The Curse Keepers Collection (61 page)

“You’re making me go see Collin Fucking Dailey. You owe me.”

I could hear Claire grumbling to herself behind me as I headed into the laundry room. After I finished getting the beds made, I straightened the vases of flowers. I was stalling and I knew it. My one bright spot was that I might not even see him. This might be one of those times he disappeared for days.

I hopped in Myra’s car and hesitated before turning over the ignition. I knew I had to do this. My life depended on it.

C
HAPTER
S
IX

Wanchese was quiet when I drove through town. While Manteo was the flashy, touristy end of the island, Wanchese was the practical, no-nonsense side. Many of the houses here were older and run-down. Recently imposed federal regulations had hit commercial fishermen hard over the last decade, and plenty of them had lost everything thanks to overexuberant fines. Many had given up, deciding the hassle wasn’t worth it. As a result, the town had suffered.

My heart raced as I reached the docks. I had no idea what Collin’s boat looked like, but I remembered it was named the
Lucky Star
, and I was well acquainted with his truck. A few memories in particular made me flush.

Claire was right. I couldn’t let him touch me . . . not even a handshake.

I found his old red pickup parked in a gravel parking lot across the street from several docked boats, and I felt like I was going to throw up from nerves. What would he say when he saw me? I definitely had the upper hand. The last time we saw each other, he’d begged for my understanding. I’d told him to go to hell.

They were wasted words. He was going there anyway.

I made myself take a deep breath and count to three. I could do this. I could be strong.

The area around the docks was deserted, without another person in sight. I parked Myra’s car several spots away from his truck and gathered my courage to check out the boats at the dock. If his truck was there, he was probably out on his boat. But when I scanned the names of the boats, none were the
Lucky Star
. I wasn’t sure whether to be upset or relieved.

The windows of his truck were wide open, not that I was surprised. He’d told me that he wasn’t worried about anyone stealing it or anything inside of it. His theory was that the truck was so old and run-down, no one would think it was worth their while.

His smug assurance made me feel a bit self-righteous when I opened the driver’s door and slid into the seat. I might as well snoop while I was here. I pulled down the visor and a bunch of receipts fell onto my lap. I thumbed through them—gas, food, a CVS pharmacy receipt for sunscreen. Part of me was relieved he hadn’t bought condoms. At least he wasn’t screwing anyone else. Unless he hadn’t run out of his current stash.

I made myself examine my reaction. “Elinor Dare Lancaster, you do not care who Collin Dailey screws.” But a strangling pain wrapped around my heart at the thought of him with anyone else.

I tucked the receipts back where I’d found them and tried to open the glove compartment, which—to my surprise—was locked. “So you’re not worried about someone stealing anything out of your truck, huh?” I jerked on the latch again. “You’re a big fat fucking liar!” I smacked my left palm onto the dashboard. “Fucking. Liar!” I shouted again, hitting the dash with each word, amazed at how empowering it felt.

Grabbing the steering wheel, I shook it as hard as I could. “I hate you, you asshole! You ruined everything! You ruined my life!”

I beat the car until my hand ached and shouted until my voice was hoarse, thankful no one was around to witness my meltdown. I laid my head back against the seat, surprised at how worn out I suddenly felt.

The trunk pointed west and the sun was dipping low in the horizon. Another hour and it would be dark. Another hour before the creatures began crawling from their holes.

I sat up.

The map was what I needed.

Collin possessed a map showing where the Croatan Indians had thought their gods lived. If it was accurate, and the gods and spirits really dwelled there, maybe I could perform some sort of preemptive strike. Collin might not want to give the map to me, but I needed it more than he did. In any case, the map had helped land me on Marino’s most wanted list. Might as well have Marino after me for a reason.

For the first time since the gate had been opened, I felt like I had some sort of plan. I hadn’t figured out how to defeat the spirits yet, but it was something. I closed my eyes and felt some of the tension slip away. I was so exhausted from lack of sleep that I decided to let myself rest for a moment.

When I awoke, something warm and comforting was pressed against my cheek. The overwhelming feeling that I was safe seeped through my skin, rolling through my entire body. I turned my head to the side, drawn to whatever was next to me, and then opened my eyes.

This had to be a dream.

Collin stood outside the open truck door, his face only a few feet from mine, awe and wonder in his eyes as they traveled across my face. His hand cradled my cheek, and I sensed the desperation and the need in his touch.

I felt the same way.

“Ellie.” His mouth lowered to mine as his hand slid behind my head, lifting me toward him.

It felt so right, like a missing piece of myself had been replaced . . . and yet it wasn’t enough.

His tongue parted my lips and explored my mouth, coaxing my tongue to join it.

My arms wrapped around his neck. My heart exploded with urgency, and hot desire rushed through my body. I needed more.

His other hand grazed up my leg and under my skirt, skimming my ass. He turned me sideways so that my legs hung over the side of the seat. He moved between them, pressing me against his crotch. I wrapped my legs around his waist as his mouth and tongue drove me crazy with want. Lifting the bottom of my T-shirt, he pulled it up and over my head, his mouth breaking contact for only a second before claiming mine again. The lack of contact was agony to every nerve ending in my body that was crying out for more.

My body craved his with an unnatural, unstoppable need.

One of his hands tangled in my hair as the other lifted my skirt to my waist, exposing my panties.

I wanted him like I’d never wanted anything in my life.

His hand cupped my breast before his fingers dipped inside my bra to caress my nipple. I moaned as a jolt shot straight to my core. I reached for the button of his jeans, frantic for more . . . frantic for him to fill the missing part of me and make me whole.

He pushed me back on the seat, pulling my panties off and throwing them to the floor of the truck. I watched him strip off his shirt and his jeans, the sight of his strong shoulders and rippling abs rushing heat through my veins, making my skin feverish. His underwear were next, and then he was standing there in the open door of his truck, stark naked and ready to claim me on the side of the deserted road. Both of us were so frenzied we didn’t care.

This is wrong
.

But the insane part of me pushed the thought aside. I needed this man. I was empty without him.

He leaned over me, moving between my legs, lifting my thigh to his waist as he paused.

I stared into his agonized face. Nothing had ever felt so right, had made me feel so complete as when we were joined, body and soul.

His right hand reached for mine, ready to press our marks together as he prepared to enter me . . .

Something in the back of my head screamed:
stop!

My body resisted the warning, desperate to see this through.

No!

My conscience clawed to the surface, pushing past the raw physical and supernatural urgency, begging for my attention.

This was the man who betrayed me.

My body stiffened. What the hell was I doing?

Claire’s words echoed in my head.
Don’t let him fuck you
. That’s exactly what I was about to do.

Confusion flickered in his eyes as he saw the change in me, but he still lowered himself over me, our palms inches from touching. I jerked my hand away, surprised that it was so hard. Our hands were being physically pulled toward each other by a force that wasn’t from either of us, like a strong magnet clinging to its polar opposite.

I pushed on his body, my tattooed right palm landing square on the tattoo on his chest. A raw energy filled my hand, shooting through his body. We both gasped.

I fought my overwhelming desire and pushed him hard. “Collin, stop.”

“Ellie.” His mouth found mine and I was lost in a sea of longing, but I regained my senses as he began to enter me.

“No!” I scooted back and took several quick breaths to regain control. My body and soul screamed in protest, desperate to have what I knew only he could give me.

Hurt replaced confusion on his face for a mere second before his trademark cocky look returned—the one I’d first seen when we met at the New Moon.

The day he’d come in to purposely break the curse.

I scooted back more. “You owe me answers, Collin.”

“
Now?
” He lifted up, panting.

I realized the absurdity of it. We were both naked in the front seat of his truck, millimeters away from giving in to what we not only wanted but apparently supernaturally needed. The implication of that thought scared me, but I couldn’t focus on it right now. “Yes, now. You owe me answers.”

Collin still hovered over me, his face close to my waist, and my treacherous body reminded me how close his mouth was to my crotch. My eyes rolled back in my head as I suppressed the desire to lift myself up to him. But I knew myself enough to realize that if I went through with this, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.

Collin lowered his body onto mine, driving me crazy with the skin-to-skin contact. “I tried to give you answers, Ellie.” His voice was husky as his mouth traveled up my neck to my ear, pulling my earlobe into his lips. “You didn’t want to hear them then.” His hand slid between my legs and my head shot back as I arched my spine, my body begging me to give in.

Still, that persistent part of me screamed for attention.
Listen to what he’s saying, Ellie
.

I focused on his words, a tiny flame of anger sparking to life.

He’s using you now, just like he used you to open the gate
.

My anger exploded into fury, replacing my desire and bringing me to my senses. “Are you fucking serious?” I pushed on his chest to get him off of me, but he resisted, his lower half still pressing me down on the seat, the evidence of how much he wanted me hard against my thigh. “I had just watched my father die, after you betrayed me and released hundreds of creatures that vowed to torture me for hundreds of years. How
could
I listen to you then?”

He watched me for a second, and I could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to figure out how to play me.

How had I never noticed that before?

Contrition filled his eyes, and one of his hands cupped my cheek. “You’re right.”

I waited for him to continue speaking, but he merely watched my face while his thumb stroked my cheek in slow circles.

“I’m not one of your whores, Collin. You can’t use me and then toss me away when you’re done.”

His eyes widened. “Is that what you think I did? You think I tossed you aside? You were never like any other woman in my life, Ellie.”

“I’m sure of that. No other woman could help you break a four-hundred-year-old curse.”

He sighed, his shoulders slumping.

“You walked into that restaurant and thought, ‘Stupid Ellie doesn’t remember anything about the curse. I can play her like a fiddle.’”

His head lifted. “It wasn’t like that.”

“
It wasn’t like that?
” I pushed hard, and he finally got off me. I scrambled back until my spine was pressed up against the passenger door as he took a seat behind the steering wheel.

“You knew damn good and well who I was the moment you walked through the door. How long had you known?”

He closed his door and leaned his forearms on the steering wheel, looking out the windshield. The moonlight swathed his naked body like a blanket, and I wanted to cry at the irony. The most gorgeous man I’d ever hoped to be with had probably only slept with me to get what he wanted. Just like the way he’d dealt with every other woman in his life.