A Curse Unbroken (16 page)

Aric didn’t speak to me, even as we crossed the lobby of the luxury hotel he’d been assigned to. It didn’t bother me, especially with how close he remained at my side. I suspected his wolf needed to calm after fearing for my life,
again
. And after my experience in the club and my boat ride from hell with Dilip, the silence helped me focus solely on him, allowing his presence to soothe my tension and maybe rile something more.

My ultrahigh sandals continued to add more swing to my step, bringing me more attention than I needed or wanted.

Then again, all the eyes peering my way could have been trained on the damn dress and my exposed ass.

Aric’s scowl forced everyone to steer clear, as did his possessive claim to my waist. We stepped inside the elevator. The bellhop, well, he stepped out.

Aric kept his attention straight ahead. “That dress leaves little to the imagination,” he muttered.

I could hear the bite in his tone, but it did little to tame my response. My fingers trailed between my breasts. “You don’t like it? Hmm. I thought for sure you would.”

“Not when it jeopardizes your life,” he snapped. “The vamps shoved you in that thing and made you a damn prostitute. Anything could have happened to you.”

Okay. Maybe he was a little mad.

The doors parted with a ding on the tenth floor. Aric led me to his suite and unlocked it, allowing me to pass ahead of him. I strutted forward, giving him another full view of my bare backside. He may have been furious, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t distract him or make him feel something more….

He swore as I sashayed along the short hallway leading into the suite. He was fighting to hang on to his anger. But it was a fight I wanted him to lose. We’d been apart too long, and as far as our love life went…yeah, it needed to be recharged.

I turned when I reached the long row of glass doors leading out to the terrace. I flipped the switch that lowered the privacy screen and simply leaned against the wall, waiting for him to prowl forward.

His scent of water crashing over stones mixed with the aroma of his growing arousal, causing the points of my breasts to tighten and ache. My eyes sought his face. His sought my more intimate body parts.

Aric jerked his head up when he realized I was watching him watch me. He knew I was ready for him, but he stubbornly clung to anger.

He stopped a few feet from me. The muscles of his arms bulged as he crossed them over his massive chest and his brows furrowed deep. Damn, my mate did sexy brooding well.

He cleared his throat when he caught my smile. “Go wash that crap off your face. We need to talk,” he snarled at me. Or at least he tried to.

My smile widened. “I’ll make you a deal, wolf. First, I’ll go wash the crap off my face—like you so politely suggested—then
we
make hot passionate love together. We’ll talk later.” I shrugged. “If you still want to.”

His eyes widened briefly before glazing with desire.
“Fine
.
”

Celia, one. Big, badass wolf, zero.

I strutted into the bathroom, well aware of the extra sway to my hips and even more aware that Aric was watching. The moment I shut the door, I couldn’t wash my face fast enough. Some guys may have found all the makeup extremely sexy. But Aric didn’t and that was fine by me. I was patting my face dry when Aric was suddenly there, slinking his arms around my waist.

He’d ditched his clothes. Also fine with me. “You’re taking too long,” he murmured between nibbles to my neck and shoulders. I tilted my head back, moaning when he slipped his hands beneath my dress and cupped my breasts with his large hands.

Aric unsnapped my halter, dropping the sides away. “You are never to dress like this again.” He paused and thought about what he said. “Except for me—in
private,
” he added quickly.

I rocked my hips against him. “Whatever you want, wolf.”

Aric growled, releasing the dress to fall to my ankles. His fingers trailed over my skin, traveling upward to tug and tease my nipples.

I angled my head around to meet his mouth and swept my tongue over his. My efforts only added to his mounting need. He yanked off my panties in one pull.

I stepped out of them, losing my balance when his fingers disappeared inside of me. My body fell forward, my hands clasping the edge of the sink as he worked me. My mews and cries swelled his erection rubbing between my thighs.
“Aric,”
I gasped.

He curled his body over mine, quickening his motions with one hand while his other arm held tight. My knees buckled when my first orgasm jolted its way through me. I imagined Aric wanted to keep going, sensing how good his fingers made me feel. But he didn’t realize how much I needed to please him, too.

I spun to face him, nipping his chin, his neck, biting him gently all the way past his navel. He roared when I fell to my knees and claimed him with my mouth. My lips fastened tight around him. There was nothing more I wanted than to turn him on and fuel the heat spreading between us. The way he fell back against the wall assured me I was—oh
yes,
very much—succeeding.

Aric lost control of any composure that remained—grunting, moaning, trying to find a place for his hands—until he lifted me in the air and placed my legs on top of his shoulders.

This time, I couldn’t hold back my screams.

My back slid against the cool tiled wall while my fingers ran through his hair. I kept begging him to take me. Eventually he did, on the bathroom floor.

Aric pounded his hips against me as we slid along the length of the room. I reached out with my hands, pressing them into the wall and arching my back to keep us steady. Aric dipped his mouth to my breasts, finishing me once more on the floor, then again in bed.

He kissed me long and sweet when our fast breaths finally slowed. “You’re so sexy,” he whispered against my ear. He ran his fingers through my long, silky tresses. “Everything about you makes me hot. Your voice, your walk, your lips…” He chuckled at my blush, taking a strand of my hair to tickle my nipple with. “Yeah, that, too,” he added.

I lifted my chin to resume our kiss. I loved that he was so attracted to me, but sometimes even after all our time in bed, I remained that timid kitten he’d first encountered. He smiled against my mouth.
You like me shy. Don’t you, wolf?

“I’ll love you any way you are, and any way you’ll have me,” he answered.

Aric’s fingers trailed along the sweep of my neck, then along my body, as he spoke. “It’s our mate bond,” he reminded me when he caught the surprise on my face. “When our emotions are heightened, I can sometimes sense your thoughts. The connection is meant to alert my beast when you’re in danger. But this…” His fingers brushed through my hair. “This is just a bonus.”

“Okay,” I said. Being Aric’s mate came with more than simply the title. But the more intimacy we shared, the more bonded we seemed to become. I watched my hair slide through his fingers. “Do you like it like this? Without the curls, I mean?”

Aric kissed me before answering, his taste mixed with mine so addicting. “It’s pretty, sexy, but I prefer your waves. I love how wild it gets when I make love to you.”

My heart thumped loudly against my chest. It wouldn’t be long before round three would start between us. But instead of drawing closer, he sat up abruptly and fixed me with an intense stare I hadn’t quite expected. “Let’s get married, right now. We’ll fly out tonight and be in Vegas by the weekend.”

I rolled onto my side. “You’re serious.”

“Yeah, I am.”

My fingers traced small circles along his chest. “Why the rush? I thought you wanted something more traditional. Not Elvis and some chapel on the Strip.”

Aric ran his hand impatiently through his hair as the scent of fear overtook the room and smothered the desire between us. I pushed up on my arm, terror seizing me and causing my claws to protrude. “Aric, what is it? What’s wrong?”

He faced me, his expression riddled with worry and dread. My chest rose and fell quickly. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” When he didn’t answer right away I panicked. “Are you being forced to leave me again?”

Aric’s eyes widened. “
No
. I promised you I’d never abandon you again.” He dropped his gaze, his breaths harsh. When he spoke again, something shifted in his tone. “Except there is someone who can keep us apart.”

My eyes stung with tears, and rage blinded me. I wanted to race out of bed, to find this person, damnit, to make him bleed. “Who?” I demanded. “Tell me who.”

Aric stroked away the first of my tears. He didn’t speak for a long moment. When he did, my world came to a crashing halt. “You,” he finally answered quietly. “Celia…if you don’t want to be with me, I can’t make you.”

I stared at him, confusion warring with my breaking heart. “I don’t understand what you’re saying. You’re my mate. How can you possibly think I don’t want you?”

He shook his head. “You don’t understand. You’re
my
mate. I’m bonded to you. But that doesn’t mean I’m yours.”

I felt like he had slapped me. When he reached for me, I pulled away. I didn’t want him to touch me. I wanted an explanation for his asinine thoughts. “Tell me what the hell you’re talking about before I tear this goddamn room apart.”

He let out a deep breath, glancing down before looking me square in the face. “When a
were
finds his mate, whether she’s human or another
were,
there’s no doubt they’re true mates. Because of the curse placed upon you, you’re neither
were
nor human anymore. I know your feelings for me are strong. I can sense them. Hell, I can practically touch them. But it’s possible that you’re meant to love another more.” His tone was harsh and broken. “I never wanted you to know this, but I love you too damn much to keep it from you any longer.”

Angry tears leaked from my eyes, wetting my scorching cheeks. I was livid, breaking from his hold when he tried to pull me against him.

I stood, facing the doors leading to the bathroom, working not to rip them from their hinges and fling them through the wall of glass leading out to the terrace.

When I turned back to Aric, I could barely control my voice. “After all we’ve been through and all we’ve lost, you really think I’m meant to be with someone else?”

Aric watched me carefully, sensing my growing anger. “It’s not that I don’t think you care for me—”

“
Care for you?
Are you trying to tell me that I don’t love you—or that I haven’t loved you enough?” I stormed into the bathroom and started pulling on my clothes when he didn’t answer.

Aric stood, meeting me in the doorway when I stomped out. “Celia, where are you going?” he asked, his voice gruff.

“Away from you!” I pointed my finger at him. “You’re wrong, Aric. The only being who can keep us apart is you. I want to love you—it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. But you never let me!”

I rushed past him and pulled on my shoes. Aric tried to gather me to him. “Celia, I’m not trying to push you away.”

“But you are. And it’s not the first time, is it?” I accused. “Look at everything you’ve done since we’ve met to keep me away—all those times
you
walked away. That was never me, Aric. It was always you!”

I grunted with frustration when he wouldn’t answer. His eyes fired with anger and his hands balled into fists at his sides. The huge lump in my throat expanded, threatening to cut off my air. “I mean it when I say I love you. I mean it when I say forever. You insult me by calling me a liar.”

His frown vanished, my words demonstrating how badly he’d hurt me. Without thinking, I passed my hand across my belly. “If you don’t know how much I love you by now, maybe we really shouldn’t be together.”

Aric froze. I left without another word, slamming the door behind me.

I broke down the minute the elevator doors sealed tight. I was still crying when I crossed the lobby. Tim waited at the bar, his meal in the form of two blondes edging closer. He abandoned them when he saw me, his steps slowing when he caught me wiping my eyes.

“You okay?”

I nodded, but I clearly wasn’t.

Tim didn’t exactly ooze compassion. It was a lot for him to just ask how I was. He swiped at his bald head and bent to whisper in my ear. “Agnes thinks she found Shah. But she doesn’t trust the witches, and she wants to leave the beasts out for now. Can you move tonight?”

I thought about Aric back in the room and everything that he’d said.

“Yes,” I answered.

Chapter 13

I adjusted the straps of my tank and fiddled with the edge of my denim shorts for the millionth time. Emme checked her phone and turned toward me as the small plane carrying us over the Malaysian jungle swerved and bounced. She was looking pretty green from the ride, but it didn’t stop her from speaking. “Aric just texted me again. He says he’s sorry and wants to talk.”

I shook my head and didn’t respond. Whether it was the stress from my fight with Aric or our encounter with Dilip and his crocs, I couldn’t be sure, but two waves of painful spasms had racked my body since I’d left Aric. The first I’d somehow breathed through. The second had me curling on the bathroom floor where I’d changed out of my dress. I’d managed to hide the attacks from my sisters and the vamps, but I was sure they’d return. I only hoped they’d subside long enough for me to complete my task and find Shah.

“Celia,” Emme pleaded, trying to draw my attention. “He seems really upset, sweetie.”

“Leave her alone, Emme,” Taran said. She tucked her zombie limb beneath her shirt. “They need time apart.” She glanced at Shayna, who kept scratching the area between her breasts. “Hell, we all need some time away from the furries.”

Shayna growled, or at least she tried to. Truth be told, for all the
were
blood coursing through her veins she was more puppy than predator. “I can’t believe Koda has the nerve to be mad at me. He was all like, ‘You jeopardized the mission, baby,’ ” she said, trying rather sadly to imitate his deep voice. “ ‘It was all for show. The mission is our top priority. The mission is what’s important. The mission can’t be compromised. You overreacted. Blah, blah, blah. Put the knife down. Blah, blah, blah. I can’t let you stab her. She was just part of the mission.’ Mission, mission, mission. Well, do you know what I told him?”