Page 24 of Cursed (Blood Moon Pack #1)
R yland wakes first, savoring the feel of this woman, all soft and warm in his arms, in his bed. He feels her body tense as she starts muttering, “No.”
Bade growls, “ She’s having a nightmare; probably about you accidentally killing her last night, you idiot! ”
He frowns and releases his hold on her and gently rubs her arm. “Nori? Nori, wake up. You are all right.”
Nori sits straight up in bed, dragging frantic breaths into her lungs. She looks around the room, her eyes wide with panic. When she sees Ryland, her fear subsides. She blows out a breath and falls back into bed .
Covering her face in her hands, she mumbles, “Shit. Sorry. Sorry.”
“It’s OK, Nori. You are safe.”
Nori lets out a dry laugh. Safe. She felt safe wrapped in his arms last night. But before that? She can’t remember the last time she felt safe. Is she really safe with him? Maybe.
She removes her hands and stares at the ceiling, fighting off the embarrassment. “Sorry for my momentary freak-out. It’s been a while since I’ve slept in an actual bed. It took me a moment to remember where I was.”
“How long is a while?”
She frowns for a split second but decides she no longer has a reason to withhold information about her life from him. Nori turns on her side to face him in bed. “A really long time, Ryland.”
He gently shifts a piece of hair out of her face. Resting his hand on her shoulder, Ryland asks, “How long, Nori?”
Nori places her hand on his arm. “Twelve years.” Ryland sucks in a breath, and Nori continues, “You need to prepare yourself, because nearly every story I tell you about my life will be awful.”
“I have a powerful urge to rip the head off that Beta. And anyone else who laid a hand on you.”
She reaches up to touch his forehead, avoiding the scar. “That’s the Mate Bond driving you to protect me, Ryland. We need to talk about what we want to do about this Bond. ”
He notices the way she keeps touching him and calling him by his name this morning. He hopes she will agree to his idea. “I was thinking about that after you fell asleep last night. Would you consider starting over?”
Confusion crosses her face, but he presses on. “Now that I know your big secret and you know the rules of my curse, maybe we could try to be more honest with each other. I would like us to get to know one another.”
Before she can answer, he says, “I’m not asking you to forgive me. I will never be able to forgive myself for what happened last night.”
Ryland pauses briefly. He’s so frightened of letting himself feel anything for her, but if they are going to have a chance, he needs to push away his fear.
“I’m asking if you can move past the events of last night and give this Mate Bond a chance.
Can you do that? Would you even want to? Because…because I really want to try.”
Nori, enjoying this intimate moment with him, runs her hand down his face to caress his chin. “I never lied to you, Ryland. I definitely withheld vital information, but I never lied about anything.”
Ryland lowers his eyes for a moment, worried she can’t get past his complete rage meltdown. “I know, Nori, and I know how irrational I was last night. I unfairly connected you to Draven, and I was too far gone in my rage spiral to listen to you or anyone. ”
She runs her thumb along his jaw, avoiding his scar. “I have no idea how to be a Mate, Ryland.”
Chuckling lightly, he replies, “Clearly, that makes two of us.”
He gently grabs her lower back and pulls her slightly closer to him, rubbing her hip.
“Before you showed up, I had resigned myself to living with this curse forever. Ever since the Mate Bond flared between us, I’ve been angry, ignoring the feelings I have for you because I know they are coming from the Bond.
It was a way to protect myself for when you ultimately rejected me. ”
Ryland slides his hand to the dip in her waist. “If we start over, I promise you I will do my best to be completely honest with you and lean into the Mate Bond, instead of trying to push it away.”
Nori’s heart skips a beat; whether from the sincerity in his voice or his large hand gripping her waist, she’s not sure. But she is certain that she wants this man. Smiling softly, she runs her thumb along his bottom lip. “I would like to start over.”
Ryland breathes in the soft scent of her arousal and groans. “The way you touch me, Nori. In all my hundred years, no one has ever touched me the way you do, so warm and gentle.”
He pulls her into his chest and gently rolls them so that she’s on her back and he’s halfway on top of her. Bracing his weight on his forearm, he hovers over her mouth. “I am desperate to feel that pretty mouth of yours on mine, Nori.”
“Ryland,” Nori whispers, lowering her eyes to his mouth. “I’ve never been with a man.”
“I know, Nori.” He says, gently brushing her hair from her face. “I’m only asking you for a kiss.”
As soon as she agrees, Ryland leans down and gently presses his lips to hers. Sliding his hand into her silky hair, he tilts her head, making sure her nose hits the side of his face without the scar.
When her mouth opens for him, his gentleness swells to a desperate hunger.
He’s not felt a woman’s lips on his in eighty long, agonizing years.
Nori’s lips are softer than he’d imagined, molding to his like they were made for him.
She tastes so sweet and warm. He kisses her like he’s been drowning for years, and she’s the air that will save him.
When Nori moans in his mouth, Ryland pulls back, practically panting, gazing down at his Mate. Her lips are slightly swollen from the intensity of the kiss, and her skin is flushed.
She smiles up at him and says the last thing he expected. “That was the most amazing first kiss, Ryland.” Still breathing heavily, she asks, “Can we do that again?”
He grins down at her, running his finger along her jawline. “Nori, if I kiss you like that again, I will have you naked in this bed, and I’m not sure you are quite ready for that. You are so sweet and innocent; I will need to be careful the first time.”
She frowns slightly and rolls him off of her. They lie on their sides, facing each other again. She lightly pokes him in his chest and declares, “I am not sweet. I constantly dream up new and inventive ways to kill my abusers.”
Ryland leans back, his hand on her hip again, and frowns at her use of the plural. Bade creeps into Ryland’s mind and growls, “Exactly how many people beat the shit out of our Mate?”
Nori continues cheerfully, “My favorite death scene is to tie them each to their own post and set them all on fire. After that, I happily sit there and listen to their screams of agony as they slowly burn to death.”
She smiles triumphantly, thinking she’s made her point. “See, not sweet!”
Ryland tilts his head back and gives her a rare, unguarded laugh. “No, Nori. I apologize. You are definitely not sweet.”
When he glances down and notices a piece of her hair is stained with blood from his scar, a frown floats across his face. The frown is fleeting, sliding into a gentle smile. “How about you hop in the shower while I order us some breakfast?”
Nori glances at the offensive hair. “It’s fine, Ryland.”
His eyebrows rise in astonishment. “You are so surprising, Nori. How can you stand to kiss me or even look at me?”
Nori sighs and says, “Really, it doesn’t bother me. There are worse things than scars.”
He stares at her, unable to believe what he’s just heard. The whole time he’s been cursed, everyone has had trouble looking at him. It took years for his brother and sister not to frown every time they saw his face. Yet Nori has never once flinched or frowned.
She smiles and says, “But your shower is amazing, so yeah, I’ll hop in the shower. And I’m starving; breakfast would be great.”
Bade, clearly still pissed about last night, shouts in Ryland’s mind. “ Dammit, Ryland! She missed dinner because of you, losing your shit last night. Get our Mate some food! ”
Ryland frowns momentarily but recovers quickly. “And after breakfast, we can get out of here. I’ll give you a tour of the grounds.”
Nori gives him a smile so brilliant that it takes his breath away. “OK, Ryland.” Without another word, she climbs out of bed and heads toward the bathroom.
“Wait!” He shouts, stopping her. “There are more clean clothes for you in the second drawer of the dresser over there.”
He didn’t think he could handle seeing her in nothing but a towel again. He was already struggling with his morning erection from having her ass pushed up against it all night long, not to mention that searing kiss. Seeing her in the towel would surely send him over the edge.
Nori slowly walks over to the dresser and looks at the clothes he’s gotten for her. No one has given her anything, much less new clothes, in years. Any time she needed something at Starfall, she was forced to either beg for it or steal it.
She clears her throat, trying to hold back her tears, and grabs new leggings, socks, underwear, and a long-sleeved t-shirt. Nori heads straight to the bathroom and mutters, “Thanks.”
Ryland frowns, thinking he’s somehow messed up with the clothes. “I’m sorry, Nori. I just thought you might need—”
Nori turns to him and holds up a hand to stop him. “The clothes are great, thank you. This,” she circles her face, “has nothing to do with you.” She stands there for a moment, watching his face frown in confusion, trying to decide whether to explain her reaction or escape into the bathroom.
She groans and sits on the corner of his bed.
“I...hmmm...” Nori shifts a leg on the bed, turning to look at him.
“I’ve literally had nothing for a very long time.
The room I lived in was smaller than that shower in there.
” She points to the bathroom and then drops her hand.
“When you casually said you had more clothes for me in the drawer…” She frowns.
“Tearing up over a drawer full of clothes is ridiculous, I know. It just took me by surprise, is all.”
Ryland moves to sit behind her on the bed and wraps an arm around her waist. “Your feelings are not ridiculous, Nori, and thank you for telling me. I always want to know what you are thinking. OK?”
She tilts her head to look up at him. “OK, Ryland.”
He looks into her eyes and says, “I love hearing you say my name, Nori.” He kisses her forehead and releases her. “Go take a shower, and I’ll order breakfast.”
After she closes the bathroom doors, Ryland orders a large breakfast and mostly fixes the hinges on the doors to his rooms. At least they completely close now.
He reaches out to Garek and tells him to start an investigation into how the Starfall Beta knew Nori was here. She crossed the boundary only a few days ago. Someone in the castle must be providing Malrik with information.