“Lucas barged into my house, made me food, and fucked me into the counter on the first date,” I say with a laugh. “And when we did? It happened—without either meaning to or even admitting that my kitchen was our mating site. Then he was poisoned, and… well, I had to get used to it, especially since that brought Slade, Iggy, Kaspar, and Liam into my world before it was over.”
Kat sits up, her jaw slack. “You mated without meaning to? That can… Is it possible?!”
“Uh, it’s not only possible with fated mates, butprobable,” Rogue says wryly. “I barely had time to get used to the sudden mating with Damon before Angelo, Arch, and Javier came into play. The Fates don’t fuck around when they want something, girl. Your supernaturals will scream for it, push you to the limit, and damn near throw hissy fits if you don’t listen. It’s very uncomfortable to walk around with that shit in your head.”
“Like… walk around being a surly, cranky asshole?”
I give the kid a pointed look. “Exactly like walking around being a surly asshole, especially if the one fighting it is a fucking dragon. Now you’re getting what we’ve been trying to tell you.”
“Holy Satan’s flaming asshole,” she mutters as she holds her hand out to Rogue for the wine. “You think they’reallmy fatedmates, even goddamn Jasper. What do I evendowith that? It’ssevendemons; I don’t even have enoughholes!”
That makes Rogue and me collapse in giggles, and neither of us can stop to respond for a few minutes. I can see her drinking from the wine bottle and sulking, but honestly, it’s just too funny to let go. The poor girl doesn’t have a clue about anything other than the forced missionary garbage she must have endured, and she’s kept herself sheltered from any basic knowledge about sex to protect her fragile psyche. That alone would be bad enough, but those fickle bitches we call the Fates have paired her with seven hot demons with a rainbow of kinks and appendages that are going to make her squirm.
It’s just such a goddamn comedy of errors, and the only people who can help her are two broken women who are struggling with their own Fate-related issues.
“Okay, first…” I catch my breath as I finally speak. “First, even if all seven of you are… intimate in the same place, you don’t need seven holes. Obviously, some of them are into each other, which helps, and well, taking turns can be fun. You may enjoy a thorough group effort when you’re less… easily flustered.”
“Oh, my fucking god,” Kat groans as she puts her face in her hands. “I can barely survive the bathroom in the morning, and they’re in towels,nottrying to… touch me!”
Rogue wipes her eyes, still laughing as she takes the wine back from Kat. “Look, it’s something you’ll work up to. But you need to get farther than kissing to know what you’re ready for, and probably soon. The tension and lust filling the room when they all look at you is so ready to burst. If you want to have a conscious choice of whom to take a ride on first, do it before the biology pushes you to.”
“That’s exactly right,” I add with a knowing look. “Luckily, Lucas was by himself, and it wasn’t hard to be with him after Magnus. He’s young, but experienced, and though his bear was a bit growly, he wasn’t dominant. When Liam came next, it was a two-fer because his Fae magic wanted both of us. If I hadn’t been ready for that, I might have had trouble reconciling it. You know?”
“No, I don’t,” Kat says with a frown. “Because when we shower, I look at them and the pieces floating around inside of me are… watching them all hungrily, but my brain says ‘fuck no’ when I consider it. My trauma is making it difficult to… commit.”
An idea occurs to me, but I’m not sure it will work. I let it marinate for a moment, stuffing a piece of meat in my mouth and savoring it as I think about how I’m going to phrase this. “Are there… any of them that are… less experienced than others? I found it easier with a submissive male, and the double team was a combination of the two. Perhaps you will do better with a guy who isn’t as dominant as a royal dragon?”
“I amnothaving sex with Jasper; he’s not even speaking to me.” She huffs, leaning back against her chair with a pout.
But she definitelywantsto, and that’s a bigger issue than her secret.
“What M said. Which ones are more submissive in behavior or softer? Is there one with a short bedpost notch list?”
“What?! I mean… I don’t know. We don’t talk about—oh!” We look at her expectantly, and Kat turns her favorite shade of red again. “Um, when we practiced shifting… Slash admitted he isn’t really a player. He’s more like… a virgin. Penetration-wise, Ithink. I didn’t really explore that because I was having a panic moment, but…”
I blink and then look at Rogue with a grimace. She winks, shrugging as if she doesn’t know what to say, so I ask the question we’re both desperate to know. “Slash is… the enormous guy who is second to the prince?”
“Yep, that’s him.”
How very fortunate and unfortunate at the same time.
“He’s very… large,” I attempt.
She nods. “So big. And you should see his shark, Morgana. It’s like a dino-shark! Man, I’d be terrified if I ran into that and didn’t know him. I hear the ‘Jaws’ music in my head when he comes near now.”
“An apt tune,” Rogue mutters before she laughs. “That man is going to devour you. I mean, a sharkandin the Gluttony lineanda mate… He’s got to be so frustrated that he’s busting shit up somewhere while he waits. Add virgin to that and I’m pretty sure you won’t walk for a week. Might not be your best avenue, just saying.”
Wrinkling my nose, I shake my head. “He might be okay for a second stop, but I worry his animal is too predatory and pent-up need is too much. On a side note, I feel you two are drunker than I am, and I dislike it.”
Kit points at the Fae wine. “That seems to work for us.”
“Not so much me,” I retort. “Which is interesting.”
The kid holds up a cupcake, her eyes sparkling with light tipsiness. “Try these. They’re soooo good, and they make me feel sparkly.”
I take it, sniffing the icing, but it doesn’t do much more than make me hungry for a sweet. “Okay, but I don’t think this is gonna do it. As for the decision, we should think about other choices. You’ve got three options that might have knots, too, and that feels like it would freak you out.”
“Knots?!What the hell is that?”
