Page 45 of A Cursed Heart
A Welcome Change
Malacoda
Surprise,joy,fear,allfiltered through me in a fraction of a second. Ryan was kissing me!
I kissed him back hungrily, putting all the feelings I had for him into it. I held him tightly, never wanting to let go as my tongue explored his mouth. He clung to me, opening further to me, making noises which had my cock stirring.
A cough had us shifting apart. Ryan’s face was as scarlet as my hair. Mine felt slightly tender from the rasp of his stubble. Hemoved further away from me, not meeting my eyes or touching me in any way.
Did he regret it? Was it only to replenish my magic?
“Let’s go home,” Ryan murmured.
We stood awkwardly in the elevator with the person who had interrupted us standing just in front of us. Finally, Ryan reached for my hand, wrapping his finger around my pinky until he could envelop my hand in his. With him initiating contact, I felt better about the kiss, like he had wanted it because he wanted to kiss me, not as a quick way to fill my magic after using so much.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his hand tightened on mine.
“Of course.”
Not strictly true. The last couple of hours had been nothing but a series of stressful events on what should have been a peaceful night. Our family day was interrupted in the worst way. Then, I had to leave Ryan alone and drive the car.
Driving was not for the weak. Getting the car to move was not the issue. Understanding the rules of the road and whims of other drivers was impossible! Not far from the apartment, I had abandoned the car in a lot and vanished me and Freya to our home.
Keeping my stress from Ryan was a challenge, especially because his anxiety was leeching through our connection, adding to mine. Unwilling to let him be alone in this, I left our connection open as much as possible while putting Freya to bed. The little darling was exhausted after a busy day, and did not wake.
Once I had nothing else to do, I did what I usually did when Ryan went to that damn building: paced the apartment. Throughout the day, I used a mixture of effort and magic to keep the place clean while also learning about the world I found myself in. This meant there wasn’t much for me to do whenRyan was gone, aside from watching Freya sleep. I didn’t want to unnerve the child should she wake, so I paced instead.
When Ryan called for me, I knew things had to be bad. The neighbor, Mrs. Roberts, was eager to babysit for us. I wondered if she was lonely. I would have to ask Ryan once this was over. Humans were so isolated. In my corner of the kingdom, I’d had a few cousins living with me. My supporters did too. What happened to them? I never thought to ask about my manor or those who lived there. One of those cousins likely took control of it, and they probably laughed over my misfortune.
The older woman returned to the apartment with me and found something to watch on the big TV mounted on the wall. “I’ve always liked what Ryan has done with the place. Will you be gone long?”
“Hopefully not. He has the car, and something’s wrong with it. I’m going to take a look at it.”
“Have you ordered a ride?”
“Yeah, it’ll be a couple minutes. I’ll go wait outside for it. Thanks for watching Freya.”
“You’re welcome, Malcolm.”
Hearing her use my new name was odd. However, I found that I liked it.
It felt good to use so much magic! I found Salvatore Holdings easily by following the bond I had with Ryan. Getting into the office was harder. First, I had to dismantle some of the magic barring me from the room. Once that was done, it was nothing to get to Ryan’s side and help him with gathering the information. I feared touching him as much as I wanted to would be noticeable, so I had to refrain. It was so difficult to restrain myself. All my life I had done what I’d wanted whenever I wanted. Now I had to hold back, putting Ryan’s safety before my desires.
Maintaining my calm for Ryan was damn near impossible. Everything out of Scythe’s mouth was intended to rock him, touncover the secrets Ryan held. I hated listening to him, being in that room once again. If I had my way, Ryan would never return.
Ryan, though, he was remarkable as always. He kept his cool mask in place even while sweating underneath. He talked back to the man blackmailing him, the beast running the underbelly of the city, with no outward sign of fear.
Leaving him even though I knew he was almost done himself, was one of the hardest things I had ever done. He was so vulnerable alone, so I was relieved when he left the building to get into the car.
I vanished back to the building. Without Ryan, I could not go upstairs and let Mrs. Roberts go home. Instead, I resumed my pacing just outside in the cool night air. Before the car pulled into the lot, I hid inside the building.
Ryan looked like the hounds of hell were chasing him. What was wrong? Had the bodyguard said something I’d missed? Ryan’s hand stayed in mine as we walked to the apartment, and he let us inside.
“Is the car okay?” Mrs. Roberts asked kindly. “Freya hasn’t moved an inch.”
“Oh, uh, no, it needs a new battery, I guess. We’ll have to deal with it tomorrow. Got it most of the way home though,” Ryan lied easily. “I appreciate you coming over to watch Freya for us.”
“If you ever need me to watch her so you can have a night to yourselves, I’m happy to do it. Freya is a sweet girl, and you are such nice boys. Did Malcolm tell you he took my grocery delivery inside the other day?”
