Chapter 16
Dante
FUCK.
I knew kissing Serenity would be good. I knew feeling her against me would be hot.
But goddamn, the real thing was so much better than anything I’d conjured up in my head, and now that I’d had a taste, I was addicted.
I needed more of her. I’d been going crazy for the past week since we’d kissed at the club.
She’d been busy this week with work and avoiding Bradley while there, so other than some flirtatious texting, nothing even remotely sexual happened.
Though, we still talked daily.
If we weren’t texting throughout the day, we were on the phone at night.
I didn’t think I’d have so much to talk about with a human who had no hope of understanding a demon like me, yet there was no shortage in things to talk about with her.
Hell, I’d even gone out of my way to help her box up Bradley’s things from her apartment, because she didn’t have the heart to do it on her own.
It was … different. Very different.
Different was good, right?
With Saturday finally here, it was my chance to have Serenity all to myself. No bandmates ruining the moment or giggly human women stealing her away this time.
Dressed in dark jeans and a maroon sweater, I pulled on my black winter coat and headed to the coffee shop Serenity began her Saturdays at every weekend. She was already there and getting out of her car by the time I arrived, so with a grin, I joined her on the sidewalk.
“You look beautiful,” I complimented while raking my eyes over her.
She wore dark pants and one of her sweaters, this one pink with black bows running along the sleeves.
Her silver hair was pulled back in a high ponytail with some strands framing her face.
No matter how many times I saw her, her beauty smacked me square in the chest every single time.
Regardless of what I was doing with this relationship, I was truly drawn to her in every single way.
Her cheeks flushed, and she shifted on her feet as her eyes averted. “Thank you. So do you. Handsome, I mean. You look very handsome.”
Chuckling, I gestured to the coffee shop. “So what’s the plan from here, Star? I’m following you today.”
I held the café door open and followed her inside the warm establishment.
The scent of freshly brewed coffee filled the air, but even that rich smell couldn’t compare to the icy freshness of Serenity’s essence.
I wanted to breathe her in deeply and taste her again.
The thought had my dick stiffening, and I had to shift to hide the bulge now tenting my pants.
“Since you’re joining me today,” she started with an excited gleam in her eye, “I thought we could grab our coffee then go straight to the zoo. Since you’ve never been, I want to make sure there’s plenty of time to show you everything and let you meet everybody.”
“And by ‘everybody,’ you mean …”
She placed her hands on her hips and gave me an obvious look. “The animals, of course.”
Of course.
We grabbed our to-go coffees before getting back in our respective cars.
I nursed my warm black coffee while following Serenity to the zoo, which was bigger than I expected, considering this town wasn’t huge.
Shrubbery cut into the shapes of animals lined the parking lot, and various animal tracks made of white paint led from the lot to the front gates.
It wasn’t terribly packed since it was pretty chilly out, but a good crowd still trickled to the zoo entrance.
“Did you bring a book?” Serenity asked as we started toward the main gates.
I held up the newest addition to my never-ending personal library—a thriller. “Of course. Who do you think I am?”
“Give it here. I’ll put it in my bag until we get settled.”
Apparently, Serenity didn’t just come to the zoo to see the little creatures who inhabited it. She also came here to read. She’d told me ahead of time to bring my own book today, and while I typically liked being the boss, that was one order I didn’t mind following.
We made it to the gate where Serenity produced her season pass, but before we even reached the two teen girls manning the ticket scanner, the duo spotted me and instantly changed.
Gone were the bored expressions, and in their places were gaping smiles, wide eyes full of awe, and hands covering now red faces.
“Uh-oh,” Serenity mumbled under her breath, seeing the teens, too. “I know that look.”
“Dante!”
“I’m a huge fan!”
“Holy shit, hi!”
“I love you so much!”
“Can I get a photo?”
The questions bounced between the two, firing so quickly that I couldn’t keep up. I plastered on the signature smile I wore around my fans and posed for photos with them, which Serenity graciously took for us.
When we finally detached from the still giddy girls, Serenity swept a gaze around the packed zoo.
“I didn’t think this whole bringing-a-celebrity-to-the-zoo-thing through.
” She pursed her lips and looked around the large, open entrance with its vendors, shops, and pathways to various exhibits.
Her eyes landed on one stall, and her face lit up. “This way! I have an idea.”
She pulled me over to a booth, and the minute I saw the older man with all of his paint supplies and design options, I knew exactly what Serenity was planning.
“Oh, no,” I protested, but my argument fell on deaf ears.
Serenity pushed me down into the chair with a mischievous and excited grin before handing the man $10. “I’d like a full face paint, please.” She turned to all the options and tapped her chin thoughtfully before picking one I couldn’t see from my seated vantage point. “This one, please.”
“Serenity,” I growled through clenched teeth.
Instead of backing down, she just laughed sweetly. “Don’t talk while he works. It will ruin the art.”
The older man laughed along with her and got to work on slapping his cold paint on my face. My glare remained fixed over his shoulder, right on Serenity, who seemed all too happy to be taking photos on her phone as the gentleman worked.
“You and your girlfriend are cute,” the man chuckled as he got more paint.
I didn’t bother correcting him. While his assumption was wrong, something inside of me liked that people saw us that way—her being mine. I certainly wasn’t against the idea of monopolizing her, at least for now.
“She’s something alright,” I mumbled to the man. While he cleaned his brush and left my face alone, I fixed my gaze on Serenity. “I refuse to be the only one walking around with paint on my face. If I’m doing this, so are you.”
“I don’t need a disguise,” she argued with a cross of her arms. “This is for your protection.”
“Nice try. You’re next.” I pulled out my own ten bucks and gave it to the man. “She’s next.”
The gentleman accepted the money happily while Serenity gawked at me from behind him. “Certainly, sir. What design for the lady?”
I held still while he finished my face paint before replying, “Depends. What am I?”
Instead of answering, he grabbed a mirror and held it up so I could see the finished result.
The entirety of my beautiful, perfect brown skin had been painted orange and white with black stripes.
I even had a goddamn pink nose framed in black with a tiger’s maw drawn out around my mouth.
My black facial hair created a natural frame around the tiger design, and the silver nose ring through the tiger’s nose added a nice little edgy touch.
“Oh my gosh, I love it,” Serenity gushed as she studied me with glittering gleeful eyes. “I’ve never seen a more handsome tiger.”
I stood up from the chair and grabbed her hand to trade places with her. She sat in the seat obediently while I looked over the full face options for her. If I was a tiger, I wanted her to be my prey.
Lip twitching, I pointed at the cutesy fawn design for the man to see. “This one.”
The man got to work, and I leaned against the booth’s corner, watching Serenity smile sweetly at me before the man’s brushwork began.
Something shifted in the center of my chest the longer she looked at me.
I searched her gaze for any hidden malice or ulterior motive for why she was with me.
I hunted for a trace of the venom and lies that all humans harbored.
I dug for a reason to keep up my disdain for mortals, but …
I couldn’t find it. I couldn’t find a reason to hate her like I hated every other human.
With a small tug on my black heart, I decided that she could be my exception to the rule.
Beige paint now framed Serenity’s pale face, and numerous white dots lined that space. Black paint lined her eyes, and brown paint framed her nose, leading to a black deer nose on the tip of her real one. The artist had made her cheeks a subtle pink and painted her lips, too.
Grinning, I tipped the man and helped Serenity up from the chair. “What a tasty-looking deer you make.”
“Are you going to eat me, tiger?”
Fuck. I absolutely was. “Keep that up, and we’ll have to sneak off to somewhere private.”
She laughed, and we left the booth with our faces thoroughly covered.
I spotted a nearby stall with stuffed animals, shirts, hats, and headpieces.
Momentarily leaving her side, I rushed over to buy two items. When I returned to Serenity’s side, I placed the deer ear headband on her head and tiger ear headband on my own.
“If we’re doing this, we’re going all out,” I told her.
Her smile seemed permanently etched onto her face, and I couldn’t help but ingrain that sight into my mind. I wanted to remember her like this forever.
“I love the enthusiasm,” she chirped. “Now, we can officially begin our tour.”