Page 64 of The Bound Zodiac

He collapsed over me, chest to my back, biting my shoulder hard enough to make me yelp. The bond vibrated through us, tangled and wild, and for a second it felt like we might actually explode.

When he finally slowed, he didn’t pull out. Just lowered us both to the carpet, wrapped his arms around me, cradling me against his chest, his breath ragged in my ear. We lay there, bodies slick, trembling, my pussy still fluttering around him, greedy for every last inch. I knew without a doubt that I was going to have to be wheeled around tomorrow if they could even pry me out of my bed.

There was blood on my lip where he’d bitten it. There were bruises on my thighs, scratches on his back. I’d never felt so alive. Eventually, he rolled us onto our sides, still connected, his hand stroking my hair. He nuzzled the back of my neck, mouth soft for the first time.

“Jupiter,” he whispered. “Look at me.”

I twisted, the angle slightly awkward. He leaned over me, hand in my hair, tilting my face so I couldn’t look away. His eyes glowed red in the dark, softer than I’d ever seen. He pressed his forehead to mine, voice thick with all the things he couldn’t say except, “I love you, Jupiter Black, and I’ll die before I ever make you regret loving me back.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

JUPITER

I lay stretched out on a blanket near the bonfire, belly full of food, skin still warm from the whisky we’d started passing around as soon as the sun went down. Above us, the forest canopy swayed in the wind, black branches against the velvet blue of the night. The air was sweet and smoky with burning cedar. Someone was playing a playlist on a portable speaker.

Phoenix and Aiden had built the fire, and Aiden was maintaining it for a few hours now with little to no effort. It was enormous, flames licking six feet high, logs stacked in a pyramid. Phoenix was in his element, obviously. He’d brought not just logs but a whole armory of roasting sticks, packets of marshmallows, weird Aelari fruit, and something he’d called “fire apples” that he’d spiked with cinnamon and rum.

Lydia was propped up against a fallen log across from us, legs flung over Valeria’s lap, her head tipped back as she howled with laughter. Tye sprawled beside them, not even pretending to be sober. His human girlfriend, Kassie, had streaks of blue in her hair and warm chestnut brown eyes. She was gorgeous, and I could see why Tye was so smitten.

The rest of Lydia’s shield were draped around them in various stages of tipsy adoration. It must have been nice, I thought, to have five people that into you. Then I looked around at my own shield, all sprawled in a semi-circle around the fire, and realized I was the goddamn luckiest bitch on this planet.

The gala was in a few days, and my best friends had flown in over the weekend in preparation. Having them at Imperium even for such a short time made me wish they could just stay here with me. In a perfect world I could convince all of them to transfer. The Assembly would probably have a collective freaking aneurysm.

Lucas sat at my left, his hand braced behind me, glasses glinting orange in the firelight, turquoise eyes constantly connecting with mine. Percy was next to him, arms folded, tattoos gleaming dark above the rolled sleeves of his shirt, a rare genuine smile tugging at the edges of his mouth.

Aiden’s golden hair was pulled back in one of those lazy surfer guy style man bun things. He leaned back with his elbows in the grass, watching me constantly. He did that now. Since that day in the pond. He watched me unapologetically.

Eris, legs stretched out and massive shoulders blocking the flames, nursed a flask of some terrifying Scottish liquor, talking with Rowan. Draco perched on the log next to Tye, deep in conversation.

Rowan and Theo were already arguing over whether s’mores counted as a “proper” dessert. Rowan said yes, Theo said only if they were made with white chocolate, which sounded disgusting to me.

Phoenix was grabbing a stick out of the fire, marshmallow ablaze, waving it like a torch and cackling. Too bad, he was wasting perfectly good marshmallows.

Jamie and Gretchen were perched at the edge of the circle. Gretchen was watching Noodle, who’d decided tonight he was a marshmallow warden and was currently curled around the bag, flicking his tongue at anyone who reached for it.

This was honest to god the first time since the day I manifested that I’d felt like I belonged, completely. My little family, however hodgepodge and strange they were. Overhead, a warm wind picked up, scattering sparks into the trees. The pop and crackle of the fire was hypnotic.

“So what you’re telling me,” Rowan said, pointing a stick at me, “is that you actually managed to catch a pixie in a plastic storage container. And then it bit you.”

“And then,” Lucas added dryly, “you let it go. But not before it ate, what, three whole sleeves of cookies?”

I shrugged. “Pixies are a lot smarter than you think. If you want to catch one, you have to use real bait.”

Lucas shook his head. “The night you convinced that pixie to take marshmallows out of your hand was actually the first time I even caught a glimpse of the little bastards, and I’ve lived here far longer than you.”

I shook my head. “I tried to take a picture of the little bugger, but I think they’re too fast.”

Tye snorted. “I tried to take a selfie with a raccoon once and it nearly clawed my face off.

Okay, clearly Tye was drunk.

Percy arched a brow at him. “Why would you want a selfie with a raccoon? Aren’t there like a billion of those in New York dumpsters?”

“I thought it might want to be my familiar,” Tye insisted. “But clearly it was like a mutant or something. It’s so unfair that Jupiter and Jamie get familiars while I get my eyes almost scratched out.” He paused, and it was like a lightbulb went off in his head as he leaned forward. “I wonder what kinds of creepy creatures live on the home worlds. Probably some weird alien monsters that make mutant raccoons look like kittens.”

That got everyone talking at once, speculating about what kind of monsters and magical creatures might be waiting for us back home. I’d wondered about it myself, late at night, when the idea of actually leaving Earth started to feel real.

I sat up, grinning at the group. “Okay, but let’s be honest, there’s no way the home worlds aren’t crawling with weird shit. Like, imagine something that looks like a platypus but shoots venom out of its nose.”