Shadow Cursed (Shadow Falls Series Book 2)

by Lizzy Prince

  “Silas,” I croak out, my throat dry and aching, and I try to swallow back my fear. I don’t even have to touch his skin to feel the heat radiating from his skin. He’s flushed, and his eyes flicker open and closed, but they look glazed and unfocused. My hand presses against the flame of his cheek, and he groans, turning into the touch. No doubt my hands feel like ice against him. I can barely feel them at all they're so numb.

  Dante and Dylan are at my side for a moment before they move around the room. Dylan is in the kitchen getting a glass of water, and Dante is… somewhere out of my line of sight.

  “What can we do? Is there something we can give him for the poison?”

  “He’s just going to have to work it out of his system,” Dante calls out as he comes from the back hallway, a damp washcloth in his hand. “Try to keep him cool.”

  I reach out and grab the cloth without consciously moving my arm, gently wiping down Silas’s face and neck. I consider throwing a blanket or tossing a pillow over his waist, because he’s totally naked, and even though he’s not in his right mind, it’s still an impressive sight. I’m not a prude, but the thought of bringing more attention to his junk, just hanging out in the wind, makes me blush. Dylan hands over the glass of water to me as she purses her lips together, obviously hiding a smile.

  “Let’s see if we can get him to take a drink,” she says as she gets behind the arm of the couch and pushes up Silas’s shoulders. I wrap my arm around his back, but I’m basically ineffectual. Not helping Dylan lift him at all. Still, we somehow manage to get him to drink some water, and it feels like a huge achievement.

  “He’s fine being naked, by the way. Wolves are pretty comfortable with it.”

  I make a half-hearted attempt to laugh, but I’m too worried about Silas. His skin is flushed with fever, but he starts shaking, wracked with chills. This time, I don’t hesitate to pull the blanket draped on the back of the couch off, laying it over as much of his body as it will cover.

  “Should we move him to his bed?” I wish there was something more that I can do.

  “His ass is way too heavy,” Dante chimes in from the kitchen, rifling through Silas’s cupboards, apparently looking for something to eat.

  “You’ll just have to wait him out, little baker. Why don’t you snuggle up next to him on the couch? That’ll help,” Dante tosses over his shoulder as he digs through a drawer, crowing with victory when he finds a bag of Red Vines. Deciding that Dante is right, even if he’s an ass, I kick off my shoes and climb onto the couch beside Silas. There’s barely a sliver of space for me since Silas’s huge body is sprawled out like a starfish. But Silas must sense me close, even in his delirious state, because he lifts his arm, slinging it over my shoulder and dragging me in close to his body.

  I don’t know what Dante and Dylan are doing, and I don’t care. Hell, I don’t even know if they’re still in the house. All that matters is that Silas has settled beside me, calmed by the connection of our bodies pressed to one another. It’s the same for me. It’s like I’ve been holding my breath for hours, and I’ve finally exhaled, letting out all the stress and worry with it. The steady drum of Silas’s heartbeat beneath my cheek lulls me into a sense of safety, and for the first time in a long time, I feel like everything is going to be okay.

  Chapter Thirty

  Silas

  I notice two things when I wake up. The first is that I’m naked, which isn’t all that unusual. The second is that there is a very sweet-smelling woman tucked in next to me. Not just any woman, my other half, my mate.

  The poison in Vic’s fangs has worked its way through my system, being burned out by the magic of my wolf. To a lesser wolf, one that wasn’t bonded, it would have been fatal. I still can’t reconcile Vic’s behavior with the man I thought I knew. People hungry for power will do just about anything to gain more. There’s a pang of sadness at the loss, but it’s more about the man I’d thought he was. He’d created so much pain for my mate. And for what? A laughable chance to be Alpha of my pack? I push those thoughts away because that’s not what I want to think about right now.

  My fingers slide through the silken tresses of Bridget’s long hair, trailing down her back with the same movement. A sweet murmur tumbles from her lips, and she snuggles in closer. I help her by tightening my hold, pulling her firmly against my body.

  Her eyes drift open slowly, hazy from sleep and weariness that lingers. I don’t know how long we’ve been sleeping, only that I’m stiff from inactivity. Not that I’m ready to get up yet.

  “Silas?” As though she’s just pieced together that I’m awake, she bolts upright and nearly falls off the couch. I steady her, and her hand gently glides over my face and down my chest to rest over my heart. “Your fever’s gone. Are you okay?”

  I look up into her amber eyes and see love shining back at me. “Never better, Toots.”

  I hook a hand around her leg and tug her on top of me, eliciting a squeal from her lips. “Silas, I’ll hurt you. You were shot. You were poisoned.”

  I grunt, because yeah, now that she mentions it, my shoulder does fucking burn. I’ll have to get that damn bullet out, but not yet. “I need you, Bridget. I ache. I need you to soothe the pain.” I thrust up from beneath her gently, letting her know just how much I hurt.

  She snorts and rolls her eyes. “Oh my God, Silas. You almost died.” Her smile falls off her face, and she collapses her body on top of me, arms wrapping around my neck as she holds me close. “Don’t ever do that again.”

  “You mean get cursed by a witch, get betrayed by my long-time Beta, or get shot and bit with poisoned fangs?” I was attempting light-hearted, but I’m growling by the end.

  “I meant the dying part, but yes. That goes for all of the above as well.”

  “I’ll try my best, Toots,” I say, lifting my hips up and nudging her again.

  Bridget sits up, an indecisive frown turning down her lips.

  “Ah fuck it,” she says, and the next second, she’s whipping off her shirt, her bra quickly following. Once I realize what she’s doing, I grin and assist her by popping the buttons on her jeans and thrusting them down her hips until she’s forced to do an awkward shimmy to kick them off while still remaining half on top of me.

  “Romance and flowers and all that bullshit can be for later, okay?” she says, her face determined as she shifts until she’s straddling me, her hot, wet entrance poised above me. I don’t even have time to answer before she’s got my already-hard dick in her hand, lining me up so she can take me into her body. We both groan when the head of my cock pushes into her, and then she begins a slow, careful descent, inching down the ridged length with exquisite care until I’m buried to the hilt. She’s panting, her lush breasts heaving with each inhalation.

  My hands slide up her thighs, skim over her hips and waist, and cup her breasts, nipples beading as my fingers gently pinch and soothe. My shoulder twinges in protest, but I don’t give a shit. Her breath hitches as she starts to move on me, her eyes glowing down at me with a languid desire.

  “God, you feel so fucking good,” I hum as she slides up and down my shaft. She murmurs in agreement as her head tips back, arching as she rides me. She’s slick with evidence of her desire, and it’s somehow empowering and humbling as fuck. That I can do this to her. That she’s mine, my partner to lead our pack. It makes my heart thrum faster in my chest. My hand trails down the tantalizingly soft skin of her stomach to the apex of her thighs, finding that sweet bundle of nerves and giving it a glancing touch with my thumb. Bridget makes a keening sound, and her pace picks up.

  “Silas.” Bridget’s hands are on my chest, and she rakes her nails lightly down my pecs and abs. I groan as she circles her hips, grinding down on me, forcing my hips up in an instinctual response. Fuck.

  I don’t know whose need I’m slaking more, hers or mine. My thumb is back on her clit, rubbing concentrated circles, pressing down until nonsensical words fall from Bridget’s lips—yes, more, there. She shudder
s over me, her inner muscles tightening and contracting around me to an almost-painful extreme as her orgasm roars through her. Her face and neck flush as she becomes the perfect artistic rendering of surrendering to passion.

  With a low possessive growl, I grab her hips and flip her, trapping her under the weight of my body. She giggles, her fingers tangling in my hair as I pause to kiss her. She looks sleepy and sated, but I’m not done yet.

  “I love you,” I murmur, savoring her mouth in a slow, devastating exploration.

  Bridget gasps when I release her mouth to press wet kisses over her jaw, arching her neck as I nip and lave at her sweet skin. Her legs wrap around my hips, and her hands trace over my shoulders as I begin moving in slow, shallow strokes, trying to prolong the pleasure as long as possible. At least, that was my plan, until Bridget grabs my face and pulls my head down, her breaths mingling with mine. “I love you, Silas. More than I can ever say.”

  It’s the raw, unfettered emotion that does me in, unleashing my wolf in the same instance. I pull back far enough to look down at her splayed beneath me, my eyes drawn to the spot where our bodies are connected, watching as I rock into her. My restraint snaps at the sight, and I’m pushing her thighs opener wider as I surge into her, eliciting a broken moan from her. Bridget’s hands scramble at my skin, desperate to grab me, have me closer, and she pulls me down on top of her. So much of her skin is touching me that it’s almost overwhelming, and when she angles her head, exposing her neck and my mating mark, I lose it.

  My teeth grasp at the skin of her shoulder, nipping gently at the mark as my release claws through me, exploding on a roar as I call out her name. Her back arches as she shatters around me a second time, and I come with her, spilling and pulsing inside her for what feels like forever until I’m so fucking spent I’m afraid I’ll never be able to move again.

  It’s only my fear of suffocating Bridget that has me flipping us with a groan. Settling her on top of me as we both try to get our breathing under control.

  “Holy balls,” Bridget whispers after a minute.

  I just laugh and press a kiss to the top of her head. “Damn straight.”

  Epilogue

  Bridget

  “Is he for sale?”

  It’s a Saturday during the summer, which means I’m at the farmer’s market manning my booth. Only, this summer has been very different from the last. Last summer, I spent half of my time avoiding Silas and the other half hoping to catch a glance of his head looming over everyone else in the crowd.

  The woman in front of me is some tourist, probably in for the hot air balloon festival that’s taking place this weekend. I smile at her and look over my shoulder where Silas is helping another customer. My heart does a girlie pitter-patter in excited glee that hasn’t gone away despite all the time we’ve spent together. Silas hands over a bag of cookies to the person he’s helping and sidles up behind me, giving me a less than soft smack on my butt. Which makes me open my mouth is a gasp that Silas takes as an invitation, swooping in to plant a very toe-curling kiss.

  “I’m afraid I’m taken.” Silas winks at the lady before he moves away to help another customer.

  “Hot damn,” the lady whispers, and I can only nod in agreement because words can’t explain how lucky I am to finally get my happily ever after.

  The End

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  Afterword

  I love all my book babies but Silas and Bridget just might be my favorite story so far. For whatever reason their story hit me right in all the feels—is that weird to say when I’m the one who wrote it? Nevermind, don’t answer that.

  I think the heartbreak of waiting for that other person to call or make a move is something most of us have experienced. Sometimes it physically aches. I wanted a story that captured that feeling and then the joy when you come out the other side.

  I hope you enjoyed the book and will stick around to read Hollis and Killian’s story next. After that Remi and Dante are going to burn the house down. Or just drive each other nuts with all their sarcasm and snark. Either way, it’ll be worth the wait.

  As always there are many people to thank when it comes to finished version of Shadow Cursed. My husband for trying to wrangle the kids in order to give me time to write, I couldn’t do this without his support. Las for being the best beta reader in the world. Kaitlyn for always reminding me where the commas should go! And last but not least, to everyone who has read my stuff and been so very supportive. Love to you all!

  About the Author

  Lizzy Prince lives in the Midwest with her lovely husband, her two beautiful and terrorizing kiddos, and two lap dogs that weigh 15 and 90 pounds. She hates sweating, unless it’s on purpose, and loves to nap. Of course, she has two little kids so napping is just a pipe dream. She’s aspired to be a writer her entire life and couldn’t be more excited to share all the ideas swirling around in her head.

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  Also by Lizzy Prince

  The Scorched Trilogy

  Scorched (Book 1)

  Ash and Ember (Book 2)

  Ascent (Book 3)

  Shadow Falls Series

  Shadow’s Edge (Book 1)

  Shadow Cursed (Book 2)

  Hollis and Killian’s story coming soon!