just feel bad about it. If he was mated to anyone other than me, it probably wouldn’t be a problem at all, but because he is stuck with me, here we are.”

Marcus groaned. “Do not put this on yourself. Honestly, I’d say just wait him out until he admits he needs you.” He waved a hand dismissively. “It’s not your responsibility to lead him into making good decisions. If he ends up in a pre-death coma, you can always revive him with your pussy.”

My expression flattened, not feeling terribly encouraged by that. Marcus really was willing to let his brother sink. Was it that bad between them? If it was, how would all of my mates ever get along well enough to make this work?

Chapter 26