Page 25 of Galaxy Circus Act One

After eating dinner in my room and taking a shower, I grab my lanyard and pass then walk toward the elevator. As I walkdown the corridor, I get that itchy feeling on the back of my neck. You know, when there’s someone watching you and your body tries to give you a heads up. Finding no one there when I try to stealthily peek around, I shrug. For all I know, there’s an alien species with invisibility, some jerk laughing his ass off because I look like an idiot. Might as well hop in the elevator and see if the feeling goes away.

Once the elevator arrives, I step inside, needing to get down to the ground level for my ringside seats. That in itself is pretty exciting; I haven’t really had the kind of life where I got those kinds of treats very often—if ever. A brush of wind goes past me, bringing a rush of what smells like salty sea air and a hint of coconut like being at the beach in summer time. I swing around quickly, but no one is in the elevator. Weird! Even weirder, when I move to hit the ground-level button, I realize my invisible companion has already hit a different one. Looks like I’m going up first.

With nothing else to do and no invisible admirer revealing themselves, I stare into the reflective walls of the elevator. My ass looks amazing in my pin-up-style tight skirt, its hem falling just below my knees. It has a slit up the back to allow me to walk in it, thank god, because I need a little leverage considering the heels I’m wearing. The long-sleeved, low-cut black top I’m wearing makes my tits look perky and playful, so the only element slightly out of place is my hair. I’m messing around with it, trying to neaten it up, when I see a ripple in the air behind me out of the corner of my eye.

Before I know what’s happening, I'm spun around and shoved up against the wall by a man with stormy blue eyes. “Look what we have here. Come out to socialize with the freaks, have you?” he whispers in my ear, and a shiver of desire runs through my body. I’m not afraid of a little roughness, and I’ve always appreciated someone who can take charge when I’mready to give up some control. I’m not sure if he thinks he’s intimidating me, but he’s going to be sorely disappointed.

He has me pinned between himself and the unforgiving wall, our bodies pressed closely together enough that I can feel he’sallman today. Or at least the parts of him that I can see at the moment. Suddenly, I feel the smooth slide of a tentacle up the inside of my calf, the suckers placing gentle kisses on my soft skin, each little burst of suction sending white-hot heat straight to my core. Holy shit!

“Have you finally decided to slum it with the performers?”

“Where did you come from?” I ask breathlessly, trying not to show how much I’m enjoying having his hard body pushed up against me or the tentacle slowly inching its way up my leg. By now, my core is tingling. Fucking tingling. No man has ever given me fuckingtingles.

He steps back from me, much to my disappointment, and when I look down, there’s no sign of tentacles. As he does, his whole-body ripples, changing to match the surroundings around him. Clothes and all.Huh, he camouflages.“My beast is a very good mimic, and the power carries over to me when I’m in human form. I can blend into all surfaces.” He reappears, looking quite smug when he says this, probably pleased he was able to get the drop on me.

I can’t let these people think they can get one over on me if I’m going to be their boss, so I walk over to him, batting my eyelashes and simpering. “That issoamazing, like a real octopus.” I have him backed up against the wall this time, running my hands up and over his chest. I can feel his nipple piercings through his shirt. I would love to get my mouth on those, not that I’m going to let him know that. “Does that mean that you’ll have sex once and then die a couple of weeks later? Are you a virgin? You poor, poor man, never to have experienced the wonder of a woman.” Thank you, Animal Planet and DavidAttenborough for the random animal facts I have stored in my brain.

I know this kind of sounds bitchy, but damn it, the man has been so fucking agressive toward me while I have no idea what I did to him. Yeah, I might have gaped when I first saw him, but I'm also sure he was going for some kind of reaction. So sue me for not wanting to take any of his shit.

His face turns from smug to shocked, and he starts to sputter, storming from the elevator the moment the doors open. Before he steps out, he delivers a final parting shot, accompanied by what I think might be his ever-present scowl. “This isn’t finished, and I’mnotan octopus. I’m the kraken.” He bares his sharp teeth at me in what’s probably supposed to be a threatening manner, but I just laugh at him.

“I hoped you wouldn’t give up so easily. This is going to be so much fun,” I say to him with a wiggle of my fingers, waving goodbye as the elevator doors close behind him. Caspian- 0, Lila- 2. I have a little giggle and fan my face. That man is smoking hot sex onlotsof legs. Pity he’s an asshole. But what’s provoked all this animosity? Is it humans in general, me as a woman, or me personally? I may have to hit Dylan up for some gossip. God, I hope everyone isn’t going to be as aggressive as him and the cats were. Granted, in the cats’ case, I lit one of their asses on fire. That’s a fair enough reason for a bad first impression. Caspian, well, who knows what crawled up his ass.

As the elevator starts to descend, I get a message that the grandpas are waiting for me in the lobby. Two of them will sit with me and explain anything I have questions about while the third will be the evening’s ringmaster. John takes more of a backstage role since he’s not interested in performing, so he’ll probably be sitting by my side.

While I wait for the elevator to continue downward, a warm feeling starts to heat both sides of my shoulders. It graduallybecomes hotter and hotter until it feels like it’s burning. Ripping off my shirt, I turn to look at my shoulders in the reflection of the doors. On the right side is a small faded black circle with what looks like two black angel wings with extremely long feathers at the bottom. On the other, there are two marks. One is a faded blue circle with a sideways figure eight, and the other one kind of looks like the medical symbol on Earth. There are two snakes entwined around a staff, but instead of wings at the top, there’s a cog. What the fuck is going on? By the time the elevator dings, its doors slowly opening, I’m still standing there in just my bra and skirt. The horrified look on my face only becomes comically worse when I realize that the three grandpas are waiting for me in all of my half-naked glory.

“What the fuck just happened?” I wobble out of the elevator, pointing at my shoulder blades. “What are these things that just appeared on my shoulders?” I yell at them. They turn me around and take a look at the marks that have appeared, and Eric’s smothered laugh is most definitelynota welcome sound in the middle of my very reasonable freakout. “Explain, please,” I demand.

John takes me by the arm and walks me away from the crowd of onlookers that have migrated toward the elevators with all the commotion. “Calm down, dear. Why don’t you put your top back on so we can have a nice quiet conversation?” He’s managing me, but I don’t call him out on it. I wasn’t expecting so much of the public to be milling around in the lobby when I flashed them all a look at the girls.Though they do look great tonight.I quickly shrug back into my shirt and take a look around, realizing he’s led me to an alcove that’s out of the crowd’s view. William and Eric have followed, the latter still sniggering. That grandpa is going to get my foot up his ass if he isn’t careful.

“Seriously, Mutley, what is your problem?” I snarl at him. Since he’s still chuckling, useless at answering my question, I turn to William. “Please explain?”

William gets an uncomfortable look on his face again. “Well, ah, yes,” he stumbles.

“Oh, for crying out loud!” I snap at him. “Get it together, man.”

Eric is just about rolling on the floor in laughter, while John looks uneasy. Eric gets himself together and says, “Try before you buy, Lila.” I just blink at him and turn to William for a bigger explanation.

“Huh?”

“Yes, well, the right shoulder is your bonding mark. It looks like you’ve picked up the Norse symbol for protector. Quite apt, I might say, if you decide to take on your role with the circus.”

“Ok then. My bonding mark! You said that it would show up on men that I’m interested in and will stay there unless I lose interest, right?” I question. After he nods, I think about it for a moment. “It’s pretty. I’m ok with that.”

Looking relieved that I’m not freaking out as much anymore, he adds, “The mark will intensify and merge with the partner's mark if you fully consummate the bond. Right now, as you can see, the coloring of the marks is faded, but it won’t stay that way if someone becomes your permanent partner.”

“And that takes five rounds of sex?” I question again.

“Yes, in most cases.”Mostcases? Do I delve further into this, or do I just let it go for now? I mean, haven't I already got enough on my plate? Head in the sand, it is.

“Well, ok then, no having sex with anyone more than five times if they have my mark. Nice and easy. I certainly don’t need a husband at the moment.” I’m pacing back and forth, repeatedly running my hands down my skirt until William steps into my path to stop me.

“Lila honey,” he says to me softly, like he doesn’t want to startle me further. “Don’t forget it could be husbands,plural. Don’t close your mind to it just because what you are used to is monogamy. Nobody here will judge you. In fact, it might make others even more open to you if they see you embracing more of our culture. Either way, it’s an important decision that deserves your fully informed choice. Remember, anyone you do mate with will gain any abilities you have and vice versa. You could end up with other powers, ones that you’re certainly not expecting. Now, your grandma was Skarrian and had the same powers as us, but we know of many matings that have resulted in different species partners gaining new abilities.”

It brings a tear to my eye that he’s being so gentle with me. Honestly, his care feels less like management and more like genuine care for my feelings. It’s kind of sweet… but then I think twice. He’s never soft and gentle. What’s going on?

Silly me, I ask the question I’ve been dreading but secretly know the answer to. “What do the other marks mean?” He flinches before he straightens up and looks me in the eye. “The left shoulder will contain the marks of the man or men who return your interest.” My heart is pounding so hard I feel like it’s going to jump out of my chest. “A mark won’t appear if the interest is not mutual.”