Page 62 of A Taste of Bliss

I take a sip of mine, allowing the herbal burn of the gin to take my mind off coming face to face with Jordan.

“So what’s caused you to come running over this way?” Simon asks as we make our way to a table not too far away from where Amelia and Dericia have returned to the rest of the band. He bumps his shoulder into mine, smiling. “Let me guess, you ran into your ex again?”

I wrap my fingers around the cool glass, condensation already coating the outside of it.

“Yeah, I ran into him on the dance floor. Thankfully my mask did what it needed to.”

“What it needed to?” Simon asks, cocking his head at me.

“Oh yeah, well…” I hesitate, not sure if I should get into my drama with a human I barely know. But something about him feels comfortable, so I continue. “I had my bond activated recently and I was worried that maybe he would end up being my mate, so I needed to rule him out. Make sure it’s not him.”

“And did you?” he asks. “Rule him out?”

I let myself smile. “Yes, I did.”

“Good.” He raises his glass towards me and I mirror him, our glasses clinking together. “You fae and your bonds. I wishhumans had that. Having the universe tell you who you’re meant to be with, that’s fucking cool.”

“Yeah, but it takes away your choice,” I say back. “And what if you don’t get along with them?”

“I thought mates were always, like, madly in love with one another.” Simon frowns, confused.

“Not always.” I let my hand come to rest on his forearm. “Sometimes fae fall in love with someone who’s not their mate. Shouldn’t they be able to decide who they love more if that happens?” I can see Simon’s throat swallowing, as his gaze falls to my lips. I think he’s picking up what I’m insinuating, that if he and I fell in love, we should be able to be together. That’s what I want him picturing in his mind.

“Well, yeah, they definitely should,” he responds, taking an involuntary step towards me.

I put on my best coy smile and lean in to him. “Simon, did you know I’m a huge Voracious Maw fan?” Whenever I release my power it’s all too easy to add a slight purr to my voice that I could never achieve on my own.

A stupidly wide grin appears on his face. “I didn’t, but I’m not surprised. They’re the best.”

I nod, pulling my bottom lip in between my teeth and releasing it. His gaze rests on my lips and I’m so close.

I’m about to ask for my favor when a very tall guy in one of the Voracious Maw masks—unmistakably Eerie, their bassist—approaches and sits down at the table Simon and I are standing at. He unclasps the strap that holds the golden skeleton fingers in place over his eyes and rips the embroidered cloth mask off, breathing in like he’s just broken through the surface of water.

My succubus spell is broken almost immediately.

Simon looks at him frantically. “Evan,” he hisses, “you’re supposed to stay masked.”

Evan shakes his hair out, pulls a rainbow scrunchie from his wrist, and puts his long bleached blonde strands up in a bun. “Fuck that. I’m suffocating in this thing. It’s one thing to wear it for an hour on stage, but for a whole fucking party? Nah, mate. I’m good.”

“He won’t be happy you took it off.”

Evan opens his mouth to say something then closes it, with a quick glance at me. “Wrath can suck my dick,” he finally says, casting a pointed look over at where Wrath stands with the other two band members.

Simon grins at Evan and shrugs as if Wrath might not have a problem with that at all. Evan huffs and looks at me. He motions to Simon for an introduction.

“Ah, this is Bliss,” Simon says. “Bliss, this is Evan.”

“You can call me Eerie,” Evan says with a cruel grin at Simon, who puts his face into his hands with a groan.

I let out an uncertain laugh, as Simon and I take a seat. “I take it the whole anonymity thing wasn’t your idea?”

His grin only widens. “Definitely not.”

“Bliss!” I hear a deep voice call. I swivel in the barstool and look at Grim as he saunters over. “I thought you were going to come back to me, and here you are surrounded by men who aren’t me.” He pouts a little and grins, slinging an arm around me and nodding to the other guys. “Evan, nice to see you again. Simon.” He nods, tipping his beer bottle at them.

Pinkie, Bell, and Casper have followed Grim over to us and they easily fall into conversation with Simon and Evan.

Grim shifts a bit closer to me, nuzzling me around the neck. “You’re quite popular, aren’t you?”