Page 63 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
“There are guys I wouldn’t mind kissing, and then there are my friends. You guys are my friends. It would just be weird. Arden was pretty fucking hot, with his wings out like that. He might have straddled those two categories.”
“You little fucking traitor!” I laughed. “You aren’t allowed to want to kiss Arden and not us.”
“Why is shit getting weird? None of you are remotely bisexual. You all want to kiss Beyla. So do I.”
“We need to be focusing on this curse, and convincing Beyla to stay, not who Bevan wants to kiss,” Merlin said. “My dad is going to want to know why I want this information. So, I’m going to have to come up with a story. He knows I’m not interested in politics, and he’s always told me not to fuck with the Fae.”
“My uncle might be able to track him down and tell us what he’s doing in New York now, but he’s not going to like it if I tell him he can’t take this man’s thumbs when he finds him.”
“Why not?” Merlin asked.
“Because Santiago can’t die. You don’t cut off a man’s thumbs if he’s immortal and is going to hold a grudge about it.”
“Merlin, you can be honest with your dad without telling him everything,” Bevan said. “Santiago didtechnicallydo everything related to this ballet. According to Beyla, he choreographed it, wrote the score, and designed the sets and costumes. If we pull this off, and Marsden has his ear, we are getting all that. Just tell him you’re super curious about the man behind the ballet we’re doing, that we’re just wondering what he looked like.”
“I’ll come up with something for my uncle. I’m exhausted. I’m hitting the shower and going to bed.”
I took off down the hall towards the bathroom. In the morning, Operation Break the Code and Get a Girl was on.
Chapter11
Beyla
Istill had no idea what Santiago Suarez looked like, or how to break this curse, but I was way less nervous about that than this conversation with Arden. Should I tell him what I suspected? He hadn’t brought it up. Was he trying to ease me into it before he dropped that bomb? And what was his deal with Bevan?
Nyx gave me a knowing look and a wink before disappearing to her bedroom, leaving me alone with Arden. I’d been extremely comfortable around him so far, but this was just awkward.
“Have you been sleeping outside my door because of some mate thing?” I blurted out.
Big, bad Arden started blushing. I knew he had a policy about ballerinas, but you just did not try that hard to be sexy, not unless you were getting it somewhere else. It took a lot to embarrass a dancer. We were all pretty much immune after face-planting on stage, having a costume malfunction, or changing in the wings in front of the entire tech crew. Arden was actually embarrassed right now.
“Was it that obvious? I was going to let you get to know me before I sprang that on you.”
“Actually, it wasn’t. I called a horny librarian and museum curator for help with the curse. They are kind of my mentors. Ripley and Ravyn thought it was hilarious I hadn’t figured that out yet and said I should go for it. They are very much pro me staying here and dancing with a harem of male dancers.”
“I’ve never met them, but I like how they think.”
“What’s your deal with Bevan? You keep talking about inviting him to bed with us, and that was a mate level freak out when you unloaded on Bellatrix.”
Arden just shrugged, like that was all completely normal.
“Bevan ismine.I’m not sure how it happened. When I realized you were my mate, Bevan said he was also into you and would pursue it. I was going to kill him for that, but I smelled his blood. I tasted it on my talons. I knew I couldn’t kill him. He’s not my mate like you are, but he’s still mine.”
“Bevan might have some opinions about that. Are you even bisexual, cowboy?”
“Can I be honest about something? And, ughhh, can you promise to keep an open mind?”
“Arden, you’ve been nice to me since day one, and you expected nothing in return. I’m realizing that’s pretty fucking rare in this company. I know you didn’t want me to know you were sleeping outside my door. You can tell me anything.”
Arden mopped his hand down his face like he was about to tell me he killed puppies when he wasn’t in rehearsal.
“So, the reason I don’t date ballerinas is because of the whole gossip thing. I’m heavily into the kink lifestyle, and I don’t need someone twisting that into something it’s not because they agreed to try it and couldn’t tell me they didn’t like it. Bevan and Nyx are the only people in the company who know this. I trust Nyx, and Bevan goes to the same dungeon I go to sometimes. I’ve never played with Bevan before, because he’s never asked me to. I’m a Dom, and Bevan is a sub.”
“You thought I’d judge you over kink? You know I’m a witch, right?”
“A witch who was abused by her boyfriend and probably didn’t want me tying her up and spanking her.”
“I’m not a nun, Arden. I didn’t do relationships after him, but I sure blew off plenty of steam! You think no one has spanked my ass before?”
