The Soulmate's Curse Read online

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  Chapter Six

  February 14th—The Valentine's moon is here.

  The curse is now, the wolf will be free.

  Lucas paced the cabin restlessly. He could feel what was going to come raging inside him. Every day it grew stronger, and every day his will to control it was slowly slipping. The last few days had been spent in happiness, love, and foreboding. Both of them knew it was happening, yet neither one of them was willing to leave the other. More than once, he had tried to convince her to run. More than once, she had reminded him that it would be no use running. He would find her, and it would still happen. And if she ran, how many others in his path would be hurt or killed in his quest to find her? It had to end, and it would be tonight.

  He knew when she came out of the bathroom. He could sense her watching him pace the floor. He turned around just in time to see her bite her lip worriedly. It was a habit he noticed she had.

  "Is it time?” she asked, walking into the room.

  They had formulated a kind of plan. Lucas knew she wouldn't be able to control him when his change began. So she would have to handcuff him to the sturdy pipes that ran up the walls in the kitchen. Then she would wait until the change was almost complete before she shot him. While he was at that point of being part man, part wolf, she would shoot to kill. Lucas had insisted she aim for his heart, and in the days that had passed, he had taught her to shoot his revolver. He had concluded that she wasn't the best shot, but she would hit where she needed to. They followed the werewolf legends, assuming that normal bullets would not kill him. So, Lucas had gone back to his cabin for one more thing ... he took his mother's locket of pure silver and melted it down in the stone fireplace. Out of that, he had made two bullets and loaded them into the gun for her. Now it sat on the mantle, silently goading them both.

  At her question, Lucas turned around and saw her standing there, close enough, but still wary of him. He could tell she was already afraid.

  "No; not yet. It's different, though. Stronger,” he said. “You were in there a long time."

  Sonja ignored his offhanded comment. “Should I handcuff you now?"

  "No; not yet. Well, if you are afraid, I don't mind if you want to do it now,” Lucas replied. Her safety was foremost in his mind; he loved her so much, and it hurt him to know that tonight she would fear him.

  "Do I look afraid?” she snapped.

  "Maybe you should eat,” he said with a small smile. “You get cranky when you don't eat."

  He had said the same thing to her the very first night they met. When Sonja rushed into his arms, Lucas in turn held her tight. He wanted Sonja to feel safe with his arms around her one more time. Rocking back and forth as if dancing to some unheard music, they held each other tightly.

  "I wish I could have taken you dancing or at least to see a movie,” he whispered against her hair.

  "Lucas ... I ... I can't do this. I can't lose you!” She began to cry quietly against his chest.

  Lucas tilted her head up to his, kissing her and tasting the tears running down her face. “Sonja, you have to. Remember, I won't be a man anymore. I won't be Lucas. I don't want to live like that, and I don't want you to have to be scared for the rest of your life."

  "I love you so much, Lucas. Remember that, please. Even when you change, try to remember that,” she sobbed.

  "I love you, too. You are my beloved. My heart to yours always,” Lucas said. He felt as if his heart was tearing apart inside his chest. To find love and then to lose it so quickly for something that was neither of their faults. “Sonja, you have to tie me up now."

  Sonja looked at the clock. It said eleven-thirty. Then her eyes flew to Lucas's face. She could see a sheen of sweat appear on his forehead.

  "But-but it's too soon. We haven't had enough time ... we haven't..."

  Lucas placed a shaky hand on her cheek, but already his fingers had begun to change.

  "It's time, Sonja."

  Sonja swallowed and nodded. Hand in hand, they walked into the kitchen. Lucas sat on the floor and put his hands behind his back. Sonja walked behind him, and for a moment laid her head against his shoulder. He touched his face to her hair.

  "Do it,” he ordered, his voice gruff with emotion.

  Sonja handcuffed him to the metal pipes in the kitchen. When she was finished, Sonja sat cross-legged in front of him.

  "You should go get the gun,” he said softly.

  "Not yet, please not yet,” she whispered. She leaned forward to kiss Lucas, wanting to steal every precious moment she could. Lucas kissed her back, but soon his body started to shake.

  "Get the gun, Sonja.” When she started to protest, he shouted, “Now!"

  Sonja scrambled to her feet and raced into the living room. She looked at the clock. Eleven fifty-one. Taking the gun down with shaky hands, she returned to the kitchen. In time to see the change begin, Sonja stood transfixed, watching what was happening in front of her. Her mind kept screaming “It can't be possible!” But there it was happening in real time: a man she loved changing into a wolf before her eyes. His shirt tore from its seams, and she watched as the muscles in his body contorted. His body changed shape, and his legs drew inward, forming hind legs. She heard his bones crack and take the new shape of a wolf's. Each sound was worse than the last. Lucas made an agonizing sound, and it tore at her heart.

  "Lucas...” Sonja said, walking forward.

  "No; don't come near me!” Lucas looked up, and she could see his eyes. Gone was the hazel color she had fallen in love with. Instead, they were slanted and yellow, the eyes of a wolf.

  "Sonja, you have to shoot now! These cuffs won't hold me!” Lucas pleaded. Even his voice had changed, with the sound of a feral animal coming through.

  Sonja lifted the gun. Her hands shook badly as she tried to take aim through her tears. “Lucas, I can't!"

  Lucas bared his chest to her, giving her an easy shot. It was now the chest of a wolf. “Please, Sonja, do it! Don't make me ... I can't control this!"

  Sonja was sobbing uncontrollably, and she shook her head wildly. She couldn't pull the trigger. Even as Lucas changed completely into a wolf, she couldn't do it. Lucas was there somewhere inside this thing before her.

  He broke free of the metal cuffs that bound him, the metal bending like taffy under his powerful strength. With an inhuman howl, he leapt forward to kill his beloved Sonja. Gone was the man, replaced by the animal. The animal that was already aiming toward her throat with angry claws ready to rip her flesh. With a snarl he leapt, Sonja closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. Twice in succession, and as if in slow motion, she watched the silver bullets hit their mark. The force of the impact threw the wolf backward. With one last howl, the wolf fell to the floor. Sonja crumpled to her knees and stared at the wolf that was her lover. It did not move. The silver bullets had hit their mark. Slowly the wolf's body started to change back into that of Lucas, and Sonja crawled across the floor to sit next to him.

  He looked at his beloved and smiled. “Good girl,” he whispered.

  "Please, Lucas, please, baby, don't die,” Sonja sobbed. She placed her hands on the wounds the bullets had created and tried to stop the flow of blood.

  "I'm happy, beloved, so happy I found you.” His voice was weaker, and his eyes closed.

  Sonja screamed before he took his last breath, “Lucas! Come back! I need you! I'm pregnant!"

  Sonja collapsed against his chest, weeping brokenly, her tears mixing with his blood. Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled.

  * * * *

  Through the mist Lucas walked, and then he came upon his father and his beloved Celia. They were holding hands and smiling. At long last, they could be together, free to touch and feel each other's caresses. They wouldn't spend an eternity doomed never to feel each other's kisses.

  "The curse is no more, my son. Thanks to you and Sonja,” Jonathan said.

  "But at what price? You and the men before you have your
beloved. Listen to how mine grieves for me,” Lucas replied.

  In the distance, they could hear the sound of weeping. Each sob broke Lucas's heart over and over again.

  "I'm so sorry, Lucas,” Celia said. “I know this offers you no comfort or her, but you will be with her once again in another life."

  "Did you hear her, Dad? I'm going to be a father,” Lucas said with a smile. “Even though I won't be there. I'm going to be a dad."

  "Sonja is pregnant?” Jonathan exclaimed, then asked hurriedly, “Did you hear her when you were here or when you lay dying?"

  "I don't see what difference that makes...” Lucas began irritably. Even dead, his dad was going to be a pain in the ass. He knew it.

  "Boy, listen to me!” Jonathan roared. “Did you hear her after you passed on or while you were still dying?"

  "When I lay on the ground, I was drifting away. I felt her pound on my chest. But what does that have to do with anything?"

  Jonathan called up to the heavens, “Send him back! The curse was broken before he died."

  Celia said, “Jonathan, what do you mean? Don't tempt fate."

  "No! You don't understand! She conceived a child before he could kill her! Before he died! The curse was broken! He has to go back!” He raged at the powers that had cursed his family. The witch doctor's body may be gone, but his spirit and his curse were still strong.

  It was Jonathan's turn to scream at the unseen force that had cursed them all those years before. “You hear that? My son broke your damn curse! He isn't supposed to be here! You made the rules, now it's your turn to honor them like we have all these miserable years! Send him back!"

  Thunder rumbled, and a flash of lightning crossed the sky. Could it really be true? Lucas didn't want to dare hope that he could go back. The thunder rumbled again, and Lucas felt himself being pulled back to his body. He looked at his father with a huge grin on his face. His father's smile matched his.

  "Be well, my son. Live the life we all could never have,” Jonathan said. Celia sniffled beside her beloved Jonathan, and he turned and embraced her. Something he would enjoy doing for eternity, thanks to his son and his beloved. Jonathan swung her high, and the last thing Lucas heard was his father's happy shout of “I'm going to be a grandpa” and Celia's laughter joined with his.

  * * * *

  Sonja cried against her lost love. Her grief was unbearable, and she didn't know how she would survive it. But she knew she had to; for their unborn child's sake, she had to survive this. She laid her head against his chest once more, and she prayed she had done the right thing. She should have let him kill her, then they could have been together. I felt his chest move! She was cracking up finally. He was dead, and he wasn't coming back.

  His hand lifted to her head and stroked her hair, then he buried his hands in the strands. Sonja lifted her head slowly and looked into the hazel eyes of her beloved.

  "Lucas?” she whispered, hoping her eyes were not deceiving her.

  "So, I'm going to be a dad, huh? You couldn't tell me this before you shot me?” Lucas asked softly.

  Sonja threw herself onto him, crying and laughing all at once. “But ... how? Why? I don't care! You're alive, and I love you so much!” She pressed kisses against his eyes, his face, his lips, everywhere she could get to.

  "Hey, hey, man shot here,” he grumbled.

  But as he said it, Sonja watched the two pieces of silver fall from his chest. The wound closed and healed, not leaving even a scar.

  "Sonja, you made this happen. You gave us this, all of us. Thank you, my beloved."

  "No, my love. This is destiny, this was fate,” Sonja said. “We're soul mates, you and I. Happy Valentine's Day, beloved.” She held him tight, knowing she would never have to let him go.

  "The happiest one of all,” Lucas replied.

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  Epilogue

  Lucas sat looking out the big, bay window that looked out to the mountains. The colors of fall were all around. Big leaves in oranges, reds, and yellows fell silently to the grass, making a vibrant quilt in show of the season.

  "You know you can't keep coming home to hold her,” Sonja commented as she walked into the room.

  Lucas had made the bay window in his daughter's room. For months he had redone the cabin, making more room and building his daughter's nursery. Now he sat holding his precious bundle, rocking her by the window he had made just for her to see the beauty that surrounded her every day.

  "Why can't I? I am the sheriff, after all,” Lucas said with a smile.

  "Well, that's no reason to take liberties with your position. She'll be here when you get home,” Sonja said, walking over.

  She sat down next to her husband and looked down at her daughter whose bright hazel eyes looked back at her. Sophia Claire Valentino, the first Valentino born from his beloved's womb. The first girl to be born to the Valentino heritage. When she had been placed in his arms for the first time, Lucas had truly known then that the curse was over. Even after Valentine's Day, he'd had an underlying fear that it wasn't over. He and Sonja had been married soon after, and he had started to rebuild his cabin while they lived in her friend's. He had watched her stomach grow with the life they had created inside her, and he had always felt apprehensive that all this happiness was not going to last. A Valentino actually happy seemed like a fairy tale. But when Sophia's first cry had reached his ears, their doctor informing him it was a girl, he had felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Now she was there, and Lucas didn't think he could get any happier. He smelled the top of her head, loving the new-baby scent that clung to her dark hair.

  "I don't want to miss anything with her,” Lucas said as he watched his daughter suck on her fist.

  "Lucas, she is three weeks old. If you keep sniffing her, she's gonna think her daddy is weird,” Sonja said with a laugh.

  Lucas laughed. “She won't. She knows she will be my princess. Won't you, sugar bear?"

  "I swear, stud, you are a marshmallow around her. She's going to have you wrapped around her fingers."

  "Hey, she can have me. I didn't think I would ever be in this position to be happy, let alone have a child. I'm going to enjoy it,” Lucas said with a huge grin on his face.

  Sonja let him have his happiness as he sat and watched his daughter. Sophia's eyes found her father's face, and for a moment, Lucas swore she smiled at him. Lucas lifted her up over his shoulder, patting her tiny back. The baby's gaze went to the corner of the room and fixed on something there, and she smiled again.

  "Why is she looking into the corner and smiling?” Sonja said aloud.

  "Hmm ... Could be lights from the window making shadows?” Lucas wondered, turning around to see if his theory was correct. They blew kisses and waved goodbye to the newest member of the Valentino clan. The pair faded away from the baby's gaze.

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  About the Author

  Dahlia Rose, best selling author of contemporary erotica, suspense and paranormal romance. She was born and raised on a Caribbean island and now currently lives in Charlotte, NC with her four kids who she affectionately nicknamed “The children of the corn and her biggest supporter/long time love. She has a love of erotica, dark fantasy, Sci-fi and the things that go bump in the night. Books and writing are her biggest passion and she hopes to open your imagination to the unknown between the pages of her books.

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  Coming Soon From Amira Press

  Secrets: Velvet Seduction: Hot Pursuit

  By

  Sabrina Luna

  VELVET SEDUCTION

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  Chapter One

  "I'm wearing something very special for you tonight, lover,” the woman purred into his ear over the telephone receiver.

  Lance Arden groaned.

  "Leather.” She paused dramatically. “A leather thong. I picked this one just for you. Do you like leather?"

 
; "Oh, yes."

  "The thong is tight between the cheeks of my derrière, lover,” she cooed.

  "Uh-huh,” he grunted, and scratched down a couple of notes on the writing pad beside his phone. “Tell me more, Velvet."

  He listened intently to the telephone actress, who called herself simply “Velvet,” describe her exotic attire, or lack thereof. Research was an important aspect to being a reporter, and Lance Arden, after winning several top field honors, was considered one of the best in his field. When he'd taken the assignment to write a special feature for Chitter-Chat magazine, he'd had no idea that phone sex would be so addictive—or so arousing.

  "Would you like to fondle my breasts tonight, lover?"

  Lance drew in a ragged breath. Velvet's smooth, heated voice made him shiver with anticipation. “Yeah, sure.” He glanced down at the recent advertisement for the telephone service STEAMY4U lying beside him on the bed. A tempting beauty with come-hither eyes stared up at him from the glossy magazine page.

  Lance put down his pen and closed his eyes. To hell with research. Tonight, it would be just him and Velvet. He slipped into the intimate telephone fantasy with ease.

  "Lie back and let yourself go, lover,” Velvet continued. “I want to feel your sweet lips gently kissing my breasts. Would you like that?"

  "Oh, yes. Very much.” He exhaled slowly and let the intimate illusion completely envelop him, wrap him in a sensual cocoon of sultry words and heated suggestions that made his cock thicken in response. In the semi-darkness of his apartment bedroom, he cradled the phone to his ear and stretched out on his bed.

  "My body is excited by your touch, lover. I'm getting very hot,” Velvet gasped, becoming more breathless by the moment.