Before I could stop him, Jinx dove after them. Gritting my teeth, I continued eating my dinner with as nonchalant air as I could imagine. Scrabbling under the table wasn’t exactly great manners, but it was hardly the end of the world.
More and more glances were being cast my way. What the hell was he doing down there? Mom caught my eye and her outraged look made me flush. Okay, an incubus disappearing under a table didn’t look good, but did my own mother really think that of me?
I couldn’t take it anymore and bent down, ducking my head under the stiff white tablecloth. Jinx was on his knees, staring at the legs of the person seated opposite. The person’s hand rapidly disappeared and their spread legs closed, but not before I saw they had been stroking their erection through the cloth of their trousers.
I grabbed Jinx’s arm and hauled him back up to his seat. Then I glared across the table. It was George Fairfield.
“What the hell?” I snapped.
He flushed, no doubt taken aback by my direct confrontation. But fuck being polite, he had just been trying to lure Jinx into sucking him off under the table at my mother’s dinner party.
“It’s just an incubus,” he said with a shrug. “It’s what they like.”
I stared at him impotently as anger swallowed all the words I had ever learned. It was a glimpse into what Jinx must feel like, being unable to talk, but full of thoughts.
Someone tittered. “Oh, is that why it is here, it’s the after dinner entertainment? I didn’t realize it was that sort of party.”
Jinx pulled me back down into my seat. I had no recollection of standing up. His worried glance helped me calm down a little. I took a deep breath, ignored everyone and went back to eating. After a brief pause, everyone else also pretended that nothing had happened.
I felt my mother’s disapproval burning into me but I refused to look up. I had done nothing wrong and neither had Jinx. Her guests were the ones who were being inappropriate.
I shoveled the expensive food into my mouth and tasted nothing at all. Eventually I realized Rufus was trying to talk to me again.
“I want to apologize, Seb. Setting the pishacha on your perimeter was petty of me.”
I froze with my fork halfway to my mouth, before turning my head to stare at him in dumbfounded horror.
He gave a little smirk before quickly smothering it with a contrite look. The bastard wasn’t apologizing at all, he was gloating, claiming his victory.
I was standing and dragging him to his feet by his suit lapels before I knew what I was doing. Both of our chairs fell crashing to the ground and a sudden deathly silence fell as all eyes fixed on us.
“You idiot! It got in and hurt Daisy!” I snarled into his face.
He paled. “I didn’t know your wards would be so weak!”
Even now the bastard was seizing the opportunity to take a dig. Trying to twist it to his advantage. I had genuinely liked him once, and it hurt to discover he was such an asshole.
“It was a stupid, dangerous, abhorrent thing to do!” I said as I shook him.
He glared at me and tried to shove my hands off of him but my grip was like death.
“Says the man keeping an incubus as a sex slave!”
My rage flared. How dare he try to pull the moral high ground, when he had nearly gotten Daisy killed and caused me to hurt Jinx. How dare he.
“What? Are you jealous?” I growled. “Upset I won’t keep you as a slave? Going to the Club and letting everyone with a cock take turns to flog you and fuck you, not doing it for you anymore?”
As soon as I said the words, I regretted them. The Club was supposed to be a safe space. Kink shaming was awful and what Rufus did for pleasure harmed no one and was no one else’s business. Outing him into our judgmental community was a dick move. It could quite possibly ruin him for life. He had done something stupid, but I was the one who had forgotten to set my wards.
His eyes widened in horror. I let go of him and stormed away. I needed to get out of there. I heard Jinx hurrying after me and Ezme taking up yelling at Rufus for endangering Daisy.
I had planned on just leaving the dining room but as soon as I was free from that oppressive atmosphere, I just wanted to go home. I strode all the way to my car, before remembering my keys were in my room.
“Fuck!” I yelled as I kicked my car.
Burying my head in my hands I tried to get a grip. Deep breaths, just take deep breaths. It wasn’t helping. Dragging my hands down my face, I looked up to find I was alone. Just me and all the parked cars on the gravel drive. Where was Jinx?
Alarmed, I was just about to go look for him, when the front door opened and he bounded down the steps with our bags. He dropped them at my feet and handed me the car keys.
