Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
“Gods,” she laughs breathlessly as I gently pull out and turn so she’s cuddled against my chest. I rub her back, her arms, her side—I just can’t stop touching her.
“That was…” I have no words.
“Special enough?” she checks.
Is that something she was worried about? I tip her head to peer at her so she gets how much I mean this. “Everything with you is special. Every single fucking moment. So yeah, it was. Also…I’m glad you liked the massage oil.”
Maven grins. “I loved it.”
I just have to get another dopamine hit seeing her open the last gift.
I kiss her temple, giddy and high on everything that is Maven.
“Wait here a moment,” I whisper.
I slip into the attached kitchen and quickly return with the remaining paper bag, offering it to her as I sit beside her. I’m heavily aware of how her beautiful eyes trail over every exposed inch of me before trapping my gaze like she’s mapping out both my body and mind.
“If you don’t stop looking at me like that, your last gift will have to wait for another round,” I warn, unable to keep the smile off my face.
She leans forward unexpectedly to kiss my cheek—where one of my dimples is. “More incredible sex? Oh, the horror.”
She sits up, bundling one of the blankets around herself up to her shoulders. I’m seriously trying to come up with the best way to politely tell her that I need to bask next to her naked body as long as possible. Now that I know how divine and fucking warm her pussy is, my cock can’t seem to calm down. My entire body feels both primed and relaxed at once.
I force myself not to fidget nervously as she rubs at her chest through the blanket before pulling out the last gift. She blinks and turns it side to side, admiring the carvings on the handle.
“Is this…a dagger made from bone?”
“It’s a Salish deer bone knife,” I nod. “The man who made it and sold it to me said it’s best used for carving fish or putting on display. It’s not really a weapon, but…I thought it looked nice. You don’t have to keep it if you don’t like it,” I tack on, stating the obvious like an idiot.
Besides, the moment we’re out of this mess, I’ll buy her a dozen of the world’s best daggers if she wants. Anything she wants, and even stuff she’s never thought of wanting.
Maven studies it closer, a soft smile curving her lips. “Thank you.”
Then she squints, turning the blade to show off the
Oakley engraved on one side.
Maybe it’s time I come clean about my fake last name, she muses.
“I know it’s fake,” I shrug. “To be honest, I’ve been wondering if your last name is actually Ama?—“
I cut off when it sinks in that her mouth didn’t move. Her eyes snap to mine as she rubs the center of her chest again, finally dropping the blanket to look down.
A surge of breathless delight makes me go dizzy.
A perfect square is centered on the line and scar on her chest—the emblem of the House of Elements, with the four corners representing each of the elements. It’s such a stark new design on my keeper that for a moment, we both stare at it as my entire world seems to finally click into place.
At last.
She’s mine, and I’m hers, and nothing will ever take her away from me.
Not even a fake curse.
I’m so overwhelmed that I don’t think twice before pulling her into my arms, cradling her as powerful emotions swirl through me.
Relief. Excitement. Joy.
All my life, I’ve been told I would ruin this. I stayed alone and pushed everyone else away for their own good, determined to save them from my curse. I assumed I would die alone after rotting in misery all my days, painfully cold and lonely and so damn empty that I would gladly give up the ghost when Syntyche came to reap my soul.
But now?
I’m bound at last, which means I’m…free. No more curse—falsified or not. I can breathe for the first time since Arati’s high priest opened his mouth and ruined any chance at my happiness.
Dear gods, I thank you.
Maven runs a finger over the new emblem on her chest, her gaze heated when it moves back to me. “It worked, but why?”
“Why?” I echo, too busy grinning to puzzle out what she means.
“We just had sex.”
“Not nearly enough of it, if you ask me,” I reply honestly, my attention trained on her finger drifting over my emblem.
My emblem.
On Maven.
This is the best fucking day of my life. I don’t even know how to handle this level of happiness, which is probably why I’m both lovesick and borderline loopy at the same time.
She laughs and shakes her head. “I mean, I haven’t exactly been abstaining with the others. If sex is all it takes to make this non-gods-approved bond happen, then why did it only work now?”
It’s a fair question, but once again, all I can think about is that I’m hers. I scoot closer to Maven because I can’t get enough of her warmth—but I freeze when she subtly scoots away from me.
Maven sees my expression and quickly says, “It’s not you. My body is just finally catching up with the massage, but I’m fine. It passes quickly.”
It kills me that my keeper is downplaying whatever remains of her haphephobia.
Then she tips her head, frowning. “What did you mean earlier about knowing my surname is fake?”
I hesitate.
Ever since we learned more about Maven’s past and her being abducted by shadow fiends when she was young, I’ve wondered about the human brought into that courthouse years ago. Pietro Amato—that was his name. He said his daughter was alive in the Nether, that he needed to rescue her, that she was special…
What if Maven was his daughter?
And what if he was saying that because she’s a saint?
Saints are selected by their patron gods at birth. They’re supposed to live pious, celibate lives as representatives of Paradise, able to use holy magic to a certain degree so long as they abide by the rules of the god who selected them. They bless humans, travel the world, heal the sick, and tend to the temples. Many of them have become great humanitarians who have gone down in history.
If my keeper were picked by one of the gods as a baby, it’s no wonder her father would be desperate to get her back. And I’m almost positive Amato was her father, but what if I’m wrong?
Before I can confess my thoughts to Maven, she straightens and looks at a nearby corner of the room. I tense, worried that fucking wraith has somehow found us again, but she sounds more relieved than worried.
“You’re back.”
It’s quiet for a second before the air ripples beside the front door and then I’m looking right at a very pissed-off incubus. He’s standing with his arms folded, some blood smeared on his hands, and tears in his leather jacket, but at least he doesn’t look as shitty as the last time he came back from something in Limbo.
“You’re bonded,” he mutters, looking like he wants to kill me.
Not that it’s a surprising look on him. I’ve seen it plenty of times. It gets old pretty damn fast.
“Take your jealousy somewhere else, asshole. You’re ruining our afterglow.” I adjust the blankets to cover Maven and me more.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.