Quincy stopped on the other side of the coffee table and looked down at Simon and Kir. Malik still had his hand on the top of Kir’s head, and Quincy arched a brow. Malik sighed and waited for the scatting remark he knew was coming his way.
“You got yourself a dog?”
Kir growled and Malik snatched his hand away, just in case. “He’s not a dog,” Malik told Quincy before he could open his mouth again and get bitten. Although it might be worth it. Maybe it would help him realize he couldn’t just open his mouth and taunt just everyone without expecting a reaction.
“I see that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog with ears so long.”
Simon snorted and sat up. “God, are you always such an asshole. I was starting to like you, but I think I made a mistake.”
Quincy grinned. “Does that mean you’re not going to force me to come to Mal’s birthday party?”
“No, it means I’m going to be even more inventive when it comes to your costume.”
Quincy groaned. “Great. What can I do to avoid it?”
“Be nice to Kir.”
Quincy looked at Kir. “How am I supposed to do that? I’m not nice to anyone.”
“Not true. You’re nice to Malik, and to me. Sometimes.”
“And how am I supposed to be nice to Kir?”
Simon thought about it for a few seconds, and from the spark that passed through their bond, Malik knew he was going to tease. “Kiss him,” he finally said.
Quincy gaped. “Kiss him?”
“Yup. You don’t even have to kiss him in his human form.” Simon gently took Kir in his arms and kissed the top of his head. Kir nuzzled against Simon’s cheek, then glared at Quincy. “See? He likes it.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s going to try to rip my nose off if I come that close to him.”
Simon grinned. “Maybe. You’ll have to give it a try, though.”
Quincy crossed his arms on his chest. “No.”
“Mmm. I’m thinking Britney Spears.”
Quincy narrowed his eyes. “For what?”
“Your costume.”
Quincy’s eyes widened and he reached for Kir. “Give me the fox.”
Simon leaned over the coffee table and handed Kir to Quincy. Quincy swiftly placed a kiss between Kir’s ears, but instead of giving him back to Simon as soon as he was done, his eyes widened again and he stared at the fox shifter.
Several moments passed, and when Quincy and Kir did nothing more than stare at each other, Simon cleared his throat. “Umm, guys?”
That jolted Quincy into action. He thrust Kir back into Simon’s arms and turned to leave, but before he could, Kir had already shifted and grabbed his wrist. Quincy turned around, looking ready to kill someone, and he tugged his arm away.
“Leave me alone.”
“No,” Kir answered, looking extraordinarily calm even though he was buck naked in front of two people he’d just met, plus Simon. “You’re being childish.”
Malik cringed, because he knew those words wouldn’t bring anything good. Quincy’s eyes blazed and he took a step toward Kir, looking ready to kill him. Kir arched a brow at him. “I’m not scared of you.”
“Really?” Quincy spat out. “You should be.”
“You might be acting like a child, but I’m your mate. You won’t hurt me.”
Chapter Seven
Simon tapped his foot on the floor and narrowed his eyes at the bathroom door. “You’re going to have to come out of the bathroom sooner or later,” he told Quinn.
“No, I don’t.”
“Don’t be a child, Quincy.”
The door swung open and Quinn glared at Simon. “I already told you not to call me that.”
Simon grinned. “I know. I did it only to get you out of the bathroom.” Quinn started to close the door again, but Simon stuck his foot in it. He winced when the door slammed onto it, but he didn’t move it. “Come on. We’re going to be late.”
“I don’t want to go,” Quinn whined.
“Tough. You’re coming and that’s it. Now sit on the toilet and I’ll take care of your make-up.”
Quinn crossed his arms on his chest. “I don’t want to wear make-up.”
Simon rolled his eyes. “Is it still the only-girls-wear-make-up thing?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Quinn sighed and let his arms fall by his side. “I just don’t want to.”
“Fine. Want to talk about Kir and the reason why you’ve been avoiding him?”
Quinn stepped backward and sat on the toilet seat. Simon grinned, but he was still a bit worried. Quinn was quickly becoming a friend of his, even with his prickly exterior, and Simon wanted him to be happy. He didn’t understand why Quinn didn’t even want to talk to Kir. Didn’t he want to mate? He’d tried to talk to him, but Quinn shut down when Kir was mentioned, and pushing hadn’t had results for now.
Simon hoped he’d get some eventually, but for now, he had other things to do. He grabbed his eyeliner from the counter and turned to Quinn. “You know, I don’t get what your problem with this costume is. It’s not girly. The make-up isn’t girly either. Johnny Depp was very masculine in the movie.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not Johnny Depp. I’m short, and this is ridiculous. I’ll look ridiculous.”
Simon shook his head and ignored Quinn’s mutters. He gently lined Quinn’s eyes with the eyeliner, stepping back to check it before putting it down and going back to the bedroom to grab the wig. He’d spent two days on that thing, and it was perfect.
Simon put it on Quinn’s head and Quinn grumbled, “It itches.”
“I don’t care.”
“It’s not fair! Why do you only have to put on that black cloak while I have to wear all that stuff?”
Simon put his hands on his hips. “I’ll let you know I won’t wear only the cloak. I need to put on the rest of the clothes, too.”
Quinn snorted. “Yeah, a pair of pants, a shirt, and a sweater. Those are normal clothes.”
“I’ll have a wand.”
Quinn scowled. “I hate you.”
Simon kissed his cheek and moved the wig a bit to the side. “I love you too. Now shut up and put the clothes on.”
Simon watched as Quinn put on the shirt, then the waistcoat. The brown pants were next, then the boots. Quinn scowled the entire time, especially when Simon handed him the belt and the sword that went with it. He gestured at Quinn to sit down again and knotted the red cotton band on his head, over the wig. He also glued the fake beard to Quinn’s chin, earning himself a death glare. Not that he cared. He’d gotten used to them.
Quinn looked ready to kill someone when Simon handed him the last part of his costume—the pirate hat. Simon stepped backward and looked at his finished work. “You look incredible,” he breathed out.
“Yeah, incredibly stupid.”
“Have you seen yourself in the mirror? You’re sexy.”
Quinn rolled his eyes and looked in the mirror. He arched a brow, then leaned closer. “The make-up is weird.”
“Maybe, but it’s not girly. Believe me, you look anything but girly.”
“Fine. You’re right. It’s not girly. Are you done?”
“Yup. I need to dress now.”
Quinn hovered next to the door of Simon’s room while Simon dressed. Simon went to the bathroom to slick back his hair as a last touch, then he grabbed his wand and headed for the door.
“What are you supposed to be anyway?” Quinn asked.
“I’m Draco Malfoy.”
“You’re what?”
Simon rolled his eyes. “Never mind. Come on, everyone is waiting for us downstairs.”
“Why is Malik allowed to be dressed normally anyway? Why didn’t you dress him up like a pirate?”
“He’s not dressed normally.”
“He’s wearing a black suit!”
“He’s dressed as an MIB.”
&nbs
p; “What?”
“One of the Men in Black.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
Simon tsked. “You should watch more TV. That movie is a classic.”
“No thanks. I don’t want my brain to rot, and I already have too many things to do to waste time watching TV.”
“It’d help you relax and make you less bitchy. Of course, something else could do the deal, too, or rather, someone else.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Quinn said, crossing his arms on his chest.
“About what?” Simon asked in what he hoped was an innocent tone.
“About Kir.”
Well, that was progress. At least Quinn was mentioning Kir rather than ignoring his existence. “I really don’t understand what you have against him.”
“Not everyone wants to mate right away like you.”
Simon rolled his eyes. He could hear the underlying biting tone, but he knew to ignore Quinn when he was like that. He was uncomfortable, and Simon knew it, but he thought it was time someone made him uncomfortable. Everyone was so scared of him and of what he might do that no one pushed him. Malik did, sometimes, but Quinn was his best friend, so he wanted him to be happy. Pushing him didn’t make him happy, so Malik generally stayed out of it.
“I’ll give you that. I know mating Malik was kind of fast—”
Quinn snorted. “Kind of fast? You mated the evening of the day you met!”
“Like I said, it was fast, and I don’t expect you or anyone to follow my example, but it doesn’t mean you have to avoid Kir like the plague.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Simon stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at Quinn. “I’ll leave you alone for now, but don’t expect me to do that for much longer. No matter what you think, I consider myself a friend of yours, and I want you to be happy.”
“I don’t need Kir to be happy.”
Simon kissed Quinn’s cheek. “Maybe not, but you know you won’t be completely happy without him, not now that you’ve met him.”
Simon didn’t wait for Quinn to answer. He took his hand and pulled him downstairs. The party was small one, just around twenty people, but everyone knew Quinn would be there, and everyone wanted to see what he was dressed as. Simon wasn’t surprised to see most people squeezed together in the entrance, acting like they were having fun while they really were staring at the stairs.
He grinned and dragged Quinn down. Jago was the first one to notice him, or at least Simon though it was Jago. He wasn’t sure, because Elliott, Arlen, Iggy, Jago, and Merle had decided to dress up as Power Rangers, and Simon didn’t remember which color was who.
“Oh. My. God. Is that Quinn?” someone asked. Yup, definitely Jago. Simon recognized his voice.
Simon grinned. “No, that’s Captain Jack Sparrow.”
Quinn grumbled at Simon’s side, but he didn’t look like he was about to rip someone’s head off, so Simon considered it a win. He left Quinn where he was, ignoring his hissed, “Where the fuck are you going? Don’t leave me alone!”
Simon looked for Malik, smiling when he saw him standing close to the wall in the living room. He was so handsome in his black suit, and it made Simon dream of a day when maybe Malik could wear a suit for an entirely other reason than a costume party—without the sunglasses, though.
Simon still hadn’t told Malik he wanted to get married, human style, but they had time. They had all the time in the world.
Mal appeared by Simon’s side, and Simon burst out in laughter. “Who are you dressed as?”
Mal gestured toward Will, or at least Simon thought it was Will. It was hard to tell since he was wearing a bear costume. “We’re Goldilocks and the bears. Well, one bear, but I couldn’t get anyone else to play along.”
Mal wore a blond wig that had curls that fell over his shoulders and make-up, as well as a pink dress. The dress was so short Simon was pretty sure everyone in the room knew Mal was a guy dressed as a girl.
After Mal was done talking Simon’s ears off about how great Quinn’s costume was, Simon walked toward Malik. Malik smiled and looped his arm around Simon’s waist. Simon looked at Kir with an arched brow. “And what are you dressed as?”
Kir crossed his arms on his chest. “Harem master.”
“That’s... it’s only so you could have all that skin on display, huh?”
Kir grinned. “Yup. I need to woo Quincy in some way.”
Simon patted Kir’s arm and sneaked a glance toward Quinn. He was glaring at Simon, but Simon wasn’t sure if it was because he was touching Kir or because he’d left Quinn in the middle of an awed crowd. He beamed at Quinn, and Quinn’s glare deepened.
“You’re going to get him sooner or later,” he told Kir.
“Oh, I know. I’m going to make him cave, no matter how long it takes me.”
And Simon would be there to see it happen. He couldn’t wait.
About the Author
Catherine lives in Italy, country of good food and hot men. She used to write fantasy as a child, but it was reading her first gay erotic romance novel that made her realize that that was what she really wanted to write.
After graduating from college in English language and translation, she divides her day between writing, reading, taking care of her son and reading some more.
You can find her on Facebook and Twitter or on her website: authorcatherinelievens.wordpress.com
Email: [email protected]
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