Page 72 of Cursed Encounter
I tip my head back and inhale the cool night air. I don’t want to talk about it. Hell, I don’t even want to think about it.
“Tomorrow’s the Shadow Moon,” she tells me, as if I don’t know that. It’s also Halloween. It has to mean something that those two fall on the same day this year.
“I’m aware,” I tell her, runnings my finger through her hair.
I sense what she’snotsaying in that statement. And I’m aware of that too.
She exhales a long breath and brushes the tip of her nose against my neck.
I wish I had the words to comfort her. But what is there really to say? Nothing will change the situation or make it better.
Maybe we both just need to dive in and talk about it. Acknowledge it. We’re both likely in the same damn boat anyway. Only I don’t know how the fuck to start a conversation like that. Not even after she opens the door to it.
Fuck. Why am I so bad at this?
“Tell me about the ceremony,” I say, breaking the long stretch of silence.
I cringe. It’s probably not the best place to start. Then again, I think I’m finally ready to hear about it. It might not work. It might not be the solution to the curse. We might not even want to do it. But I have to know all my options…ouroptions. I have to know how easily my life could change.
“You really want to hear about it? It’s not like it will do any good.” Her fingers rub absent shapes on my chest.
“I do.” I kiss the top of her head.
“Well, Sandra said—” I cut her off with a growl in my chest. I’m not sure we can trust anything that bitch has said. “I checked with Fabien, too. Anyway, the Heart Bonding Ceremony is simple enough, but you have to have true feelings or it won’t work. You’re making a vow in front of a coven’s high witch and the divine spirits, you can’t fake it. Nor should you even try.” She gives a little shrug but doesn’t look up at me to see my reaction. Not that I’d give anything away.
She still doesn’t think I have real feelings for her. Maybe she’s right. Things like that don’t come easily for me, and maybe I’ve somehow tricked myself into thinking I feel something for her.
“Tell me about it anyway,” I urge her.
She sits up in my lap, wiggling her thick bottom until she’s comfortable. It does nothing to calm my eager cock. She pulls my hand up and places her palm against mine. Our fingers are lined up, hers much smaller than mine. I keep still, letting her lead.
“First, we do this with our hands.” All her focus is on our hands. I can tell she’s nervous, but I’m not sure why. “Then, we look at each other.” She pointedly drags her gaze to meet mine. “And say some words.”
“What words?”
She sighs, acting as if this whole thing is pointless and silly.
“My heart is in your hands, and yours in mine,” she starts. Her voice holds an edge of seriousness. “I will protect it and bring no harm to it.”
She pulls her hand away from mine.
“I’d prick my finger and place a dot of blood here,” she says as she touches her pointer finger to the middle of my palm. “It’s a blood bond, but it’s not blood magic. It’s to simulate the sharing of life force rather than taking away life, like in most cases with spells that use blood.”
I nod, taking it all in.
“You’d say it and do the blood thing.” She presses her hand against mine once again as she talks. “We touch palms again, and then it’s all over.”
She drops her hand from mine, and I watch it as it falls limp in her lap. I suddenly feel cold.
Her head goes back to my shoulder. It’s like we never even talked about anything.
“Tell me about your father,” she says. Her fingers begin to trace the inky lines of the curse’s mark on my chest. If we do survive, I wonder if the symbol of death or whatever it’s supposed to be will ever fade. Or will it always be there as a constant reminder of what we went through? It connects us, so I suppose I can’t hate it, even if I hate what it’s putting us through.
“I didn’t kill him,” I tell her flatly. She takes in a quick breath. “I know everyone thinks I did, but I didn’t.”
“Then… what happened?” she hesitantly asks.
“I don’t know,” I tell her.
