Page 129 of Gemini Hunted
Oh, fuck me.
Fuck mehard.
Now I’m overwhelmed by a sudden vicious impulse to tattoo that kraken’s gorgeous copper skin with a warning label that readsProperty of Zara: Hands Off.Complete with lightning bolt.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’ll gladly—sogladly—share Mordred with V and all the warlocks in our polycule. Butnotwith the celebrity supermodel ex-girlfriend, ex-BFF, ex-accomplice, ex-everything who betrayed me.
My inner dragon snarls and claws at my chest like the alpha bitch she is. She wantsout, so she can protect her kraken mate from this rival queen, likenow.
Clearly sensing my raging dragon with her own shifty senses, Cleo’s eyes widen. Her human pupils elongate to vertical slits.
Settle down, showgirl,I tell my dragon sternly. I got this.
My dragon trumpets a protest that thunders in my ears.
Over all this internal racket, it’s really hard to strategize. Still, I know how to stake a claim. I know how to keep what’s mine.
I tuck the Horn of Ceres securely against my side, prop a hand on my hip, and announce to Cleo, “You can stop thinking what you’re thinking. That kraken’s way more than a friend. He’ll be one of my kings.”
I mean, assuming my warlocks agree.
But that’s a complication Cleo Ferrari, who’s never met a guy she can’t have, doesn’t need to know.
“Alora.You always did have… exotic tastes.” My ex’s gaze roams my face, the teal ponytail almost long enough now tograze my ass, the no-doubt defiant line of my mouth, the row of silver studs rimming my ear. Then the jut of my pierced nipples, pressing against the soaked lime lace of my French brassiere.
She’s taking inventory.
Sure, I might be the only girl she’s ever been with. We had a “bi for you” relationship happening, one reason she got inside my defenses so easy (unless she was lying about that too). Still, she doesn’t look like she minds what she’s seeing.
But her choice of phrase gets my hackles up.
Exotic tastes.
“You used to like that about me,” I say tartly, because isn’t that how we both hooked up with each other and Xiao in the first place? Literal solstice orgy on the beach in Bali. “Speaking of which… where’s Xiao?”
Since I still can’t believe Cleo has the moxie to face me alone.
Much less kill me.
Her perfect face tightens in a tiny frown. “I sent Xiao home to Hong Kong. He’s a relationship we have both outgrown, no?”
Stoked by this bullshit, a fiery coal of anger flares in my gut. She acts like she’s not even responsible for her own ally. Too bad for her I’m not buying it.
Will she still blame Xiao once I’m lying dead at her feet?
Yeah, no, that’s not happening. The witching world needs me alive and queening it.Ineed me alive and queening it. So I can enjoy my HEA with my warlocks and our babies.
Testing her resolve, I take a menacing step forward. Cleo falls a wary step back, then totally stands her ground. Her dragon pupils telescope wide in warning.
Is she that afraid of me? Or is this one more disguise from her bag of tricks? A trap she’s baiting just to lure me in?
Cleo Ferrari, alone and vulnerable.
My idiot heart gives a ping at the thought. At least my gambit got me one step closer to the Ceres statue. But Cleo still stands squarely in my way.
Which is a metaphor for our whole fucking relationship since the night of her big reveal.
Since then, I’ve learned to respect both her half-Fae speed and her vicious streak.
