Cursed (6 page)

“Don’t worry, I won’t break.”

He placed his forearms on either side of her head and leaned down to taste her lips. She was like a shot of espresso, sweet and exhilarating. He tilted his head to deepen their lip-lock. Their tongues wrestled for dominance. The back and forth power play had him more turned on than he’d ever been in his life. He’d never imagined things could be this way. They came apart to suck down air, and she pushed against his chest.

“Naked, now.”

Her commanding tone made him growl. The rumble echoed in his chest. He stood and began to unbutton his flannel shirt as she shed her tank top. He pulled the flannel off and ripped the white T-shirt underneath it. Her breasts were firm and high with large, milk chocolate-colored nipples that called him in like a homing beacon. Unable to resist their sirens’ call, he walked over to the desk, pulled her to the edge, and feasted. He sucked a hard pebble into his mouth and massaged the other.

She arched her back like a cat, and he knew he’d hit an erroneous zone. She roamed his body with her, scorching his skin as she explored

Sharp nails sunk into his flesh, and he bit down on her nipple. She released a squeal that made his chest swell with pride.

He wanted to please this woman more than he’d ever wanted to do anything else. He pulled back a few minutes later, eager to taste more of her skin. She was a fire in his blood, in his very veins. He could only extinguish the flames by having every part of her. He kissed his way down her firm stomach and paused at the button of her jeans.

“Oh, don’t stop now. It’s just getting good.”

He smirked and made quick work of the closing with nimble fingers. Her aroma hit him the moment he peeled back her jeans and helped her shimmy free. Instead of taking the time to remove her shoes, he shoved her pants around her ankles, pleased with the slight restriction they provided. The black lace bikini underwear she wore were soaked with her juices. He pushed them to the side and caressed her slick lips.

“Don’t tease, Coly, please.”

“As the lady requests.”

He eased his finger inside of her entrance and grunted his approval. She was tight, hot, and wet. What more could a man ask for? He pulled his digit back out and began a rhythm, adding another when she rocked her hips and spread her legs as wide as she was able. Delicious whimpers spilled free, and he studied her, amazed by the bliss visible on her face.

“I want you to come all over my fingers, Avalyn.”

His words made her gasp. “Oh, God, yes! Rub my clit, baby.”

He applied a circular motion to her stiff nub with his thumb, and her entire body tensed. Her thighs began to quiver, and moments later, her walls clamped down on his fingers like a steel trap. She threw back her head and screamed as she found her release. Hot liquid spurt out of her honey pot to trail down her legs and over his hand to his wrist.

“Shit.” He’d never be able to look at this desk the same again.

When her tremors subsided, she rested her passion-glazed gaze on his.

“I need you inside me, Colton.”

He kept their gazes twined as he relieved himself of his jeans and took his stiffened cock in his hands. He stroked downward, and pre-cum spilled onto his fingers.

“Do you have a condom?” he asked. He didn’t make a habit of having the tiny, foil-wrapped necessities in his office, but he was sure as hell going to start after this.

She nodded. “I wouldn’t be much of a seductress if I didn’t come prepared.” She issued a wink, and a foil packet appeared on the desk like magic. His jaw dropped, and she chuckled.

“Sleight of hand, not magic. I pulled it out when you were stripping down.”

“Can you do that sort of magic?”

“I’m sorry to say what I do doesn’t work that way.”

“I think I’m happy about that. You’re mysterious enough as is.”

He bent to take the condom, and she shooed him away.

“Allow me. I want to get my hands on that beast between your legs.”

He felt his cheeks redden slightly. All male ego aside, he was bigger than average at ten inches, and on the thick side.

“It’s everything I imagined it’d be and more.” She wrapped her hands around him, and he sucked air through his teeth when she stroked him. Up and down, up and down. His cock twitched.

“If you keep that up, this will be over before it begins.”

“Another time.” She released him, opened the package, and rolled the rubber down over him. His balls drew up, and he counted to ten. Her slow, deliberate movements were torture. The sly smile on her face told him she knew exactly what she was doing.

“You can exact revenge on my pussy. I think we’d both enjoy that.”

Her words shocked and titillated him. He’d never had a woman talk so dirty to him.

She took him in her hand once more and guided the top of his shaft to her entrance.

“Get to work, Colton. You’ve got a month and a half worth of lost time to make up for.”

He took her words as a challenge and surged forward. Her first scream was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

He pulled out and thrust in again and again, going deeper and moving faster as she molded around him. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, her feet hooked together as she drove her hips up to meet him. Her nails burrowed through his skin, drawing blood, but none of it mattered. His world was narrowed to the clench of her drenched walls, the moans and cries of her voice, and the pleasure etched on her face. Her thick hair tumbled down her back as she tilted her head back. The desk rattled as he drove inside her, and he felt his balls drawn up and his cock harden further as he approached his apex. Desperate to give her another orgasm before he exploded, he reached down to caress her tender nub. Two swipes of his thumb, and she was crying out his name, with stiff limbs and a vibrating body. The feeling sent him spiraling off a cliff, and he spilled everything he had inside the snug condom.

Spent, he laid on top of her, his head nestled between her breasts.

“Colton!”

The sound of his name being called was like a bullet from the gun at the start of a race.

He pulled out and rushed to the bathroom connected to the office to dispose of the condom…well, as fast as he could with his pants around his ankles. He could hear Avalyn scrambling around, and for what could be the millionth time, he cursed his brother’s existence. Leave it to Hunter to ruin the post-coital glow. Colton resurfaced with his jeans buttoned and his hands washed. Avalyn was dressed and once again flawless. He had just enough time to pull on his white-T-shirt before the knock sounded on his door. The room was still full of the musty scent of sex. He cast a panicked glance at Avalyn.

She widened her eyes but spun her finger in the air. Whatever she did helped, because the scent of flowers rose, and a cool wind caressed his skin. He turned to see she’d opened the window behind his desk. But that didn’t account for the feminine smell. He lifted an eyebrow at her, and she mouthed, “I’ll explain later.”

Hunter opened the door and froze.

“I had a question, but I can see you’re busy.”

“No, what do you need?”

“The paperwork for the Casey job.

“Give me a second.”

He walked behind the desk and coughed to cover his laugher. So she wasn’t
that
magical. The papers he’d scattered were placed hastily in the large drawer on the left side of the desk. He opened it and sifted through the mess until he came to what he needed. He pulled it out and handed it over to Hunter, who was doing a piss-poor job of studying Avalyn without being obvious.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

“Did you need anything else?” he asked.

“Umm, no, that was all.” Hunter cast him a look that said they’d talk later, and Colton rolled his eyes.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” Hunter asked.

“No.” Colton shoved his brother out the door and shut it behind him.

“Well, if we wanted to keep this thing to ourselves that went out the window.”

“Is that what you want?” Avalyn leaned forward in her chair.

“Me? No.” He shook his head. “But given my last run-in with your gran, I figured you might.”

“Why? She won’t beat me with a broom.”

He frowned at her, and she let out a peal of laughter.

“Seriously, thank you for being concerned, but I’ve got this handled. I refuse to let old prejudices stop us.”

“I’m all in if you’re all in.”

“Oh, I’m definitely all in, Mr. Edgeworth.”

Colton stood and walked over to the chair where she sat. “I think we should take this to my house.”

“I like the way you think.”

He leaned over her chair, placing an arm on either side of her body as he pinned her in. “This time, I’m in charge.”

“Where’ve you been disappearing to the past few weeks?” her mother asked.

Avalyn kept her gaze glued on the display she was assisting her mother with in the middle of the store as she answered. “I was with a friend.”

“A male friend?” The interest in her mother’s tone was blatant.

“Maybe.”

“Where did you meet this mystery person?”

“In the store.”
I’m not lying.

“Why didn’t you mention it? That’s fantastic news.”

“Because there’s nothing to mention yet.”

“If you’re staying out that late, there is. I know my child. Why are you being so secretive? Are you trying to hide what you are? You know that never works in the long run.”

“I know, Mom, and that’s not why.” She turned to her mother. It was better to come clean now. She’d made her bed, now it was time to lie in it. “I didn’t want to say anything, because it’s Colton.”

“Colton… I thought that was the Edgeworth boy,” her mother said. Her face clouded over with confusion.

“It is.”

“What are you doing with him?”

“Whatever we choose to. There’s a connection between us I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t explore. I know you guys don’t understand why, or like it. I simply ask that you respect my decision.”

Her mother was silent, as was her fashion when she received information she wanted to think over.

“You know, I’m not the one who’s going to have the major issue with this. I don’t think it’s the best decision you’ve ever made, but your gran…she’s going to hit the roof.” Her mother shook her head. “You need to tell her today. You’ve put it off long enough.”

Avalyn sighed. She knew her mother was right.

“I know. I’ll tell her.”

“Good. Now let’s get this display finished.”

She bit back a smile at her mother’s nonchalance.

“You rock, Mom.”

“I have my moments.

Avalyn handed her gran a Mason jar full of sweet tea as she joined her on the front porch.

“You’re buttering me up, so you want something, or you have some unpleasant news to deliver. Either way, take a seat and rest your feet.”

She smiled and took a seat beside her Gran. “It seems to me like you’ve been extra sassy lately.”

“Your great-grandma called me sassafras for no reason.”

Her evasion raised a red flag. Her gran didn’t lie, but she could avoid with the rest of them.

Avalyn sank down in the rocking chair on the opposite side of the table that sat between them. She took a sip of sweet tea and set her own Mason jar down before she spoke.

“It’s no secret I’ve been seeing someone. What I haven’t said is it’s Colton Edgeworth.”

“Honey, that’s not news to me. I knew from the minute I saw you two together this was going to go the route of Viola and Joseph.”

“Gran, you don’t even know him!”

“Watch your tone, girl.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice. It’s unfair to assume he’ll betray me.”

“I never said that.” Gran shook her head and took another sip of her tea.

She wanted to hurry her along, but Avalyn had learned a long time ago all that would earn her was a stinging backside and an earful about respecting her elders. Gran rested the glass on the table between them and turned to peer at her in the light provided by the lamp above them.

“Maybe his kinfolk are different, but there’s a lot of bad blood between us, and I don’t know that it’s worth the risk. You know they want to end the curse.”

“I’m sure they do, but he’s never said anything to me about it.”

“Hmmph. If something’s too good to be true...”

“I know, Gran.”

They fell into a strained but bearable silence.

Well, that went better than I expected.

Doubt began to seep into her psyche that night as she readied for bed, and her Gran’s words replayed in her mind. What if this was an elaborate ploy to get her to remove the curse?
You can’t fake passion like that. Says who? Look at Viola. She
wouldn’t lead me into a trap though, right? She would if she was a bitter ghost.
Funny how a few words made her rethink everything she was doing.
Thanks, Gran.

***

Colton rolled his eyes. “Come on, man.”

“What? That’s what she does, right?”

“It’s not her job description, if that’s what you mean.”

“That means he doesn’t know,” Hunter said

Randy snorted and shook his head.

“I know what she does. She co-owns a shop of naturally made goods.”

“Stop drinking the Kool-Aid and open your eyes, bro.”

“My eyes are wide open, Hunter, I know she possesses some unusual…gifts. It’s not like she keeps it a secret.”

His statement caught Randy’s attention, and his brother turned his gaze from the cards in front of him. “Wait; have you seen her actually do things?”

“Yes.”

“Like what? Come on, big brother, don’t hold out on us,” Hunter said.

“Like manipulating the elements. It’s all really nature based things, not like things you see in movies, like guessing the lottery numbers or reading people’s minds. The Voiles practice white magic and strive to do good and heal.”

“Really? ‘Cause this whole curse thing is pretty fucked up.”

Colton winced.

“Yeah, I know, but that wasn’t this generation.”

“That was her explanation!” Randy said.

“No, she’d never be that callous.”