Page 65 of Cursing My Cheating Husband

I took a deep breath. “That’s not all, though.”

“More? That was some night.”

I hesitated, struggling with how to tell her about what happened next. Brie patiently took bites of her salad as she waited for me to collect my thoughts.

“Right after we finished… I was just trailing my hand down his face… and suddenly I was in his mind.”

Brie’s eyes narrowed quizzically. “What do you mean by that?”

“It was just like memory magic, only present tense. And I was still aware of myself and my own body. But I was also in his consciousness, hearing his thoughts, feeling his feelings, all of it.”

Brie set down her fork. “But you’re saying it just happened? You didn’t cast the spell that time?”

I shook my head. “It totally surprised me.”

“I’ve never heard of that,” Brie said, her wheels turning.

Her sentiment immediately echoed Astrea’s words last night, when my mother had been pointing out my ability to work new magic on pure instinct.

I had already shared the stories with Brie of my prior experiences with memory magic and Maddox. “Maybe there was a residual connection from the last two times?” she speculated. “Once you’ve built that bridge both ways, it might be easier for the connection to re-establish?”

“Maybe…” It was a plausible theory.

“Maddox must have wanted you in there, though? The memory magic doesn’t work without consent.”

“Yeah, he did.” I sighed. “I don’t think he knew it happened, but that was one of the main thoughts he was having, a wish that there was some way I could know his true feelings.”

“Well, that supports the residual connection theory.” Brie looked at me expectantly for half a second. “Well? Tell me what you saw in there! What were the true feelings he was dying for you to know?”

“I would have thought the only thing going on in there was a calculated plot,” I began. “My assumption was his only thoughts would be scheming to get out of the curse.”

Brie nodded. “I would assume the same.”

“But he wasn’t thinking about the curse at all. He was only thinking about me, and how much he loves me, and how much he’s changed and would never be that guy again.” I paused. “How much he wanted me to let him do this again. How much he wanted to say all that to me, but he knew his words were meaningless after his lies.”

Brie thought for a moment. “But you believe it now?”

“Not exactly. I believe at the moment I entered his mind, that’s who he was and what he was feeling.” I took a deep breath. “But just at that moment. If there’s one thing I know about Maddox, it’s that he completely changes depending on who he’s with. He might have ‘loved’ me last night, but I don’t think that would stop him from ‘loving’ some other woman just as much tonight, if my curse gave him the option.”

I wasn’t as sure of that as I was making it look to Brie. But I didn’t want to reveal to her that⁠—

“It sounds like you’re not as sure of that as you’d like me to believe,” Brie said plainly, interrupting my train of thought. Well, no sense trying to hide from her.

“You’re right. Because when I was feeling it through him, it absolutely felt like real love. It happened so suddenly, but in that moment, I didn’t doubt it at all.”

“That must have been confusing,” Brie observed.

“Yes. Extremely. But I just have to remind myself that what I felt must have been his distorted subjective perception. The only reason it felt real is because it felt real to him. And since I know he does not understand what real love is, it really doesn’t matter how it feels to him.”

“That seems like a reasonable conclusion.” Then, she gave another wicked smile. “So, are you going to add oral to the regular menu of his duties?”

“Were you listening to the rest of the story after that? I don’t want any more time in his mind!”

“So just make sure you don’t touch his face. And then you can enjoy only the fun part. And you know for sure he’s into it, so you don’t have to worry you’re exploiting your ‘servant.’ The man is hoping for more.”

I returned Brie’s smile. “Well, you make a good case for it.”

“Perfect,” Brie declared, raising her teacup in a mock toast. “You already have him serving you dinner every night. Now you’re just adding some dessert.”