Heiress to a Curse

by Zandria Munson

  Alexandra wound her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer. He tried to read her expression. Her eyes were half-shrouded by her lids, her thick lashes casting shadows on her face. Her full lips were slightly pouted as if begging for another kiss.

  Slowly, his mouth descended upon hers. Alexandra’s lips parted eagerly, welcoming the heated invasion. Her hands wandered over his muscled back in a gentle caress, and his powerful muscles flexed beneath her administrations.

  One large hand reached behind her to unfasten her bra. It was quickly peeled from her body and discarded on the floor. His mouth lowered on one hard nipple, his tongue teasing it, teeth gently nibbling. He moved to the other, worshiping it in the same manner. His fingers slipped along her flat abdomen, tracing the smooth lines until they brushed the frilled edges of her panty.

  He withdrew suddenly, his eyes alight with a dark flame. “I want you,” he told her in a roughened voice. “I need you.”

  Alexandra gazed up at him. He knew that all it would take was one gentle caress within the nucleus of her desire, and she would be his. She would open willingly for him and grant him the pleasure her body promised.

  She said nothing, but the look in her eyes was encouragement enough and he claimed her with another feral kiss. His fingers slipped between her shapely thighs and over the bit of red lace that covered her womanhood. With a growl, he wound it in his fist and ripped it from her body.

  Alexandra gasped and opened her legs in anticipation of his touch. Like a separate entity, his fingers slipped into her hot, moist core, parting the folds as they sought out the source of her nectar. Her hips thrust upward in a slow sensual rhythm. Marius felt his desire peaking, sending a wave of hunger over him, and his shaft hardened. He wanted to feel himself inside her, wanted to take her with savage abandon.

  Fighting for control, he stood and stripped away his clothing. Their eyes met as he settled between her thighs and positioned his thick and pulsating erection at her soft opening. If he could stop time, he would do it. Nothing else mattered right then except the driving need that made him ache.

  Battling for patience, he eased into her warm center and as their bodies became one, she cried out in pain.

  Marius froze and pinned Alexandra with a dark look. “You are a virgin?” he asked incredulously.

  Hooded eyes met his query and she shook her head. “Not anymore.”

  Self-disgust and disbelief mounted within him and his head fell. Silently, he cursed himself. How could he have not known? In his carelessness he’d just unwittingly completed the final step in the Lunar Ritual. By severing her maidenhead, he’d drawn her blood.

  With a soft moan, Alexandra shifted her weight beneath him, and that small action forced his offering deeper into her trembling core.

  Marius growled. His hands moved to grip her backside and he held her still. He was trying to think amid the driving lust and self-loathing that clouded his mind. The ritual was complete now, but his brothers had no knowledge of where he’d taken her. If he could keep her safe until the new moon passed, then his purpose would still be served.

  “Marius,” Alexandra spoke quietly. “What’s wrong?”

  He looked at her. So beautiful she was. Her eyes were imploring, beckoning him to finish what he’d begun. He drew out of her slightly and was rewarded with a tiny gasp. Beneath him, Alexandra arched off the bed and her fingers trailed across his back.

  Pacing himself, Marius began a steady thrusting, his hands still clenching her firm backside. He closed his eyes, trying desperately to control himself. She felt so tight and soft around him, her smooth thighs splayed beneath him, her round, full breasts rising and falling against his chest.

  His control fled then and like a man starved, he thrust into her. Her hips began to move, synchronizing his actions.

  Harder and faster and deeper he ground himself into her, driving them both toward desperation. Slender fingers clawed at his back and her body began to tremble. A moment later she cried out in ecstasy as she shuddered with an intense climax.

  Marius followed suit. He plunged into her one last time before flooding her with his hot seed. He collapsed onto her and in one swift movement, rolled onto his back, bringing her with him.

  One large hand caressed the silken skin along her spine. In the dim light from the candles, he looked at her. Her head lay peacefully near his heart and her long, inky mane splayed over them. Her lips were swollen and her gentle breathing stirred the hairs on his chest. She was so perfect. He would not stop until he found another way to break the curse, and until then he would be damned if he allowed harm to befall her.

  Chapter 15

  Some time later Alexandra stirred. A comforting warmth hung over her and her entire body ached, but, oh, such a sweet pain it was. It had been raining. She could hear the gentle rumble of thunder outside, and the air was cool and scented. She inhaled deeply, drawing its fragrance into her lungs. Another scent was mingled with it, too, the heady scent of masculinity.

  Her head lifted as she was brought abruptly to the present. As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she gazed at the man beneath her. Marius. She’d slept by his side, and even now he held her close. His breathing was silent and even in sleep.

  With cautious movements, she sat up and her body mourned as his heat left it. She looked at the window and could see slivers of light peeking in around the edges of the board. She decided she should try texting April. She needed to let everyone know that she was okay.

  She crawled away from him and on her hands and knees, bent over the side of the bed in an effort to reach her phone on the desk. She grabbed it and was about to sit up, but a firm hand on her backside held her in place.

  “It’s generous of you to offer yourself to me this way.” Marius’s fingers slipped along the folds of her exposed womanhood. “Had I known you were so insatiable I would have paid more attention to you during the night.” His mouth fell to her softness and he pressed a gentle kiss there.

  Alexandra bit her lip to suppress a moan as a large finger eased into her, testing her and she trembled.

  “Do you know how many nights I have dreamed of this?” he asked in a husky whisper. “Long have I entertained thoughts of holding you in my arms, kissing you and loving you.”

  Her eyes fluttered closed. Nothing had ever felt so good. And as he positioned himself behind her and their bodies joined to become one again, exhilaration overtook her and the pleasure that ensued was limitless.

  When Alexandra awoke a second time, it was to the sound of birds singing. She looked for Marius, but found herself alone. Lying next to her in his place was a sheet of paper. She picked it up. It was a brief message, saying that Marius had gone to the city to consult a reputable witch and that he would return to Alexandra before sunset.

  She sat up and looked for her phone. She didn’t intend to be there when he got back. Now that she was thinking with her brain again and not the very tender place between her legs, she was questioning whether Marius could be trusted or not. She wasn’t just going to sit and wait for him to decide where his loyalties lay. She also needed to know if the authorities had checked out the lead she’d given to April to pass along. Every moment wasted brought a little girl closer to death. Alexandra had made a promise to Mady’s family and she intended to keep it.

  She spotted her phone lying on the floor where it had been dropped haphazardly when Marius had pulled her back into bed with him. She picked it up and pressed the power button. She nearly squealed when the lavender light chimed on. It seemed the water damage hadn’t been bad enough to break the phone. Accessing the menu, she tried to call April. There was a beep, and a no service message flashed on the screen.

  “Shoot.” She frowned. She needed reception.

  She slid out of bed and slipped on her bra then her dress. Her panty was of no use to her anymore as it had been torn from her body. With a flush of embarrassment, she stuffed the bit of red lace into her pocket and looked around the room.

&nb
sp; She found a box on the desk, filled with food and water—enough for several days. How long did he intend to keep her here?

  Alexandra left the room and headed down the stairs. The church looked even older now than before. Dust and spiderwebs covered everything, and a flock of pigeons watched her from the rafters, cooing and fluttering among themselves.

  The large wooden door at the rear was the only exit. She tried one of the rusting handles and the door squeaked open, flooding the room with bright sunlight and a much needed gust of fresh air. Five wide concrete steps led down into a muddy clearing that was surrounded by tall pines and thick bushes. To the left she noted a bramble-infested path. It wasn’t wide enough to allow passage to a vehicle, but she was certain she could scramble through it without becoming entangled. And even if she did, it was certainly worth the effort, for the path might very well lead to civilization.

  She was sure that by this time last night’s mayhem was plastered on the front page of every newspaper in the country. That, and her mysterious disappearance.

  She pulled out her phone as she headed up the path and attempted the number again—still no reception. Clearly Marius had been telling the truth—she was miles and miles from anywhere.

  She was at the end of the trail and of her rope when she came to an abandoned gas station that sat on the side of a dirt road. She looked in both directions and could see nothing. Cautiously, she approached. There was a sign swinging from a pole.

  Bob’s Service Station.

  There was a phone number at the bottom, too. That was an indication that there was possibly reception there. She pulled out her phone again and accessed April’s number. When it began ringing, she squeaked. “Hello?” April answered.

  “April, it’s me! It’s Alexandra! I’m alive and I’m okay. How are you?”

  “I’m fine. Where are you?” she asked.

  Alexandra looked around. “At some old service station on a dirt road. I really don’t know. I walked here from an abandoned church.”

  “How did you get there?”

  “Marius. He brought me to some abandoned church near here, but he hasn’t hurt me. I just need to get away from this place.”

  Her friend was silent for a moment. “Where is he now?”

  Alexandra spotted a street sign lying near the side of the road and she walked toward it. “He went back to the city. Hey, I think I’m on Route 67 North. I’m reading a road sign I just found.”

  “Near an old service station, you said?”

  “Yes. Bob’s Service Station. Please find a way to get me out of here.”

  “I think I know where you are,” April said. “Listen, go back to the church for now and I’ll meet you at the service station tomorrow at this time, okay?”

  “Tomorrow! April, I can’t spend another night out here. I need to get back to the city,” she complained.

  “Listen, please, just do what I say,” April told her. “Stay put and you’ll be fine. I’ll take care of everything on this end.” The line went dead.

  Alexandra frowned. “Hello? Hello?” She sighed. “I can’t believe she hung up on me.”

  She looked at her watch with a groan. Tomorrow was hours away. And so was Marius, she remembered. She crossed the vacant road and hurried back down the bushy trail.

  Thunder rumbled and the rain fell hard. Marius looked up at the sky—it was going to be an all-nighter again.

  He stood at the rear of the church under a dilapidated porch that overlooked a yard thick with hedges. He’d returned from the city a few minutes ago and had been surprised to find Alexandra missing. A search had revealed that she was actually taking a shower in the rain out back. He’d watched as she’d stripped off her clothes, pulled her watch from her wrist and maneuvered her way over the small patches of grass.

  During the course of the day, he’d replayed the events of the night over and over in his mind. Amid all the chaos and aggression, the look that she’d bestowed upon him after he’d told her the truth tormented him the most. The pain in her eyes had been palpable.

  The rain continued to fall and he remembered the items he was carrying. He moved along the long porch until he had a clear view of Alexandra as she washed herself. Her attention snapped toward him and she looked as if she would scream. Instead, she raced behind a tall hedge and fixed him with a perplexed look.

  “You’re back! What are you doing here so early? It’s not even near sunset!”

  He moved forward until he stood at the rail. “It’s only moments from sunset,” he informed her.

  “It’s only about three-thirty,” she countered.

  He looked at her watch. “Your watched has stopped. It’s 6:10.”

  He watched as she squirmed uncomfortably behind the bush. To think that after a night of lovemaking she would be so shy with him. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth—that was all a part of her charm.

  “Continue your bath. I brought you some things.” He lifted a plastic bag for her to see.

  “What are they?” She was starting to shiver from standing in the rain so long.

  “Toiletries. I know these accommodations are not the best, but it was the only place I could think of at the time. I’ve rented a small cabin for us a few miles from here. After you’re done, we’ll go there.”

  “No!” she said quickly. “I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here.”

  His eyes narrowed a measure. “You want to stay here? Are you certain? The place I rented has running water, a stove—”

  “I feel safer here,” she interrupted.

  He was silent for a moment then shrugged. “As you wish.” He moved down the stairs with the plastic bag of items.

  Her eyes widened. “What are you doing?”

  He paused and regarded her with amusement. “I am bringing you your toiletries.”

  She reached a hand over the hedge. “Throw them.”

  Marius ignored her request. He’d already seen and tasted every silken inch of her. He felt safe to assume that there remained no secrets. The rain soaked his hair and his clothing as he approached and he laughed when she pinned him with a disapproving scowl. Stopping right in front of her with only the sparse vegetation between them, he reached into the bag and handed her the shower gel.

  “Thank you.” She accepted it.

  Next he handed her a fluffy green loofah with a little stuffed animal attached. She laughed and looked closer at the spotted frog.

  “Uh, this is interesting,” she commented with a teasing smile.

  Marius inclined his head in a slight nod. “It was the last one they had.” He backed away under a nearby tree to provide her some semblance of privacy.

  Alexandra squirted a glob of gel onto the loofah and began washing herself. “What did the witch tell you?” she asked.

  His humor faded and he shook his head. “Let’s just say she was of no help. Today’s witchcraft is not the same as the practiced sorcery of Necesar’s time. Tomorrow I will go to my mother. Hundreds of years ago, when my family was first afflicted, she went to every reputable sorceress and wizard in an attempt to find a cure. She must have learned something from them.”

  A look of guilt crept over her face. “Why did my ancestor curse your family?” she asked.

  Marius sighed. “It was before my time so I only know what my parents have told me. My father was betrothed to Necesar’s cousin, but he broke off the engagement to marry my mother. My mother was only the daughter of a poor farmer, yet my father loved her with all his heart, as he does even to this day. In a fit of rage, the woman burned her castle to the ground and her entire family perished inside with her.”

  Alexandra was in the process of washing her hair and she paused, her face ashen. Marius noted her expression and he pushed away from the tree, a look of concern on his face. “What is it?”

  “Is your father’s name Victor?” She met his stare.

  He nodded slowly. “It is. How do you know?”

  “I dreamt it,” she told him. “
All my life I’ve had the same dream, always with the castle and the flames. I was always looking on, always trying to stop her from killing herself.”

  “Your dreams are memories, Alexandra.” He was trying to read her expression when he experienced a sudden searing ache in his joints and his muscles began to tense.

  It was time. He didn’t want Alexandra to see him release the dark creature that lurked within him, but it was too late. The transformation had already begun. He had just enough time to strip off his coat before his knees weakened and he collapsed to the ground.

  Alexandra raced to his side. “Marius, what’s wrong?” She looked him over frantically.

  The thick muscles of his back expanded and tore at the shoulder blades. Marius gritted his teeth as he felt his skull splitting and two horns pushed through. Still on his knees, he fell forward and clenched his fists in the earth as his muscles bulged and thickened. His jaw bone was aflame with an excruciating pain and his teeth lengthened into jagged fangs. A roughened tongue snaked out, hindering the scream that lingered in his throat and he arched his back upward as his flesh was ripped open and two colossal wings spread out.

  When the pounding in his head stopped, Marius looked up and fought to catch his breath. His long hair had grown at least five inches and fell forward in a thick, dark curtain. Slowly, he drank up the lovely vision of nakedness before him. The rain continued to pour over her, plastering her hair to her body like a shawl of shimmering silk. The cool rain must have given her a chill for her nipples were taut, standing erect, beckoning his mouth nearer. His lustful gaze dipped and raked over her flat abdomen, the soft place between her thighs and her long, slender legs. A growl escaped him.

  Alexandra looked as if she would run if she could, but his eyes held her in place. She swallowed as he stood. Marius flexed the thick muscles of his neck. He could read the desire in her eyes and hear the throbbing of her heart. She wanted him. This surprised him as he’d thought that she would fear his gargoyle form more than anything. The knowledge that she was aroused by him heightened his craving for her and he advanced.