Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24688 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24688 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Lust tickles me in a secret place. “Y-yes.”
He swallows a groan. “Did he see the plug I left in your tight ass?”
I nod.
He seems to be holding his breath. “Did he play with it? Push it in and out? Tug on it?”
“Yes,” I breathe.
Pace’s pupils are the size of quarters. “He’s still a dead man.”
“You’re the dead man if you don’t get off of her,” growls a different male voice.
It’s Mateo—and he’s standing behind Pace holding a gun.
At first, all I can feel is panic. Fear that he’s going to shoot Pace, who I love, for better or worse. But something else happens almost immediately. Inside of me.
At the appearance of both men, my sex turns wet and…and it strains. It strains so powerfully that I make a whining sound and wrap my thighs around Pace’s hips, needing pressure badly, so badly, on top of my core. There’s a burdensome emptiness inside of me and it’s getting worse by the second. Visions of writhing bodies fill my head. Flickering tongues and stiff male appendages. I want one inside of me. I’m suddenly aching without the fullness of the act that I’ve never even experienced in my life.
“Please!” I hiccup, rolling my hips beneath Pace. “Please, I need you.”
Instantly, his shaft stiffens against my mound and I rub on it shamelessly, my breath catching in my throat, every inch of me feeling like hot glue, malleable and sticky.
Pace frowns down at me, even as his breath starts to come faster. “Magnolia, what’s wrong?” He watches beneath sagging eyelids as my body humps and grinds desperately beneath him, begging for friction. Begging to be dominated. “You’re this hot, baby? Now?”
“Yes, I don’t understand—” The realization hits me. “It’s…this is it. It’s the curse.”
Chapter Four
Pace
I’m torn between complete and utter madness…
And the bottomless starvation for my Magnolia.
She speaks of curses, but she’s offering me her cunt and that could only ever be a blessing. She’s a delirious little mess beneath me on the bed, and all I can think is I’ve finally gotten lucky for the first time in my miserable life. An argument could be made that my life stopped being cursed the moment I laid my weary eyes on Magnolia, but I was forbidden from touching her since day one.
Karson’s rule.
Lay a finger on the girl and you’ll never see her again.
A fate worse than death. A life I couldn’t even imagine attempting to live.
She is everything holy and pure and redemptive.
She is mine.
Karson realized I loved Magnolia long ago and he amended his rule. She will be given a proper coming out ball at nineteen. If she chooses me, I can have her.
I could have my Magnolia.
But six years is a long time to wait and God, I’ve suffered. I’ve spent every hour of my life in devastating pain from keeping my distance and as a result, I’ve been mean.
I’ve been so mean to her. Overbearing and angry.
Of course, she let another man kiss and pleasure her. I deserve nothing less.
Right now, she’s looking up at me, imploring me with her eyes to end some unseen pain—and I can’t. Can I? I’m hours away from making her mine forever. Karson doesn’t bend the rules. He doesn’t take them lightly. He has his reasons for wanting Magnolia to be presented to society and he always gets what he wants.
“It’s…this is it. It’s the curse,” Magnolia chokes out, her hands fisting in the sides of my trousers and drawing me closer, closer to heaven. I’m so hard, I could break her in one thrust. I wasn’t prepared for this and the mental upheaval of the last ten minutes is making me even more desperate. When I walked into the room and saw her surrounded by blood, my world became a desolate graveyard, denial rocking me to my core. The relief of finding out she was alive was so intense, I nearly blacked out. Now, the bastard who pleasured her first is pointing a gun at me while Magnolia does her best to hump me—and the best course of action eludes me.
As always, though, her safety and happiness come first.
“It can’t be real. Can it?” I pant, trying desperately to keep my hips still.
She comes up on her elbows, kissing my jaw, my face, my neck, mewling in her throat, her fingers on my belt buckle, unfastening it with hasty fingers. A dream come true. One I’m forbidden to fulfill yet. “It is real! Please, Pace. Be inside of me. It hurts!”
“Goddammit, Magnolia,” I shout through my teeth. My head is on fire. Seeing her in distress is like having a rusted knife carve my chest open. I turn to the FBI agent who is still pointing the gun at me, although I notice he seems equally upset by Magnolia’s condition. Which is impossible. He only met her this afternoon. “Go find this woman downstairs. Maura. She’s the one who cursed Magnolia. If she can’t reverse it, I’ll fucking end her.”