The Moonlit Curse

Ch 32: Promise of the Future

August was stiff as a board. Every muscle in his body was tense, and he didn't dare move in case he woke the woman sleeping at his side.

After watching the northern lights and enjoying each other's company for a while, he and Kiya traveled through the rest of the night to return to the cabin just before dawn. They were exhausted, and Kiya had been shivering so badly that she couldn't take her gloves off without help. August had to help her out of her extra layers and held her close under heavy blankets to warm her up. Though her skin remained cool to the touch, she eventually stopped shaking and fell asleep against his chest.

A peaceful, relaxed look was set on Kiya's face. Sleep seemed to be the only place she could escape the weight and pressure of the world she had been dragged into. At least, as long as the visions didn't invade her dreams. There were no such dreams now, and her shoulders rose and fell with her slow, steady breaths. Every once and a while, she would shift her weight to tuck herself further into the warmth of August's chest.

In contrast, August was scared to even breathe. What terrified him even more was the darker part of him—the part that Kiya called the alpha—lurking just under the surface. Despite both still wearing their clothes, it was a level of intimacy that he wasn't expecting. That magic he fought to keep tamped down now clawed under his skin that felt stretched too tight over his bones.

He wanted to provide for her. He needed to take care of her. To preen and pamper her, feed her the best foods, and dress her in luxurious silks that clung to her curves and left nothing to the imagination. Then claim her body and mark her so everyone would know that Kiya Bridges was his luna.

She had wanted him too. He smelled her desire, and he felt her body responding to his words and his touch. It took everything in his power not to take her against the cavern wall or on her knees when she knelt before him. After their sparring match and he finally kissed her, he'd been ready to drag her back inside the cabin and spend days showing her exactly how well he could take care of her.

But Kiya had pushed him away and rightfully so. The separation, while it enraged and infuriated him, was as effective in cooling him off as jumping into a frozen lake. There had been a moment of clarity where he realized how badly he'd screwed up. He needed to work harder to keep those instincts under control.

His traitorous body, however, hadn't gotten the message. August tried to shift his hips, carefully readjusting to relocate a certain part of his anatomy that refused to stand down.

It didn't matter anyway. Kiya's eyes fluttered open, her beautiful hazel irises blurry with sleep. Her hand glided up from around his stomach to his chest, and the soft touch pulled a soft purring growl to rumble in his lungs. Her eyes then snapped open, and her body went ridged. "Good morning," he said as gently as he could.

"Last night wasn't a dream, was it?" she asked, heat flooding her cheeks as she bit down on her bottom lip and looked up at him nervously.

"Not a dream or a vision. It really happened."

Instantly Kiya relaxed again, and her lips curled into a smile. "Good."

In a swift motion, August rolled them over so Kiya was lying on her back. Her beautiful laugh filled the cabin, and she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him down into a kiss. A soft moan slipped past her lips, setting his blood on fire and testing his control. It would be so easy, barely any effort, to rip away her clothes and claim every inch of her.

"I could get used to this," she sighed happily when he pulled away again. "I don't think I've ever woken up in someone else's arms. I don't usually spend the whole-"

"Don't," August snarled over her. Instinctively, the tips of his fingers flexed and curled against the floor. If he'd been in his wolf form, his claws would have cut through the wood like it was butter. He had to close his eyes and force himself to take slow, steadying breaths, but all that achieved was flooding his mind with her scent. "Don't talk about the other men you've been with right now."