Cursed Read online

  Then she looked at his face and realized something else.

  His expression was completely feral. He was scanning her body, as though taking in the aftereffects of their encounter and when he looked up at her, his gaze was like a wild animal stalking prey…or lusting after its mate. His indigo eyes were narrowed to predatory slits and his mouth was open revealing two sets of double fangs so long and sharp they made Charlotte shiver. God, even with her secret vampire fetish, those things looked scary.

  But scarier still was what might happen if she didn’t wash the aftermath of their little session off right now. Already she could feel the slippery cum trickling down into her pussy, almost as if it was looking for a way in.

  “I…I better get washed up,” she whispered.

  “Yes.” It was a wonder he could talk with his fangs that long. “Please do. Go. I fear…fear it is not safe for you here right now.”

  “Not safe for me?” Charlie began backing away from him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  His eyes flashed. “Just go. I will…explain later if I can.”

  She started to scramble off the bed but he raised a hand to stop her.

  “Charlotte…”

  “What?” She looked at him fearfully.

  “Go slowly. Don’t run, don’t rush. It…arouses my instincts.”

  “I…” She wasn’t sure what to make of that but she did as he said. Slowly she backed off the bed as Stavros watched her. She got the feeling the big Kindred was holding himself back in some way. He was laying there, rigid in the bed, his focus completely trained on her but he didn’t move a muscle.

  Finally she reached the bathroom and shut herself in with a sigh of relief.

  Oh my God, what did I do? And what almost just happened out there?

  She didn’t have any answers but she knew what was going to happen in nine months or however long it took to have a Kindred baby if she didn’t get all his seed washed out of her.

  Locking the door, she turned on the shower, praying that the hot water was back. She needed a long, hot shower before she could face Stavros again. And she’d need more than that before she could look in the mirror and face herself again.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Gods, what have I done? And what was I about to do?

  Stavros sank back on the bed, trying to control the feral urges that rose in him. Part of him was shouting that he had to go after Charlotte—that he needed to bite her and bond her to him here and now. But he knew he couldn’t.

  It’s just a natural result of letting her bite me, he told himself fiercely. My body is reacting to hers, that’s all. She’s my partner in this mission, not my bride. I don’t have the right to bite her. Seven Hells, I didn’t have the right to rub against her until we both came either. What’s wrong with me? I usually have more self control than this!

  But it didn’t matter how much he lectured himself, the wild part inside him that craved a mate still growled that he had to go after her.

  Stavros closed his eyes and took slow, deep breaths. It was like trying to hold back a tidal wave but little by little he began to get control. He willed himself to be calm, to take control of his body and urges. Slowly the fierce need to claim and breed her—to make her his—began to die down.

  I cannot take a mate, I am one of the Cursed, he reminded himself. Besides, Charlotte doesn’t even like me—or any Kindred for that matter. She’s only here to help save her planet. She doesn’t belong to me—we don’t belong together.

  Then why did you feel her pleasure? whispered a little voice in his head. Why for the first time in your life did you feel a positive, pleasurable physical sensation instead of only negative, painful ones?

  Stav opened his eyes. It was true and he couldn’t deny it. He’d never felt anything but pain before from anyone. But just now when they were rubbing against each other, he’d felt the razor’s edge of sensation growing inside her, the build of need and desire, the sparks along her skin—everything that had pushed her over the edge—and it had pushed him over too. He had never intended to do what he did, to move against her and drive them both to orgasm. But once that loop began—her pleasure feeding his and driving him to move harder and faster to give her more and more of what she craved—he hadn’t been able to stop himself.

  Why can I feel her? Is it just because I’ve never let a female drink from me before?

  He didn’t know. He only knew that Charlotte Sayers was different and special somehow. And judging from the horrified look she’d given him as she backed into the fresher, she was also scared to death right now. And even if she wasn’t, she was still completely off limits and out of his reach.

  That didn’t stop him from wanting her.

  With a low groan, he threw an arm across his eyes. What have I done? Oh Gods, what have I done and how can I ever undo it?

  * * * * *

  By the time she came out of the bathroom—after a hot shower and a long soak in the tub,(the hot water was back on, thank goodness)—it seemed that Stavros was asleep. At any rate, he had his back turned to her and he was taking long, slow, regular breaths that sounded like sleep.

  The room was still freezing but luckily Charlie felt toasty warm. The big Kindred hadn’t been lying—his blood did have warming properties. Yeah, but there has to be a better way to keep from freezing to death than humping your partner, whispered a sarcastic little voice in her head. Charlie pushed it away. She’d had enough guilt for one night, thank you very much.

  She was still nude and wished she could look in the magic cabinet and get something else to wear to bed but two things stopped her. One, she was afraid the soft glow might wake Stavros. Two, she thought it was probable she’d just end up with another one of those furry gowns. And after the first one had attempted to squeeze her to death, she wasn’t inclined to put another one on, even to avoid sleeping naked next to her partner.

  As quietly as she could, she slid into bed beside him and snuggled under the blankets, being careful not to touch his broad, bare back. But just as she was getting comfortable with her head positioned on one of the weird sausage shaped bolsters they had for pillows here, he spoke.

  “I am sorry if I frightened you,” he said in a low voice. “I did not mean to. My…instincts were aroused when you bit me.”

  “Are they still aroused?” Charlie asked apprehensively. “And instincts to do what exactly?”

  “To take you.”

  “To take me?”

  “To bite you and inject you with my essence.” He turned over and she saw the gleam of his eyes in the darkness. “To breed you and bond you to me at the same time.”

  “Bond me to you—you mean permanently?” Charlie felt a cold chill go down her spine. That had been what Missy was afraid of—that permanent bond which could never be severed. It was like trap you could never get out of. “I…I could never…I mean…”

  The horror she felt must have been clear in her voice—or maybe he had better night vision than her and could see it on her face. At any rate, his voice was extremely cold when he answered.

  “You don’t need to fear that now. I have told you I can never take a bride. And I certainly wouldn’t take one against her will—the momentary instinct I felt was simply a result of you biting me.”

  “But you told me to bite you,” Charlie protested. “Why did you tell me to do that if you knew it was going to make you go all feral and bitey yourself?”

  He sighed. “I didn’t know. I have never…shared blood with a female before.”

  “So…were you saving yourself or something?” Charlie asked, interested despite herself.

  He shook his head, his long hair rustling against the pillow.

  “No—as I said, it is part of calling a bride, which, as a Cursed One, I cannot do. And also because…”

  “Yes?” she prompted when he paused a long time.

  “Because no female of Tranq Prime would do such a thing—bite me here, where my mark is.” One large hand cam