Free Cursed by Shyla Colt Page A

slow. This was what she had been searching for all these years, love and a place to belong. Her soul rejoiced, and she let go of everything that had been holding her back from love. The energy they created together took on shape and color, a bright, electric blue that swirled around them like wisps of smoke.
    “Avalyn?”
    “Don’t stop! This is a gift,” she whispered. “It’s the universe’s way of saying we suite, a sort of tantric magic I’ve read about but never experienced.”
    The emotional overload blended with the energy and the feel of him moving inside her sent her tumbling over the pinnacle he’d brought her to. Her mouth opened as she let loose a silent scream. Her walls contracted to grip him tight, and her body vibrated. Tears rolled down her face, and she clung to him, spent, as he found his own release in her arms.

Chapter Nine
    Willie looked down at the coco brown-colored hand entwined in his own.
    “You know if they catch us like this, they’d never let us live it down,” he said.
    He’d taken his new lady out for a picnic in the woods, near a peaceful brook. Contrary to what his rascally grandsons thought, he knew how to woe a lady. Summer was turning into autumn in Baxter, and the multi-colored leaves on the trees that ranged from a burnt orange to yellow gold were a beautiful sight to behold.
    “I know, but right now isn’t the right time. They need to work things out for themselves,” Betty said. “Our interference would only make them doubt their relationship later on down the line.”
    He huffed.
    “I don’t agree with that at all. We should tell them before they find out from someone else.”
    “Who’s going to tell on us, Willie? No one pays attention to what we get up to during the day.”
    “Are you ashamed of me, woman?”
    “Now don’t you go talking crazy. This isn’t about us. It’s about Colton and Avalyn. You know the curse can only be made right through their generation, not ours, which means I’m at risk because I’m with you. Are those the actions of a woman ashamed of her man?” She arched a delicate eyebrow upward, and he scowled. She had a point.
    “No, it aint.”
    “Exactly. Now let’s relax and enjoy the scenery.”
    He nodded his head in agreement as she took his hand in her own. Willie had never thought he’d find love again after his first wife passed. Then Betty came into his life and lit a fire under him. The woman was a firecracker and a beauty to boot.
    He’d be a fool to pass up an opportunity like this. From the moment they’d met, he knew there was something more than their family’s quarrel between them. Things were progressing with Avalyn and Colton, but it was going way too slow for his liking.
    He wanted to come out into the open about Betty. He was too damn old to be sneaking around.
    The woman beside him released a long sigh. “Go on and speak your piece. I can practically hear the wheels in your noggin operating.”
    “I just want to know how the hell this is ever going to come to an end when they’re tiptoeing ‘round the elephant in the room. Colton won’t bring it up and neither will she. Randy and Hunter are about ready to string him up.”
    “Well, there might be something we could do…maybe a simple spell.”
    “Now you’re talking! Tell me more.”
    “We could do a relationship clarifying spell. That’s not really meddling, just helping them figure out their own minds.”
    “I like it. What do we need to do?”
    “This is a simple one. All we need is some yellow ribbon and good intentions.”
    He grinned and turned to open the picnic basket he’d brought.
    “What are you doing? I thought you’d want to get started on the spell now.”
    “Now that we have a solution, the rest can wait. I’m spending time with my lady.”

Chapter Ten
    Colton gave himself a once-over in the mirror to make sure he was presentable. He’d woken up that morning knowing his days of staying in the background were over. He’d be