Chapter 11 #2
While I wait for the elevator to continue downward, a warm feeling starts to heat both sides of my shoulders.
It gradually becomes hotter and hotter until it feels like it’s burning.
Ripping off my shirt, I turn to look at my shoulders in the reflection of the doors.
On the right side is a small faded black circle with what looks like two black angel wings with extremely long feathers at the bottom.
On the other, there are two marks. One is a faded blue circle with a sideways figure eight, and the other one kind of looks like the medical symbol on Earth.
There are two snakes entwined around a staff, but instead of wings at the top, there’s a cog.
What the fuck is going on? By the time the elevator dings, its doors slowly opening, I’m still standing there in just my bra and skirt.
The horrified look on my face only becomes comically worse when I realize that the three grandpas are waiting for me in all of my half-naked glory.
“What the fuck just happened?” I wobble out of the elevator, pointing at my shoulder blades.
“What are these things that just appeared on my shoulders?” I yell at them.
They turn me around and take a look at the marks that have appeared, and Eric’s smothered laugh is most definitely not a welcome sound in the middle of my very reasonable freakout. “Explain, please,” I demand.
John takes me by the arm and walks me away from the crowd of onlookers that have migrated toward the elevators with all the commotion.
“Calm down, dear. Why don’t you put your top back on so we can have a nice quiet conversation?
” He’s managing me, but I don’t call him out on it.
I wasn’t expecting so much of the public to be milling around in the lobby when I flashed them all a look at the girls.
Though they do look great tonight. I quickly shrug back into my shirt and take a look around, realizing he’s led me to an alcove that’s out of the crowd’s view.
William and Eric have followed, the latter still sniggering.
That grandpa is going to get my foot up his ass if he isn’t careful.
“Seriously, Mutley, what is your problem?” I snarl at him. Since he’s still chuckling, useless at answering my question, I turn to William. “Please explain?”
William gets an uncomfortable look on his face again. “Well, ah, yes,” he stumbles.
“Oh, for crying out loud!” I snap at him. “Get it together, man.”
Eric is just about rolling on the floor in laughter, while John looks uneasy. Eric gets himself together and says, “Try before you buy, Lila.” I just blink at him and turn to William for a bigger explanation.
“Huh?”
“Yes, well, the right shoulder is your bonding mark. It looks like you’ve picked up the Norse symbol for protector. Quite apt, I might say, if you decide to take on your role with the circus.”
“Ok then. My bonding mark! You said that it would show up on men that I’m interested in and will stay there unless I lose interest, right?” I question. After he nods, I think about it for a moment. “It’s pretty. I’m ok with that.”
Looking relieved that I’m not freaking out as much anymore, he adds, “The mark will intensify and merge with the partner's mark if you fully consummate the bond. Right now, as you can see, the coloring of the marks is faded, but it won’t stay that way if someone becomes your permanent partner.”
“And that takes five rounds of sex?” I question again.
“Yes, in most cases.” Most cases? Do I delve further into this, or do I just let it go for now? I mean, haven't I already got enough on my plate? Head in the sand, it is.
“Well, ok then, no having sex with anyone more than five times if they have my mark. Nice and easy. I certainly don’t need a husband at the moment.” I’m pacing back and forth, repeatedly running my hands down my skirt until William steps into my path to stop me.
“Lila honey,” he says to me softly, like he doesn’t want to startle me further.
“Don’t forget it could be husbands, plural.
Don’t close your mind to it just because what you are used to is monogamy.
Nobody here will judge you. In fact, it might make others even more open to you if they see you embracing more of our culture.
Either way, it’s an important decision that deserves your fully informed choice.
Remember, anyone you do mate with will gain any abilities you have and vice versa.
You could end up with other powers, ones that you’re certainly not expecting.
Now, your grandma was Skarrian and had the same powers as us, but we know of many matings that have resulted in different species partners gaining new abilities. ”
It brings a tear to my eye that he’s being so gentle with me. Honestly, his care feels less like management and more like genuine care for my feelings. It’s kind of sweet… but then I think twice. He’s never soft and gentle. What’s going on?
Silly me, I ask the question I’ve been dreading but secretly know the answer to.
“What do the other marks mean?” He flinches before he straightens up and looks me in the eye.
“The left shoulder will contain the marks of the man or men who return your interest.” My heart is pounding so hard I feel like it’s going to jump out of my chest. “A mark won’t appear if the interest is not mutual. ”
“So what are you saying?” I ask cautiously, bracing myself for the answer.
“Those are the marks of whoever you find yourself attracted to, so long as they return the attraction.”
“The interest has to be mutual for the mark to show?” I need to check, already feeling like my world is about to be rocked.
“Yes,” he says, setting my mind whirling. There are plenty of men that I’ve found attractive so far. If I had to guess, one is the doctor. But who could the other one be?
“Was there anyone in the elevator with you? That's when you felt it, yes?” Eric asks, his eyes still laughing even though he’s calmed down.
“Caspian was in it for a while, but he’s the only one.”
“Well, there you go. It would be safe to assume he’s one of them. I guess he’s not as grumpy as you thought.”
Showing remarkable class and self-control, I very maturely ignore the temptation to make that whole foot/ass situation into reality. Caspian!?
“Well, fuck!”
CASPIAN
The elevator doors close, leaving me with an impression of sexy as fuck Lila wiggling her fingers at me burned into my retinas, and my anger fades away.
She really isn't disgusted by me. In fact, if the scent that drifted to my nose as my tentacle caressed her leg is anything to go by, she was turned on. I shake my head when I realize I was so flustered that I got off at the top floor even though I needed to get out on the performers’ level.
I push the button to call it back while I contemplate the conundrum that is Lila.
The minute I saw her in the cafeteria that first night, my kraken tried to come out.
He smelled her and thought mate, but I couldn’t stand the thought of being rejected again.
I pushed him down and brought out my asshole self, but she didn't even flinch. Sure, her mouth dropped open, but she’d quickly recovered and greeted me like I was normal. Then gave back as good as I dished out.
But of course Dylan wormed his way into a seat at the head table.
Sure, the guy’s my buddy and we've been performing together for a while now, but he doesn’t hide the fact that he has big goals.
And yes, we’ve been lovers on and off for a while now, but it’s nothing serious.
I know that my kraken would never consider him a compatible mate, and let’s face it the guy’s a manwhore.
I'm certainly not the only person he’s sleeping with.
Thankfully, there’s an inoculation for alien STIs.
My mind is a whirl of chaotic thoughts on the ride back down. Once I’m on the right floor, I find Dylan already dressed for the performance.
“Cas! Where have you been? Come on, man, you need to get ready.” He drags me to our dressing room without waiting for me to answer.
He throws himself onto our couch as I pull off my clothes and replace them with the leather pants I wear for the performance. Moving over to the nearby makeup table, I start to apply the show makeup, using a ridiculous amount so that we can be seen from the top rows.
I’m staring off into space as I apply it, only meeting Dylan’s eyes in the mirror after he clears his throat to get my attention.
“What's wrong with you? You’re all spacey. Where were you?” I can’t help but roll my eyes at the suspicion in his voice.
God, he’s a jealous asshole. He can fuck anything that walks, but the minute I do something out of the ordinary, he assumes there’s something else going on.
“I was talking to Lila in the elevator.” His face wrinkles into a frown, and there’s a flash of his dragon’s presence in his eyes.
“Why? I thought you didn't like her. You certainly were an asshole the first day.”
“Yeah, but that was when I thought she would be repulsed by me. Now that I talked to her again, I don't think she is.” Even to my own ears I sound amazed.