Shadow Cursed (Shadow Falls Series Book 2)

by Lizzy Prince

  Hazel wraps me in a tight hug, and I mentally apologize for my crappy thoughts.

  “Hey! You started without me,” she scolds, but Remi just laughs and holds up her drink.

  “Not really. Lightweight here just had one drink so far.”

  “I haven’t had a full drink yet,” I defend, shoving Remi down so that Hazel can sit next to me.

  “I didn’t mean a full drink. I mean you literally took one sip out of your drink.”

  “It was two. Don’t be so judgy.”

  “Judgement free zone here, Bridge.” Remi holds up her hands and then grabs her drink. “Let’s go find someplace more comfortable to sit. This chair hurts my ass.”

  “If it wasn’t so boney, you wouldn’t have a problem with my chairs, Remi.” Dante smiles sweetly at Remi.

  “That’s the only time you’re going to be able to put the words bone and my ass in the same sentence, Sentire.” Remi blows him a kiss and hops off her chair, moving over to the living room where there’s a huge sectional couch and few chairs set up for conversation.

  Silas and Dante both chuckle, and I shoot Silas a sly smile and follow Remi. I brush my fingertips against the back of Silas’s hand as I walk by and hear rumble deep in his chest. Touching Silas might be a bad idea right now. I join Remi on the couch and try not to slosh my drink in the process.

  Hazel is sitting on a chair that looks like a piece of origami. She leans forward to say something but stops, frowning down at her seat as she squirms around trying to find a comfortable spot on the edge of the seat.

  “Uh, Bridget, you smell like Silas.” As soon as the words are out of her mouth, her eyes go wide. “Why the fuck can I smell you? Damn it. Alarik keeps forgetting to tell me shit about our bond. By the way, Silas smells nice.” She grins at me.

  My eyes float over to the bar where Silas and Dante are talking, the sight of them together almost too hot for normal human eyes to handle. Silas has a drink in hand, and I can’t help but smile when I see he also has a little umbrella, although it looks more like whiskey or scotch. Remi and Hazel are chatting about a customer who’d been at Hazel’s store earlier that week, and I occasionally make a noncommittal sound as though I’m paying attention. I watch as Silas pulls out his phone and answers a call. His voice is too quiet for me to hear his words, but when his eyes dart over to me, anticipation and worry builds in my stomach.

  Silas hangs up and crosses the room, coming up behind where I’m sitting on the couch. He leans down so he can speak in my ear, brushing a strand of hair back before he does.

  “There’s someone I’d like to go see. A wise woman who might be able to help with the curse.” My heartbeat picks up and excitement is quickly chased away by fear. What if she can help Silas? What if she can’t? What if he remembers and I’m just some girl he likes along the way to finding his mate? What if I am his mate?

  Silas presses a kiss to my temple, his lips warm and comforting. “Relax, Toots. It’s too soon to be worried about what we don’t know.”

  My lips are dry, and I take another long drink, knowing I’m going to be drunk off my ass. Looking over my shoulder at Silas, I nod. “Okay. I’ll wait to have my freak out.”

  “Will you come with me in the morning?” His finger draws a line down the column of my throat.

  “Poop!” I yell, and everyone stops talking. Four sets of eyes stare at me with varying degrees of surprise and amusement.

  “Bathroom’s down the hall, Bridget,” Dante calls out from behind the bar, and I dissolve into laughter.

  “Shit,” I squeak as some of my drink spills on my pants and then laugh even harder.

  “Everything okay, Toots?” Silas chuckles as he comes around to the front of the couch and sits on the table in front of me. Remi and Hazel go back to their conversation as if my outburst is a normal, everyday occurrence.

  I open my mouth wide and blow out a noisy breath as I get my laughter under control. “Sorry. You were touching me, and I wanted to do things…” I whisper, trying to keep Hazel and Remi—but mostly Remi—from hearing. Silas’s eyes go dark, his pupils dilate as understanding dawns. “I was just trying to keep from throwing myself on top of you.”

  Silas’s nostrils flare as he sucks in a breath through his nose. His eyes close, and I think he’s counting under his breath. “I need a drink.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Bridget

  Everyone is drunk. I wasn’t sure if supernatural beings could really get drunk, but yes, yes they can. Dante must have some unnaturally powerful liquor behind the bar because the three men are laughing and ribbing one another and giving each other shit. They have years and years of ammunition having known one another for so long. Their similar quick wit and easy sense of humor makes their friendship make sense.

  I’m not sure how everyone got this wasted. But it’s probably because Dante kept refilling everyone’s glasses before they were even empty. It’s like a self-filling cup. I swear I never get to the bottom of my drink. He takes his hosting responsibilities seriously, but it also makes it really hard to determine exactly how much I’ve had to drink. But based on how much I’m laughing, and the fact that I ended up in Silas lap at some point, I’d say it was a lot. I’m not naturally a very demonstrative person, but Silas brings out that side of me. Before him, I’ve never even kissed a guy in public. He blasted that milestone right out of the water when he screwed me in an alley and then did very sexy things to me in Alarik’s hallway. It’s like he sucks away all my inhibitions, and I no longer care what anyone else around me thinks. I suppose that could be both a good and a bad thing.

  Silas is just as drunk as the rest of us. His cheeks are charmingly flushed, and every time he looks at me, there’s unguarded lust in his eyes. His laughter is loud and booming, and Dante and Alarik keep setting him off. I think he finds Remi’s sarcastic dryness particularly funny because she’s had him laughing half the night. Turns out that Silas is also very handsy when he’s been drinking. I’ve spent the last half hour perched on one of Silas’s massive thighs. His hand started out semi-respectively on my lower back. Over the course of thirty minutes, it’s drifted down to my ass, up my shirt to touch the naked skin of my back, around my side, and now his fingertips are starting to dip beneath the waist of my pants.

  I lick my lips as I turn to look at him, already finding his eyes on my face. He has this look that can only be described as a lazy seduction, like a totally content animal sizing up his prey before he pounces. He smells so unbelievably amazing, as if just being this close to him has boosted his scent, and it’s invading all my senses. I swear it’s like a narcotic, and I’m dying to know if he tastes as good as he smells.

  My lids are half open as I drop my head to his neck, giving in to the need to press a kiss there. The hand on my lower back tightens and then continues stroking just below my pants. Silas’s breath hitches in his chest, and I see his throat move as he swallows. I dart out my tongue, barely licking the skin before my lips are back on his skin, and I feel the vibration in his throat as he groans. Silas shifts his head so that his face is buried in my hair, and I tremble, my hands digging into his shoulders before I rake my nails over his freshly-cut hair. Silas was hot before his haircut, but this new shorter style makes him look more polished. It’s not more or less hot, just a totally different level of gorgeousness. If he didn’t have me anchored so tightly to him, I’d be swaying, but there’s no escaping his hold. I’m beginning to learn that about Silas.

  The little group around us is quiet enough that it pulls my attention from Silas. At some point, everyone migrated to different parts of the room. Remi and Dante are back at the bar while Alarik and Hazel are in the kitchen. It looks like he’s making her a sandwich. Which means that Silas and I are essentially alone in the living room. I wish we had the whole house to ourselves or, better yet, were at Silas’s house. That’s not going to happen because no one is driving anywhere right now.

  Silas makes a small noise of irritation when I try t
o get up, but I quickly grab his hand with mine and pull him after me. He obeys without question, lacing his fingers through mine and following me as I lead him down a hallway toward the bedrooms. The fuzzy rational part of my brain is mumbling that this is a bad idea. That we should stay with the others, safety in numbers and all that, but I just want him all to myself. I want to touch him and taste every part of him. I’m drunk enough that it’s all perfectly sensible and reasonable.

  I open a door and find a bedroom, turning to Silas and arching a brow. “This isn’t Dante’s room is it?”

  “No.” He steps forward while I take a step back into the room. He closes the door behind him and leans against it, a sad smile on his face. I don’t want to see it there. I want his smile to be sly and knowing, sexy and confident. “What are we doing in here, Bridget?”

  I move back into his space, laying my hands on his stomach before sliding them across the hard muscles to rest on his hips.

  “All I could think about out there was how good you smell,” I say, bunching the soft fabric of his t-shirt until the barest hint of his skin is showing. It’s the most tantalizing strip of golden skin. I lift the shirt a little higher and lean in to press a kiss on his ribs.

  Silas’s huge hand tangles in my hair, but he’s gentle as he pulls my head back so that I’ll look up at him. “Bridget. I don’t want to get carried away. I don’t want to lose you a second time.”

  My fingernails graze over his sides, and his eyes slide shut as he takes a deep breath. I can feel the goosebumps on his skin, and I love that one little touch from me can do that to him. It feels powerful, like I have control over this situation for the first time since I met Silas. His words are reasonable, but I can’t stop myself. It’s like I’ve tripped a trigger, and now I can’t go back. Being with Silas at Alarik’s the other night for such a brief time has been the only physical contact I’ve had over the last year, and I’m dying for Silas’s touch. It’s as if I’ve been possessed by an animalistic need that’s pressing me to take Silas and make him claim me. I feel wild and out of control, but I kind of love it.

  “We won’t. I just want a little taste.” My voice is low, cajoling. I don’t give him time to think as I push his shirt up, forcing his arms in the air. He’s too tall for me to be able to get it over his head, but thankfully, he’s given up his protests and takes over when I can’t reach any further.

  My mouth brushes over his nipple, and I lick it, razing it with my teeth, before pressing kisses across his chest and one directly over his heart. My hands make quick work of his jeans, flicking open the button and unzipping before he can take another ragged breath. Backing up a step, I grab his hand and guide him to the bed, pushing down his jeans and boxer briefs in one move once we get to the edge.

  His cock springs free right in front of my face, and it is magnificent, just like the rest of him. I’m not exactly sure how we even fit together, but I know we do, and I know it was incredible. Thinking about how he moved inside me and seeing him waiting for my command sends an explosion of lust rippling through me. I want that again, but I know we can’t. Not yet.

  I push Silas back so that he falls back onto the bed, and then I giggle as I work his pants off his ankles.

  “Toots, it’s really bad to giggle when a man gets naked in front of you.” Silas’s words are saying one thing, but he’s got his arms under his head, stretching out every muscle in his powerful body in a display of perfection that has me drooling. All with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

  My eyes devour him, and his cock jumps a little just from the look. “Yeah. I can see you’re at real serious risk of being emasculated.”

  I drop to my knees in front of him, running my hands up his calves and over his knees to his thighs, pushing his legs open so I can fit myself between them. Silas’s green eyes are dark as they feast on the sight of me. I can feel the desire pulsing through his body, as though it's a physical entity that throbs around us with each heartbeat. Keeping my eyes on his, I wrap my hand around his cock and lick it from base to tip. Silas groans, and his head falls back to the bed when I take him in my mouth, swirling my tongue around the head and then taking him as deep as I can.

  I’m by no means an expert at giving head, but if the sounds coming from Silas are any indication, I’m doing just fine. One of his hands comes and catches in my hair, but he’s not pressing my head down. It’s like he wants that extra bit of connection between us. The more of him I take in my mouth, the more crazed we both become. That desire I felt in the air earlier has intensified, and my body is humming with need. My skin feels too tight and wrong, as if my body doesn’t belong to me any longer but is merely a vessel for pleasure.

  There’s something more than just Silas and I in this bedroom. It’s as if a force of nature has blown into the space and encapsulated the two of us. I don’t understand what it is. All I can do is feel the thrum of Silas’s heart beneath my fingers, the beat echoing inside my aching core at the same time.

  I pull back, panting for breath. My clothing is strangling me, too tight against my sensitive skin. I need it off. Silas sits up and stares at me, his eyes hazed with lust and need as his entire body shakes with raw need. I know he’s trying to control himself, but whatever strange impulse is bombarding me is happening to him too.

  “Bridget.” My name from his lips is hypnotizing, and I need to feel his skin on mine.

  I tear my shirt off as I stumble to standing, trying to get out of my jeans. Big strong hands are there helping me, and I cry out when a pulse of longing so strong it nearly buckles my knees rams into me.

  “Silas. I need you,” I cry out, feeling like I might die if he doesn’t touch me soon. I’m on fire, but my skin is freezing, and I need his warmth.

  My pants are gone in the next instant, quickly followed by my bra and panties. Silas picks me up and tosses me on the bed, but he’s on top of me before I can rebound. His mouth is on mine, feasting hungrily like a man starved his entire life. It’s more than a kiss. It’s a claiming, and I return his embrace with a ferociousness that would be alarming if I cared. Every inch of my skin was cold before he touched me, but now, with his weight settled on me, heat rages through me until a drop of sweat slides down my temple. Silas is so warm, so alive, and for the first time in a long time, maybe even my entire life, I feel really alive too. Like I’m fulfilling a destiny that I wasn’t aware existed. But now that I’m here with Silas, it’s like my eyes have been opened, and I know I’m exactly where I should be.

  “Bridget.” My name is a guttural exaltation as Silas settles between my thighs. I revel in the feel of his slick skin on mine as the hard press of his length slides against my aching core.

  The door slams open, and Remi and Dante fall into the room with a noisy crash.

  “Cock blockers at your service,” Dante sings in a high-pitched British accent.

  I squeal because I’m full-on naked, and Silas lets loose a hair-raising snarl in their direction, swiftly yanking a blanket over us.

  “I thought we were the beaver dams?” Remi slurs, tripping into Dante.

  “The pink taco locos?” Dante cackles, and the two assholes are bent in half, laughing at themselves. They hold each other up as they stumble into the room and launch themselves onto the bed. I cover my face with my hands as Silas shoves Dante off him. Getting up to find my shirt and his pants with a scowl on his face.

  I momentarily forget we have an audience as I watch Silas tug on his pants. How can putting clothes on be just as sexy as taking them off? My brain malfunctions as the fabric shifts up over his ass. He pulls up his zipper but leaves them unbuttoned. His muscles are taut, and the perfect V of his obliques point my eyes to his happy trail and then further down to the still-hard shaft that was between my thighs just minutes before.

  Silas grips Dante by the back of his shirt and yanks him off the bed. A pained grunt comes from the direction where I think Dante landed, but my eyes are locked on Silas as he brings me my shirt. He leans do
wn until his forehead is pressed against mine and stays there for the length of a few breaths.

  “Soon, Toots,” he murmurs and brushes his lips across my cheek as he walks out of the room.

  “I’ll be back. I need a run,” Silas calls over his shoulder, and I bury my face in my shirt, letting out a long, pained groan. Once that’s out of my system, I pull it on over my head and flop back onto the pillows.

  “Dante, are you alive?” Remi’s laying down on top of me, her stomach holding down my legs.

  “Jury’s out,” Dante grumbles from the ground, moaning loudly when he gets up. “I’ll just go see about our furry friend.”

  Dante leaves the room so it’s just me and Remi left. I shift my leg so my knee catches in her stomach.

  “Ow,” she whines.

  “That’s for interrupting.”

  Remi rolls off my legs and scoots up to my side, her face turning serious. “It’s for the best.”

  “I know. God. What were we thinking?” I grab a pillow and cover my face.

  “I don’t know that there was much thinking going on,” Remi snickers, and I sigh, throwing the pillow at her.

  “Thanks. I owe you one.”

  “Anytime you need a snatch protector, I’m your girl.”

  “Oh my God.”

  Remi dissolves into laughter, and I can’t help but join her. It’s short lived when the reality of what Silas and I almost did hits me. Crap. That was a really close call.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Silas

  After I left her in bed looking far too tempting, I’d gone out for a run until I burned off enough energy that I didn’t feel the need to tear my own skin off. When I get back to Dante’s, I find Bridget curled up on her side sleeping with Remi next to her. I’m surprised to find Remi still awake, her eyes following me as I come into the room.