“Well,” and he leans closer, so close I can see his yellow eyes clear as day. They turn darker toward his pupils, but I force myself not to notice it. “It’s sex with bodily fluids. Know what I mean?”
I narrow my eyes. “No. Regular sex has bodily fluids.” Loads of them. Oh, or does he mean... “Do you mean squirting?”
“Not only that,” and he smirks, that all-knowing smirk. “Any other body fluid. Any. Other.”
I blink. “Mm... Like blood? I kind of did blood before.” Donatello did suck my blood, but does it count if the motive was just feeding, not sex, per se?
Zaki halts, his eyes going so round I can see his entire irises. This shock is so honest I can’t help but smile victoriously. What are the odds of shocking a sex demon? “You did bloodplay?” he asks.
“Yeah, Donatello is a vampire.” And I shrug to emphasize how commonplace it is, even though we just did it once.
Zaki laughs, throwing his head back, then shoves a hand through his dark hair. “Shit, that was unexpected, pet.”
I punch him again, harder this time. Not that it makes any difference. He’s too buffed up to even feel it. “Don’t call me pet. And if it’s not blood, then what else?”
“Waterworks is basically urine, but you went a whole new level with your bloodplay.”
I roll my eyes. “No way people fuck with urine in the mix.”
He throws his hands up in a pacifying gesture. “Don’t judge people’s kinks. You do bloodplay.”
I smile and roll my eyes. He has a point, of course, but I won’t tell him that. He’s already too full of himself. I open my mouth to ask more about that kink when we make a curve and a whole new scenario opens up in front of me. Jerking to a stop, I let myself gawk.
It’s a city. Not a village like the one my parents live in, but a city that stretches on and on to the horizon. There are no tall buildings, only houses and cabins, but there are so many of them I can’t see where it ends. Here, close to them, there’s more light, and I can make out several people coming and going, animals of all sizes, and, circling the area, a vast forest.
“Are those trees?” I breathe out as Zaki takes the lead again and descends the side of the hill toward the city.
“Shifters tend to enjoy having forests nearby. Or so I’ve heard.” He looks up at me with a teasing smile. “Don’t you have shifters in your harem? You have so many mates. Some of them are bound to be shifters.”
I press my lips together, shooting him an annoyed look, but then I crack up. “Well, yeah. Three shifters.”
“There.” And he laughs.
“But that’s not what I asked. Okay, this is the resting place for shifters. But I asked about the trees. How do they survive down here? Don’t they need sunlight?” Mom had plants, but house plants, not full-blown trees.
He shrugs, a smooth motion of shoulders that has me hypnotized for a moment. “Who cares? It’s magic.”
“Fair point.” And we maintain our trek down the hill. Zaki offers a hand for me to skip the last part,and I take it. His fingers curl around mine, the soft skin sending shocks up my arm. Magic. It’s just magic. Don’t let your heart beat faster just because of this, Cassandra. First, the guy is a demon, and you’re out of your liedetector powers. Second, remember you said you couldn’t let anyone else in the harem? He wouldn’t fit in the car.
I shake my head. My mates are fighting for their lives. This is not the moment to be thinking silly shit.
Zaki and I reach level ground. Oreo reaches my side a second later, and he’s so well-humored, so comfortable, that he makes the whole thing look like a walk in the park. Zaki starts toward the city, his fingers still holding on to mine. I tug at them,and he lets go immediately.
He’s trying to seduce me. I mean, he’s nailing it, but the fact he’s a demon dampens the mood. A lot. Not that he’s ugly or anything, quite the opposite. But I can’t bring myself to trust him, not when I can’t tell if he’s lying or not.
Zaki leads us through a short patch of the forest and into the city. He keeps to the smallest streets, away from curious eyes, but we meet people and animals often. A tabby cat stares at us then shifts into a dark-haired lady. Oh, yeah. Not animals. Just shifters. Nerves make my shoulders bunch. Are they going to be pissed we’re invading their space?
Zaki presses a hand to the small of my back. “Don’t worry,” he breathes. “They won’t mess with me.”
And as he predicts, no one moves in our direction. They look curious, but they don’t come closer. We pass a jaguar, several wolves, a bright orange bird, and several people. Wherever we go, they quiet down. We reach the end of a street, the forest back in sight, and I look over my shoulder at them. A man steps out of his house, a big man, broad shoulders, his blond beard the same hue as his hair. He reminds me of Tristan.
A shiver of recognition races through me. Gargoyles are shifters. We learned that a while ago. So,there are other gargoyles in here... Right?
“Zaki,” I call out, and Zaki’s hand twitches in the small of my back. Did I surprise him? “Gargoyles. Are there gargoyles here?”
He blinks. “Sure. They’re shifters. An elemental kind of shifter, very rare as far as I know, but shifters. Why wouldn’t they be here?”
I keep my eyes ahead, in the forest. “A man once said they had no souls.”