Cursed By Destiny
Page 19

I tried not to eye Misha. He wore silky black pajama bottoms and nothing else. His long blond hair hung loosely against his strong, muscular shoulders, and his chiseled abs and chest resembled stone. Any other bitch would’ve humped his leg.
Misha picked me up again. I fought against his hold. It was a pointless effort. I may have been stronger and at least twice as big as the average spaniel, but I would never have been a match against a vampire. Even still, I was an extremely stubborn spaniel, and I let out a warning growl when he placed me on the bed. He threw back his head and laughed. In a way, I couldn’t blame him. How ferocious could I have possibly been? Nevertheless, I meant business, and I was going to bite him to prove it, but then he played dirty and rubbed my belly.
I hate to admit it, but it felt pretty damn good. My back leg started twitching and I melted in his hands. I relaxed, not enough to change back, but enough so I wasn’t so ornery. Misha took advantage of my momentary lapse of anger to get ready for bed. When he emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, I couldn’t help but gawk at him. If Greek gods walked the earth, Misha was Adonis. But when he slipped off the pajamas before climbing into bed, he was more reminiscent of Thor.
I jumped off the bed and grabbed his pants with my fangs, growling and shaking them at him. A big sly grin spread across his face. “Do you need to go for another walk?”
You’re just a funny, ha-ha comedian, aren’t you? Get the damn pants back on, Misha! I’ve had a rough day and I’m feeling really vulnerable.
“Bark, yip, yip, bark, growl, woof, woof!”
He knew I didn’t approve of his behavior and yet he picked me up and laid me against his chest. “My darling, I have not worn clothes in my bed for well over a hundred years.”
Misha’s chest was warm and comforting. He stroked my head in rhythmic and hypnotic movements. I struggled to resist his charms, but I was fading fast. Somehow, I managed to jump down and retrieve his pants. He sighed as if he’d caught me rummaging through the garbage. “Very well. I will do as you ask. But no more barking, agreed?”
I turned my back to wait while he dressed. When he was done, he pulled me under the covers with him. After a few minutes of Misha stroking my head, I drifted off to sleep. I dreamed of Aric’s soft lips. How they swept across my skin the mornings he’d woken beside me, his body alert and craving my touch. My eyes blinked open. I was human again. And naked. I felt relaxed, warm . . . sexy. But the lips that sought me weren’t Aric’s. And this wasn’t our bed.
Misha’s tongue slid along my shoulder and to my neck in teasing strokes. His arm wrapped around my belly while his fingers tickled my skin. I turned to face him. “Misha—”
His lips immediately pressed against mine and he pulled me on top of him. My ni**les became erect upon meeting his bare chest. I jerked away from him and leapt out of bed, yanking a sheet with me to cover my body.
“Kitten, wait.”
“No, Misha. I can’t do this to me or to you. I’m going back to the guesthouse.” I moved like lightning, but it wasn’t fast enough. He blocked the door with his body.
“Why will you not surrender yourself to me?” he demanded.
Humiliation heated my skin. My body, desperate for touch, had responded to his. I couldn’t meet his eyes. “Because I can never be what you want.”
“That should be my response. If I stank of beast and howled at the moon, would I then be your match?”
Misha was bitter, hurt, and completely furious with me. At first, I expected him to lash out, either with more words or the violence he was capable of. He didn’t. Instead, he surprised me by stepping away from the door. He needed and deserved an explanation for my actions, but what could I have said? Anything would have been cruel. So I left, passing several vampires on my way out. They glowered at me, no doubt having heard our words. But their opinion of me didn’t matter; only Misha’s did. When I returned to the guesthouse, I slammed the door behind me. I slumped on the bed and reached for the phone.
Taran answered on the first ring. I spilled my guts like a disemboweled fish.
“Damn. I can’t believe you kissed Misha!”
Taran’s outburst wasn’t exactly a ray of sunshine I needed. “I didn’t exactly kiss him back, Taran. Like I said, he caught me off guard.”
“And you miss Aric,” Emme added softly. I wasn’t surprised to hear her gentle voice on the other end. Taran always put me on speaker when our other sisters were around.
“Yeah. I miss him. I saw him today, and his mother.”
“We know, Ceel,” Shayna said. Her voice lacked its typical liveliness. “He’d gone to the airport to pick her up and called us on the way back wondering if we knew where you were. He wanted you to meet Eliza . . . before she met Barbara.”
“She was naked in bed making out with Misha,” Liam said from some distance away.
I sat up in bed. “Oh, my God. Liam is listening in!”
“Are you sure, sweetie?” Emme asked.
“Yes, I’m sure! He just announced that I was naked and kissing Misha.” A thunderous roar erupted farther away. Aric’s thunderous roar. Oh. God.
I heard someone hurry away and throw open the door. “Liam!” Emme shouted. “Oh, no. What did you do?”
Taran yelled at Liam over Aric’s increasing growls. “For shit’s sake, Liam! Did you happen to tell Aric it was an accident and she left right away? Did you tell him that, Liam?”
Koda’s deep voice boomed in the background. “How do you accidently get naked and start kissing someone?”
“It’s not all that uncommon,” Bren interrupted. “It’s happened to me more than once.”
“There’s a shock,” Danny muttered.
My jaw unhinged. Good Lord. Did everyone know?
“I need you guys outside now!” Gemini yelled from farther away. “Aric is completely losing it.”
“Taran, please go to the window and see if you can put Aric to sleep,” Emme pleaded. “Someone’s going to get hurt.”
I heard Taran’s quick footsteps, presumably running toward the window. I grabbed some clothes and frantically began to dress. “Emme, tell Aric I’m coming. I need to explain—”
Taran interrupted. “Don’t, Celia. It’s over.”