Page 142 of Cursed to Be Mine
A blush crimsons my cheeks, heated from the warmth spreading inside me. “You make me feel beautiful.”
“Youarebeautiful, Scarlett. Say it.”
My tongue feels heavy in my mouth as all of Ma’s words come back to me.
Eat a salad, Gen.
You’re fucking disgusting, Gen.
You make people want to stop eating, Gen.
Fuck you, Ma.
“I’m beautiful,” I whisper, and those two words grab a part of me that was broken inside. “I’m beautiful,” I say stronger as those two halves go back together. They’re still cracked and only held on by weak glue, but the glue will bind with time, strengthening as Khalid and I grow old together.
Tears shimmer in his eyes as he kisses me, notstopping this time when his tongue sweeps inside my mouth. He rolls on top of me, and I instinctively spread my legs. He builds us up slowly as he makes love to me, his thrusts long and languid, his lips soft and slow.
I sigh against his mouth as I wrap my arms around him. The pleasure builds into a beautiful heat before it sweeps us over the edge like the lapping of the ocean at the beach.
We hold each other for a few minutes before he stands and helps me up alongside him. Pulling a robe out of the closet, he wraps it around me, then opens the bedroom door to show Varius and Maddox.
My cheeks burst into flames as their youngest brother grins at me and hides his left hand behind his back, letting me know for certain it was him.
“You picked Maddox?” I ask Khalid, wondering why the hell he didn’t tell me before opening the door.
“I did,” Varius says. “Given he can shift into me, he has the best chance of being the conduit.”
“Given he can what?” I ask blankly.
“Watch this.” Maddox cracks his neck side to side, then shakes out his arms as he hops from foot to foot. Shadows swirl around him, and I take a step back, the darkness assaulting my memories.
Khalid’s hand finds mine, and he squeezes it in silent comfort. I root my legs, knowing he won’t let them hurt me. But then they nearly give out as Maddox’s body tears apart, skin ripping and bones breaking. When it’s over, he looks exactly like Varius though, and I blink rapidly, my brain screaming and pointing at him as it hops up and down.
“Can you do that with anyone?”
He cracks his neck. “If I’ve studied them enough, yeah. I can change into Khalid if you’d li– Ow!”
“Stop wasting magic,” Varius says, his words directed at Khalid, who’s glaring at his younger brother.
Maddox grins, but he holds his hands up in a sign of peace. Then he claps and rubs them together. “All right, let’s get this baby started.”
The air electrifies, raising the hairs on my arms and neck as he places one hand on Varius and the other on Khalid.
“You ready?” Khalid asks, his voice soft with worry.
I think about the blood pouring out of his neck and arm, and how much more I’m about to see. My eyes search his face as he waits patiently for me to decide.
Taking a deep breath, I nod.
When he pulls a knife out of his shadow, I tense. After a quick slice across his chest, it’s gone again, but my pulse still pounds in memory of his screams.
But after this, he’ll never doubt my love for him. He’ll never be consumed by his own grief. I will help him love all parts of himself just like he does me.
I step close so he can reopen the wound he made on my thigh. As our blood flows into the air, it circulates between us, and I am hit with a burst of power that shocks my every nerve. I fall against him, gasping, and two strong hands hold me up as Khalid weakens from my human blood inside of him.
Fire erupts like a volcano. My body shakes like the splitting of Pangea – monumental tremors that change my world. Raw primal magic flows through my veins, beading sweat along my body.
A blue veil shimmers in the air surrounding us, and my breaths come out hard and fast.
