The Cursed Prince by Teresa Roman (reading e books txt) 📕

lying. The brothers were nice, kind of stiff and formal, but nice. They’re interested in friendship, nothing more.”

His jaw tensed. “What do you mean they’re interested in friendship?”

“Nothing really. They asked if I’d like to visit again, and I said yes. That’s all.”

He raised a brow. “You agreed?”

I shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you’re mine. And I don’t believe in sharing my woman with another man.”

“What are you saying? That because we’re together, I’m not allowed to have male friends?”

Peter’s expression softened. He must’ve realized that playing the alpha male card wasn’t going over well with me. “That’s not what I’m saying. I just … I like you, Willow. A lot. You know that. And I’m afraid. I don’t want to lose you. If you changed your mind about us, I’d be very unhappy. Those brothers are quite handsome, from what I hear. And far richer than I’ll ever be.”

Before I could reply, the waiter came with our food. I opened my napkin and placed it on my lap, then picked up my fork and knife. It gave me a moment to figure out how to respond to what Peter had just said.

“I hope you think better of me than that,” I finally said.

“Of course I do. But I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t worry at least a little bit.”

I reminded myself of what Nicolai had told me the day before. He was promised to someone already. No matter what kind of crazy attraction I felt toward him, I knew better than to actually act on it. Even if I wanted a future with Nicolai—which how could I, given that we barely knew each other—it would never happen. Nicolai had asked for my friendship because he was lonely, and I’d agreed because how could I say no? And I really did like Peter. He made me feel things I hadn’t in a long time. I wasn’t about to mess that up with silly fantasies about a man I could never have.

“Can we please talk about something else?” I said.

“Of course.”

I looked down at my plate.

“Hey,” Peter said.

I lifted my eyes to look into his.

“I’m sorry for upsetting you.”

I gave him a weak smile. “You didn’t.”

As we ate, I thought about all the secrets I was keeping from Peter. I’d asked for his trust, but if I was being fair, then I’d trust him in return and tell him that I was a witch and about Nicolai’s curse and how I’d promised to do whatever I could to break it. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to tell him any of those things. Even for Beaver Falls, it all sounded so crazy.

Once Nicolai’s curse was broken, perhaps I’d ask for my powers to be bound again. The thought of being able to do magic excited me, but perhaps a taste was all I needed. Then I could live out the rest of my life as a perfectly normal person who didn’t have to keep secrets from the people she cared about. Peter would never have to find out. We could get married, buy a beautiful house with a white picket fence, have kids, maybe some pets, too. That was the future my parents had wanted for me. It was why they’d kept the truth from me. I was upset with my father after Delilah had told me everything the day before, but at the same time I understood.

“I can’t wait to get you to myself,” Peter said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “We’re going to have an amazing time.”

“Where will we be going?”

“I thought I told you about the cabin I own in the Catskills.”

“That’s right,” I said. “I remember.”

Peter reached for my hand and squeezed it. A strange light-headed sensation came over me. My mind emptied. I lifted my head and smiled. We’d have a great time, just like he said we would.

We finished eating and Peter drove me home.

“Thanks for dinner,” I said as he parked in front of my house. I leaned over the center console to give him a kiss good night. Peter wrapped one arm behind my back, pulling me closer. A few seconds later his other hand snaked under my shirt. As he deepened our kiss, I felt dizzy and a little bit drunk. I moaned as his hand cupped my breast. Heat pooled between my legs.

“Do you know how bad I want you?” he whispered in my ear.

“It won’t be much longer,” I said,

“I don’t want to wait. Let me take you back to my home. You can spend the night.”

Oh God, I wanted him to. But if we went to his place and had sex now, it would feel like we were just two people satisfying our lust and physical attraction, and I wanted our first time to be about more than that. I wanted it to be special and romantic.

“Next weekend will be here before you know it.”

“I hope you know that you’re driving me crazy,” he said. “But if you want to wait, then I’ll wait. It has to be right for the both of us.”

I loved that answer. Maybe I also loved Peter, or at least I was getting close to it. He was who I wanted to be with. His jealousy was no big deal. All it meant was that he really liked me. “Thank you for understanding.”

“C’mon, beautiful. Let me walk you to your door.”

Peter got out of the car and ran to open the passenger door for me. He took my hand and helped me to my feet. My legs felt wobbly, weak. He put his arm around the small of my back. I fished my keys out of my purse. Before unlocking the door, Peter pulled me close to him and whispered in my ear, “You have no idea how good you make me feel, Willow.” He gave me one more kiss and then turned and headed back to his car.

I pushed the door open and stumbled inside. I’d only had one glass of wine with