Page 63 of Once Charmed, Twice Cursed
Understanding flashes. He’s looking at his Mark. Or lack thereof.
I lay a hand on his arm. He jumps at the touch, his gaze swinging to mine.
His eyes are bright and feverish. “My triquetra. It’s...”
I wait, but he doesn’t continue. “Gone,” I offer gently. “You’re rid of it.”
His attention falls to my throat. He flinches at what he finds there. “Yours, too. I... Oh, goddess, Birdie, what did I do to you?”
I reach up to brush a few golden strands back. His eyes are wild. Flame-bitten and frantic.
“You gave me everything I’ve ever wanted,” I say. “You freed me.”
He swallows, the sound of it harsh in the cold room.
I hesitate. I should’ve known he might react like this. That he might regret, once daylight had driven away yesterday’s mountain of horrors. I should’ve realized he’d struggle with losing the curse he believed he deserved, even if it’s a blessing for both of us.
“It’s okay.” I pull at him, and he doesn’t resist. He curls into me, his face landing against my chest, his back rising and falling with jerky movements. And... Fortuna, is he crying?
My heart splinters apart. I fist my hands in his hair, clutching him close.
“I’m sorry,” he says against my skin. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not.” I imbue the words with as much force as they can hold. “Not for a second. Everything that happened last night was my choice. I don’t regret any of it. I have nothing but gratitude for what you did.”
Air staggers into his chest, and suddenly he’s kissing me,the press of his mouth frenzied against mine. His cheeks are wet, his lips salted.
I can’t tell whether he means to take from me or give, but whatever he needs, I’ll provide it. He can have anything. I offer it freely.
“Tell me you still love me,” he chokes out. “Even after what I’ve done.”
“I love you.Morethan I did yesterday, not less.”
He makes a sound that might be acceptance or denial, I can’t tell, but whatever it is, it’s laced in pain, and when he catches me up and hoists me onto the counter, I splay my legs apart. I don’t hesitate. Not for a second.
Within moments, he’s inside me, and while I know that someday we’ll go slow, it isn’t today, because he needs something from me and I need to give it to him and I’ll do anything, anything to save him from this misplaced guilt.
He takes me hard. Unrelenting. And yet it lasts, like he’s asking me a question and listening to my answer, over and over again, never quite believing the truth of what my body is confessing. I hold him the whole time. My fists ravel in his hair, keeping his forehead anchored to mine.
I offer him everything. I keep my eyes open and my heart bared. I don’t look away and neither does he, even when he surges deep and stays there, his every tendon straining as he clutches me close. I take in the short, choppy jumps of his breathing, the glistening dilation of his pupils as he comes apart.
He does it all in silence, as if he doesn’t dare impose on the quiet. As if he doesn’t think he deserves to. Part of me shears away, sliced through by the knowledge that, even curseless, he still believes himself unworthy.
His head finally falls against my shoulder, then lolls. His muscles unstitch themselves, one by one.
I wrap my arms tighter and hook my ankles behind his thighs. I prop my chin on his shoulder and close my eyes and just hold him.
Right up until the moment someone flings open the door. The wood cracks against the frame. A blur of color and finery storms into the room.
I shriek. Weston’s whole body jerks to attention. He instinctively moves to cover me, his hands coming up to shield my breasts. When he turns his head, a snarl has already screwed itself into place.
I cower, unable to face the duke again so soon, only...
Horror-struck green eyes regard me from over Weston’s shoulder. Eyes that look an awful lot like mine.
“Brendan?”I yelp. Dismay opens a pit inside me. “What’re you doing here?”
My brother takes in our state of affairs and flings up a hand, shielding his eyes. He angles his whole body away. “Fortuna,” he sputters. “What’reyoudoing? You’re... You’re... Curses, can you put some clothes on? What the hell did I just walk in on?”
