Page 16 of Oracles Always Win

Theguy, who may or may not have horns, shot one last glare inOldThom’sdirection, then nodded.Hisbody lost its redness and seemed to become a little smaller… a little more normal, like it had been when he first walked in.Well, not that it’dactuallychanged, because bodies and skin color and eyes didn’t change like that.Notin real life.

Theimportant thing, though, was that everyone seemed to exhale, and theSaturdayafternoon din rose up again, not up to its normal decibels, but better than it had been.Theguy’s companions returned to their seats.Itwas like the unsettling tension had popped, dissipating like it’d never been.

Iwasn’t surprised when my regulars started murmuring furtively with one another and exchanging something, money by the look of it.Ismiled.Thatwas more like it.

Iused to worry about the whispers and seeing hands exchanging money, butAliceandSallyhad assured me no one was dealing drugs, soIdecided to believe them and just let everyone do what they wanted.Thefirst time it happened,Iworried the locals were upsetI’dinherited the inn and were badmouthing me and making bets about how long it’d be beforeIwent bankrupt.Butthey kept coming back to the pub, so nowIfigured it was just who they were.

Afterall, it’d been almost a year sinceI’dtaken over the business, and things didn’t seem any worse than when my grandfather was running it.Ofcourse, it wasn’t any better either, but that was a different problem.

Irubbed my forehead where the bottle cap had hit.Shit, that stung.Asridiculous as it sounded, it was like the pain ricocheted all the way through me like an out-of-control ping pong ball.

"Comehere," the mystery man said, leaning into my space.Hisvoice was deeper now.Ithad a strange kind of vibration to it, almost like he was compelling me to obey.Hewasn’t, of course, butIwas curious about what he had planned soIdid as he asked.

Theend ofPaws’ tail flicked faster, but the cat didn’t move, and he didn’t meow.Sallywhimpered.Andme?Imoved closer untilIwas standing directly in front of the man.

Ididn’t believe in all the woo-woo stuff my mother had feared, but this guy was making me question that.Itwas almost like he had an aura or an energy around him that reached out to embrace me.Itwas warm and calming.Ileaned toward him, as if drawn in by some unseen force.I’dalways thought magnetic attraction was an exaggeration used by romance novelists likeJeremy.

Untilthis moment.

Nowit felt all too real.Imoved closer still.Icouldn’t help myself.

Chapter Seven

JAKE

HadIactuallykissed this man earlier?

Eitherway,Iwanted to do it again, right now, just to test my theory that the kiss had been real.Mylips opened and my breaths quickened as he reached for me.HolyDali.Icouldn’t remember the last time someone had brushed their fingers over my skin.Imean,Iguess he had possibly touched me earlier, butIhadn’t known it was real then.Iheld my breath and waited.

Forthe second time in one night,Iwas frozen in place.

Theman's thumb brushed over the place where the bottle cap had struck me.Ourgazes locked andIswore the guy’s eyes turned red.Notin a bloodshot way.No, this was different.Hiseyes were just black pupils surrounded by nothing but swirling red.Andin his mouth, his tongue did not look like a tongue.Atleast not a human tongue.Itwas narrow and long and…forked.

Itshould have been shocking, because that shit wasn’t normal, but then a soothing heat shot out from that feather-light touch and cascaded over me like a gentle waterfall.Oh.Thatwasnice.Iwanted to fall into that warmth and bathe in it.

Goosebumpspricked along my skin and… my cock was involved again, way more than before.Andthere was all this…tinglinghappening.Myskin tingled.Myballs tingled.Mycock…Okay, my cock wasn’t tingling so much as it felt ready to burst.Thelast thingIneeded was to come in public, in my pants.Myhead spun at the realizationI’dnot only gotten hard at the mere sight of him, butIwas ready to jizz at his fleeting touch to my forehead, of all places.

Ijerked back, putting distance between me and this too-tempting stranger.

Mybody seemed to have forgotten that it didn't do sexual stuff when other people were around.Itnever had.Sure,Ithought about sex.I’dthought about sex a lot in the last year.Beforethat,Ihadn’t cared much about it one way or the other.Butin the last twelve months,I'dpleasured myself plenty of times, particularly to the images of a certain horned guyIdidn’t believe existed.ButI'dnever reacted to another living person before.

Asa teenager,Irealized not long after puberty thatIwas different from other kids my age.Idid the research and decidedIwas ace.ThenwhenIstarted getting horny for the horned dude in my paintings,IfiguredIwas demi instead.

So, what the hell was my body doing reacting to a guyIdidn't know?JustbecauseIhad dozens of pictures of someone who looked like him hidden under my bed did not meanIknew him.Atall.Seriously.

Yes,I’dput losing my virginity on my list, but this whole situation was freaking me out.MaybeIwasn’t ready yet, which was a depressing thought becauseIwas running out of time.

"Uh…Yeah…"Istammered. "Whatdid you want to drink?"

"Myname isGage," the man—Gage—said. “What’syours?”

AndnowIknew his name.Itwas a good name.Iwanted to roll it around on my tongue, taste it.Iliked the way my lips moved whenIrepeated it.Particularlyat the end, where it was like my lips were puckering to kiss him.

Theguy's eyes were almost more mesmerizing now than they had been only a moment earlier.Thered had bled away but the intensity in his gaze made my breath hitch.WhenGagelicked his lips, my gaze zeroed in on the little movement.Istared at his tongue because it looked normal again.

I’dnever seen the appeal of tongues—Imean, what was there to like about them?Theywere covered with someone else’s spit and moved in unsettling ways—but suddenlyIwanted to lickGage’stongue.Tasteit.Feelhow wet and warm it was.

Thiswas insane.