Gifted Curse (Curse Trilogy) (36 page)

“She was still human,” I sob, the wails and animal-like sounds finally breaking free from my throat.

He coos into my ear as he strokes my hair softly to comfort me.

“She wasn’t completely human anymore, Araya, and she knew it.  She wanted to die before she was lost to the monster she was turning into.  If anything, you saved her,” he soothes.

I feel the darkness stirring within me, and I quickly dig into his pocket where I know he keeps olophine, and I bite into my wrist to quickly inject myself, dousing the savage’s plan to surface.

“Fuck.  Let’s get you out of here,” he murmurs while the cleanup crew rushes in.

He tucks me under his arm, and I turn to watch them ashing the woman I just murdered in the streets.  She could have been a wife and a mother, and I just took her from her family without giving her the chance to say goodbye.  She could have stayed lucid for another hour before fully changing.  We could have found her family in that amount of time.

I feel the darkness trying to take me over as the olophine burns through veins, and I know one isn’t going to be enough.  I dig in Hale’s pocket once more, and I inject my veins again.  He scoops me up and forces my head against his chest so I can’t continue to watch the morbid, fiery show anymore.

“It’s okay, baby.  She could have hurt me, and you saved me.  You acted in defense.”

“If it was so dire, then why didn’t you draw your weapon?” I whimper loudly, and he kisses my forehead softly.

“Because you beat me to it.  I would have done it myself.”

I should feel better, but I don’t.  He’s probably just saying that to make me feel better.

“How did a full blood get in with the humans?” Clay gushes as he runs over to us.  “Only the officials are allowed to mingle.”

“We don’t know.  We came up on the fresh blood spilled.  We didn’t know there was an infected until she was staring us in the eyes.  Araya had to…” his words trail off as he looks into my eyes, and then he looks back up to meet Clay’s confusion and finish his sentence differently.  “I’m taking Araya up to the room before…
something
happens.  I’ll call you later.”

“Araya put her down?” Clay whispers, and the wall beside us drops several bricks out of place as the building it’s attached to shakes violently.

“Fuck.  I said I’d call you later,” Hale scolds, and Clay tightens his lips as Hale rushes me back to the apartment.

He lays me on the couch, and then he swishes to the cabinets to come back with another vial of olophine.  I do as I’ve done twice already, but I feel the medicine finally being abundant enough to start working.

“We really need something stronger,” I grumble while watching my wrist close back up on its own.

“Yes we do.  This will have to do for now though.  There’s plenty more if you need it,” he murmurs while pulling me into his lap.

“I think I’m fine now.  Just hold me, please.  Don’t let it take me,” I whisper out when my voice flees.

“I’m here for you, baby.  Nothing is going to happen, I promise.  I’ll inject you myself, and you know I will.”

I let a half laugh escape before more of my tears fall freely.  He just holds me to him as I cry into his shirt, and his hand strokes my hair again while he tries to soothe me.

I killed a human.

I keep my eyes closed
as Hale watches a movie because I don’t want him to know I’m awake.  If he knows, he’ll try to comfort me, and I’ll start crying all over again.  I’m too exhausted to cry again right now.

His arms are still wrapped around me, and every once and a while his lips press softly against my head.  I’m still curled up in his lap, and his hand still strokes my hair as it has since before I fell asleep.

I hear a knock on the door, and it opens before Hale has to say anything.  I can feel him tensing up around me, and I know it has to be Brazen.

No one else makes his skin crawl and his heart beat in such an angry way without saying a word.

“Is she okay?  I just heard she was the one that had to put it down.”

It?  It wasn’t an it.  It was a she.

Tears threaten to sneak out of my sleeping eyes, but I’m able to hold them back before I give myself away.

“She’s been asleep for two hours.  She had to inject herself with olophine… numerous times.  She’s emotionally exhausted right now.  Everything seems to keep happening to and around her.  She’s not getting a second to breathe before something else slaps her in the face,” Hale says so softly while his lips stroke my cheek.

“I was hoping I could stick around until she wakes up.  I brought her something I know she’ll be asking for when she gets a minute to wrap her head around things.”

Now I’m almost curious enough to open my eyes, but I know if I do, they’ll both be trying to soothe me.  I can’t handle that right now.

“What is it?”

“The infected woman’s personal file.  I gathered everything I could when they told me Araya had to take her down before she fully turned.  I know she’ll want to know everything about her, and I think this might help her feel a little better.”

Tears burn as they water up and seep out of my eyes to drip on the gentle arm supporting my head.  Hale sighs as he pulls me up, and his lips rest against my teary cheeks before they play lightly on my lips.

“I know you’re awake, baby,” he coos, and I open my eyes to let the remainder of the trapped tears fall free.

Brazen’s eyes carry a heavy amount of pity, forcing my shameful ones to look away.  He hands me the file as I shift to be on the couch.  I take a deep breath, and more tears pour out when I’m unable to open the folder.

“You don’t have to look,” Hale says so warmly, and then he slides me back into his lap.

“I want to.  I need to know who she was,” I whimper, and then I finally open it up to see what the woman should have looked like.

Her light blond hair was curly, and her golden brown eyes were soft but slightly jaded.  She lived a hard life according to her file.  She was in an out of trouble, and she had a reputation for blood running.  Most importantly, she’s not a mother.

I sigh out in relief after seeing the fact no child is waiting for her, and Hale pulls me closer to him as he reads along with me.

“Do you think it’s possible she was running her own blood?  If she didn’t dilute it enough and the full blood found her, it’s possible he or she was driven to latch on without a choice,” Hale murmurs to Brazen.

“That’s what I thought.  It would explain why there was an attack from with inside the compound, and it would explain how they got to her.  She would have felt drawn to them as well, though it wouldn’t have been as strong on her end.  It’s possible she just let him in the back gate, and or she reacted out of instinct.  I didn’t check for evidence of more considering they had already disposed of her remains.”

He’s talking about a blood fuck.  That just kills the sex appeal right now.

“Thank you,” I murmur while standing up.

I walk over, and he stands to wrap me up in those arms that have comforted me so many times.  I can see Hale’s jaw tensing out of the corner of my eye, but he doesn’t say anything considering Brazen just gave me piece of mind.  Just knowing she wasn’t a mother is enough to relieve me of the worst of the burden.

“You’re welcome,” he utters softly before kissing my forehead.

I pull back, and he wipes my tears from my cheeks before Hale can’t sit still any longer.  He comes to wrap his arms around my waist with his possessive cloaking, and Brazen gives me a wink before letting himself out the door.

“I really hate him a lot more when he does something I wish I had thought of,” Hale grouses while pulling me back to the couch.

“You were preoccupied.  You would have done it too if you had idle hands.  I needed you in a different way, and he can’t have me like that anymore,” I murmur while my lips lightly dance on his.

“I love you, Araya.” he sighs out happily once I’ve pushed away his lingering insecurities.

“I love you.  Thank you for holding me.”

“Baby, I don’t need thanks for that.  It’s by far one of my many favorite things to do with you.”

“Could your other favorite thing to do be just sleeping in the bed with me tonight?  I really don’t feel like doing anything else.”

He looks a little hurt by my words, and I slink down when I feel like I’ve made him feel like I don’t want him anymore.

“Araya, I didn’t plan on doing anything else.  I love you for a hell of a lot more than sex.  It hurts that you think that.”

Oh balls.

“I didn’t mean it like that.  I just know we normally… we don’t normally just go to sleep.   That’s all I was saying.”

He frowns lightly, and then he leans back so that he can see me better.

“We just reconciled, so we’ve been having a little fun.  That doesn’t mean there’s not more substance.  I’m perfectly capable of just holding the woman I want to marry.”

I smile a little, and my lips gingerly stroll over his as my tears slip free once more.  He wraps his arms around me to hug me while kissing me, and I feel so safe.  Brazen has always had the comforting touch, not Hale, but now he’s proving he’s so much more than I ever gave him credit for.

“You hungry?” he murmurs softly.

“No.  Now I’m ready to go to bed.”

“It’s still light out, but I’ll go to bed with you until you fall asleep,” he says with such an adorable touch of obliviousness.

My lips fold over his, and then I slide my legs around until I straddle him.  He grips me a little tighter when he realizes I’m trying to seduce him.  He groans into my mouth, and I start undoing his pants very slowly.

“I didn’t think you wanted to do this,” he mutters between my lips, and I free his erection before sliding my hand against it.

“That was before you made me feel so damn good.  You’re incredible, and I don’t think I’ve ever told you that,” I murmur back, and his eyes show such an enamored gaze as he lifts me into the air.

His lips consume mine once more when his eyes close again, and his soft touch is less brutal today as he gently places me on the bed.  He slowly removes my shirt, and his lips stroll up my stomach to meet my breasts.  His tongue plays momentarily on my nipple, and then the cold air strikes it a little more noticeably when he moves to the other.

I moan lightly as he travels back down, and he gingerly pulls my pants off before actually removing my underwear without shredding them.

His breath stains my skin with perfect, arousing heat.  Those perfect, plump lips continue their daring journey until he reaches the apex of my thighs, and I moan as his tongue begins swirling against my most sensitive of spots.  He smiles when he feels the pleasure I’m obviously deriving, and then his lips close over it as a light sucking motion starts.

I gasp when I feel the incredible sensation that sends the most delicious chills all over my body.  He presses down against my hips when I begin squirming too much, and it forces me to fully absorb the sublimely erotic tingles.  I grip his hair with one hand and the sheet starts ripping beneath the other as I feel the building of my inevitable moment edging toward an eclipse.  I gasp as I reach the climax he’s been pushing me toward.

A smug smile plays across his delicious lips as he pulls back and kisses the insides of my legs, and his lips very slowly make their way back up my shaky body.  I grip his face and pull him to me, unable to play this game much longer.  His lips engulf mine just as he thrusts into me, my whole body jarring from the unexpected connection.  Everything tingles as he holds still - a piece of him inside of me.

“You’re incredible too, baby,” he breathes before slowly withdrawing, and then he gently slides back in.

I can feel him going so deep, and he just stays there again while kissing me.  I almost want to clutch my legs around his waist and keep him there forever, but his slow, erotic motion continues once more as our lips just barely touch.  His tongue enters my mouth briefly as he grips my hips to thrust in a little harder, and I gasp at the surrealism I’m feeling under his soft touch that I’ve never felt so intimately from him.

He gradually builds speed until he reaches a tantalizing rhythm, and his hands grip my breasts before tangling in my hair and bringing me closer to his soft, exquisite lips that fold to mine so perfectly.

We roll over and sit up together as I take control, and his hands grip my body as my chest presses to his.  My knees dig into the bed as I lift myself up and down, and the sweat begins forming against our scorching bodies, sizzling as it rolls down my chest.  His lips begin playing against my dampened neck as we make love in a way we never have before.

I feel our connection growing in such an unfathomable way as he grips me all the tighter.  My tongue invades his mouth, and I taste the sweat mingling with the desire as he grunts lightly at his close climax.

I feel my legs quivering around him, and my breaths grow into ragged pants.  He pulls me tighter as I scream out my release, and he moves my hips for me until he follows my climatic response.

He holds me to him as he drops back, and I fall on top of him with my languid body motionless.  His lips press gently against my forehead as his fingertips trickle up and down my back, and I smile against his smooth chest as I kiss it.