Page 43 of A Curse So Cruel (Fated Mates of Shadowbone Academy #1)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

~ Shade ~

M y eyes are heavy as I pry them open, and I wince, lifting a hand to my throbbing head.

I feel stiff, like my muscles have been frozen in the same position for too long, and my throat is so dry I can hardly swallow.

I groan. Gosh, I feel like death. Wait… Memories crash into me, and my brain scrambles to make sense of them.

The knife. There was a knife. Holy crap, am I actually dead?

My hands fly to my belly, and I frantically search for the wound, remembering the warmth of my blood seeping through my fingers…

“Easy cub,” a low, calming voice rumbles soothingly into my ear. “You’re all right now.”

Shadows gently wind around my arms, stopping my panicked movements, and I have to blink a few times before I spot him across the room. Thane sits shrouded in shadow, and his massive armchair looks more like a throne as moonlight from the window to our right bounces off the dark velvet.

The professor watches me carefully, his intense gaze never straying from my face.

I wiggle against my restraints, trying to dislodge the shadows, but they only tighten around my wrists and arms. “What is this?” I whisper.

“That’s to stop you from waking the others. They could use the rest.” Thane’s voice is a whisper in my ear, and there’s a slight echo hanging on the words. I realize he’s speaking using shadow whispers.

“Others?” I follow Thane’s gaze, turning to my side, and I’m startled to find something soft beside me.

No, not something… someone. Raith’s muscled chest is inches from me, and his breathing is soft and rhythmic as he sleeps.

Galen is on my other side. His face is bathed in moonlight, and his brow is furrowed like he’s having a troubled sleep.

He mumbles something, nuzzling his head closer to me, and the moment his forehead touches my arm, his face softens even as his eyes remain closed.

“Hold on. So I’m not dead?” Honestly, I’ve already realized I must be alive, because I doubt lost souls feel any pain, but I still blurt the words.

“Not dead,” Thane rumbles.

“Well, that’s good news.” I study the massive bed I’m on before turning my attention to the rest of the room.

The bedchamber is huge, and when I spy the large decorative mirror attached to one wall, familiarity makes my breath catch in my throat.

I know this room. It’s the same bedchamber I’d seen when I’d walked through a shadow pathway during my Shadow Basics class.

The same room where I’d seen Thane and Knox together… My cheeks burn.

“How did I get here?” I ask, keeping focused on the most important question, which is how the hell I’m alive.

“I carried you.” Thane’s response is simple again.

So they must have found me? I remember Elgyn’s reassuring voice, and I wonder whether Tarlaz had found Thane for me.

I’ll have to thank the shadows later. It’s then that I notice I’m wearing a massive shirt that hangs around my shoulders.

It obviously belongs to one of the guys.

There’s no blood on me either, so I’m guessing someone must have cleaned me up.

I try not to think about the fact they were handling my naked body while I was unconscious, and instead, I choose to focus on the fact I’m alive.

“Why?” The question simply slips out, and it makes me sound a little ungrateful, but I want to know the answer. If it was Raith or Galen it would make more sense, but Thane hasn’t exactly been interested in entertaining the thought that we might be mates.

Thane’s face remains passive when he answers, “Because you were dying.”

Getting frustrated with his blunt responses, I squirm against his shadows again, and this time they release me. Slowly, I slip from the bed, careful not to disturb the others. When I try to stand, I stumble, grabbing hold of the bedframe to keep myself upright.

“How long was I out?” I’m clumsy on a good day, but my legs feel unusually weak.

“A few days.”

“Days?” I gape at him. I mean, I’d figured considering I’m alive, the guys must have used magic to heal me or something. But has it really been days? I think about how worried Kenzie must be. Not to mention Blake, seeing as I haven’t checked in lately…

My gaze strays to the door. I contemplate whether I could make it back to my dorm, but then I remind myself that even if I had the strength to do that, there’s no way I’d make it without getting lost. So instead, I stagger to the large window, peering out at the long stretch of forest far below.

The sight of the trees helps to ground me, and I peer down, carefully prodding my stomach.

The flesh is still tender, but there’s no open wound.

When I lift the shirt there’s a scar, but the skin looks healed.

I open my mouth to ask Thane about it, but Galen mumbles something in his sleep, and I turn to see he has that troubled look on his face again.

“They’ve hardly left your side from the moment I brought you here,” Thane says gruffly, and he lifts from his chair, grabbing a glass from the table beside him, and stalking over to me.

“What? Why?”

He holds the glass out, and I take it, drinking the water gratefully and sighing when my throat no longer feels like sandpaper. When I’m done, he takes the glass again, using his shadows to deposit it back onto the table.

Then he leans closer, studying me as heat ignites in his brown eyes. “I think you already know.”

My heart rate picks up, and I can’t look away from his intense gaze. Memories of Raith and Galen between my thighs dominate my mind. I remember the way they tasted me, and the feral, possessive look in their eyes. “They told you,” I guess, my voice soft.

“Yes.”

I lick my lips as his huge body overshadows mine.

His large fingers grip my chin, and the sensation of fire and ice travels along my skin. “For your sake, sweetheart, I hope they’re wrong.”

His mouth burns as his lips connect with mine, but the sensation is quickly chased away by a wave of ice before everything calms, transforming to a warm, pleasant heat.

When I respond, leaning into him, he moans, deepening the kiss.

His tongue strokes insistently against mine, and I lose myself to him.

To his earthy, masculine scent, and the strength of his body as his hands wind around me, pulling me closer.

Holy crap. I’m not sure if it’s the idea I came so close to death, or simply the fact we’re fated mates, but I’m desperate as I drown myself in Thane’s kiss.

I let myself enjoy the taste of him until my head spins, and I’m forced to come up for air.

The moment our lips break apart, Thane turns me so my back is pressed against him, and I stare out the window.

Down at the edges of the forest, there’s a hint of movement, and despite the desire clouding my thoughts, I spy a cloaked figure.

Knox? I can only guess it’s him going by the figure’s size and the large number of shadows coiling around them.

What is he doing down there? The cloaked figure lifts his head like he’s staring straight at me, but I’m distracted when Thane kisses beneath my jaw, his whiskers scratching against my skin.

I gasp as his fingers slide under my shirt.

I’m not wearing any panties, and his hand moves straight between my thighs.

The pain in my stomach disappears as he slowly slides a finger along my center, letting it glide through my wetness.

“You shouldn’t feel this good,” he growls as he adds another finger, lazily sliding them up and down my center before he moves to my clit. I moan as he circles my sensitive nub, and his breathing hitches as I press my ass harder against him, begging for more.

He trails his fingers down to my entrance, circling and teasing me before he pushes a single finger in. And then two…

Oh, holy shadow daddy hotness.

“Tell me to stop and I will,” he murmurs in my ear as his fingers fill me, pushing against my inner walls as he works them in and out. My breathing grows more rapid, and he holds me still with his other hand.

“Don’t stop,” I rasp. His fingers drive me wild, and even if I was still on my deathbed, I wouldn’t stop him. Tipping my head back, I lean against his hard body as he moves his fingers faster, all while the hooded figure watches us from the forest below.

I pant as I squirm against Thane, and when he pulls his fingers out, I have to stop myself from whimpering.

Twisting my head to the side, I look up as he lifts his fingers to his lips and slides them into his mouth.

At my taste, his face doesn’t just go feral.

His expression is carnal, and I gasp as he whips me around to face him, leaning down with his hot breath on my cheeks.

“So, what’s the verdict? What have you decided…daddy?” I ask, mocking him with the nickname. I already know what this is—a test, for him to figure out what I am.

“I told you not to call me that,” he growls, and he lifts me, depositing me onto the windowsill, and kneeling between my thighs.

I barely hold in my cry as his hot tongue slides along my center, and I press my back against the window, reaching forward and digging my fingers into his hair.

He sucks on my clit, fucking me relentlessly with his fingers until I’m on the edge of release before he finally pulls back again, his eyes hooded with desire.

I pant, frustrated. “You still haven’t told me what you think?” I say, breathlessly. I mean, it sure feels like he’s enjoying this, but who knows what’s really going on in his head.

He blinks slowly, his pupils dilated like he’s intoxicated. “I think…you taste like surrender,” he growls low, and the need in his voice makes my heart squeeze.

“Surrender?” My breathing stops.

“Yes. Because you will be the one that destroys us. And even knowing that…I can’t help myself.

” His mouth dives between my legs again like the man is ravenous, and when his fingers thrust back into my pussy, his teeth scratching against my clit, I fight not to cry out as an orgasm rips through me.

My stomach clenches, but any pain is easily dwarfed by the pleasure.

Wave upon wave of ecstasy rolls through me until I’m shuddering.

Thane moves reluctantly from between my legs, and he looks out of the window, before lifting me into his arms and carrying me into the next room, softly closing the door behind us.