Cursed

by Nancy Corrigan

  She licked her lips. “Yes. Need you.”

  Not as much as he did.

  Tegan quickened her pace before he could form the thought into words. Her breasts bounced and swayed. He enjoyed the sight and the welcoming drag of her inner muscles. The hungry part of him would no longer be denied, however. It wanted to feast on her.

  Not yet, dammit.

  He remained passive a moment more while she fucked him; then he gave himself over to the urges consuming him. Knees bent to give him the angle he required, he grabbed her hips and slammed her body over his cock. In and out, he moved. Each thrust filled her snug sex. He drove into her harder. Their bodies smacked. Her cries surrounded them. They sounded damn good. So too did the slap of their wet groins meeting on each stroke, but it wasn’t enough. The compulsion to pound into her took over.

  He flipped them. The bed shook as her back hit the mattress and she squeaked, a feminine noise he was determined to hear again.

  “Ian, I…” Her words drifted off on a moan.

  He grinned, pleased with his effect on her, and shifted his legs so he sank deeper. Her eyes rolled back in her head and lashes fluttered.

  Fucking perfect.

  He rolled his hips and drove into her on a press that touched every inch of her core. Her inner muscles caressed his achy cock. He gave himself over to the sensations and worked her body. His breathing quickened along with his pace. The headboard banged against the wall to Rowan’s room. He hoped she was in there, that she heard Tegan’s cries and understood she was the one who had the right to be in his bed. He’d made a mistake with Rowan. He prayed it didn’t bite him in the ass.

  Tegan scratched at his back. The bite of pain pushed him to the edge. He couldn’t hold his release any longer. Had to, a moment more.

  “Look at me.”

  She opened her eyes.

  “I love you. Going to make you mine. Understand?”

  A sigh fell from her lips. She nodded, and her lids dropped, hiding her deep brown eyes.

  “No. Watch me.”

  He locked his gaze with hers and opened his soul, the only way he could explain the odd sensation. A breathless moment passed where he was completely exposed to her before he thrust once more. On a grunt, he exploded, spilling his seed into her body. With the first jerk of his cock, he gave his body to her. He didn’t know how else to explain it. He felt himself slide through her in an intimate caress he hadn’t known was possible. He touched every inch of her and left pieces of himself behind until he was one with her.

  The last of his seed shot from his dick. He hung his head, stripped raw from the act. Not in a bad way. Just different and tired. Weakness gripped him. He was hungry, more now than ever before.

  He hadn’t gotten to feed because she hadn’t come.

  With trembling fingers, she touched his cheek. “Ian. I feel you.”

  “Yes, I’m yours.” He turned his head and kissed her fingertips. “Now I need you.”

  His cock hardened again with the knowledge of what he was finally ready to do. The hungry beast inside him salivated over taking her pleasure into him.

  A shaky breath escaped her lips. “You’re insatiable.”

  “I’m hungry.” He told her the truth. “I want to feel your muscles squeeze my dick.”

  Tegan licked her lips and squirmed under him. “Then make me come.”

  That was his plan. He shifted his hips and fucked her hard, igniting her nerve endings. Her muscles quivered. Close. She was close. He felt it. She wrapped her legs around him and matched his thrusts. His balls drew up, and tingles spread.

  He captured her mouth and twined his tongue with hers, feeding her his moans and taking hers. So good. His angel, mate, lover. His everything.

  He broke their kiss and buried his face against her neck. “Come for me. Complete me.”

  He reached between their bodies and pressed his thumb to her clit. They’d careen into heaven together. He wouldn’t have it any other way. With a flick of the hardened bud, she came, screaming his name. Finally, he opened himself to her again and soaked in her pleasure.

  Dizziness gripped him, but he squeezed his eyelids shut and gorged himself on the energy of her release as if he were a starving man.

  She scratched at his back. Wetness slid over his skin. Blood. She’d dug her claws into him, not just her nails. Why? The question came and went. He couldn’t focus on it. Only the power she fed him mattered. She tasted better than anything, like the food of the gods. She was his ambrosia.

  His heaven.

  “Ian.”

  The pain in her voice snapped him out of his euphoria. He opened his eyes and stared into the face of his mate. Pasty-white skin covered her sunken cheeks. He reared back and swept his gaze over her.

  Her beautiful, curvy body had been replaced by a mere shell of the woman he loved.

  Skin and bones.

  He’d reduced her to skin and bones.

  “What have I done?”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Tegan stared into the fear-stricken face of the incubus who’d just fed on her. She fought her first instinct to comfort him. Ian hadn’t suddenly turned into a sex demon. He had to have felt the hunger, known something wasn’t right, yet he hadn’t thought to ask her about it.

  Before he gave her his half of the mate bond?

  He ran a trembling hand down her chest to where her breasts had been reduced to deflated balloons. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on her. The death she’d endured for a millennium had claimed her again, only her lover had delivered it, not the cruel curse she hadn’t been able to escape. In a way, she was trapped once more in the living hell she’d thought she’d left behind.

  Incubus, human, demigod, or Huntsman—it didn’t matter what label she applied to him. Ian was literally hers. His body and soul belonged to her. If she refused him her heart, he’d be forever alone, like Rowan. She was half of what she could’ve been and more damaged than any of the Hunters.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He rained kisses over her cheeks, her eyelids, her mouth. “You’re immortal. Can’t die. Right? God, angel, please tell me you’re going to be okay.”

  She’d be fine, but she couldn’t get the words out. Weakness gripped her. Although he hadn’t stopped her heart, it stuttered. Each passing second strengthened it, however.

  “How can I help you? Should I go get Rhys?”

  So she could watch her brother attack her lover because he couldn’t control himself?

  “No,” she managed to whisper.

  The familiar pain of regeneration started deep in her gut. She squeezed her eyelids shut against it. The dreaded sensation of pins and needles seized her anyway. Her skin burned with the pressure of her muscles’ rapid growth. Life returned to her body on a rush of fire that reignited all her nerve endings. She trembled and fought to contain her screams. Returning to life hurt as much as dying.

  He cupped her face in his hands and rubbed his thumbs over her parched lips. Something wet hit her cheek. She pried her eyelids apart. Ian’s dual-ringed eyes filled her vision. Green flecks dotted the light brown outer ring while the darker brown circle matching her eye color set off his pupil. Combined, his eyes held an almost three-dimensional feel to them. They were more captivating than anything she’d ever seen. Only the sheen of moisture covering them stopped her from failing under his spell.

  “I didn’t realize what would happen. I was hungry, and you tasted of heaven.”

  Tegan shoved him away from her. “You knew were an incubus?”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what I am, not exactly.”

  She couldn’t tell either, even with his body joined to her. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was human.

  He’s my Trojan horse. And a living reminder of the hell I’ve endured.

  No, that wasn’t true. There was still time to break their bond.

  She turned her palm over and stared at the incomplete mate mark. His
circle stood out against her skin, while only the innermost section of hers showed. By tradition, the mating was completed when the other partner proclaimed their love. Harley had proved the words “I love you” weren’t necessary to finish the union. The sentiment itself would eventually solidify it if Tegan held the declaration back.

  It would be stubbornness that stopped her too. She felt the deep emotion. Even what he’d done to her hadn’t killed it. Dimmed it, yes. A sense of betrayal clouded her love for him, but her love was still there, smoldering.

  A bitter laugh crawled up her throat. There was no denying it. She loved Ian, incubus or not. How foolish did that make her?

  She was in love with a man who needed to feed off sex. If she wasn’t here to meet his hunger, he’d find a substitute lover. Exclusive relationships meant nothing to demons. Harems were common for both sexes.

  Ian held a hand out to her. “Come here. I have to touch you. Make sure you’re safe.”

  “Why? Are you still hungry?”

  He flinched and dropped his arm. “No.”

  Of course, he wouldn’t be. He’d gorged himself on her. Thankfully, he couldn’t actually kill her, permanently anyway. “Why, Ian? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Silence stretched. Finally, he closed the distance between them and tipped up her chin.

  “I wasn’t really sure what was going on until tonight.” He brushed his lips over her forehead. “And we didn’t exactly have much time to talk.”

  No, they’d come together in a rush of need. “Then why didn’t you feed when I first orgasmed?”

  “I wanted you to know how much you matter to me, that I wasn’t touching you because I was hungry.” Ian took her hand in his and skimmed his fingertip over his half of the mark. “I love you, Tegan. I don’t want to spend eternity without you. Three years was enough.”

  “I don’t want to be mated to an incubus.”

  “You don’t love me. Is that it?”

  Tegan pressed her lips together. She refused to lie, but no way would she finish their bond tonight. One rash decision was enough. Here she’d thought it was the one she was meant to make. She sucked in a rough breath at the thought and turned her other hand over. A jagged black line stared back at her.

  He laughed, a sound so bitter she cringed. “You actually thought allowing me to mate you would meet the Triad’s challenge?”

  She’d hoped. She’d been wrong. Or had she? She hadn’t finished it.

  Ian pushed away from her and climbed off the bed. With jerky movements, he grabbed a pair of sweats and a T-shirt from his dresser. He tugged the pants on and tossed the shirt at her. It landed in her lap. She left it there, her gaze locked on to his face.

  “I’m the one who fucking sacrificed, not you. I gave myself to you. No second chances, remember?” He motioned toward her palm with its incomplete mark. “You can sever it, can’t you?”

  She nodded, not bothering to deny it.

  He stormed over to her and grabbed her hands, holding both so her palms showed. “Finish it. Make your damn sacrifice.”

  A challenge shone in his eyes.

  “I didn’t want to mate a sex demon.”

  “Why? Am I unlovable?”

  She shook her head.

  The anger in his features softened. “I won’t…” His breath escaped in a shuddering exhale. “I won’t hurt you again. I’ll learn control. I promise you.”

  The urge to comfort him overwhelmed her. “I know that, and after you do, I won’t even know when you feed from me. All I’ll feel is pleasure.”

  “You know this from experience.”

  A statement, not a question. She nodded anyway.

  He rubbed his thumb over the incomplete mate mark. “Then why?”

  “I can’t guarantee that if I’m not here to meet your needs, you won’t fuck any available woman.” She yanked her hand from his and pointed to the wall separating his bedroom from Rowan’s. “My sister is within easy access. She’s screwed too many incubuses to be able to resist your charms for long. Touch her, and she’ll spread her thighs and welcome you inside.”

  His expression closed off. He released her other hand. “You don’t think very much of Rowan”—he narrowed his eyes—“or me.”

  “I know what the sex demons are like. How addicting they are.”

  “But I’m not one, not really. I’m not even a demigod. I’m nothing. Just a human Minerva damned before I even took my first breath.”

  Tegan crossed her arms under her breasts. “I’m sorry for that. I am. But it doesn’t change anything.”

  He stepped closer and leaned into her personal space. The scent of cinnamon and man filled her lungs. “I promise you I will never cheat on you. You’re the only one I want.”

  She gave him a wan smile. “But, you see, promises can be broken. Doing so will damn you, but you have free will. It’s your choice. You want to break a promise, then you suffer the consequences.”

  “Nothing I say will prove my love, will it?”

  She didn’t doubt his love. Or hers. It was life she didn’t trust. Temptation existed everywhere.

  “Fine.” He strode across the room and flung open the door. “Get out.”

  She stared at his back and considered her choices, but she only had one. That she could live with at least. Mate him then make damn sure he never hungered. She’d keep him satisfied. He’d never wander and seek out another lover. She’d make sure of it. The decision eased her worry and allowed her to make another, the most important one of her life. And maybe, just maybe, it’d heal her and be the one the Triad demanded.

  She pulled the shirt over her head and walked over to him. His warmth drew her closer. She laid a hand on his back. He stiffened. “Ian?”

  “What?”

  “I…I…” Tegan curled her fists. “I love you, Ian Callahan.”

  Magic weaved through her to him. She felt the mystical circle close. The subtle completion washed over her, a response she might’ve missed if she hadn’t been expecting it. She’d heard it was like that, though. No need to be explosive like the first step in a mating. Love, the true kind, came without fanfare. It simply was.

  He dropped his chin to his chest and breathed heavily, but didn’t respond to her declaration.

  “Did you hear me? I said I love you.”

  He cleared his throat. “I heard you.”

  “And that’s it?” She unclenched her fingers. Without looking at her palm, she shoved it in front of his face. “We’re mates.”

  He cradled her hand as if it were made of glass. A long moment passed before he pressed his lips to her skin. “Yes, we are.”

  “Are you happy?” Because she couldn’t tell. Sadness tinged his words.

  “Happier than I’ve ever been in my life.”

  The monotone response spiked her anxiety. She shoved it away. She’d hurt his feelings, but she knew how to make it up to him.

  Tegan gripped the waistband of his sweats and tugged. “Come to bed. I want to make love to you.”

  He turned and slid his hands to her waist. His enchanting eyes became her world. Before she could get lost in them, he lifted her and set her on her feet in the hallway.

  “Not tonight. I’m tired.”

  The door closed with a click. She stared at the wood separating them for a long time, unable to believe what happened. Her mate had dismissed her.

  Finally, she lifted her hand and studied the confirmation she didn’t need. Two interlocking circles shone on her skin. Beautiful and sacred.

  She choked on a sob.

  Her mating hadn’t turned out the way she planned. She prayed it was enough, though.

  Lip caught between her teeth, she turned her other hand over and forced her fingers to unclench. Her knees gave out. She crumbled to the floor and gaped at the evidence displayed.

  The jagged black line still bisected her palm. She’d failed to meet her challenge. Or had she guessed wrong? No matter the reason, one truth remained.

  Sh
e’d tied herself to an incubus for nothing.

  “Not for nothing. I love him.”

  But love wasn’t always enough. Her father could attest to that. Then again, so could Minerva.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ian pushed his sunglasses onto the top of his head and stared at Trevor. Or more accurately, Ian fixated on the couch where he and Tegan had fucked yesterday. Jesus, has it only been a day? In twenty-four hours, he’d gone from euphoria at finally making love with her to regret over his jerkish reaction after they’d mated. Goddammit, he deserved her reluctance, her anger, and her hatred. He’d sucked the life out of her, then selfishly coerced her into finishing their bond so he could do so again.

  Asshole, anyone? Yeah, he was the goddamn king of them.

  He was lucky she didn’t attack him for what he did.

  It might’ve been better if she had. He’d hurt her. Fucking caused her pain. Right after declaring his love for her.

  She had every right to be leery of him. It also pissed him off knowing her concerns were valid and nothing he said would eliminate her doubt. His raging hard-on for Rowan had proved his body would react to other women. It always had. He might’ve lived a celibate life the past few years, but he’d always lusted after women.

  Did that make him a bastard? Probably. Still, he knew he wouldn’t act on his desires. He also understood words wouldn’t make Tegan trust him.

  Time would. Except he felt theirs slipping away.

  A balled piece of paper whacked him in the head and dragged him out of his thoughts. He blinked and brought Trevor’s image into focus. He sat on the sofa, feet planted on the coffee table, and a laptop propped on his thighs.

  Trevor moved his computer to the table, then crossed his arms. “Are you going to tell me what’s up with your eyes, or not?”

  Ian shrugged, a nonchalant move he didn’t feel. His gut was a mess. “I mated Tegan last night.”

  Trevor’s brows rose. “The curvy little devil’s child?”

  The teasing smirk on his friend’s face told him he hadn’t meant the words the way they sounded, but Ian couldn’t let the remark go. “Don’t mess with me. You ever talk about my mate that way again, I’ll make you hurt.”