Page 48 of Of Curses and Moonlight

He roared, slamming into her one final time. The scream that tore out of her went straight to his bones and he couldn’t stop himself from releasing into her. Pouring into her. Shit, he just kept coming. And he groaned, moving against her beautiful ass until he came down. Until his legs gave out and he collapsed onto her, taking in great heaving breaths, enjoying her body beneath him. Realizing she’d claimed him as thoroughly as he had her.

“What you do to me, Odette,” he murmured, through his breaths. “What you do to me.”

A victorious smile curled her lips. “You are mine, Rothbart.”

He wriggled his fingers, which were still housed between her legs, eliciting one last moan of pleasure from her.

He pressed his lips to her ear, releasing an animalistic growl.

“Utterly and completely.”

Chapter 17

Odette

Odette sensed the emptiness of the cabin the moment she awoke. Reaching out, she touched the cold, ashen sheets next to her.

“Rothbart?”

She eased from the bed, the darkness surrounding her. With a sigh, she felt her way across the floor to her clothes, noting with a frown that Rothbart’s were gone. Had he…lefther here?

After dressing, she moved to the doorway and stared out into the night. The moon granted a bit more light, but hung low in the sky. Only a few hours remained before the sun rose.

She saw no sign of Rothbart.

A breeze rustled her hair, and she shivered. Damn it. If he didn’t come back for her, she was in trouble. The next time the moon touched the lake, she was supposed to go to the ball with Prince Torsten. If she didn’t return before then, everything would be ruined.

Turning, she looked inside the cabin at the bed where she and Rothbart had made love.

What if Rothbart had found out about her plans to meet Torsten? Perhaps leaving her here was a way to keep her from fulfilling her goals.

But no. He wouldn’t have slept with her if he’d known.

The light from the moon highlighted the white fabric of her dress, showing off the soot marks of Rothbart’s hands still on her.

Her body heated as the events of the night replayed through her mind. His demanding roughness—everything he’d done had been for Odette’s pleasure, to bury her trauma. And hell, it had felt good. Really good.

She’d never opened up to someone like that. She’d never cried in front of anyone… not since childhood. Her lips pressed together as she recalled his last words when she’d dared claim him as her own.

Utterly and completely.

She rubbed a hand over her chest, feeling her half of the sigil under her skin, as a burning built inside her. Could Rothbart actually have feelings for her?

But then, why had he abandoned her like this?

It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. And what happened last night would never happen again. Because the next evening, Prince Torsten would make a vow of undying love, freeing Odette and the assassins from the swan curse.

Causing Rothbart to hate her all over again.

Odette clenched her jaw as the burning in her chest shifted into a hollow ache. She didn’t care. She wouldn’t care. No matter how much she wanted it, Rothbart and Odette was a story never meant to be written. She’d learned that lesson with Bash.

Odette didn’t deserve a happily ever after.

The wind whipped up again, blowing past her, stirring up the soot of the cabin, causing her to shift to keep her hair from tangling into her face. She should return now. She knew the general direction and when the sun rose and she changed into a swan, her enhanced eyesight would help to find her way.

A mark on the floor caught her attention. For a moment she thought Rothbart had left something for her. But no, this was a miniature carving in the wood.

She stepped nearer, squinting at it, and she sucked in a breath. A seed with a plant sprouting upwards—the same symbol she’d seen on the stone that the corpse had clutched.

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