Cursed in Love (Nora Moss Book 1)

by Zoe Ashwood

  “We’re too visible here,” I growl through my teeth. “We need to get inside.”

  Raphaël gives me a terse nod, and I lift my duffle bag, slinging it on my shoulder. Levi follows close behind us. We slink down the alley and into the covered bazaar. I’m disoriented from our wild ride through the city, and it takes me a minute to notice that we came in on the opposite side than before.

  A group of American seniors shuffles past us with exclamations of, “Oh, my gosh, would you look at that!” and “I want to get that gorgeous scarf for Carla’s Christmas present.”

  They clear away, and the path in front of us opens. On the other side of the passage stand two people, a man with a shaved head and a woman with a long blonde braid. The man’s gaze locks with mine, and he narrows his eyes.

  Out of some animal instinct, I yell, “Down!” and grab Levi’s and Raphaël’s hands, pulling them behind a stand overflowing with beautifully glazed pottery. With everything I have, I throw up a protective bubble of magic, creating a shield surrounding the three of us.

  The men crouch next to me, and Levi grips my fingers tightly, then releases me and closes his eyes, drawing on his own magic. A second later, the stand explodes in a thousand shards, and I shriek, covering my face with my arms. I look up to find the pots, plates, and bowls destroyed, but we’re untouched. My bubble stopped the shrapnel, and neither one of my men are hurt. The two Russian witches march toward us like creatures from some dark nightmare.

  Then the noise rushes in, panicked screaming and the sound of running feet as humans abandon their shops and flee, likely thinking that a terrorist attack occurred in the middle of their beloved bazaar. The American seniors are being shepherded at a slow trot by their terrified tourist guide, and they file out through the large stone doorway that we had entered through just moments earlier.

  The witches draw nearer, and Levi stands, extending his arms. A glowing orange net appears between them, and he sends it sailing forward at the moment the woman shoots another curse toward us. The net neutralizes the magic midair, though Levi takes the hit to his power. He grunts, pushing back, and the curse dissipates before landing on any of us.

  “Come on,” Raphaël calls, hauling me to my feet. “Move!”

  We rush around the corner, and I run as fast as I can, propelled onward by adrenaline and a sheer will to survive.

  “Didn’t the rules say the other contestants can’t hurt us?” Levi yells as he catches up with us.

  “No,” I gasp, “just that they can’t take our tokens!”

  “More running, less talking,” commands Raphaël who’s not even a little out of breath.

  Another curse comes flying right above my head, and I duck just in time. An acrid, nauseating smell tells me some of my hair got singed, and I hurriedly pat my head to make sure I’m not on fire.

  Then I grit my teeth and turn, bringing my hands together with a clap to form another spell. This one, I haven’t tried on another person before, just myself—I’d considered testing it out on pigeons in the park but couldn’t stomach the idea of hurting one. I’d cast it on myself and got well and truly stuck. The effect of the spell had barely started to wear off when Levi found me, and he’d broken through my enchantment, freeing me.

  The Russians are gaining on us, and my magic leaps up in panic. Raphaël tugs at my wrist to get me to keep moving, but I shake him off, and I’m vaguely aware of Levi telling him to let me do my job. I mold the energy with my thoughts, adding a muttered spell to direct it, and throw the curse toward the man, because he’s closer.

  He leaps to the side, avoiding the spell, but his wife isn’t so lucky. The spell hits her in the legs, and she stumbles, then freezes in midair, suspended. Her mouth opens on a scream, but no voice comes out. The man glances behind him and bites out a word in Russian, then turns to help her, leaving us free to escape.

  I flee, following Raphaël and Levi into a passageway and out through a side door.

  “What did you do to her?” Raphaël asks as we cut across a busy street and mingle with the panicked onlookers who are being herded behind a police barrier.

  “I slowed her down,” I say simply.

  It’s true—and I’m assuming she’ll be fine because her husband is probably a competent witch. If left on her own, she might starve or die of dehydration before the spell wore off. Back when Levi had found me, I’d been in serious danger of peeing my pants. I was lucky he’d returned home when he did.

  “We need to get to that car.” Levi glances over his shoulder. “I want to get out of the city in case there are others here.”

  “Good idea,” I agree. “I thought Egypt would be the least popular location. Shows what I know, huh?”

  Levi nudges me. “Hey, without your ninja skills, those two crazies would have blasted us apart.”

  Raphaël grins. “That leap behind the pottery stand was worthy of a gold medal for sure.”

  “Shut up,” I grumble. “Next time, I’ll let you get pulverized by witchy Russian assassins.”

  To my surprise, he laughs and slings an arm around my shoulders. “Oh, Nora. I was never in any danger.” He looks down at me, his hazel eyes twinkling. “But thank you for saving me.”

  I glance at Levi to see if he minds me being hugged by my ex, but his grin remains easy, unconcerned, even though I study him closely. We circle around the bazaar and finally stop in a shaded alcove off a residential street that’s quieter than the rest of the city center.

  Raphaël pulls out his phone and dials Aya’s number. He speaks in Arabic, muttering words I can’t comprehend. Maybe I’ll take up Arabic lessons after we return home. The list of things I’ll do after keeps getting longer, and it hits me that I’m putting my life on hold for a competition that’s completely insane.

  Again, I’m tempted to throw in the towel and quit.

  Then I think of my mom, and my stomach twists with guilt. I think of my dad and siblings, and my breathing speeds up as well-known panic claws at my throat. I need access to that library and its resources, and I’ll make damn sure that knowledge is available to witches worldwide.

  Fuck old covens. And fuck those who think they can hoard knowledge and keep it hidden from the rest of us.

  I grit my teeth and force my breaths to even out. Panicking won’t help us get to that cursed valley any faster. What will help is keeping a cool head and getting the fuck out of this city and away from murderous assholes who think that eliminating competition is the best way to win. Next time, I’ll hex them so hard, they won’t find their way out of the enchantment for weeks. I bounce on the tips of my toes and roll my head from side to side to loosen up my tight muscles.

  Levi raises his eyebrows at me in question, and I give him a feral grin in return. I probably look manic, but I don’t care. If I let myself get scared again, I’ll never finish this.

  Raphaël pockets his phone again with a curse. “Aya said someone came by their café, offering money for information on you. She’ll meet me now and hand over the keys, but she told me to come alone. I’m sorry, but after the explosion, I don’t think she’s eager to let anyone else know where their safe house is.”

  That complicates things. I can’t fault Aya for not trusting witches. I’m just glad the fight with the Russians didn’t damage her father’s café.

  “We’ll find somewhere to hide,” I tell Raphaël. “Until we have a way out of town, it’s not safe to be out on the streets if they have people searching for us. Any idea where we should go?”

  He purses his lips and looks down the street. Then, with a sudden grin, he says, “Come on, I know a place.”

  Levi and I follow him down the street and onto another, busier avenue, then into a warren of pedestrian alleys where most of the shops are food-related. We pass crowded restaurants offering everything from kebabs to Egyptian pancakes—whatever those are—until we finally stop in front of a pastry shop. Raphaël ducks in, so we do, too, and I murmur an apology to an elderly woman I graze with my bag in
the narrow entranceway. Raphaël is already at the counter, being charming, and before I know it, several banknotes disappear into the shop girl’s apron.

  She’s a rail-thin woman in her early twenties with a slightly crooked smile and beautiful brown eyes. I have no idea if she’s another one of Raphaël’s acquaintances or conquests or a friendly stranger he managed to bribe into helping us. She leads Levi and me behind the counter and up a narrow staircase, then shows us to a small office with a sink and a mirror in one corner, a cluttered desk and office chair in the other. A stack of cardboard boxes teeters by the wall.

  “Here,” the woman says, pressing a handful of sugar-dusted cookies in my hands. “Your snack. For waiting.”

  With that, she shuts the door in my face and locks it from the outside. The light switch doesn’t work, and the shutter of the narrow window is closed, leaving the room in semi-darkness.

  I turn to Levi. “Well, this is new.”

  He huffs out a laugh and leans against the wall. “I’ll say.”

  “What a day.” I cross the small space and join him. “I hope Raphaël and Aya will be okay.”

  “Don’t worry, he won’t lead the Russians to his friends,” Levi says. “We lost them, and if we’re lucky, they even got arrested by the human police.”

  “I doubt that,” I say, nibbling on one end of the cookie. “Oh wow, this is good.”

  The cookies are little confections made of almond paste and short, crumbly pastry, and the first one melts on my tongue with an explosion of flavor. I taste marzipan, sugar, and something else…maybe rose water? It’s amazing, and I pop another one in my mouth immediately.

  “Want one?”

  I offer them to Levi, but he shakes his head, his gaze unreadable. With a shrug, I eat the third cookie, then stash the rest in my backpack. Levi pushes himself away from the wall, and I freeze when he comes closer. Step by slow step, he invades my personal space, and though I can’t see him well, my other senses kick in—the taste of the cookies is still sweet in my mouth, and the sounds coming from the shop downstairs are muffled by the door. Instinctively, I inch back until my ass hits the rim of the sink, and I reach back to clamp the cool, smooth surface with my hands, steadying myself.

  The scuff of Levi’s boots on the wooden floor is too loud in my ears, and I smell his rich, intoxicating scent, so familiar and exciting. A warm palm touches my waist. I gasp, my hands flying up to rest on Levi’s broad chest.

  “Shh,” he whispers in my ear. “Don’t make a sound.”

  Our pursuers are still out there, and Raphaël is on a mission to help us, but all we need to do for the time being is wait here, out of sight. It sounds so simple, but after this afternoon, being trapped with Levi in this confined space is torture. No matter how well we pretended that nothing happened between us, our bodies can’t lie under the cover of darkness.

  His fingers twitch at my waist, drawing me a fraction closer, as though he can’t help himself. Under my palm, his heartbeat speeds up, and his warm exhale brushes my cheek. He’s right there, and resisting his gravity is becoming harder by the second.

  “Levi,” I whisper. “What do we do now?”

  He puts a finger to my lips, shushing me again. I press a kiss to his fingertip, then open my mouth to suck his finger. He hisses in a breath, but he doesn’t pull away.

  Gods, I can’t stop. I curl my hands into his t-shirt, grabbing the fabric. His palm slides to my ass, and he squeezes, rough but so, so right. I gasp, and he replaces his finger with his lips, kissing me deeply. It’s no sweet, slow caress but a claiming, a release of a pent-up need so powerful, it sweeps me away. I cling to him, letting him plunder my mouth, then lower my hands to his waist, where I fumble with the buttons of his cargo shorts.

  “Nora,” he breathes against my neck.

  I tilt my head to the side to give him better access, and he kisses his way down my throat, to the collar of my demure white blouse. What I want most of all is for him to rip it off me, to send the buttons flying, but only a thin wooden door separates us from the rest of the world.

  Levi seems to realize it, too, because he curses softly, then claims my mouth again. “I want to take my time with you,” he murmurs against my swollen, sensitive lips. “Take off all your clothes and worship you for hours. Fuck, you taste so good.”

  His words are too much, too fucking hot, so I put my hand over his mouth and shake my head, even though I’m not sure he can see me. Then I realize I can see him—a flash of his eyes in the semi-darkness, the lines of his beautiful face. And lower, under my palm, the outline of his thick erection straining against the fabric of his shorts.

  Earlier, every move he made was slow, deliberate, calculated to wring the most pleasure out of me. I saw the strain on his face as he held back.

  Right now, I don’t want him to hold back.

  “I need you.”

  My voice is a barely audible whisper, but his lean body goes rigid at my words.

  I don’t want to think, I only want to feel.

  “Levi, please.”

  I’m so wet and ready for him, it doesn’t even matter to me that someone could return and catch us here. A fever takes over me, and I kiss him again to show him how much I need him.

  Levi’s tongue delves into my mouth, and he lifts me against his strong chest. I cling to him with all I have, and when he pulls away, I whimper at the loss of contact. No, my body wails, come back!

  But he has other plans for me. In a swift move, he turns me around so I’m facing the sink, and palms my ass, squeezing almost painfully.

  He leans over me, puts his mouth right to my ear, and whispers, “Not a sound, Nora.”

  The command in his voice sends shivers down my spine. I brace my hands on the cold ceramic and arch my back on instinct, pushing my hips toward him. His chuckle is barely more than a huff of breath, but when his palms come around to pinch my aching nipples through my blouse, I don’t feel like laughing anymore.

  His hands travel lower, to the drawstring of my linen pants, and he tugs at it, then yanks my pants and underwear down in one swift move. I glance behind me, and in the gloom, I can’t see much but that he’s taking care of his own clothes.

  With a whispered word, he sends a shimmery veil of magic down between us, protecting us both, then grabs my hips and plunges inside me without warning.

  I cry out at the sensation that crashes through me, and he slaps a palm over my mouth, drawing me up so my back is flush with his chest.

  “Do you want them to find us?” he murmurs, then kisses my neck. “Or does that turn you on?”

  Not in my wildest dreams had I imagined that Levi would be a dirty talker. I’d thought he’d joke, yes, and laugh, but as he turns my head to the side to capture my mouth with his, I know this side of him is the deeper, secret one that he doesn’t show to anyone but me.

  I spread my feet as far as they go with my pants still around my ankles, and Levi pulls back, then slams inside me, the broad head of his cock dragging over my already clenching inner walls. Then I lift my gaze and face our shadowy image in the mirror: me, with my braid half undone, my eyes feverish and shining, and Levi behind me, dark and intent. His gaze meets mine, and he lets out a groan through clenched teeth, thrusting deeper than I thought possible.

  My legs tremble, and I’m just a breath away from an orgasm. If he touches my clit, I’m going to go off—

  Behind us, the lock rattles, then clicks over. I still, as does Levi, and I watch in horror as the door opens with a low creak. Barely biting back a scream, I grab Levi’s arm and sink my fingernails into his skin.

  In the light from the corridor, a man stands at the office door. I freeze with Levi still inside me, caught red-handed.

  Then the man steps forward and draws the door shut behind him. There’s the click of the lock, and a deep, throaty rumble, almost an animalistic growl. The man’s dark hair falls onto his forehead, and he swipes it back with a gesture so familiar to me.

  “Rapha�
�l!” I gasp as I realize who it is. “Oh, fuck. You— Oh!”

  Levi rocks into me, sending my thoughts scattering, and I look over my shoulder at him. Doesn’t he care that Raphaël is right here?

  Another thrust, and my eyelids flutter half shut with the pleasure of what he’s doing to me. Apparently, he couldn’t care less—or maybe he likes it. His eyes burn with a fire I haven’t seen before, and he picks up his pace, slamming his hips against mine.

  Raphaël steps closer, his gaze avid, roaming from my face to Levi’s and down to where we’re joined. His hands clench into fists at his sides as though he’s barely holding himself back. To have them both here, to feel Levi’s thick cock inside me as Raphaël watches, is beyond my wildest dreams. It’s too much, too much, too—

  I come, and Raphaël rushes forward to claim my mouth. He drinks the sounds I make and kisses me deeply. The sensations washing through me are more intense than anything I’ve ever experienced, and when Raphaël slips his fingers down to my clit, I come again, with Levi screwing me faster and faster.

  Then he climaxes, shuddering behind me, his lips hot on my neck. His hands clutch my hips as though he won’t ever let go.

  “Fuck,” he breathes, sounding as shocked as I am. “Oh, fuck, Nora.”

  Raphaël steps back, a smirk on his handsome face, and Levi pulls out of me, and I shiver at the sensation. He doesn’t let go of me, though, but presses a hot, open-mouthed kiss to the side of my neck. Then he pulls a tissue from his backpack and hands me one, completely unperturbed by the fact that Raphaël is still here.

  With flaming cheeks, I clean myself up, then bend over and yank up my underwear and pants.

  What in the world was that? The semi-public sex with Levi aside, what was Raphaël thinking, kissing me? The worst part, of course, is that I loved it. His firm lips on mine were so familiar, I want to weep with joy, but at the same time, I’m fully aware he’s my ex—and a vampire. There’s so much baggage between the three of us, I can’t see how a situation like this will play out.