Gifted Curse (Curse Trilogy) (20 page)

“You wouldn’t have been able to stick around for that without melting,” he says with his blistering tone, and my knees threaten to tremble beneath me.

“I’ll never look at a gun holster the same now that I’ve seen it on Araya like a damn garter belt,” Clay snickers out.

“Oh hell,” I gasp.  “We left the gun too, didn’t we?”

“Too?” Hale asks with a chuckle.

Clay bursts out laughing once again, and my face deepens its scarlet hue.

“Araya left behind a trail of shredded lace to send the boys in a heated tizzy this morning.  I didn’t find a gun though,” he snickers out.

“Oh,” Hale laughs out louder.  “I got the gun, but I forgot about the collateral damage after she fucking bit me,” he teases, and I bury my head in his chest.

“Oh, so you did blood fuck,” Clay speculates.

“We did a little bit of everything,” Hale menaces, and at this point I’m ready to curl into a ball and hide.

“How about you guys talk about this shit when I’m not around so that I don’t have to endure the embarrassment quite so fiercely,” I demand rather than ask.

Hale chuckles, and then he wraps me in his arms while looking at Clay.

“What brings you by?” he asks Clay.

“I originally came by to try and talk Araya out of leaving Seminole, but it appears my services are no longer needed,” he murmurs with an excited and approving expression, pretending to dust his hands in satisfaction.

“I hope not,” Hale murmurs anxiously.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I exasperate, and I grin when Hale’s lips rush mine.

“Good,” he utters gently into my ear.

“That’s actually pretty perfect because Seminole is about to become grand central station for all survivors and prisoners,” Clay sighs out.

“Why?” I muse.

“Because it’s the strongest, especially with the two of you here together.  Your gifts are explosive when working together - no pun intended,” he almost snickers.

I roll my eyes at the corny joke, and Hale smirks when he leans against the counter.

“That’s not all that’s explosive when we’re together,” he seduces, and my cheeks beam red when Clay starts laughing.

“Okay.  So I’m going to go take a shower now since you two are embarrassing the hell out of me,” I grumble, and Hale’s soft lips catch the back of my hand before I walk off.

“I love you,” he says gently before I walk into the bedroom.

I can’t stifle the foolish, girly grin, and I turn back to stare into the eyes that still hold secrets.

“I love you.”

He mimics my goofy grin, and then I shut the door while Clay and Hale continue discussing the night like a couple of silly girls.  The shower shoots free from the spout, and I wait for the water to be almost scalding before I climb in.

The steam instantly fogs over every surface, and it’s almost hard to see one step in front of me.  I shed Hale’s shirt, and then I step into the scorching tempered water.  It’s almost breathtaking how incredible I feel right now.  It just feels so right to be with Hale, and his secrets can stay locked up as long as they aren’t going to silently rip us apart.

I feel lips caressing my shoulder from behind, and I smirk as I turn to face the sneaky man that has just invited himself into my shower.

“Couldn’t stay away?” I seduce.

“What do you think?” he provocatively dares, and his hands grip my sides before pulling me to him.

“I think you and I are never getting out of this room,” I snicker out, and his lips fold over mine.

His eyes show passion, excitement, and an animalistic desire that heats my blood to a near boil.

“I’ve spent three years praying for another chance to be with you.  I’m not risking letting you out of my arms for any amount of time,” he smolders out, and I can tell he’s not going to waste any time.

He grips me at my waist, and I feel the slick surface of the shower’s tile behind me as his erection threatens its entry by just barely staying out of me.  My lower half starts throbbing almost instantly, and his lips scour mine for more passion.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I breathe, and his erection makes good on its threat as it slides deep into me.

I gasp at the slow takeover his body forces onto mine.  My head tilts back, as he holds me up, and his lips stroke the sides of my neck as he starts his incredible back and forth teasing rhythm.  The slow pace becomes almost painful when my insides try to scream out for more, and he answers the plea by picking up speed.

My nails dig into his back, and I feel the power of his desire overwhelming me as he begins his pounding.  His teeth tug at my lower lip, and I’m almost hoping he’s going to bite down and turn this into an all-day-long event.

“I love you,” he mutters into my mouth when he releases his grip on my lip, and then his lips reclaim mine once more in a desperate kiss.

His tongue tangles with mine in an explosive and erotic struggle, and my legs tighten around his waist as the first shiver runs through me to warn me of my building release.

“I love you,” I utter in a breathless squeal, and he pounds in even harder to take me completely.

I feel as though we were designed for each other because his body fits mine too perfectly.  The deep thrusts send more shivers, and the water rushes over us to add more steam to the fiery moment.  His breath becomes more panted, and his growling grunts beg me to come.

I scream when I can’t fight the urge any longer, and he slams deep into me twice more to find his own release, staying inside me at the deepest point as his life connects with mine.  He holds me to him as I go limp in his arms, and then he kisses my lips so softly.  He starts to put me down, but my legs tighten around his waist because I’m scared I’m too exhausted to stand on my own.

“You know you’re going to get fucked again if you don’t stand up,” his incredibly sexy voice warns.

The throbbing returns, and, despite my depleted state, I dare, “Then fuck me again.”

His eyes widen at the crude request, and the shower door opens as he swishes into the room with me.  Our scorching, wet bodies blister the cool air, and the bed trembles beneath us as he begins his punishing rhythm once more without so much as wasting one second.

I grip the sheets that are now soaked under me, and he stands up to stare down at me while pumping harder and harder.  His eyes show that wild man I’ve always been prey to, and his teeth grit together as he forces the feelings to start all over again.  He uses my upper thighs as handles as he jerks me against his thrusts, but I get a little tired of him doing all the work.

I rip away from the incredible fuck, and he almost looks confused until I jerk him down to the bed.  I straddle him, and I sit straight up while staring into those completely seduced and savagely amused eyes.

I bend down to barely press my teeth against his skin, and then I rise up to start my own punishing rhythm.  His eyes almost roll back in his head as he concedes the power and revels in the pleasure my rising and falling hips are offering.

I turn around to face the opposite direction, and his breath hitches.

“Fuck, Araya.  I’m going to go too soon if you don’t stop,” he hisses out, and his hands grip my ass as he closes in on his delicious moment.

“Then do it, and I’ll fuck you again,” I smolder out, and he gasps as his warmth explodes into me once more.

A knock at the door interrupts the wild session, and we both scramble for clothes.

“Fuck,” he growls as he jerks on his pants, and he dashes to the door to see who the hell is fucking with our incredible reconciliation.

“What the fuck do you want?” he grumbles as he rips open the door, and I have to stifle a grin.

“Sorry… Sir,” a man stutters out.  “Dr. Elton has requested your presence in the lab.  He says it’s rather urgent and he couldn’t reach you on the phone.”

I can’t see the face behind the trembling voice, but I know he’s probably terrified.  Hale is so intimidating, especially when pissed.

“Damn it.  Tell him I’m on my way,” he huffs, and he slams the door behind him before returning to the room.

I snicker slightly, and he narrows his eyes at me.  He can’t stifle his own grin when I laugh harder, and he shakes his head at my show of amusement.

“You know I hate that,” he grumbles.

“What?” I ask, feigning innocence while playing coy.

He smirks bigger, and then pulls on a shirt.

“I got one more than you,” he huffs out with a goofy grin.

“Technically, we’re even considering I got one more than you during our first blood fuck after three years,” I sizzle out.

He grumbles under his breath, and turns back to face me with seduced and frustrated eyes.

“I owed you that one from three years ago.  The score had been uneven for a long time, and I capitalized on the opportunity to level it up.”

“Wow.  You really do take the score very seriously,” I tease, and he rolls his eyes when I start laughing again.

“Will you come with me?” he asks to deter the smoking hot nature of the conversation.

“I will,” I say with a smirk, and then I climb up to walk over to the closet.

I slide on some underwear, and then I deliberately bend over right in front of him while picking out the shoes I don’t need just yet.

“You’re fucking hilarious,” he growls, and I laugh all the harder.

“Well, I didn’t get finished, so I’m still a little turned on,” I say to mock his already agitated nature.

He grabs me at the waist, and I feel the wet bed beneath me in that instant.

“They can fucking wait,” he murmurs against my lips, and his incredible erection is released once again.

I gasp as he surges into me, and then another knock at the door forces a painful separation.

“Fucking shit,” he growls, and this time I don’t find it so humorous.

“Come on you two,” Clay yells through the front door.  “This is very important.  It’s about the man we presumed a human,” he says with worry, and then the door starts to open.

Hale jerks his pants back up, and I swish over to the closet to find something to wear while Hale joins Clay in the living area.

“I’m going on ahead,” Hale says softly.

“That’s probably a good idea,” I mumble, and I hear him sigh as he and Clay disappear.

I comb through my hair, barely making an effort to style it before I rush down to join them.  I make my way down a long, sterile corridor, and I have to enter in my access code through every doorway.  The security is so much tighter here than before, and it’s starting to worry me.

Hale and Clay are leaning beside the dissected body of the man I interrogated, and their faces are stark white.  I move in to listen rather than ask what the hell is going on.

“The test results will be more conclusive in a couple of days, but I’m fairly positive you want to get to work sooner rather than later,” Dr. Elton states.  “This transformation is incomplete - meaning, this was a prototype.  The man looked, smelled, and presented himself as human.  The question is… why?”

“Better yet, why wait until the moment he did?  He could have snapped those standard cuffs in half at any time, so why make a move so late in the interrogation?  He barely put up a struggle at all when my men brought him in,” Hale thinks aloud.

“Do you think this has something to do with Araya?” Clay asks softly, and now it’s apparent they don’t realize I’m in the room.

“This evolvement here is a passage for the virus, but it’s connected to a nerve that stems straight to the brain.  It’s true they can infect, and they can decide who to infect,” Dr. Elton adds while pointing to an exposed tube in the man’s severed throat.

“Fuck,” Hale sighs out, and then he looks to Clay.

“This has to stay confidential.  Only the heads of the United should know, and we have to call Brazen as well,” Clay says to Hale, and now I’m feeling rather out of sorts.

Fuck.  I’m not a head in the United, and I just heard this shit.

I start to creep out, and I feel the eyes burning against me when the tile squeaks under my sliding shoe.

“Araya,” Clay murmurs disappointedly.

“It’s my fault.  I asked her to come down before I knew of this,” Hale interjects in my defense.

“It’s fine,” Clay sighs out.  “She is one person outside the heads I trust, but I’d prefer it if no one else knows that she knows.”

I nod rapidly to answer his silent request, and Hale motions for me to join him as he pulls out his phone.  He waits impatiently on the line, but he doesn’t hear anything.

“There’s a type of sand on his shoes that can only be found in the old deserts of Salan.  The grass there dried up centuries ago before turning to dust, but it still leaves a fingerprint.  You’ll probably want to suggest they start looking there due to the amount I found,” Dr. Elton instructs, and Hale offers a nod.

“No answer,” he grumbles.

“I think it’s fairly obvious why he wouldn’t answer,” Clay murmurs, his eyes pointing to me, and he begins dialing.

“Not answering you either?” Hale snarks when Clay doesn’t have any better luck, and then he dials another number.