Page 18 of The Curse Trilogy

“Then why?” he insists.

“Why do you want to know so badly?” I bark.

“It just seems like a waste. I happen to know how phenomenal you are during a blood fuck. It’s sort of sad you’re going to marry someone you’re not willing to share that intimacy with,” he murmurs with a bit of hesitance.

“It’s not that either. I could taste his blood, and yes, the sex would be ridiculously mind-blowing, but it wouldn’t be fair for him to see me taking his blood in my mouth. He’s a full blood. They crave the vein, and he’s sacrificing that chance just to be with me. He’ll never have the opportunity to change a human, taste another full blood again, or enjoy a blood fuck where he’s the instigator… ever again. Why would I make him watch me enjoy the one thing he never can?” I whimper, and then I wipe a tear from my eye before fleeing once more.

“Sorry,” Hale murmurs when he jogs back up to be beside me. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Forget it. Let’s just get this week over so I can get home.”

“This could take longer than a week,” he says with a salacious edge.

“Not for me. If all I’m going to do is wait, then I can wait at home. I’ll stay and finish the training charade, but I won’t be here beyond that.”

“This is a central location. It would be faster to get anywhere in our region from here than anywhere else in our division. Clay will want you to stay,” Hale asserts.

“Clay doesn’t always get his way.”

“He’s still the commander. Don’t forget who calls the shots,” he cautions.

My eyes narrow when I take a step closer, my teeth chomped tightly together.

“I call the shots where I’m concerned. He can tell me I can’t come with them, but he can’t tell me not to go home,” I hiss through my fury, and the walls threaten to rumble beneath my sudden rage.

“Easy,” he almost whispers, and his arm slides around my waist in an effort to distract me from my fuming state.

“Don’t touch me,” I growl with my animalistic traits bearing themselves.

“Don’t make me remind you how I used to break you free from these trances,” he seduces, and then I feel the dropping sensation in my lower extremities as the throbbing becomes a pounding inside me.

“Don’t do this, please,” I whisper as his lips almost touch mine.

“It’s hard not to when I still want you as badly as I do.”

His lips graze mine before guilt slaps my face, and I spin out of his arms just in time to avoid the passion trying to escape from his mouth to mine.

“If I’m going to be here for a week, then we need ground rules. I’m engaged,” I snark.

“You used to be engaged to me. We both know that’s one promise you don’t mind breaking.”

“The only time I’ve ever broken such a promise is when I realized that I was never going to be important enough to deserve that person’s attention, devotion, or presence,” I retort.

“Is that really what you think? You had every ounce of my attention at all times, and there’s never been any person more devoted to anyone than what I have been to you - even now. As for my presence, Brazen doesn’t seem to be around as much as I was,” he admonishes.

“He’s here every time I need him,” I snip, and then I storm away once again.

“Please stop fighting with me,” Hale sighs when he catches back up.

This fucking place is a labyrinth. I have no idea where in the hell I’m going, and everything looks exactly the same no matter what hallway I turn down.

“I’m not fighting with you. I’m just fighting you. Leave. Me. Alone. Please. Let’s be professionals on a job - not exes in an awkward situation,” I almost plead.

“I’m not willing to lose my only opportunity in three years to remind you how good we are together. No one has ever had what we had, and I’m not going to stop until you come back to me,” he softly releases.

His gentle words pull me in, bringing my eyes to meet his. His tie dangles close to my hand, and I want to use it to bind my hands and let him have his way with me the second those eyes try to control mine.

“We were good. I’m not denying that, but I’m in love with someone else now. Just let me be happy,” I beg.