11. Cursed
Christy
Ray drew away from Erik, hurt flashing across his face as he stood up. All three of us were disheveled from sex, especially Ray. Blood dripped down his chest as he turned away from us. Erik sat up, but went very still. His expression was unreadable.
A curse. He’d mentioned a curse. I’d heard his voice. What was he talking about?
“What curse?” I asked again.
“Ray,” Erik whispered, his voice softer than I’d ever heard it.
My heart ached. For both of them. Whatever this was, it was weighing on them.
“I just need a moment,” he whispered. “Sorry. Please.”
“Take your time,” I said. “Do you . . . need a bandaid?”
He let out a broken laugh and when he turned to face me, I saw that the bite marks were already healed. But then, I realized tears were rolling down his cheeks. Erik reached for him, but he pulled his hand away before he could touch him.
“Tell her,” he said flatly.
Erik swallowed hard, his shoulders slumping. “If you really wish for me to be the one, then I will.”
Ray ran his claws through his hair, his brows furrowing together. Before he could speak, Erik turned to look at me, still on his knees.
“Ray and I are cursed,” he said. “We’ve been cursed for two centuries.
When we first met, I was to wed another.
A witch. And I left them at the altar for Ray, as Ray was my fated mate.
The witch cursed us so that once we found our other mate, we would only have a few days to complete the bond with them or else we would be bound to this place forever.
We have not been able to leave this place since then. ”
That . . . was a lot to digest. I grabbed a blanket and pulled it around myself, then moved to the foot of the bed. “You’ve been trapped in these apartments for two centuries—”
“No,” Erik said gently. “No. Just to the ground. There used to be a theatre here, but it mostly burned down and the city changed a lot. Apartments were eventually built on top of it. Frankly, it was pure luck that you ended up living here.”
Or fate.
“Wait,” I said, frowning. “Does this mean that you’ll soon be trapped?”
“Yes,” Erik whispered. “It does. And it also means we will start to fade from this realm.”
“Then we should mate,” I said immediately. “I mean—”
“We did not want your choice to be dictated by us,” Ray interrupted. “Well, I did not want that. I wanted this to be something you’ve chosen for yourself.”
“I have,” I said, rubbing my chest. My heart ached. “I have chosen. And I said I wanted this without even knowing about the curse. But . . . you didn’t need to keep this from me.”
Ray shook his head. “You should take your time to think about committing to us. You’ve just learned about our world.”
“I have, and it’s beautiful,” I rasped. “It’s absolutely beautiful and I know this is right.”
It was as if he weren’t listening, though. Erik turned his head to look at Ray and then shook his head. “Ray, you should go collect yourself. You are spiraling.”
He disappeared in a blink and Erik let out a long sigh, offering me an apologetic look. I patted the bed next to me and he joined, his shoulder bumping against mine.
“Ray has saved me countless times,” he said. “His reluctance is because he already cares deeply for you. He doesn’t want you to regret loving us.”
“I won’t,” I said. “I know that I won’t. And you know it too.”
“I do.” His voice softened. “How about this? You think for the rest of today and tonight. We will come see you in the morning. And we can decide from there. And if you are not ready, that is fine.”
It wasn’t fine. We both knew that, but I still nodded. “But will he believe me if I say yes? Will he trust me?”
“I will,” Erik promised. “The only reason I have not made a bond with you yet is because Ray would not forgive me if I did so without telling you everything.”
“But he didn’t want to tell me about the curse.”
Erik winced. “Yes. It’s . . . I will talk with him.”
I sighed, frustrated. But only because I felt like my own desires were being doubted. “He has to trust me,” I said. “If he cannot trust me, then why would he want to be my mate?”
Erik slipped his hand into mine. “Do not doubt his love for you.”
“I doubt it as much as he doubts mine for his.”
He gave me a gentle squeeze. “I will come to you in the morning, angel.”
I leaned over and kissed him on his unmasked cheek. He drew me closer, pressing his forehead against mine and drawing in my scent.
For a monster who had seemed so harsh and cold, he was putty in my hands right now.
“I should take care of you,” he murmured. “Let me see your marks. Roll over for me.”
I did as he asked and let the blanket slip away. His fingertips traced over the welts forming on my thighs and ass from the cane and I let out a sharp hiss. Oh yeah, those were going to hurt for a few days.
Erik leaned down and pressed tiny kisses to them. “Thank you for this gift. They look beautiful on you.”
I shivered with happiness, unable to hide my smile. “Thank you.”
“Let me get you water and something sweet.”
“You don’t need to,” I said.
“But I want to. I know you like your baths. Should I draw you one as well?”
I paused for a moment, considering it. “Shouldn’t you go to Ray?”
“I will. But we also just did some intense play and then things kind of blew up, so I need to make sure you are taken care of first. I can feel his emotions right now through our bond. He will be okay.”
I took comfort in that as Erik left the bedroom. I listened to him rummage in the kitchen and of course he knew about my chocolate candy stash.
Well, I did like the idea of being cared for. I laid there until he returned and handed me a full glass of water.
“All of it,” he said.
I wrinkled my nose, but downed the entire glass. He then rewarded me with a small plate of sweets. Two chocolate chip cookies, two pieces of dark chocolate, and a couple of plump strawberries.
“Where did you get the strawberries?” I asked.
“Your neighbor won’t miss them.”
“Erik,” I gasped.
He shrugged, and I still ate the strawberry. It was perfect, too. I sighed happily as I polished off my plate, now completely content. I did want a soak, but . . .
“You should go to him,” I said. “I feel taken care of and can relax in the bath.”
He frowned. “I would prefer proper aftercare but . . .”
“Go to him,” I said. “But then, tomorrow, come back to me.”
“I will.”
He stole a kiss and then disappeared, leaving me alone to think.
With a groan, I got up and went to my bathroom, turning on the hot water to my tub. This required a salt soak and then maybe even a call to Lisa.
My thoughts swirled as I grabbed a bag of epsom salts from under the sink and dumped a few scoops in the steaming water.
Within a couple minutes, I was sinking down into the tub.
For all the bullshit things that were wrong with this apartment, a shitty tub was not one of them.
It was deep enough to truly relax into, and I liked to take advantage of that when I could.
Was this what I wanted? To be with Erik and Ray? The fated mates business was still so new to me. But when I was with them, everything in my world felt right. All the desires I’d ignored for so long could finally bloom in their sunlight, and I could still have my career too.
What was wrong with wanting to be loved, successful, and thoroughly fucked by two handsome monsters?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I wanted to fall in love on my own timeline, and this? Was this my own timeline? It was different than how I thought it would happen. Hell, I never even expected to really meet someone. I’d been so unsure going on a date was even right for me.
But now, here I was.
I wanted them.
I knew Erik wanted me. He was ready to complete our bond.
But what about Ray?
I knew he wanted me too, of course. And I understood his hesitance. But if he could not trust me to know what I wanted then why would we even try?
I sank further into the water until my chin dipped just below the surface and sighed, closing my eyes. The heat felt good on my muscles, especially after all our sex. Even better on the marks I hoped would be there for the next week.
I took my time soaking, but eventually I realized I needed to call Lisa and talk through all of this with her. She was always my voice of reason. Although admittedly I needed to take her out for dinner after the billion questions I’d asked her in the last week.
About fifteen minutes later, I sank down on my couch with a cup of hot tea and called her. My phone rang a couple times, but then she answered.
“What happened this time?”
I groaned. “Is it that obvious?”
Her laugh made me smile at least. “Yeah. Well, I expected this, honestly.”
“It’s a lot,” I said. “Are you busy?”
“Nope. I was about to eat ice cream and watch some medical drama I’ve read fanfic about.”
My brows shot up. “I have so many questions.”
“Save them for another day. Tell me about your mates.”
“Well. First, they’re cursed.”
Then I launched into everything. I didn’t spare any details. None. Lisa was my best friend and I knew I could tell her anything, and she could tell me anything too.
By the time I got to the end, I heard the familiar pop of a wine bottle on the other end of the line.
“Am I losing it for wanting to say yes?” I asked.
“No,” Lisa sighed. I heard her pour herself a glass.
“Not at all. I know that this all must feel like such a whirlwind, but it’s how it goes sometimes.
It sounds like they didn’t want to tell you about the curse, or at least that Ray didn’t because he didn’t want you to feel manipulated. He wanted the choice to be yours.”
I swallowed hard, pulling my blanket around my shoulders. I placed the phone on speaker and set it next to my head, getting comfortable on the couch. I took a sip of tea, thinking about the two of them.
“Sorry I’ve been dumping all this on you,” I said. “I just don’t know what to do. I mean, I know I want both of them. And when I’m with them, I’m sure more than anything else that I want to be their mate. But seeing Ray’s hesitation scared me, I guess.”
“I would hesitate,” Lisa said. “I would hesitate and worry that I was too much. Especially if my mate was a human who just learned about the other part of their world.”
She had a good point.
“If you want them and they want you then I see nothing wrong with this. But, Christy, if it doesn’t feel right to you—”
“It does,” I whispered. “It really does.”
Lisa let out a soft hum. “Then I say follow your heart. Then immediately schedule a dinner so I can meet them and judge them monstrously.”
A laugh bubbled up. “What if you hate them?”
“I don’t think I could hate someone so long as they love you right.”
I smiled, my eyes closing. “Thank you.”
“Of course. So . . . what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to bite them really really hard.”