Page 122 of Cursed to Be Mine
“I almostkilledyou, you stupid dumbass! What the fuck was that plan! You said you would heal. Ibelievedyou, and you went and… You were going to…” I clutch at him, not sure if I want to pull him to me for a kiss or slam his head onto the ground to knock some sense into him.
“Don’t youeverdo that again!”
“Kira…”
“Don’tkirame! I’m not going to be some...some...some sixteenth-century woman whoknows her place. I’m not going to just sit back and watch you die to protect me.”
I shake his shoulders. “You can’tleaveme. You can’t…”
“Kira…”
I drop his head on the floor, hoping it hurts when it hits. There isn’t a followingthump. The bastard used his neck muscles, musclesIjust put back together, not him.Fucking traitors.
Tears burning my eyes, I grab him again, groping inthe dark to what I think is his head. His hair twists in my fingers, and I shake him.
“Promiseme, Khalid. Promise me, or I swear to God I will walk and never look back.”
A sudden lethalness cuts through the darkness. “Don’t joke about that,kira.”
“I’m not joking! I can’t handle being the cause of your death. I can’t… It’s cruel… You can’t…” Tears trapping my words, I struggle to breathe as I shake him again. “Pleasepromise me, Khalid.”
“Kira…” The word is a soft sigh of defeat, and I clutch him tight as I wait for him to say the words. “I promise as long as you never bring up leaving again.”
About to blurt out, ‘Okay,’ I stop myself, remembering Micha’s warning about how the blood bond makes me placid. “That’s not reasonable. I can’t not tell you what my boundaries are. You don’t get to make them for me.”
He growls, the show of frustration making me laugh, making me realize he really is okay. The potion worked.He’s okay. He’s okay. He’s okay.
Sitting up, removing my hands from their death grip on his hair, he then pulls me into a hug. His lips find mine as he kisses me gently, a thousand promises in the caress of his lips.
“Can we discuss this later? I need you to tell me what happened while we were gone before we’re pulled out of this place.”
“Okay.”Goddammit. “But we’re not exchanging blood again until we do.”
Another growl from him. Another laugh from me.
“Micha fucking talked to you, didn’t she?”
I try to push out of his hug, but he doesn’t let me, his arms tightening around me. “Don’t be angry at her,”I say. “You should have told me yourself.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. Now will you tell me what happened?”
Shuddering, I press my face against his neck, kissing where I almost killed him. Then I take a deep breath and fill him in on the attack and Micha’s innocence, trying my best not to freak out over the monsters watching us.
My heart pounding, I twist my hands in his shirt after all is done. But it’s not done because I left out the worst part – the part where his brother is the traitor, not Micha.
Khalid is a reaper, and I know this is going to hurt him. I don’t want to say the words. I don’t want to damn his soul even more than it is, but I can’t keep this from him.
Tears burning my eyes, I take a deep breath, preparing myself to tell him something that is going to crush him. “There’s something else,” I say softly, then kiss his neck, letting him know he is loved. That despite what I’m going to say, he is not alone. “I know who the real traitor is.” My throat closes, but I push out the words. “I’m so, so sorry, Khalid, but it’s your brother, Talon.”
He holds me in the dark.
The hissing of movement and mandibles still surrounds us, but they’re not as awful as the silence coming from the man in my arms.
I squeeze him tight, tears falling down my cheeks as I worry about the state of his mind, the breaking of his heart, the knowledge of what he is going to be asked to do.
Pressing my lips against his neck, I wait for him to come to terms with my reveal, hoping he doesn’t hateme for being the carrier of bad news.
His chest shudders as he finally exhales. Kissing the top of my head, he holds me close and says, “I know.”
