Page 27 of Cursed to Be Mine
I step back. “Have you been ghosting my daughter?”
He straightens, a sigh leaving his lips. “No. We talked a couple times, but then she started getting weirdly clingy.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me my daughter thought she was going out with you?”
“I didn’t think it mattered,” he says, his eyes dipping to my skin-tight shirt stretched across my breasts. “I mean.” He takes a step forward, his attention still riveted on my body. His voice lowers as he brings his lips to my ear. “You slept with Nick an hour after he took Scarlett’s virginity.”
I reach up to smack him across his arrogant facebefore remembering the doors behind us are glass. Clenching my fist instead, I growl, “If you tell her –”
“I would never hurt you, Hannah.” He nudges me out of sight from the door, then cups between my legs. “I love your pussy too much.”
I grab his wrist, pinching my nails across his skin. “You won’t getanyof this if she sees you tonight. I don’t want her distracted when we’re out there hunting. It’s too dangerous.”
He starts to massage me through my pants, his fingers pushing lightly into me. Heat flares beneath desire and anger, a volatile mixture that is sure to burn. “Fine. But tonight, I want you to tell Dad to finally let me fuck you.”
Shoving him away, I shake my head in disdain. “Grow some balls and tell him yourself.” Turning, I grab the door handle to wrench it open.
“So you want me to then? Good. Because I’m going to fuck you long and hard, Hannah.”
Ignoring the images summoned by that promise, I open the door and step out.
Derek appears beside me just as Daniel exits. A look is shared between them, but I’m not in the mood to be fought over. I need to make sure bringing Scarlett here tonight wasn’t a mistake.
“I mean it, Daniel,” I say. “Don’t let her see you.”
“Whatever you wish.” He disappears down the stairs, and I turn to Derek.
His five o’clock shadow paints the lower half of his face black, while his long wavy dark hair frames the rest of it in shadows. His hazel eyes pierce me with unspoken questions. A cruel intelligence lingers behind them, and I wonder if he sent Daniel to play with Scarlett just to fuck with me. Despite us sharing a bed– or a wall or a desk, as it may be, I wouldn’t put such a thing past him.Don’t forget, I can control you.
But I don’t ask him – some things better left unknown. Instead, I ask, “What are you going to have Scarlett do?”
He stares at me a moment longer. Then gestures over at Detective Howard, who’s playing with something on a computer. “You, Scarlett, and Henry will be running recon tonight. It’s too risky for you to be seen with us with the election coming up.”
I nod, the muscles in my shoulders relaxing a bit. I’ve never run recon, but Detective Howard is always in the van with his gadgets, never in the line of fire. Scarlett will be safe tonight. “Thanks.”
He nods. “Now get geared up. We leave in ten.”
He smacks me on the ass, then heads off to talk to some others. There are a few people in here that make me uncomfortable, so I head for the kitchen to stand guard beside my daughter.
“Ma, what’s going on?” she asks, hurrying to my side, her voice hushed, her eyes darting as if she’s afraid cops will bust through the doors at any moment.
But this is a cop’s house. And both my contacts and WALL’s will give us ample warning.
“You’re going to be shown the truth of the world, Gen.” I usher her into the living room, nodding a quick thanks at Nicole. The woman doesn’t respond, just continues to watch whatever it is in the oven. Probably the creation of C4. Although Detective Howard told me he’d bought his wife a lab-grade dial-read thermometer for Christmas a couple years ago, Nicole prefers to watch the stuff herself when the timer’s almost up.
“What does that mean?” Scarlett asks, her voice softand trembling. “What have you gotten yourself into, Ma?”
“We’re not the only occupants of Earth, Gen. There are werewolves, vampires, and witches.”
She stops as I continue into the room. “You’re joking.”
“No, she’s not,” Detective Henry Howard says as he joins us, slinging on a jacket, a tablet tucked under one arm. “Just experience everything tonight with an open mind, Scarlett, and then make your own conclusions.”
He offers her a bottle of spray. When she doesn’t take it, he says, “It’s harmless to humans. Nothing worse than pepper spray, but to vampires, it’s like getting a face full of acid. You’ll want it with you.”
“What is it?”
“Werewolf saliva. Their bites are lethal to vampires.”
