Page 13 of Too Cursed To Kiss
“If you didn’t kill Gentry, then who did? I’m so confused. Unconfuse me. Time yet?”
He shook his head. “Trying to protect the ring, I accidentally killed my sister, Donia.”
“But she isn’t dead?”
“No.”
“Explain how you kill someone and not have them die?” I rolled my eyes. “Right, I bet it’s a family secret.”
He smirked his silent reply as I put the puzzle pieces together.
“But you must know who killed Gentry because you said he was killed by the same venom I was dying from?” Dying? I’d been dying. That sank in like teeth into a peach. I could be dead right now, like Gentry, if I believed him. I kind ofbelieved him. Wald had saved my life. Holy crap. “Who killed Gentry?”
“I do not wish to tell you, as it would incriminate them.”
“You know who, though? Is it a family member? That doesn’t even make sense to me, but I’m going with it.”
“Next question.” He flicked dust off his sleeve.
“Fine, but we are coming back to that. The ring is the artifact mentioned in the letter, right? But how did Gentry know about the ring?”
“Yes, and he didn’t.”
“That doesn’t make sense. And you aren’t going to explain it, are you?”
His sly grin and tilted head was his reply. I flexed my fingers. Time was literally my nemesis. I hated waiting. “It has to be twenty minutes by now.” I still had to figure out how to get him to open the door and get by him without him catching me. For a split second, I imagined his arms pinning me to the wall. I’d been reading too many dark romances. The desire creeping through me was ridiculous in the present circumstances.
“I can check your symptoms, but you must be very still and not touch me. Do I have your promise, Tails?” He uncrossed his arms and straightened up.
“Tails?” I snapped.
“Like a kitsune with nine tails, like your nine hells. You’re chatty like a fox and the color at the ends of your hair reminds me of a reverse foxtail. Tails seems fitting. Your promise?” He undid a cuff and slowly rolled up a sleeve, revealing a pale and powerful forearm.
“Yes, fine. Whatever.” The air caught in my throat as he moved across the floor toward me like a panther. Primal. Dangerous. Lethal.
I stilled as the heavenly scent of a musky forest blanketedme. He settled on the mattress edge. I swallowed. When he leaned forward, I closed my eyes, fighting a losing battle of not rubbing my face in his hair.
Then he sniffed me.
The suck of air into his nostrils sent a tremor through me. I slid one hand around his neck and dragged my lips over his velvety ones. His lips parted. Wet. Warm. Musky like aged wine. His mouth a carnival of delights that I could not get enough of. Sweet Jeezus, his tongue was like soft ribbon candy and tasted like caramel sugar. I licked and sucked and wanted it all. I fumbled with his belt buckle.
He straddled me as I clung to him, his body caging me under him. In one fluid move, he immobilized my wrists while I wildly struggled to get back to his lips. I throbbed everywhere, desperate to merge with him. Then like I was a tiny creature at his mercy, he disentangled himself impossibly fast and retreated to the door. I gasped at the loss of heat searing through my bones.
“I’m sorry, that should not have happened, but I did tell you not to touch me. It is concerning.” His voice, a cross between a hiss and a purr, reverberated in my head. “Put yourself together. There are things in the bathroom. Use what you need,” he said, closing the door. The lock clicked.
“Don’t you fucking dare leave me,” I shrieked and whipped the remaining pillow in the direction of the door. My lips were bruised, and my skin hot and dry as I leaped up from the bed. “Open this damned door!” I shouted. Pushing back my drunken-bordello-scented hair, I paced. Wald-the-asshole was going to die for locking me in and leaving me with the taste of him in my mouth. What the hell did he mean, it was concerning? Was I going to die? I didn’t feel worse than I had before. That was it. I was getting out of here.
I picked up a wooden side chair and hammered it on the window glass, bracing for the shatter. A chair leg cracked but otherwise it bounced off the glass. By the time I was done pounding on the glass with both fists, they were numb. I slid to the floor and seethed into my crossed arms. His scent was all over me.
It was time to pull my shit together and get the hell out of this.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Stumbling into the bathroom, I looked around for something to stand on. The toilet was too far from the frosted skylight, and I’d destroyed the only chair.
Great. Trapped in what was basically a hotel room.
The glass-walled shower beckoned. Did I dare?
