Page 12 of Rescued By the Great Grim

I force myself to stay where I am when all I want is to take her in my arms again and assure her I could never hurt her. Steadily, I meet her gaze. “No, I only thought maybe you wanted to bathe. I meant what I said when I told you that you’re safe with me.”

Some of the tension leaves her body, but she goes and sits in the other chair instead of my lap, which feels empty without her. “So what happened? How did the nixie transfer his curse?”

Before I can tell her this next part, I have to get her to believe I’d never hurt her. “I can draw you a bath inside and show you how to lock the cabin to keep me out if you want to wash.”

She shakes her head. “No need. I trust you.” She has no idea how much I needed to hear those words. “Go on,” she says. “What happened next?”

“The nixie challenged me to a game of cards.”

She throws me an incredulous look. “You thought playing cards with a magical creature was a good idea?”

“This is where young and stupid plays a big part in the story. I didn’t know he was a nixie. To me, he just looked like a confused old man. He mixed up his words and seemed unclear about what year it was or who I was.”

“He played you.”

“Of course he did. And he had a right to.” I sigh. “Remember how I told you how arrogant I was?” When she nods, I continue,“Well, you can add immoral and deceitful to those qualities. I thought it would be easy to cheat the old man out of his money.”

Hailey covers her mouth with her hand, her eyes sad. “Instead, he cheated and transferred his curse to you.”

I shake my head ruefully. “He didn’t even need to cheat. He was a much better player than me.”

“So, what is your curse? If you don’t have to urge to drown people, are you about to challenge me to a game of cards?” She smiles and I take the time to appreciate how beautiful she is.

“Even if I could, I wouldn’t do that to you. The old nixie scampered off before he told me how to transfer the curse. And I don’t have a compulsion to drown people. However, I have to perform the same tasks every day, repeatedly. And I can’t travel more than fifty miles away from these lakes.” I sweep out with my hand the gesture encompassing the clearing, the lakes, and the waterfall.

Hailey’s still covering her mouth. Moisture wells in her eyes. “You’ve been trapped here for a century and a half. And you have to check on the waters, hunt, fish, chop wood, and grow vegetables every day. I’m so sorry.”

I shrug. “There are worse spots to be trapped.” My words come out bitter, though, as I look around. As beautiful as it is, I can’t help but resent the place a little. Losing your free will does that to a person. “The tasks are getting a little old, though.”

She chokes down a sob, gets out of her chair, and crawls back into my lap. I hug her and touch her forehead with mine. For a little while, we just sit in silence, breathing together. It’s the most peaceful and beautiful thing.

“Nick,” she whispers. “Kiss me.” But then she cradles my face in her hands and she kisses me. I treasure how soft and warm her lips are against mine. She coaxes me to open my mouth, and her tongue darts out to meet mine.

A groan escapes my throat as I hold her tighter, leaning her back so I can get better access to deepen the kiss. I caress her side, slipping my hand underneath her shirt.

She sighs into my mouth when my fingers find her nipple through the fabric of her bra. It hardens to a tight bud as I caress it. My cock is rock hard against her bottom and she wiggles against it.

I tighten my grip and hold her still. “That will put a quick end to this…” My voice trails off as I’m not sure what to call what’s going on between us.

“Conversation?” Hailey quips.

I chuckle. “Sure, a quick end to our conversation.”

She jumps out of my arms and puts a finger to my lips. “Hold that thought because now I really want to take a bath before this gets any further.” I start to stand, but she pushes me back into the chair. “No, I trust you won’t drown me.” She smiles. “But I need just a moment by myself.”

I hesitate, but then nod. “I’ll listen from here. Call out if you need me.”

“I will.” She runs into the cabin, comes out holding a clean towel, and then walks off toward the lake.

CHAPTER 10 (HAILEY)

Clean and refreshed from the not-too-cool lake water, I walk back to the cabin wearing only the towel. Suddenly, I’m a little apprehensive about going to bed with Nick. The curse doesn’t bother me. We’ve all been young and stupid. It was just bad luck that he was unusually arrogant and stupid when he encountered a fae.

I step out of my shoes by the front door, tighten the towel around my chest, and pad into the bedroom. My breath catches at the sight of Nick on the bed, leaning back on his elbows. He’s tied his hair back in a ponytail and wears only a pair of jeans. No shirt, no socks, no shoes.

Strangely fascinated, I stare at his strong, bare feet. Is every part of his body hot? I’ve never been attracted to a guy’s feet before.

He clears his throat, and his piercing blue gaze travels from my feet to my head, lingering on my breasts where the damn towel is coming loose.

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