Cursed by Nicole Camden Read Free Book Online Page B

being a creeper,” Max muttered, and John nodded in agreement.
    â€œShe’s just standing on the beach, watching the waves.”
    Max felt a chill run over his arms. He couldn’t help but think of his mother, of her final act, a doped-up walk into the sea. Lille wasn’t the type to do something so stupid, though. Lille was a fighter, which was why he was willing to keep making this effort to know her when she seemed determined to push him away. He’d certainly never bothered with any other woman.
    John’s lips compressed sympathetically. “Sorry, man.”
    â€œIt’s all right. Go see to Mary.” John nodded and jogged off, taking the dogs with him.
    Shoving his hands in his pockets, Max hunched his shoulders against the wind, though it wasn’t that cold, and headed toward the beach, where the waves were crashing violently tonight, the whitecaps visible even a few meters out.
    Lille was visible from the street. She’d changed into comfortable clothes: pajama pants, a T-shirt, and a sweater with pockets. The wind whipped her hair around her head and pressed the loose clothing caressingly against her body, revealing almost as much as her skimpiest lingerie.
    Max felt his heart thumping; he wanted her, but . . . he shouldn’t. Especially after everything she’d gone through tonight. She was looking out at the waves, probably clearing her mind, unlike his mother, who had apparently dreamed of walking into the sea one night, and then she’d actually done it when he was ten years old. While the house was asleep, she’d walked into the water and never returned. They’d found her body miles down the shore.
    He didn’t want to scare Lille, but she seemed to know he was there, turning her head slowly to meet his eyes.
    He met her gaze over the wind and the crash of the waves and the pounding of his heart.
    â€œI want you,” he shouted. He couldn’t hold back anymore.
    Lille shrugged. “I want you, too.”
    Max approached until he was standing next to her. She’d wrapped her arms around herself, and her shoulders were hunched against him.
    â€œBut?” He wished he had a damn cigarette. He wouldn’t like what she was going to say, he just knew it.
    â€œBut I don’t want a relationship.”
    Max wanted to tell her that was fine, that he didn’t want a relationship with someone so fucked up that she withdrew herself from everyone, either, but he swallowed the bitter words. He did want a relationship. He liked her spirit, her courage, and the dark streak that kept him on his toes.
    â€œI do,” he admitted finally. “I’d like to try, anyway.”
    Lille shook her head. “It’s not worth it. I’m not cut out for them.”
    Max was out of his depth; he had no experience convincing a woman to date him, so he retreated into surliness. “Shall I fuck off, then?”
    Lille tossed her hair. “How about one last night instead?”
    One last night. Max knew he shouldn’t—that he should hold on to his pride at the very least.
    â€œPlease.” Lille hugged herself. “I’d like to think about something other than what happened tonight.”
    Max was done with this shit. He’d put himself out there—been goddamn chivalrous—and she wanted to fuck him so she could forget what happened? Fuck that. He wasn’t going to, but then she turned and looked at him, and he was caught by both the vulnerability on her face and the sadness he saw in her eyes.
    â€œDamn.” He shook his head. Maybe he was being punished for not giving a damn about all those women for all those years. “Fine, then.”
    He shook his head and reached down to strip off his shirt, tossing it onto the sand.
    In the light of the moon, his tattoos were indistinct shadows on his skin, his chest deeply muscled, his arms bulging.
    Lille’s gaze couldn’t help but dip down the