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“The spell took him, and. . .he became her Love Zombie. He fought it, but his body stopped belonging to him. If Big Mae told him to smile, he smiled. If she told him to kiss her, he kissed her. If she called him to her bed, he went, leaving his pregnant wife in tears.”

A growl rolled through my chest.

“For the rest of his life, he couldn’t refuse Big Mae, nor could he run or scream for help.”

“How long did she keep him?”

“Forty years.”

The number struck my chest like a blade.

“One daughter came from their. . .matrimony. My great-great grandmother. And. . .on the day of her birth, a black heart appeared right on her chest. And that was when she realized she had pushed a curse into her bloodline.” Gabby turned her head and looked at me.

“What happened to his pregnant wife?”

“She died of mysterious causes, but my Aunt Delphine thinks that Big Mae sent something nasty her way.” Gabby’s dark eyes searched mine. “But do you really think. . .our. . . bond can cure it?”

“Our bond is older than the curse, and our love will heal it.”

The black heart on her chest shuddered.

My cursed hands answered with a violent pulse.

Between our bodies, that single, shimmering red thread appeared. I wished she could see it. Perhaps, when I finished the claim. . .she would.

I held her closer for a long moment and let the silence carry what my words could not.

All mine.

Unable to help myself, I lifted one hand and slid it along the outside of her bare arm. Her skin was cool. Damp. Alive with the small tremors that had started when her heat rose.

She bit her bottom lip, telling me she enjoyed my touch.

Slowly, I lowered my mouth and rubbed my lips softly against her forehead.

A soft moan left her.

My forms pressed against my flesh, yearning to get a better taste of our mate.

Be patient. She’s just now allowing herself to understand.

I went lower and slipped my lips against her cheek.

She shivered against me.

Mine.

I could have taken her mouth right there. I could have pressed her deeper into my chest, wrapped my hand around the back of her neck, and bit her hard.

Surely, her heat would have let me, but I would not.

The car turned.

I felt the shift beneath the wheels before I saw where we were going.

The road narrowed.

The city dropped away.