Cursed (5 page)

“Right, well, I’m always here when you want to talk.”

“I know. Here’s your coffee.” She handed the cup of white mocha to her mother before she made her way back to the storage room where Gran was making a set of poultices that had been special ordered.

“Hey, Gran, here’s your coffee.”

“Thank you, honey. I usually steer clear of this, but it’s always nice to cheat once in a while.”

“Gran, you look fantastic.”

“Thank you.” She received a kiss on her cheek.

Baxter had worked wonders for Gran. She had a rosy glow about her Avalyn never remembered seeing before. She almost envied it. After all she’d taken on alone, Gran deserved all the happiness she could stand.

“I heard your mother a minute ago, and I agree. You’ve been off ever since that Edgeworth boy took you to lunch.”

She didn’t’ bother denying it. Gran had a way of smelling a lie. “It’ll pass.”

“Hmm.”

Gran took a sip of her coffee, and she tensed as she waited for her spiel about the Edeworth men and their low-down, dirty ancestor, Joseph.

“I just want you to be careful, honey. History is there to show us what
not
to do. If we repeat past mistakes, the circle is never unbroken.”

This is my chance to take!
“I know,” she whispered.

The bell above the door jangled, and Avalyn welcomed the interruption. “I’m going to head out front. Let me know if you need any help.”

Avalyn, was out the door before Gran could ask another question.

The day was busy enough to keep her from beging distracted, but as she closed the door that night after work, her thoughts wandered back to Colton. She’d met other men in the town, but none could hold a candle to the charismatic man who’d wormed his way into her conscious. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake him. He was like a burr stuck to her clothing. Disgusted with herself, she headed to the local grocery store to pick up a few items for dinner.

She was rounding the corner with her metal cart when she was faced with the very man she was doing her best not to think of.

“Fancy meeting you here.” He flashed a rakish grin and winked.

Really, a wink? She leaned forward and spoke low enough for just the two of them to hear. “Are you following me?”

“Define follow.”

“Colton!”

“Relax, Avalyn, Baxter is a small town. Seeing your lovely face often is just a bonus.”

She frowned. She didn’t’ believe him for one minute. His green eyes sparkled with mischief. She wanted to join him in his merriment, but the hurt it would cause the women she loved made her hesitate. Unsure of what to say, she maneuvered her cart around him, but sensed he followed her. She glanced over her shoulder and bit back a scream. “What are you doing?”

“Walking in the same general direction.”

“Colton.”

“Avalyn.”

“This is just a game to you, isn’t it?”

He sobered at her words and shook his head. “No. If I thought for one minute you didn’t feel the same way about me as I do you, I’d leave you alone, but I can see that same passion and longing reflected in those dark pools of yours every time we meet.”

He stepped closer, and her breath caught in her throat. His sandalwood and woodsy scent encompassed her, and she breathed deep. Her knees softened, and she froze when he wrapped a strand of her hair around his finger.

“It’s so much softer than I thought it would be. I’ve spent hours imagining your smell and how you’d feel in my arms.”

His voice had dropped even lower, and the thought of him in bed thinking about her made her juices drip down to soak her panties. She’d passed the moist stage not long after she’d heard his voice. Avalyn shifted her weight to rub her thighs together and relieve the pressure building between her legs. The movement caught his attention.

“I could take care of that for you if you’d let me.”

She licked her lips and shook her head from side-to-side.

“Are you sure? I know you’d taste sweet.”

His warm breath caressed her face, and her nipples hardened. The soft material of her bra felt almost abrasive as they strained toward Colton, hungry for contact. The sounds of squeaky wheels on the on the ground close by broke the spell, and he stepped back to put a respectable distance between them.

“I can’t.” Her voice sounded husky and desperate. She spun her cart around and opted for a change of dinner plans. Take out would have to do.

***

Avalyn glanced around her surroundings and relaxed. She was on the wraparound porch in front of her home. The honeysuckle bushes were blooming, the sun shone down, and the temperature was just right. It was too perfect to be anything else but a dream. If you added chirping birds and cuddly bunnies, it’d be a scene straight out of Snow White. The front door swung open, and she turned. Time seemed to slow down as a woman stepped out. She was petite with long, curly raven-black hair. She wore a blue muslin gown and had a familiar heart-shaped face with high cheek bones.
Where do I know her from?

The woman stepped toward her and waved.

“Hello, Avalyn.”

“Viola?”

“Yes.” Viola nodded and took a seat in the rocking chair beside her.

“I came to deliver a message. Staying away from Colton because of the curse is wrong. We inadvertently brought negativity into our own lives with that one hasty action. The power of three doesn’t care if the black magic was done to bring justice. It simply delivers the karmic cost owed. I know you want to tell your family, but this is a lesson they need to learn on their own. It’s how the cycle will be ended.”

“Why are you telling me?”

“You’ve already realized this. You hesitate because you don’t want to disappoint them. But that would be a mistake. You must follow the path that’s right for you.”

Avalyn turned the information over in her head. Was she so desperate to find love, her subconscious had weaved this scene?

“No,” Viola said. “I’ll prove it to you. When you wake go to the door of your room, take five steps away from the door and three steps to the right. It’ll lead you to a loose floorboard. Remove it and you’ll find a necklace. The only thing I kept from my time with Joseph Edgeworth.” Her dark brown eyes filled with water, and her face took on a sorrowful expression. “I know he conned me, but a part of me believes there was something very real between us. Whether it’s true or not, I’ll never really know.”

Avalyn wanted to reach out and offer the woman comfort, but she wasn’t sure what to say.

“I want to see the Voiles women happy. Heartache has been our companion for far too long.” She reached her hand over the table that separated them and squeezed Avalyn’s. “Let the relationship develop and enjoy the ride, Avalyn.”

Avalyn’s body tingled, and the view around her began to fade away as she woke wake. She sat up in bed, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and wondered if she’d dreamt the entire thing, or was it a vision? It was a talent she had never held an aptitude for.
There’s only one way to find out.

She peeled back the covers, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and rose to stand on shaky limbs. She grabbed the fingernail file off her nightstand. Her mouth went dry, and her throat tightened as she made the trek to the doorway. There was so much riding on this. Seconds turned to minutes as she counted out five steps and paused before she took two more to the right. Avalyn knelt in front of the floorboard and slipped the metal file into the gap between the two boards, shimmying the, long, thin metal piece she gasped when the wood shifted. She leveled it up, and the board popped free with a groan of protest.

Avalyn starred down into the black hole uncovered.
Please, God, don’t let there be anything living in here.
She held her breath and placed her hand inside. Feather-light cobwebs clung to her fingers, and she jumped when she bumped something solid. She patted the rectangular-shaped piece of wood, pulled it from the space, and brought it into the moonlight that illuminated the room. She blew the dust off the container and held it to the light. There were initials carved in the side,
J.E + V.V.

She opened the lid and revealed a yellow piece of cloth. She set it down and removed the material. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a handkerchief. The initials
J.A.E.
were stitched into the fabric in black. She peeled back the threadbare fabric and gasped. Polished pink stones—she thought they were pink rose quarts—led down to a beautiful, oval-shaped silver medallion, etched with a tiny fairy. Her burden was lifted. Lightness filled her soul, and she smiled. She’d just gotten the seal of approval from the person this whole curse had originated with. It was the sign she needed to move forward, guilt-free. She placed the locket around her neck, determined to honor Viola’s memory.
Thank you, Viola.

Chapter Six

Colton glanced up as a tentative knock sounded on the door to his office. His brothers would never knock like that, and he didn’t have a meeting set. He closed his eyes and rubbed his bruised eyelids. Lack of sleep because of his situation with Avalyn, coupled with long work days, was taking a toll. There was probably a problem with a job. He could feel his plans for an early day slipping away. He took a deep breath and spoke, “Come on in.” God, he hoped his voice didn’t sound as tired as he felt. A setback on a job had him and his crew working overtime. Today was the first time he’d felt comfortable leaving them alone.

The door swung open, and his eyes went wide as Avalyn’s form came into view. He blinked. Had he finally become so fatigued he was seeing things? His vision was dressed casually in a pair of faded blue jeans that hugged her trim thighs and belled out over a pair of low-heeled sandals. The black spaghetti tank top was trimmed across the top with lace and highlighted the amazing set of melon-shaped breasts. The cleavage presented made him lick his lips, and he shifted his stance to relieve the arousal forming in his groin.

“Avalyn?”

“Hi.”

She gave a bashful smile and remained in the door way. Her gaze darted around his office and back to him. She looked skittish. He half expected her to bolt. The thought shook him out of his stupor, and he waved her inside. There was no way he was going to let her go, not when he finally had her alone and ready to talk.

“Come in, please.”

She came to stand in front of him with her hands linked behind her back. She titled her head to the side and peered up at him from beneath long black lashes.

“I’ve spent the past month miserable because of a past I had nothing to do with. I’m done with that.”

He held his breath, afraid he might have misunderstood.

Her gaze met his, and her dark eyes were filled with an intense longing he knew would be mirrored in his own. His thoughts had centered on this woman day in and day out. Even now his hands itched to wind themselves in her hair as he pulled her body to rest against his own. He swallowed. The sound seemed to echo in the quiet room as he waited for her next move. Avalyn stepped closer.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is…” Her voice was a whisper of silk, low and sensual. It washed over him. She trailed the tips of two fingers from his clavicle to his chest, where she spread her palm over his heart. He lowered his lids to half-mast as arousal began to weave its wicked spell. “I’m done with that.” She leaned in closer; her body rubbed against his, burning him through the material of his clothing as she went on her tiptoes. Full lips brushed grazed his Adam’s apple, and he gasped when her tongue darted out to flicker over his pulse point.

“Tasty. I knew you would be.” Her breath was warm as it swirled over the wet path she’d created moments before, making it tingle. His head spun. How had he gone from aggressor to this? His cock hardened and strained against the zipper of his jeans. He was about three seconds from taking her on his desk.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I want.”

Her husky voice made his eyebrows shoot up toward the ceiling. Had she just read his mind?

“No, I read your eyes. I want every ounce of the lust I see in those pretty green orbs, Colton. I’ve been celibate a long time. I’m ready to be filled, ridden, and wrung out to dry. Do you think you can do that?”

Was she serious?

“Don’t worry, this isn’t a trap. You’ll find I say what I mean.”

A trail of goose bumps broke out over his body as she rocked her hips into his and nipped at his bottom lip. He groaned.

Shouldn’t they talk? She issued another sharp bite. The soothing feel of her slippery tongue knocked all rational thought from his mind.

Fuck it.

He bent over to grab her thighs, and she wrapped her slender legs around his waist. Her nails scrapped across his scalp, and he grunted when she gave a light tug on his hair. “Damn, your hair is softer than I imagined it would be. It’s like red satin.”

“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” he asked.

She laughed, a raspy sound that made his stomach quiver. “Oh, I’m an equal opportunity kind of girl.”

“God, you’re sexy.”

“Mhmm, the feeling is mutual.”

She nipped at his neck, and her nails dug into his shoulders. He hissed. The pleasurable pain made the tip of his dick harden further and leak. Damn, she’d made him wet!

“Are you trying to mark me, woman?”

“I like everyone to know when something’s mine.” She rotated her hips and purred low in her throat.

“Is that what I am?”

“Oh, yes, I think that’s what you’ve from the moment we first met.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but the rotation of her hips strangled his words in a choke hold.

“Don’t worry, Coly, the possession works both ways.”

The whispered words made something inside him snap. The need to claim what was his goaded him into action. He spun them around, bent over, and swiped the desk with his right arm. Paperwork, pens, and folders flew through the air, landing helter-skelter around the room. He placed Avalyn’s body onto the desk with a soft thud. A mewl left her lips, and she arched her back. It was obvious she enjoyed the roughness. Her eyes opened. A sinful spark smoldered in her fathomless eyes.