Page 29 of Too Cursed To Kiss
Britannia was standing in the doorway, laughing her ass off. I went from molten to mad in zero-point-two seconds.
“Get out, Britannia,” Wald growled as I stuffed my tit back in the bra. She hissed back like a snake. I kid you not. She stuck her tongue out at him, and I swear it was forked.
She locked eyes with me. “Tsk, tsk. Don’t you know he’s too cursed to kiss?Youare supposed to be in the Magnolia Room. Anyways, Mother sent me. Dinner is waiting. They were wondering what was taking so long.” She cocked her head and glowered.
I launched off the bed, my hands clawing for her throat. I tackled her, and we went down in a tumble of limbs. “You fucking killed Gentry!” I yanked her hair, and she grabbed mine, then managed to flip me over in one smooth twist. In a split second, she had me pinned by straddling my chest.
“Get off me,” I ordered, breathing shallowly with the weight of her. Britannia didn’t budge, sneering down at me. Her perfume was a blend of pears, vanilla, and wood. Cloying and sweet. Sickening like her.
“Look, you bitch, you should know better than anyone what it feels like to be betrayed. Gentry deserved what he got.”
“Get the hell off me so I can show you what death looks like.” I writhed under her, but she was like an anvil.
Wald laughed with a deep throaty chortle. “You’d better let her up, Britannia. She isn’t happy, and I’m beginning to learn that making Harlan unhappy is not the best plan.”
Britannia started to lift up, and when she’d moved enough, I planted both feet into her stomach.
She fell back with anoofand was on all fours in the blink of an eye, hissing. Wald swept her up into a bear hug, immobilizing her.
She thrashed in his arms. “You ripped my pantsuit,” she whined as he walked her to the door and pushed her through.
I eyed the space between the doorframe and Wald where he stood in the doorway blocking her. “Tell Mother we’ll be down in five minutes.” He slammed the door and locked it.
Now I saw the value of the lock. “Your sister is one coldhearted monster,” I said, realizing the word monster was ill chosen.
“The bathroom is through there if you’re interested,” Wald said, tilting his head rakishly but cool as a refrigerated cucumber, as if he hadn’t had his tongue down my throat five minutes ago.
I eyed the bathroom door. Freshening up sounded good. I adjusted the dress. “What exactly did your snake-cow of a sister mean by too cursed to kiss?”
“It’s nothing for you to be concerned with.”
“Wow, you go from fire to ice in point four seconds. How come?”
“It’s—”
“Nothing for me to be concerned with. Gotcha. So does Britannia really have a forked tongue, or did I imagine it?”
“Part of her curse. Sadly not an imagination.” His cheek rippled like he was pressing his tongue against it.
“So she’s cursed, too?”
He nodded. “But that’s not your problem, either.” He crossed his arms.
With a huff, I stomped to the bathroom. But when Islammed the door behind me, I slid to the floor. My heart pounded, and my brain fogged like I was two days without sleep. I was equal parts liquid fury and desire. A maddeningly confusing blend I was one hundred percent not going to deal with. At least my hip no longer hurt.
The bathroom was all black, black tiles, black fixtures. The only thing that wasn’t black was the mirror, but it had a black frame. I got up and looked at myself. The horror of my blotchy face was complemented by a hair travesty of frizz, knots, and limp strands. There was no hair brush or dryer in sight.
I opened the door a crack. “Any chance of a hair brush and hair dryer?”
Wald was right outside the door. He pushed past me, bare chested and reeking of the musk of sex that we hadn’t had. I trailed a hand across his back, and he grabbed my wrist, turning with a speed I could barely track. I backed him into the wall. He kissed me, then flipped us, so my back pressed into the wall as he slid down the straps of my sundress, his now gloveless fingers tracing over my skin like he was spreading lava.
And I burned for him. Goddamn him.
He held my hands above my head, trailing kisses down my throat. When he got to my chest, he stopped, his breath ragged as he looked down at me with golden shining eyes. “You will be my end if we continue. No matter how much I want you, Britannia was right. I shouldn’t do this, and my parents are waiting. But gods you taste so sweet.” His tongue plunged into my mouth again, and the kiss stole my soul. Then he stepped back. The taste of us on my lips was like honey and butter. Perfect together.
“Not so fast.” I ran my palms up his marble sculpted chest and captured his perky rose nipple with my lips.Playfully nibbling it while watching for his expression. His golden eyes widened and then narrowed. He lowered his head and growled. A serious throaty growl. The sound roared into my blood as if an animal was warning me away. I listened to my instinct and stepped back from him.
“We can’t do this, now. Pull yourself together,” he said through gritted teeth, as if he had failed to convince himself that I was the problem. He pulled out a drawer in the wall with a clatter, dropping a hair brush and a dryer into the sink. Then he left, closing the door behind him before I could even get a word in.
