Cursed (The Complex Book 0)

by Dylan Quinn

  This elusive Curse Catcher was the answer.

  “Geneva. Are you all right?”

  “Yes.”

  “May I ask you something?” Lennox said softly.

  She swallowed. “Okay.”

  “How did you get this curse?”

  She blew out a breath.

  Was she ready for that? Sharing her least favorite memory?

  Something inside her made her want to share with Lennox. There was something about this man that made her want to open up to him.

  She sighed, sucking in a harsh breath, then blew out slowly.

  “When I was eighteen and Human, I met this amazingly perfect man. My first love. As far back as I could remember all I’d ever wanted was to fall in love. Find my soul mate.” She scoffed at the word. “Then I found him. He was everything I’d ever dreamed of. And beautiful. And immortal. Stranded on earth, somehow. He opened up a whole world to me I never knew existed.

  “After a year or so, his people found him, and he told me he was leaving. I was heartbroken. I’d found my true love, and I wanted to go with him. But of course, he was immortal. I was Human. I knew in the end, it could never work. But a few days before he was leaving, this woman found me. She was alluring. Enigmatic. There was something about her that enticed me. She made me an offer. Said she knew a way for me to become immortal. No man could resist me, and I’d live forever giving love to others and get to be with my soul mate for eternity. Gods, I was so stupid.”

  Geneva closed her eyes, pressing her cheek into Lennox’s chest.

  She’d not told her story in ages and was surprised at the emotion returning in her.

  “So I took her offer. She pulled out this sword, said I had to die to become immortal, but it wouldn’t hurt. I fell asleep as she stabbed the sword through my chest. When I woke, I was inside this cocoon. Alone. I had to bust out of it, and when I did, my wings expanded on my back. These beautiful butterflies surrounded me, landing everywhere. My fingers, my toes. My nose. It was amazing and beautiful. But I couldn’t go home again, not like that. So I searched the forest for my lover, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I assumed he’d left me while I was in my cocoon, transforming into Cupid.

  “Weeks later, I was still alone and now distraught. Heartbroken. The woman who made me immortal showed up with my lover. Apparently he was hers first, and she swore I stole him from her. She told me because I tried to steal him, I was selfish and needed to be taught a lesson. She went on to explain the curse, said as long as I lived, I could never be loved again. It was my penance for taking what was hers. I sat by as she took the sword and killed my love.”

  Geneva inhaled as an unexpected tear slid down her cheek.

  “He died in my arms.”

  Funny how even after all this time, she still broke down at the loss. Though now she knew it was more over the loss of love in general than the lover she’d only known for a year of her mortal life.

  “A few years later, I met another Meta who told me I didn’t belong on earth anymore. So I left with her, and that was that.”

  “I’m very sorry, Geneva. You were just a child. You didn’t deserve that.”

  She shrugged.

  “All I know is I’ve served my time. Don’t get me wrong, it was actually fun for a while. Men adored me. Craved me. I could have any man I wanted. I could manipulate Metas into doing my bidding, but as soon as I got close to one, truly opened myself up, they found someone else or just left.”

  Lennox let out a sigh as he pulled her close.

  “We’ll find the Curse Catcher. I swear it.”

  “Doesn’t matter, Lennox. Either way, I’m dead already.”

  “Do you want to die?”

  That was a question. One Geneva had contemplated many times.

  One with no easy answer.

  “Not particularly,” she admitted. “But life without love—it’s just too much to bear.”

  Lennox was quiet for a moment as he held her close, strong arms keeping her safe. Making her feel accepted. Maybe even cared for.

  “You deserve to be loved, Geneva. Don’t ever doubt that.”

  As much as she wanted to believe Lennox, the sweetest words any man had spoken in over a thousand years, she had her doubts.

  No, she was resigned to her fate. There was no saving Geneva now.

  Not anymore.

  Chapter 9

  When Geneva woke in her bed the next afternoon, Lennox was gone.

  Of course he was.

  She’d be insane to think any man would ever stay.

  Geneva sat up and sighed, glancing out the balcony door overlooking a park in the Forest Dome of the Complex.

  Telling Lennox about her curse had been a mistake.

  She didn’t need his pity. She hated that look. The look of someone who couldn’t do anything for her.

  Now she’d have to see it every time they spoke. Things would be awkward from now on.

  Super.

  As she leaned back onto her pillow, her bedroom door opened, and Lennox strutted in with a tray of food.

  She abruptly sat back up, narrowing her gaze. “You’re here.”

  “Where else would I be?” He chucked. “Are you hungry?”

  “Starving,” she said dryly, still shocked at his presence.

  He let out a laugh. “Good. I made you a meal.”

  “Wait.” She narrowed her eyes. “You cooked? Where did you find food?”

  “I went to the Uni Grocer in the Main City. Picked up a few things.”

  Her eyes widened, prompting his grin.

  “Glad I can surprise you,” he said.

  “Color me shocked.”

  He sat beside her, setting the tray of food over her lap. “I hope you like it, I wasn’t sure what Cupid’s eat.”

  She let out a laugh. “I was Human, so I eat what the Human’s do. This looks great.”

  She picked up a piece of toast with fruit jelly on it and took a bite.

  “I was on earth once,” he said. “Long ago. Briefly before it was destroyed. It was a beautiful planet before the Great War wiped it out. Believe it or not, Jenexa was of earth. A Human hybrid witch.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded.

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “No, you wouldn’t have.”

  “I understand why you wouldn’t want to speak of her,” she said. “I don’t much like discussing my Human days either.”

  “Do you miss being Human? Mortal?” he asked.

  “Hell no, not mortal.” She shrugged. “I do miss the possibilities, though.” Geneva popped a strawberry into her mouth.

  Lennox pulled off his shirt and sat beside her, nothing but a pair of pants. His chest was tan. Strong. Lines left a path that crossed over his perfect abs.

  Geneva bit her lip, staring at the muscles she so desperately wanted to trace with her tongue.

  Lennox kept his gaze to the Cupid’s as hers wandered over his body.

  “You’re a stunning woman, Geneva.”

  Her gaze crept up to meet his.

  “Not because you’re Cupid. Because your heart.” He leaned closer. “It shines beyond the wall you’ve build around it.”

  Something nudged inside Geneva then.

  Butterflies?

  Holy shit.

  Butterflies.

  “May I?” Lennox asked low, nodding to the tray of half-eaten food.

  She nodded, speechless, as Lennox moved the tray away from her lap, then inched closer, his hands gently holding her cheeks, his gaze burning into hers.

  Normally feeling the emotions of Metas or Humans had little effect on her but at that moment, as Lennox undressed her with his eyes, something pulled at her from deep inside, setting the once grounded butterflies into flight.

  “I’m going to kiss you now,” he whispered. “Kiss you like you’ve never been kissed before. Not out of sympathy. But because you deserve to be kissed fiercely. And if I can prove nothing else, at the very least, you’ll
know you deserve so much more than this life has given you. You are not your curse, Geneva Jayne.” He gazed deeply into her eyes. “You deserve to be loved.”

  Lennox brushed his lips against hers softly. Slowly.

  Fiercely.

  Just as he promised.

  Tingles raced through Geneva, from her lips, to her fingertips, all the way down to her toes, forcing tremors through her entire body, waking it to emotions she’d not had in years.

  Thousands of years.

  Something about his kiss woke the Cupid. Sleeping places she’d long since shut away out of fear sparked to life.

  His kiss explored her lips torturously slow as Lennox held her cheeks then roamed his hands across her jaw, over her shoulders and down to her hips, where he held them firmly.

  “Geneva,” he whispered between kisses. “I do want you.” His lips hovered above hers. “I’ve wanted you for years. I’ve longed to touch you. To kiss you.” He lightly dragged his thumb across her bottom lip. “To be inside of you.”

  “Me too,” she whispered back, feeling Lennox’s pulse increase, rushing like her own.

  Lennox released her cheeks then stood slowly, stripping away his remaining clothing.

  Geneva gazed at the naked man of beauty standing before her.

  His tall, tan form was etched out like a god. Every muscle defined, her favorite being his abs and his ass.

  “Wow.”

  Lennox smirked at the Cupid’s child-like reaction.

  There was something regal about the Watcher. Something different than the other men she’d been with.

  Lennox was quite possibly the oldest man alive, yet he looked like a thirty-something demigod.

  And for this moment, he was all hers.

  Lennox stepped toward the bed and climbed in beside her. “Lay down, beautiful.”

  Goose bumps raced, shivers chased them over her sensitive skin as she obeyed her lover’s command.

  Everything about Lennox made Geneva weak.

  Everything.

  From his defined muscles, to his hypnotic blue eyes, and that low, raspy voice.

  His presence alone was commanding and fierce.

  Consuming.

  Lennox was the one man Geneva could not resist and for this night, finally, she wouldn’t have to.

  His gaze roamed over her form, from her red hair to her painted toes. He laid down beside her and stared as she waited anxiously for him to make a move.

  He didn’t. Only with his eyes. Gazing at her like she was the first woman he’d ever seen.

  Finally, Lennox touched her jaw, tracing gently across her lips with his fingertips.

  “Geneva Jayne. You are the most breathtaking woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.” He kissed along her neck, gently breathing across her cheeks. “I’ve longed to ravish you. To fuck you so hard, you scream my name. But for today,” he whispered low. “For this moment, what you need more than anything, is for a man to make love to you. To show you. Prove to you that you are not your curse.”

  Geneva was speechless.

  Something about Lennox’s words brought a tear to her eye and fire into her soul.

  “If I can’t love you with my heart,” he whispered. “At the very least, I will love you with my body.”

  Geneva held her breath as the Watcher’s strong yet gentle touch embraced her cheeks, and he erased the space between them, his lips just fractions from hers.

  “Let me make love to you, Geneva.”

  “Yes,” she instinctively agreed.

  Lennox’s kiss overtook her. Soft and gentle. He ran his tongue along her lips then gently pressed inside, exploring her mouth deliberately slow.

  Passionately.

  Lovingly.

  Lennox’s touch explored her body while he kissed along her neck and down over her shoulders.

  One touch woke her soul.

  She was falling for Lennox.

  Hard.

  It’d been so long since a man offered any emotion with his physical touch.

  Geneva felt so fucking needy, her body and soul craving his love. Craving his soul.

  Lennox’s lips reached her right breast, dragging his tongue around her nipple, sucking it in and gently tugging with his teeth as his hand traced circles over her left breast.

  Slowly, he kissed along her sensitive skin, working his way down over her belly. Soft kisses peppered across her skin while his hands continued their exploration above.

  One inch at a time, Lennox kissed down her wanting body and gently parted her legs, his warm breath breezed across her core, forcing anticipatory tingles racing to her fingertips, waiting to feel him where she begged for his touch.

  Geneva arched her back, her toes digging into the sheets as Lennox ran his tongue between her thighs, meticulously dipping between them.

  Flicking her clit and sucking on her sensitive folds, his mouth worked gently, increasing the intensity as her body responded to his touch, her first orgasm building to overtake her.

  The shear force of emotion coursing through Lennox’s soul sent Geneva’s into a tailspin.

  He wasn’t just pleasing her with his body.

  His heart was open.

  This.

  This was the something more she’d waited a thousand years for.

  One finger sunk deep inside her core as his thumb circled her clit. Two more fingers pushed inside, searching for that secret place that would bring the Cupid to orgasm once more.

  “Lennox, my gods. I want you inside of me.” She groaned, reaching down, running her hands through his lush, brown hair.

  “Patience, my girl.”

  His voice, the low, sensual tone sent shivers racing once more as Geneva tried to block out everything but the sensation of his touch, to embrace the butterflies taking over her form.

  A moment later, Lennox buried his head back between her thighs, exploring every inch with his velvety tongue once more.

  “Mmm.” He hummed. “I’ve been dying to taste you.”

  Geneva closed her eyes, clearing her mind, focusing on Lennox as his touch seared her core, flicking her clit fiercely, forcing her first orgasm to overtake her.

  “Good girl,” he whispered. “Gods, baby. You taste so sweet.”

  Geneva cried out while she trembled, her orgasm continuing to rock her soul, then finally ebbing as Lennox’s tongue began its retreat.

  Lennox kissed up her thighs, dragging his tongue along her sensitive skin until he reached her lips, sinking them into hers.

  “Taste how sweet you are,” he moaned, plunging his tongue inside her mouth.

  “Gods, Lennox. I need you inside me.” Geneva moaned.

  For a brief moment, Geneva felt her heart racing. This wasn’t just about sex for her.

  She had feelings for Lennox.

  It forced her pulse to speed on, out of both fear and excitement. What if this ruined everything?

  Stop. She would put that all aside.

  One night.

  If one night with Lennox was all she had, she wasn’t going to ruin it with fear.

  Geneva reached down, wrapping her hand around his hard cock, stroking briskly with anticipation, anxiously waiting to feel him inside her.

  “Geneva.” Lennox groaned. “Gods, baby, do I want to make love to you.”

  “Yes.” She moaned into his mouth once more. “Gods, please.”

  “One more,” Lennox whispered. “I want you to come for me one more time.”

  His sat alongside her, never taking his gaze from hers.

  Lennox licked his fingers, then pressed his thumb down around her clit, circling torturously slow, then faster. Pressing his fingers back inside, he continued to rub her clit, the rhythm quickening, building up to her next orgasm.

  Geneva was no stranger to multiple orgasms, but it’d been centuries since any man cared to give them to her.

  Lennox was different.

  He sensed what she needed, and he gave it to her, without her asking a thing.

 
“Fuck,” she cried out as her core went numb, tremors racing through the Cupid, legs trembling as another orgasm rocked her body.

  “That’s my girl.”

  There was pride in Lennox’s words, and it made Geneva want him even more, her heartbeat racing, beads of sweat pooling on her forehead.

  “Please,” she implored. “Lennox.”

  “Are you ready, baby?” His words and sultry voice increased the tremors that had started to subside.

  “Gods, yes. Please. Make love to me.”

  Lennox climbed over her, his hard body pressing gently to hers. His dripping cock hovered over her core, gently pressing along her belly and over her clit, forcing another orgasm to build deep inside her.

  Lennox gazed hungrily into Geneva’s eyes as he braced her cheeks with his palms.

  “My pleasure, Geneva.”

  Geneva’s eyelids fluttered, trying to close, but the Watcher’s hypnotic gaze, those soul-searching blue eyes captured hers, and she couldn’t escape.

  Lennox positioned his hips over hers, slowly pressing his hard cock deep inside her, finding their rhythm, sating not just her body, but her hungry soul.

  “You deserve so much more,” Lennox whispered as he made love to Geneva. “So if I have to spend eternity loving you with my body because I cannot love you with my heart, then so be it. One way or another, Geneva Jayne, you will be loved.”

  Geneva had been with plenty of men since she was cursed. She’d fucked them hard, pleasuring her body to compensate for that which her heart could never have.

  But today, for this one precious day, Lennox knew exactly what Geneva needed, and he gave her that.

  Hope.

  Lennox showed her love.

  And even if it were just an illusion, she would carry this memory with her until she took her final breath.

  Chapter 10

  Lennox left Geneva’s apartment the next day completely sated.

  And utterly out of his element.

  Emotions were rising inside of him, ones he’d not experienced in years.

  Finally, he saw Geneva. The woman she really was.

  And it only made him want her more.

  Lennox hopped on his Intra Flyer, then made his way toward Reanna’s.

  As wonderful as last night was with Geneva, today, he had work to do. Today’s mission was to make sure Reanna was safe and to do some follow-up on Geneva’s vision.