A Cursed Embrace(84)

I clutched him against me, my body trembling from the adrenaline continuing to ride my body like a bull. “Did you get the other demon?” He nodded but urged me to save my breath. “I’m okay, wolf, just a few bumps and bruises.” And possibly some head trauma . . . and tissue damage, and a battered spine.

Bren clambered up next, growling, “Where’s the turtle-necked little prick?”

Danny removed his black-framed glasses and wiped the sweat from his eyes. “Gone. Celia pulled out the big guns and killed him.”

Aric held me at arm’s length, only to cradle me when I wobbled. “You killed the other demon lord?”

A sense of pride warmed my unnerved, and strangely cold, skin. “Yeah. I did.”

“Shit, don’t you ever do anything like that again!” he bit out. He lifted me in his arms and jumped off the cliff. He landed in a crouch and carried me to the Jeep. I didn’t complain. Especially since I’d slurred my last words. More Jeeps ground to a stop around us. My sisters rushed me, and the remainder of the pack spilled out of the dusty cars. They raced to us, their chests rumbling, ready to fight, ready to slaughter.

“It’s over,” Aric told them. “The demon lords are dead.”

Silence swallowed all of Death Valley until the howls of triumph broke through, loud enough to collapse its hard walls. Aric’s proclamation sent everyone into a frenzy of celebration.

Too bad he was wrong. Dead wrong.





CHAPTER 23





“I love you, Aric.”

He stopped caressing my back. The air around us stilled, and his breath barely registered. I kept my cheek against his chest and continued, despite his silence and the tensing muscles beneath me. “I know you’re probably used to hearing it, but I want you to know, I’m not used to saying it.”

Aric leaned into me, meeting my lips before he spoke. “I have heard it before, but it’s never meant anything . . . until now.”

Aric’s expression lacked the happiness I’d wished for. Only sadness and worry creased the planes of his face. I waited for the words that never came, and that I eventually realized he had no intention of sharing. He didn’t move when I inched away from him. So I continued, until I slipped out of bed.

I tugged on a shirt and cotton shorts, not bothering with underwear. Aric sat up and leaned forward, a thick white sheet covering the lower half of his body. “Come back to bed, baby.”

My hand rested against the thick footboard, barely registering the feel of the smooth wood as I stared blankly at the closed window. “I need some water.”

I shut the door to our room, but it failed to muffle Aric’s curse. My feet moved fast. Too fast. I stumbled over Koda’s industrial-size shit-kickers at the bottom of the steps. I picked them up to toss them aside, only to stop and stare at them.

The more I examined Koda’s boots, the more my soul hurt. Koda was the scariest thing in a size 17. Yet Shayna had easily won his heart. Perhaps my sisters were wrong, perhaps I wasn’t deserving of such love, and all I was capable of waited upstairs in my room.

I filled a glass with water but couldn’t bring myself to sip the cold liquid. Without shoes, I hurried out the back door toward the beach and into the warm August night. Tonight I needed Tahoe’s magic to hush my inner turmoil and silence my tigress’s mournful growls. I only hoped that she’d answer me and grant me the peace I sought.

My fast movements turned into a swift jog. I neglected my worries that someone would see me, and raced along the dirt path and across the road. I stopped at the top of the short wooden pier leading to the beach. The full moon’s reflection danced along the waves of the deep blue water, luring me to it, and promising to help me.

My bare feet kicked the sand behind me, my steps urgent as I reached the water’s edge. I took a breath, and waited. But all the energy did was bounce off my skin, no longer wanting or needing me.

I waded into the cool water until the soft waves brushed against my thighs. I refused to allow the lake to dismiss me. Don’t you cast me aside, too.

Tahoe’s energy teased around me, not quite touching yet letting its strong presence be known. I bowed my head and hugged my arms, feeling abandoned . . . until Aric’s scent stimulated my beast.

Water splashed against my legs as he came up behind me and encircled my waist. He bent and kissed my head. “I wish I could tell you what you want to hear, but I can’t.”

Despite the stir of the waves, I heard my tears fall against the water.

Aric tightened his hold and whispered words in French. And while I normally would have melted, this time I wouldn’t allow myself to be tempted by the softness and fluidity of his words. I broke from his grasp and backed away toward the shore, keeping my arms against me. “I don’t want you to say anything you don’t feel, but I need you to understand why it hurts me.” More tears trickled down my cheeks. “I won’t be used, Aric.”