Cursed by Fate

by Renee Shearer

  Alaina shook her head sadly. “She is on the third. I have no idea when it will start. I know it will be soon. You can help her to a certain extent. She must pass this on her own, she must face her demons and defeat them.”

  That was what he had been afraid of. When the time came, they would not be able to fight with everything they had to protect her. They would have to stand back and watch as she either succeeded or failed. It would damn near kill him if anything happened to her because he couldn’t help. He would have to research this. Try and find everything he could on it. He would be damned if he lost her or the girls. He was already attached to them. Shaking off his thoughts, he nodded to Alaina, then walked to the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “She told us to get out Aiden. I don’t know about you, but I am not going to stick around to see how she is when she’s really pissed.” Easton smirked at Aiden with his hand on the door.

  As they made it to the sidewalk, Easton waved the others ahead. “I need to clear my head. You go report to the Captain. I’m going to walk for a bit.” After clapping the guys on the back, Easton started walking. He didn’t particularly care where he was headed. His thoughts where chaotic and scattered, and his fingers itched to start researching Ariana’s history. He needed to know more about this curse. Where it had come from, why her family was targeted. Everything. That was what he was good at; research was his specialty. With defensive powers, he was good for healing and shielding. Not much else. It was why he and Roman had been paired together. His Light stopped Roman from submitting to the Darkness, and Roman protected the healer.

  Easton smiled a little. Just because he was a Light Mage didn’t mean he was all good. He could get kinky with the best of them. ‘Well fuck me sideways’ she had said. He chuckled to himself as he came upon a park bench and sat, his mind now firmly on Ariana.

  She had the nicest ass he had ever seen, firm and round. Easton wanted to bite it, spank it, grab it. When Jayden had his little fantasy about her, Easton had gotten jealous for half a second. He couldn’t wait for the day when they shared her. He was confident they would sometime in the future.

  Sinking further into his head, he let his own fantasy play out. She would be in a dress. A blue one, he decided, one that hugged her generous curves. They would get home, and Easton would lean in to kiss her. Ariana would eagerly respond. She would moan, gripping him tighter as his tongue slipped into her mouth. “Easton. Take me to bed,” Ariana would whisper against his lips.

  “I have a better idea.”

  He’d pick her up, wrapping her legs around him and then carrying her to the dining room table, stopping just short of it. Easing her down and making sure she felt the hard bulge of his cock, he’d capture her lips in a searing kiss. Dragging her zipper down in the back, his hands would skim lightly across her body learning all the delectable curves she had, each dip and swell. He would kiss every inch of skin that was exposed as he slowly slid the dress from her body. She would shiver from pleasure, her head falling back. Stepping back, he’d just look at her. It didn’t matter that he had never seen her naked, in his head he could picture her clearly. She would have a few scars from her ordeals, but they would only enhance her beauty for him. They’d tell the story of how strong she was, how much of a fighter. Yes, she would still be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, making him catch his breath as he looked at her. She would try to cover herself, he was sure. But her silver eyes would heat as he gently pushed her hands down to her sides.

  Lifting her back up, he’d place her on the table and spread her legs. Licking his lips as her ripe and already wet pussy was fully exposed to him, Easton would kneel and bury his head between her legs, tasting her sweetness. Her moans and whimpers would be music to his ears; he could listen to them forever. She’d grab his head, pulling his hair just a bit as she neared completion.

  “Easton!” Ariana would scream, as she came hard. Not being able to wait any longer, he would rise to his feet and kiss her passionately, letting her taste herself on his lips. After shedding his clothes, he would ease into her, slowly letting her get used to his girth. Her eyes would roll back into her head from the pleasure. She would lean back, bracing herself on the table with her full and heavy breasts thrust forward. He’d bend his head as he slid almost all the way out, only to thrust in harder. Taking her nipple in his mouth to suckle while he made love to Ariana, hard and slow, he’d drawing out her passion, building up to her second climax. She would scream his name again and again as she came harder than before, clamping around his stiff cock. He would stroke her clit as she did, to draw her orgasm out to the fullest. Not being able to hold out anymore, he would spill his seed inside her in what he was sure was going to be the most explosive orgasm of his life.

  Already his dick was weeping, not being able to be inside her now. Easton was panting from his fantasy. He had to stop with the images of her in his head or he was likely to cum in his pants like a horny teenager. Chuckling, Easton put his hands in his pockets, biting his lip as his fingers grazed his swollen cock.

  He couldn’t wait to see her again. He hoped it would be soon as his magic was already restless to be near her again. If he had any doubts before about her being his as well as the others, they were banished in the wake of the way his magic was reacting to her.

  Ten

  Ariana

  It had been weeks since she last saw the guys. Ariana had been ducking and dodging them like a pro boxer. So what if she had cheated a little and used her power to see the present, to keep an almost constant eye on them. When she saw they were headed to the club, she ducked into the store room, pretending to do inventory or clean it. Jazzy, bless her heart, had never once told the guys she was there. When she saw they were going to come to her place, she dodged them by grabbing Zoey and going to the park or store. Her home was now well stocked with coffee and chocolate.

  Not to mention, the near constant watching of the guys had given her so much material for her naughty bank, she was set for years. She had caught Jayden showering, the water slicing over his muscular back and taunt ass, and he leaned his hand against the wall as he pleasured himself. Boy oh boy, he was very well endowed indeed. Ariana had caught Gray masturbating too. He seemed to like to do it before he fell asleep. Once, she could have sworn her name was on his lips as he pumped his hard shaft, thrusting his hips into his hand and moaning. She had yet to catch Aiden or Easton doing anything remotely interesting. Aiden was either in his office or meeting with his CI’s to try and find the drug kingpin. Easton spent all his time in their library, researching something, often getting frustrated and throwing things.

  The downside to her going out all the time though, was a near constant stream of pictures of her with Zoey and Avery from the unknown number. She had gotten so paranoid, she had asked Jessica to watch Zoey and Avery whenever the guys would come over and she had to leave. Ariana wasn’t ready to face them yet. She had even gone and changed her number a couple of times, yet he still found a way to send them to her. The constant threat and feeling watched all the time meant she was so hyper aware that everything spooked her. Her phone dinging sent chills down her spine. If someone shouted on the street, she jumped, her hand flying to her knife. She never went anywhere without it anymore, not even in her own home, and had even started sleeping with it under her pillow. She had taken on a little of an OCD personality, getting up in the middle of the night to double, even triple, check the locks everywhere. Getting up to peek in on the girls several times a night as well, most nights she gave in to her paranoia and put them in bed with her. Which had left her sexually frustrated; it had been awhile since she relieved the tension.

  She was wound tighter than a drum and horny as hell. In short… she was extremely bitchy. Right now, she was at the club and so mentally exhausted that her filters had long flown out the window.

  “Hey sweet cheeks! How much for you for the night? Wanna see what a real man can do to you?” Some drunk jackass decided call
ing out such a romantic invitation to her was a grand idea; he was the fourth one that night and she was done.

  Turning to him she snarled, “What the fuck makes you think I would ever be interested in a pathetic, limp-dicked, waste of space like you?”

  “What the fuck? Bitch! You don’t talk to Mikey like that and get away with it!” he shouted and lunged across the bar at her.

  Without thinking, she grabbed his arm and tossed him right back over the bar and onto his ass. Ariana sauntered out from behind the bar, which she knew she shouldn’t do, but she couldn’t help herself. All of her fear, pain, fury, and heartache came crashing to the surface.

  She really couldn’t stand asshat’s like this. “You know, studies show that if you refer to yourself in the third person you are almost comically stupid.”

  Red faced, he stood up quickly and came at her again. She easily sidestepped him and, seeing Danny make his way across the floor, she gave him a shake of her head. This douchebag was hers, and she was just itching to wipe the floor with his pudgy face.

  “Who the fuck you think you are talking to me like that? Do you have any idea who I am?”

  Looking at her nails, she replied mildly, “Yeah just keep talking, someday you’re bound to say something intelligent.” She smirked at the confused look on his face and dug the barbs in deeper. “Oh, don’t think about it too much honey, you might sprain your brain.” He really had no clue what the hell she was saying, it was almost too easy. “Wow dude, are you always this stupid or is today special?” Ahh… now that got a reaction. Guess he didn’t like being called stupid, who knew?

  Sputtering, he took a hard swing at her, the look on his face as she grabbed his arm just inches from her own was classic, shocked disbelief. He just couldn’t believe a woman had stopped him.

  She laughed and then turned her body sideways while pulling his arm to her, ramming her elbow into his huge gut as hard as she could. She stepped back just a bit as he doubled over and planted his face into the same elbow she had brought up, breaking his nose. Releasing him as he stumbled back, Ariana just waited, knowing a man like him wouldn’t stop till he was knocked out, trying to prove his manhood to his friends and keep some sort of dignity. Too bad she wasn’t feeling generous tonight. As he once again charged at her, she completed a spinning roundhouse kick to the side of his head that would have made Chuck Norris proud.

  Yep that did it, idiot was out like a light.

  Dusting off her hands, Ariana nodded at Danny for him to come take care of the trash and waved to Jazzy, their signal she was going for a smoke. Ariana still had a lot of pent up anger after weeks of torture from Sir. Dickhead, as she had taken to calling the unknown caller. I’m really not fit for company, she thought as she headed out back. She should have called in sick. Lord knows what the hell Ricky was going do to her when he found out. At this point though, she didn’t really care if she got fired. She had money in her savings that could get her and her girls somewhere else, but she didn’t want to run again. She had promised Avery that this was the last stop, and she hated breaking her promises, so she tried not to make one she couldn’t keep.

  As she made her way back inside, Ricky was waiting for her. He signaled her to follow him to his office. Well shit on a brick, things are about to go from bad to worse. Ricky could be a mean son of a bitch when he wanted to be. Closing the door, she faced him, and sighed. Ricky was so red faced, he looked like a tomato. “Okay, Ricky now let me explain before you go all Tarzan on me?”

  “No, you do not get to talk right now Ariana! What the hell is wrong with you? You’re snapping at customers, tossing drinks in their faces and now you assaulted a guy!” He raged at her from behind his desk. She had a feeling he had purposely put himself there so as not to give in to the urge to throttle her.

  “Now, wait a minute! Every single one of those people deserved it, Rick! They were all douches. And I shouldn’t have to be hit on, called a whore even if it was in a backhanded way, or propositioned every time I fucking turn around! I’m there to serve them drinks so they can get their party on, not for them to try to take me home! if you cared about your employees more than you cared about money, you would do something about that!” Ariana yelled back at him.

  “I don’t give a flying fuck what they say to you girls! You’re there to make me money not insult and attack customers!” Spittle was flying everywhere as he yelled, and Rick’s face was turning an ugly shade of purple. Ariana would have been worried about him having a heart attack, if he had a heart.

  “Seriously? Come on, Rick! That’s such bullshit, and you know it! I am so sick and tired of your shit! I’m done! Give me my last paycheck. Now,” she gritted out. She was so fed up with him, Ariana was going to have to bring out her secret weapon if he didn’t let her go.

  “I’m not giving you shit Ariana. And don’t think for a second that I won’t dock your pay for the stunt you pulled here tonight.”

  “Oh, really Rick? You’re gonna try and pull that with me?” Pulling out her phone and bringing up the file she had saved for years in case anything like this happened, she calmly showed him the screen. She got a sick kind of satisfaction watching him go from red faced to white in a second. On the screen was picture after picture of him snorting white powder up his nose while girls, who were clearly underage, drank from bottles of booze. In some he was fucking them while in others he was getting sucked off. They made her sick to her stomach. Ariana might have used her powers to get in here and duplicate the security feeds before he erased them every night, but it was all the insurance that she needed. Rick’s wife was filthy rich, and Ariana knew if she saw these, Ricky would be out on the curb in a heartbeat. He wouldn’t be able to sustain his life style then. Though how the hell he ever got someone to marry him was still a mystery to her.

  “I’ll just text one of these to your wife, shall I? Now, which one should I send? The one with you banging someone, or the one with you partying?”

  His pallor went a sickly shade of green, and he rapidly shook his head. “You don’t have to do that Ari, we can work something out can’t we? I’ll give you a raise, I’ll make you manager. I’ve been meaning to get one for a while…”

  Ariana slashed her hand out in front of her. “I don’t want to be manager. What I want is my last check…plus severance pay for having to deal with your bullshit for the last two years.” Rick had no idea that she had just now turned twenty-one. With her fake I.D and clever makeup, she had looked older than nineteen when she had applied for a job here. Rick barley even glanced at her license and didn’t even do a background check. He had just asked her to fill out a direct deposit form and put her to work that night.

  Shaking his head, he sighed and went to the safe she knew to be hidden behind the stupid painting of dogs playing poker. “Fine, you win. But I want to watch you delete those photos.”

  “Not gonna happen Ricky. These are my insurance policy that you won’t call the cops saying that I stole the money from you. But I promise if you never bother me again, I will delete them after a certain length of time,” she replied in a fake honeyed voice and rolled her eyes.

  Rick turned back toward her as he asked uncertainly, “Are you going to tell me the length of time?”

  “Hell no! I’m not stupid Ricky. You will never know when I delete them.”

  Handing over her check and a large stack of cash he snapped, “Whatever Ariana, get the hell out of my sight!”

  Saluting she said, “Sure thing and with pleasure.” Ariana walked out without a backwards glance at the horrendous man she had been forced to stomach out of necessity for her girls. Flipping through the stack of cash, she smiled. It was damn near ten thousand dollars. With the four thousand she had in savings, she and the girls would be okay for a while.

  Aiden

  He had a theory about how Ariana had been able to avoid them for so long, and he didn’t like it one bit. He had felt eyes on him almost constantly since he had left her, yet he didn’t get the sen
se he was in danger. It had felt more like a loving caress, and he somehow just knew it was Ariana. The woman was driving him insane. They needed to talk to her about her powers, and what exactly this curse was. But anytime they had gotten ready to go over to her house or go see her at the club, she was nowhere to be found. Aiden had even taken to trying to talk to her when he felt watched. Trying to get her to come to him, or at the very least stop running long enough for him to catch her.

  When he had told his suspicions to the guys, however, they had taken a unique approach to the situation. They were thrilled at the prospect that she might be watching them and had started to masturbate as often as possible. The guys had wanted to give her a show, and he couldn’t blame them one bit. Hell, Aiden was irritated that he hadn’t thought of that first. He knew Jayden was up to at least three times a day, and Gray was up to four. It was almost like those two idiots were in a competition to see who could give Ariana the most displays of their stamina and potential as lovers. So, Aiden had devised a plan. He would pretend he was going to go to the precinct and then double back towards her house. Mateo and Roman would meet him there and keep Ariana from fleeing if she did happen to notice him heading her way. He had texted it all to them, Aiden had no idea what she was capable of, whether she could see and hear them or if it was more like she was a ghost able to move among them and watch and see everything they did. He was hoping it was the former.

  He was waiting for her outside her apartment along with Mateo and Roman. Aiden had taken a stab in the dark that since she hadn’t met them, Ariana may not have been able to watch them as closely, if at all. He was leaning against the wall looking at his phone when he heard the whirl of the elevator’s motor. He didn’t think anything of it as it was still early, just now one in the morning. He knew she didn’t get out of work till two. Suddenly, his wolf gave a shiver of anticipation.