Page 49 of Zodiac Beasts

“Testing a theory.” I answered as I wrapped my fingers around his half hardened length.

Ceto was a perfect contradiction. As an Omega, he was terrified of sex, but as a Legacy heir who lived under constant expectations and scrutiny to procreate, that push and pull of pleasure and trauma had him manifesting that fear as a kink. It wasn’t long before he was completely firm in my grip.

“Have you figured out what she is yet?” I asked, trying to distract him.

To Ceto’s credit, few people were as studious as he was. Maybe he knew something I didn’t. He’d hired her before either Adrian or myself had confirmed she wasn’t human, so he must have known something. My natural senses were typically pretty good at identifying shifters, at least per their Alpha or Beta or Omega status, but she was a blank slate to me until Adrian pulled his Pisces stunt.

Ceto kept his head tilted back and his eyes on mine. The more I played with his cock, the more weight each breath carried.

Too easy. Ceto never took care of himself. He was so terrified of being an Omega, that he’d turned sex into this stressful, all-in commitment. It was incredibly likely that he’d not been with anyone since me. It was unlikely that he’d even pleasured himself if he could avoid it.

Which meant that he may have even been more intensely attracted to Lila than the rest of us out of pure frustration. Whatever her hybrid line contained, we were all Astrology Shifters, and the desire to connect with each other was inevitable.

“I know she’s a Virgo Shifter.” He finally spoke, but he only reiterated the obvious. The way both of them protected each other when I asked that question was noted.

Though he didn’t seem very focused right now. I leaned in and sniffed along his neck, enjoying that perfect, delectable Omega scent of his, amplified by his arousal. A fresh baked, warm, chocolaty scent that made him irresistible to all the wrong people, myself included.

“And?” I insisted, as I squeezed him firmly. The heavy breaths that filled his anxious lungs pressed against my chest in an unsteady rise and fall. His eyes fluttered shut, so perfectly submissive. I doubted he noticed that he’d started gripping my shoulder to support himself. He’d somehow forgotten he was supposed to be on his guard and pushing me away.

“A Hybrid Beta.” Ceto added through his slow and careful inhale and exhale. He dipped his chin, practically nuzzling into my shoulder, hiding his neck from me. As a predator himself, it was pointedly defensive. But as an Omega, hiding in my shoulder was reluctantly trusting.

He let me hold him up and hold him captive. Consent was a confusing game with Ceto, because he was so ashamed of how much he needed versus how much he refused to allow himself.

“Has she shown you that? Have you ever felt her skin while she’s in shifted form?”

“I…” He was holding on to me with both hands now. Not pushing. Just… holding. “Sh-she…” Talking about her only seemed to push him further. I loved the way he sounded as he unraveled. I bet Lila would love it too.

“You’re so fucking hard already.” I whispered against his neck, but I didn’t dare bite him. I knew what was in his blood. “Is that for her or is that for me?”

“Neither.” He was adorable when he lied. “F-fuck, Marcus. You’re mated. Why are you still messing with me?” His voice shook, but he was still holding me. Still letting me play with his cock. Words like ‘stop’ or ‘no’ were always very conspicuously absent from our interactions.

He had plenty of strength to push me away, after all. He was a descendant of the Serpent King, himself. Yet the same man who begged me to free him from our mate bond was melting for me every time I mentioned my favorite little shifter. Maybe she was exactly what he needed to break that barrier he’d built around his own heart.

Lila really was too perfect for me in too many ways.

“You said it yourself: Lila isn’t limited to a single mate. She’s still getting all hot and bothered every time you touch her, give her attention, dress her in your pretty clothes. I don’t think she’d mind if I helped her dear coworker work out a little frustration before you two spent the night together.” His grip tensed on my shoulders with every sweet nothing I whispered about her. I massaged his tip with my thumb, pressing slow circles around the head. Ceto bit down on his lower lip in a misguided effort to stop the little trembles, but seeing him lose himself in my hand only made this more fun. “Considering how many times I’ve dropped her off at work and felt every shameful thrill she feels around you, she probably wishes she was here right now.” All of his fear cues were so vivid, I couldn’t help myself. This was the face I fell in love with last year. And the same one who broke my heart. When I brushed my fangs over his neck, he moaned on accident. His whole body flushed when he heard that filthy sound slip.

“Marcus, you shouldn’t…” His breathing was too ragged to finish a single sentence.

“Shouldn’t stop?” I nipped his ear softly. He didn’t answer to correct me. His face was burrowed in my shoulder, and his eyes were closed, only amplifying the sensations. “When are you going to admit that you missed me? And when will you admit that you desperately want her?” I smeared his pre-cum along his length, lubricating his sensitive skin. “I can use my bond to bring her back here if you want. Imagine how it would feel to have her pretty lips wrapped around your cock.”

“I fucking hate you.” He hissed.

“No you don’t.” I purred.

“You’re insane.”

“Don’t you mean ‘stop’?”

“St—” He started, but he couldn’t quite seem to get out a word even as short and simple as that. Funny, that he could manage a whole conversation, but ‘No’ was impossible. It wouldn’t have been very convincing anyway, as he wrapped an arm fully around my shoulder, and dug his fingers into my back, both pulling us closer together, and using me as a solid support. It wasn’t that his body betrayed him. If anything, those little, desperate, needy actions were the most honest thing about the Arya snake.

So maybe that was why I couldn’t help myself when I decided I was going to push him further. “We can try again, you know.” I stroked him with one hand, then started unbuttoning his shirt with the other. The black beads of his protective necklace glinted in the low light. “Just think, if I bit you—marked you. If you became my Omega, you could have her any time you wanted.” I whispered low in his ear, while he was on the verge of bursting in my hand. I hooked a finger under that necklace just to taunt him. “We can both have her. You don’t have to try so hard to hold back.” I knew exactly how he liked to be stroked, and exactly what he was most afraid of. “One word, and I’ll let you go. Don’t you want to say it, little serpent?”

Silence. No protests.

“That’s what I thought.” I used my body to shove him back against the wall, pressing us tighter together. His head hit the wall, giving me a clear view of his expression. “I suppose I don’t need to officially mate with you for that though, do I? I’m an Alpha, and you’re just an Omega.”

Ceto whimpered, and that sound was everything. I gripped his necklace fully. The fact that he still hadn’t fought back meant he still, unfortunately for him, trusted me.