Curse Marked: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Marked Series Book 1)

by Rinna Ford

  I looked around the bathroom some more and noticed that the bathroom was built for two people. There were two sinks, two toothbrush holders, and two towel racks. It was definitely large enough for two people to move around in it easily at the same time.

  I continued looking around and saw that there was another door beside the linen closet, so I went to investigate some more. I opened it to see a closet straight out of my dreams, only it was half-full. One side was filled with all kinds of clothing that a man like Xander would have, from jeans and sweatshirts to suits and even a tux. But in the empty half, there were only hangers. There was a floor to ceiling shoe rack in the middle as well as another built-in dresser made for whatever someone chose to store there. It was obviously meant for a woman to use.

  Xan did say that when he built this house it was for his future mate. It was obvious from all the details he put in the design and execution, from the bathrobes to the sound of the creek running behind the bedroom. He’d thought of everything, and my heart swelled with emotion thinking about it. He may not have known his mate would be me, but everything he did in this part of the house was something I would have wanted. Maybe in the back of his mind, he did think of me. My mate was making it very hard to stay mad at him.

  I exited the closet and the bathroom, walking into the large, sunny bedroom. My backpack was sitting on the bed along with a couple of summer dresses, but there was no Xander to be seen. I picked up each dress, one at a time and decided that they were probably from Della’s own wardrobe. They looked like something she would wear, so obviously, they were gorgeous, but there was no way I could wear them. All but one of the dresses had thin straps holding up the bodices, while the other was completely strapless. If I wore any of these dresses, my mark would show and I just couldn’t let Xander’s parents see it. It was too risky.

  Sighing, I laid the dresses carefully on top of one another on the bed then opened up the backpack. On top, I found the entire set of clean clothes that I put in it including a pair of leggings and a flannel shirt. I reached inside, and as my fingers closed around the clothing, the back of my hand brushed against something hard. Confused, I sat down on the edge of the bed. Taking the clothes out of the backpack I looked down to see one of Dev’s spellbooks sitting underneath.

  I put my hand over my mouth and let out a small sob as I took it out of the bag with my other hand. I ran my fingers gently over the title, and I knew somehow Dev had put this in my backpack. He wanted me to have this.

  I carefully began lifting the cover, but just as it was about three-quarters of the way open, I heard a light knock on the door. Panicked, I shoved the book back in my backpack and zipped it up. I pushed it into one of the drawers of the nightstand.

  “Yes,” I called out, wiping the tears from my face.

  The doorknob turned and Xan stuck his head inside. “Hey. I just wanted to make sure that you didn’t fall asleep or something.” He smiled his trademark handsome smile, but then it fell when he took in my tear-stained face. He walked all the way into the room and closed the door. “Honey, we’ll get through this, I promise you.” Xan wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest.

  I really loved that man and he was making it impossible to stay mad at him like I wanted to. “Thank you,” I murmured against his button-down shirt. “I’ll be okay, I promise.” I decided not to tell him about the spellbook yet. With Xan’s parents waiting for us, we didn’t need to keep them waiting any longer than necessary. Besides, it wasn’t really something he could help me with.

  I pulled away, giving Xan a small, unenthusiastic smile, and reached for the sports bra and panties. "Do you have a comb I could use?" I asked Xan as I stripped off the bathrobe and began getting dressed.

  Xan's eyes darkened and he took in my semi-naked form. "In the bathroom," he replied, his gaze never leaving me as I got dressed. "Middle set of drawers, second from the top." Shaking my head and smiling, I finished buttoning my shirt and began looking for my boots. Once Xan realized that I was completely clothed, his eyebrows furrowed. "Not that you don't look nice, but why aren't you wearing one of the dresses my mom left for you?"

  "They're gorgeous, but they'd show off my mark," I explained. "I don't think it's a good idea for your parents to see them, especially your father." I shifted to the other foot and picked up one of the dresses, looking down at it, uncomfortable with the conversation. "I mean, they're not casters, but I'm sure they can pick out a curse when they see one. I don't want to make your dad any more suspicious of me than he already is."

  His face softened as he removed the dress from my hands, laying it back down on the bed, and then brought me in for another hug. "You're right," he told me. "I'm sorry, I didn't think of it. And don't worry about my dad. He's suspicious of everyone. That's what makes him good at his job."

  I pulled out of his arms, suddenly angry again, and quickly walked back into the bathroom in search of the comb. "Don't remind me," I growled, remembering that Chei Yun was the reason I was ultimately in this mess. Him and the duty to his 'job.'

  I slammed opening and closing drawers looking for the comb, forgetting where Xan said it was. This went on for way longer than it should have, but I just couldn't find it. "Second drawer from the top," Xan said from the doorway. He was leaning against it with his hands in his pockets looking a little embarrassed himself. I found it in the exact place he told me it would be and began combing the knots out of my long hair. "Sorry. I didn't think about what I was saying. Of course, you think my father had something to do with what happened to you and your family. I can see how you would think that."

  I stopped the comb halfway down my hair and stared at his reflection in the mirror in anger. "You can see how I would think that? Are you fucking serious?!" I whipped around, tightly holding the comb in one hand. "I..."

  Before I could rip him a new one, there was another knock on the bedroom door. "Xander, Anne, are you two alright?" Della called from the other side of the door.

  "We'll be right out, Ma," he replied loud enough for her to hear.

  "Alright, darling." I heard the click-clack of her heels as she walked away, back down the hall.

  In a lower voice, he said to me, "Emi, no matter what you think, my father didn't make this happen to you. He didn't make your parents..."

  "Don't you dare finish that sentence, Xander Liu," I growled and held up the comb as if it were a weapon. "Because what you’re saying could be the end for us. My parents did nothing wrong besides loving one another, and the product of that is me. You're saying that I should have never been born and honestly, why would I want to stay with someone who feels that way?"

  "Oh, don't be dramatic," he told me and took a step closer. "I wasn't saying that."

  "You were going to say that your dad didn't make my parents have a relationship, and you're right about that. He didn't. But the law is fucked up and you know it, mate." I turned back around to the mirror and continued combing my hair. "If you want to get technical, you're breaking the law by bonding yourself to me willingly, as well as harboring a fugitive. You should just turn me in like Ronan was going to."

  "I would never do that," Xan growled.

  "Please go and tell your parents that I'll be right out," I interrupted, effectively ignoring anything else he was going to say.

  "We're not done talking about this," he told me in a low voice, and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

  I sagged against the counter, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. But no, I wouldn't cry over this. I knew where he stood, and if he decided to turn me in, I could run by myself. I had been on my own for years. I could do it again.

  I finished combing my hair, putting it back where I found it. I hid my backpack in the back of a drawer in the closet and left the sanctuary of the bedroom to face the lion's den

  "There you are!" Della smiled as I walked into the kitchen where everyone was seated. Her eyebrows scrunched together. "Did you not like the clothes I le
ft for you?" she asked.

  "No! I loved them!" I exclaimed. "I just felt like I would be a little cold if I wore them. I'm always cold."

  "Hmmm. I am sorry! I’m used to the cold and I tend to assume that everyone else is too! Forgive me, mon ange."

  I gently smiled back at her. She was just so nice. "There's nothing to forgive."

  Della ushered me to the dining room table where there were trays upon trays of delicious smelling food. A normal person would have thought that she was going to feed an army with the amount of food there, but I realized since my change that this was pretty standard for a family of shifters, especially four fully grown ones.

  Xan and his father joined us at the table, my mate sitting across from me, and Chei Yun to my left. I locked eyes with Xander, but it seemed as if neither one of us were budging on our earlier argument because his eyes were cold. Definitely not the usual loving look that he had whenever he was looking at me. I returned the look right back to him until a tray of food was shoved in my direction.

  Chei Yun was holding out a plate for me to take. "Is everything alright between you and my son?" he asked as I took it from him.

  "It's okay, Dad. We just had a disagreement," Xan told his father and eyed me while putting food on his plate.

  "It's too early for you two to be fighting!" Della exclaimed. "You're bonding is still so new! Why, we didn't have our first squabble until we had been a mated pair for many years, right mon amour?" She looked to her husband for confirmation. He nodded his head and continued to put food onto his plate.

  "It was nothing," I assured them. "We will get over it together soon, I'm sure."

  "As long as it's nothing too serious." Della looked genuinely concerned, and if she knew the reason for our 'disagreement,' then she certainly should.

  "It's not," Xan assured her, then put a forkful of food into his mouth.

  "Well, okay," Della smiled and begun eating her food as well. "Since we know you are alright, mon chéri," she said to Xander after swallowing a bite of food, "your father and I will be leaving after lunch tomorrow, if you feel comfortable letting us stay the night, of course."

  Xan picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. "Of course, Ma. You know you and Dad are always welcome here."

  "I know, but that was before you found your mate!" She swiped her hand toward me in a friendly, loving manner. She was genuinely excited for her son. I wondered if she'd be excited once she found out exactly who I was.

  "Xan's right," I said, "you and Chei Yun are always welcome here." I smiled at her then her husband, to find him watching me intently once again. My smile faltered as I begun to worry again, and I busied myself with my food.

  My nerves stayed with me for the rest of dinner. Della seemed to be the kind of friendly person that talked a lot, but even her warm personality didn't help me forget about Chei Yun's probing stare. Xan, much like his father, spoke only a little, so that left me to carry on the conversation with Della.

  She wanted to know about my family and where I was from, and the lies rolled smoothly out of my mouth as if they were the truth. But I learned at a young age in foster care, that the easiest way to tell a convincing lie was to tell a partial truth with it.

  "My parents died when I was a child," I told them. "I barely remember them as it is, but I know that I didn't have any other family, and my parents were pretty isolated from the paranormal community. When they died, I was picked up by the human authorities and put into their foster care."

  "I don’t remember anything like this," Chei Yun replied, sitting up straight in his chair, making me even more nervous.

  "Hush," Della told her husband. "Despite what you think, you do not know everything that happens in this world, especially when it comes to human affairs." She turned back to me, "Go on, mon ange, we won't interrupt you again."

  I smiled as best I could at her and Chei Yun. "It's okay. I assumed that the Council didn't know anything about it because my parents didn't fully immerse me into the community. In fact, I didn't even know I was a dragon shifter until my first shift. Thank goodness I was completely alone and on a camping trip!"

  "Yes, that would have been bad," Della agreed.

  "How old were you when you first shifted?" Chei Yun asked.

  "Just a few weeks ago. I am twenty-five years old," I replied. I decided that I should lie about my age, hopefully throwing him off even more. His eyebrows raised up his forehead, but before he could speak, I said, "Xan told me that twenty-five is extremely late for a female shifter, so we assumed that it was because my parents somehow suppressed my dragon when I was a child, otherwise it wouldn't be possible."

  "Definitely not possible unless they had some caster help, I imagine. I shall do some research for you," Chei Yun told me and begun to rise from his chair.

  I put my hand on his forearm, stopping him midway up. "It's really not necessary," I said. "To be honest, I don't want to know. I feel like I'm better off just letting it go." Tears sprung to my eyes, and he mistook them for something other than fear of him finding out the truth.

  "Okay," he replied. "I will do as you ask, and leave it alone, Anne."

  "Thank you, Chei Yun," I wiped the tears from my eyes, and turned toward Della. "Can I help with the dishes?"

  "That would be lovely," she replied. "I can have the chance to get to know you even better!"

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chei Yun and Xan cleared the table while Della and I did the dishes. If I didn't think my new mother-in-law wasn't fancy enough, she even used gloves to clean. "I simply cannot ruin my manicure," she smiled and stuck her covered hands in the soapy water. Apparently, it was a supernatural thing, because much like my uncle, she didn't believe in dishwashers either. It made my heart hurt to think about Dev and Ainsley, but I smiled and hid the sadness as best as I could.

  After the dishes were put away and the kitchen was cleaned, I excused myself to my and Xan's bedroom. "I've loved spending time with you both, but I feel like I'm going to fall asleep standing up," I joked. I turned to my shifter mate to see if he'd help me or throw me under the bus. It could go either way with how cold he had been acting toward me since our argument.

  "I'm going to go say goodnight, then I'll be right back," he told his parents and put his hand lovingly on the small of my back.

  Before he could usher me toward the hallway, Della wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug, and whispered in my ear, "Thank you for loving my son. I know things are hard right now, but it will get better because you will always have each other. Remember my words, mon ange." She pulled away, gripping my upper arms, then returned to her husband's side. Chei Yun lightly bowed his head towards me, as I turned and walked away.

  Xan and I walked all the way down the hall in silence. I would have been happy to continue it even after we got into the bedroom, because of how physically and emotionally exhausted I was, but I knew I needed to talk with Xan. Whether he was with me or not, I needed to know.

  He closed the French doors behind us and turned to face me. "Emi, you're not going to hear me say these words very often, so keep them in your memory." I took a breath, staring into his eyes and waited for him to continue. "I was wrong. You are right to be angry with me because even though my father is a good man and a good shifter, he did the wrong thing by turning you in. He's the smartest person I know, but he made the wrong call, and it cost you your parents, your childhood, and even Devlin and Ainsley. I'm sorry."

  "It's okay," I began to say, but Xander interrupted me.

  "I’m not done," he told me and took a step closer to me. He licked his lips and continued. "When I was defending my dad, it didn't occur to me that by saying that he didn't make your parents get together, that it meant that you wouldn't have been born and that you wouldn't have been mine. It also didn't occur to me, that you and I are in the same position your parents were in. Even though we are fated, bound mates, our relationship is still forbidden, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I've loved you since we were children
, Emi, and I'll love you until the day I die, many, many years from now. I loved you when I thought you were dead, so please, don't ever doubt that I cherish your existence again."

  I didn't realize that I was holding my breath until I let it out quickly and tears stung my eyes. I quickly nodded my head. "Okay," I told him and threw myself into his arms. I kissed his lips to show him how much that meant to me, and how much I loved him in return. His words meant everything to me, and I made sure that he knew it.

  I wanted to stay wrapped in his arms for the rest of the night, but I remembered why I wanted to come to the bedroom. "Xan, we need to stop," I murmured, against his mouth.

  "Why?" he asked as he kissed down the column of my throat, and began unbuttoning my shirt. "I'm a grown man, and even if I wasn't, shifters are open to the idea of sex. They even encourage it when two mates find each other. I know my parents don't care whether we're in here fucking or not, so again, why do we need to stop?"

  He might as well have dumped a bucket of cold water over my head. I quickly separated myself from him and buttoned up the few buttons that he had managed to undo. "Please, please don't ever say that your parents think or even encourage our sex life ever again, especially when we're about to have sex!" I hissed and turned around to face him. Xan had his hands on his hips, smiling devilishly.

  "You know it doesn't bother you that much," he chuckled.

  He was right, and I wasn't going to let him know that. I decided to just change the subject, to see if he'd follow, or if he'd try to fuck me again. "I found something in my backpack earlier. Something that I didn't put in it when I packed it."

  That got his attention. "What was it?"

  I held out my hand, and within seconds, Dev's spellbook appeared. "This," I told him and handed it to him. "It's Devlin's. He told me to wish for my backpack when we were at the cabin being attacked, remember? I wondered how he knew that I had it, but I didn't think too hard about it until I saw this. I don't know when or how he put it in there, but that's definitely my uncle's. I've seen him look through it many times."