Page 15 of Cursed Gift

Felix eyed me, his gaze traveling the length of my body. He stood mute for a few moments and then nodded. “I could’ve figured it out.”

It? How about her?

“You see,” Alexei said, “the thing with Izzy is—”

“Really?” I asked, smacking him in the arm.

He caught his lip between his teeth, his blue eyes dancing. “What? You really think I was going to tell them something? They’re my competition, aren’t they?”

I frowned. “I don’t want you guys to see it like that.”

“Chill. I was just joking, Iz.”

“No, but really,” I ventured. “Watch my parents. They’re not in competition with one another. They move as one unit.”

Alexei raised his eyebrows. “I’ve seen them compete with one another…over time with her.”

I shrugged. “Well, yeah, I guess.” Listen, I wasn’t deaf or blind. I knew that sometimes they had to make alone time for one another.

“How does that work?” Theo said.

His strong voice almost knocked me off kilter. Maybe it was because I hadn’t heard him speak very much since he got here. “What do you mean?”

He scratched the tiny bit of stubble on his jaw. “You know, private moments.”

I eyed him, wondering if that’s what he’d been talking to Papa Christian about. Maybe that’s why he was so standoffish. He didn’t know how all this would work out with multiple men. I struggled to answer because I didn’t have experience with one man let alone multiple. This was kind of like diving into the deep end without a life jacket. “Well, the way I see it,” I said, honestly. “Is that we’re all a family. I’d prefer intimate relationships with all my mates, but it doesn’t need to go further than that. Just because there are other mates there doesn’t mean it has to be a free-for-all. I think it’s whatever anyone is comfortable with, myself included.”

“So, you don’t expect us to…”

“Do anything you’re not comfortable with? No.”

His shoulders firmed up a little. His brown eyes hinted at flecks of gold the more he relaxed.

Over the speaker system, the pilot came on and told us to prepare for landing. Most of us went back to our original seats, but I followed Theo. Since he’d finally spoken up about a few things, I saw it as an opportunity to talk with him further.

He’d sat in the row of seats just behind my parents, so I sat down next to him this time. I pulled at the seat belt and tried to get it locked in, but it wouldn’t go. I tried to force it, but just ended up getting frustrated.

Theo put his hand over mine. “Let me try?”

I nodded, giving it over to him. He let out the slack a little and then pushed it neatly down into the lock. Then, he pulled the seatbelt tight, making sure I was properly contained. I smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

He sat back and looked straight ahead. I thought for a moment he wasn’t going to continue talking the way he had been, but again, he surprised me. “I’ve been observing your parents a lot,” he said, his gaze tracing over to them. “I never really thought about living this kind of lifestyle. I didn’t understand it.”

“Now?” I asked, hoping that somehow my parents had changed his mind.

“I can see it now. What you want is more of a family and not what others might extrapolate from having multiple male partners. I thought maybe you were some…” He trailed off, not willing to finish his sentence.

“Some sex maniac?” I asked, holding back a giggle when I saw how red his cheeks got.

He side-eyed me. “Maybe.”

I leaned in close to him. “It might interest you to know I’m still a virgin.”

His eyes widened.

I shrugged. What? It was something they all should know, anyway. If we were seriously considering one another for mates, we should be aware of this kind of stuff.

“I asked King Christian, but he wasn’t sure. Though, he thought you were.”

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