“Dinner is served,” Patrick calls from the next room.
I don’t stop. I kiss her, and the results are lightning in my veins. Her lips are crushed velvet, heated and moist. I taste her lipstick and then her tongue as she opens for me and lets me in. Her nails scrape across the skin at the back of my head, dig into my hair. I’m pressed against her, moving her toward the wall, my arms holding her to me like she’s the source of oxygen in the air.
“Yo!” Remus yells, his voice loud and clear and close.
Zoe draws back, panting, and runs a thumb under her bottom lip. That lipstick of hers deserves a gold medal because it hasn’t smudged a bit. My eyes swivel to where Remus is standing in the door to the living room, and I growl loud enough to shake the walls.
“Chill out, bro. Dinner is on the table, and we have work to do tonight. Or have you already forgotten?”
I squeeze my eyes closed. I haven’t forgotten. And he’s done me a favor. He knows that if he hadn’t come in here and acted as a speed bump, I may have ruined everything. I can’t rush this. I nod. “Thanks, man.”
He gives me an understanding smile and then heads back toward the dining room. I hold out my hand to Zoe. “Dinner?”
She tucks her fingers into mine and, through a demure grin, says, “I’d love to.”
Chapter Nineteen
ZOE
Seb wants me. The sexual energy coming off the dude is thick enough to make me feel light-headed. And holy hell am I into it. It’s been a long time since I had sex. My last boyfriend, if you could call him that, was the drummer from Raven’s Wish, and our time together was mostly physical. It was serious enough for him to attend Mabon festivities with my coven once, but we never used the L word. It was all about using each other, the convenience of meeting our physical needs when we were touring.
It ended when I entered rehab. I’ve never been someone to have casual sex, though, and by casual, I mean one-night hookups where you don’t know the person’s last name. I do think there has to be a spiritual connection. Maybe not love in the sense of hearts and flowers and permanence. But a connection. I had that connection with Alex. If I called him tomorrow and said I was in trouble, Alex would help me. Not because he loved me or wanted a relationship with me, but because we were and are really, truly friends with a history of being lovers.
I don’t know Seb that well, but I think he’d make a good lover. The way he took care of me last night demonstrates a tenderness that appeals to me. The chemistry is through the roof. And the rumble I felt when he kissed me, it was like the best purr I’ve ever felt against my skin. That dragon part of him intrigues me. I sensed a connection in the Gold Room—a spiritual one. Maybe something that was there before we even met, although maybe that’s too “woo-woo” even for me.
“When’s your birthday, Zoe?” Remus asks. While I’ve been lost in my thoughts, we’ve all sat down at the dining room table, where Patrick has served what looks like lobster bisque.
“I’m a leap year baby,” I say brightly. It’s always good for a little light conversation.
“February 29th?” Seb asks breathlessly.
“Yep. I’ve been on this earth for twenty-four years, but technically, I’ve only had six birthdays.” I give a light giggle and try the soup. Delicious.
“You’re a Pisces.” Seb says my zodiac sign with reverence, and I remember that he’s a zodiac dragon. I’m sure my birth sign is important to him.
“Boring, right? The fish sign. Nothing exciting like a bull or a lion.”
“Nothing boring about Pisces. You’re said to be the most spiritual of the signs. Known for your intuition and mysticism,” Remus says.
I take another bite. “Spiritual… Yes, I am. People think we’re human beings with a spirit, but I think we’re spiritual beings having a human experience. It’s like, when I ascend to the Gold Room, I’m not traveling somewhere new, I’m going back to where I’ve come from. What I was made from. I just have to navigate beyond the constraints of my human mind to get there.”
Another few bites and I notice the table has grown silent. When I look up, Seb and Remus are staring at me, nodding.
“So that’s how witches do magic? You astral project to the celestial realm? That’s what you mean by the Gold Room?” Seb asks.
I shrug a shoulder. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, that’s not the language we use as witches, but yeah. Why does that interest you so much?”
Seb smiles. “Dragons are celestial creatures. That’s how you saw my dragon in the Gold Room. The bigger part of him is always there, unless I shift and allow him out here.”
“It’s just interesting to us because we thought witches were, like, different,” Remus adds.
“You thought our magic was made of some mystical, unknowable force that had nothing to do with you, when really, witches and dragons just play different sides of the same coin.”
They both nod.
I raise my wineglass. “Well, here’s to learning we’re more alike than different.” We clink our glasses together.
Patrick rounds the table, collecting bowls and replacing them with plates of white fish and rice pilaf. He gives Seb a little wave on his way out.
