Till Death Do Us Part: A Paranormal Why Choose Romance (Vows Duet Book 1)

Chapter 14

Present Day

It takes two fucking weeks for me to recover from the amount of energy I used to grab Nova. For the first few days, I was stuck in darkness—in the same place I went when Theodore drained my energy—just floating and waiting.

But even when I could leave the darkness behind, I was still depleted. I couldn’t bounce from room-to-room with a simple thought. I couldn’t knock shit over. I wasn’t trying to hide, yet I wasn’t visible to Nova at all. Bored out of my fucking mind, I had been watching Nova day and night, plotting her torture once I was back to normal. Somehow, she wasn’t able to sense me like she had been.

Maybe that is how she senses us even when we’re not visible—something about our energy.

I file that tidbit away for later.

Jimmy and Rohan have been irritating as hell, one or the other watching over her while I stalked my prey. Theodore isn’t much better with the wise words he’s been trying to impart, like he’s my old man or some shit. All three of them keep dragging me away when she’s undressing, though, so I haven’t even seen the bitch naked.

None of that matters today. A few minutes ago, while Nova was getting ready for the day, she felt me. Which means that, if I’m right about the energy thing, I’m back in business.

I follow her from her bedroom to the kitchen and I see her body growing stiffer with every step we make together. A shudder runs through her and I smirk. I’m ready to have some fun.

“Nova,” I whisper, my standard greeting for her.

She pauses, her hand halfway to a box of granola bars in one of the cupboards. “Ghost Whisperer?” she asks, sounding anxious.

I frown. Ghost Whisperer? Really? That is what she chose to call me?

I realize my mistake when her eyes dart to where I’m standing a few feet from her. I was so excited by being able to function and puzzled by her name for me, I forgot to keep myself hidden.

The scowl on my face remains, making her cheeks lose the rosy tint she has all the time. Her arm retracts, and she takes a few steps back from me, keeping her attention on me without fail.

“Where have you been?” she breathes, further confusing me.

I had been excited by the idea of fucking with little Nova today, but she is fucking with my head instead. I can’t read her expression as well as I’d like to, finding traces of fear and caution and…lust?

I scare the shit out of her and instead of running screaming, she wants to fuck?

As if my dick can sense that there’s a woman in the vicinity who is willing, I now have a chub. Fucking awesome.

My dick getting hard makes me take another look at this girl. I drag my gaze over her, noting how her quick breaths have her little titties heaving. I get harder trying to picture what they look like uncovered. When she squirms, pressing her thighs together as she shuffles another step away, I close the distance between us without thinking.

A little noise of panic sounds in her throat, bordering on a whimper, and now there is no half-masted dick. I’m hard as a fucking rock.

My hand shoots forward, ignoring the warning bells going off in my head about draining myself again so quickly by using up energy I’ve barely recovered. I’m intent on wrapping my fingers around her delicate neck again, but she blocks me, grabbing hold of my wrist before I can. My mouth threatens to drop open at her audacity when she meets my eyes.

“Please don’t bruise me again. People were asking questions.”

The tremble in her touch and voice give away her fear, but she doesn’t look away. I can’t move, as trapped in her attention as I was in the darkness after our last encounter. I can feel her touch. It’s not the foggy feeling of touch when the other guys grab me.

Her teeth sink into her bottom lip, and then she sighs. “Who are you?”

“Koda.” I don’t fucking know why I answer her. Disturbed by how she’s managed to suck all my disdain and hatred away with a single touch, I glance at where she’s still holding my wrist. I could easily turn the tables and twist her arm. It’s small enough that I bet I could snap it.

“Koda,” she murmurs and my dick responds by jerking at the sound. She gives me a hesitant smile. “Now I can quit calling you Ghost Whisperer.”

I need fucking help. The way she’s looking at me makes me want to melt like a goddamn girl. I’ve written songs like this—about chemistry and a connection that transcends logic. For having hated this girl two minutes ago, I can’t seem to summon anything but desire at the moment.

I jerk my arm away from her and her hand flexes around air, like she can call me back to her. Leaning over her, a rumble of anger at how this exchange is going vibrates through me. She tilts her head back to keep my face in her sight, but she doesn’t freak out. The most she shows that she’s affected by my intimidation is a hard swallow that makes her whole head bob.

“Why are you so angry?” she whispers before I can threaten her like I plan to. “What happened to you?”

Once again, I’m left speechless, but somehow I maintain my glare. Her eyes scan my face, her green irises bouncing from left to right and back. I flinch at a touch on my chest, her hand coming up to drag fingertips over my collarbone.

“You don’t have to hate me,” she murmurs, watching me. I don’t respond. “I can help, Koda. Let me help you.”

Her words trigger a memory and I fall into it.

Weights clank, echoing through the gym and cutting through the pop music the gym keeps on. I stretch my neck and shake out my arms as I settle into the correct form for deadlifts. I’m about to bend to grip the bar when I catch sight of a stunning woman walk through the front door.

I watch her scan in and head for the cardio machines, noting her choice. Elliptical.

Hair bound in a high ponytail, she starts into her warm up, and I realize I’m staring like an asshole.

I shake it off and grip the bar, forcing myself to focus. No getting distracted by pussy. I have a workout to finish, a new client to train, and then a show later tonight. Low grunts slip out of my mouth as I lift and press my hips forward, then hinge at the hip as I lower the bar again.

While I get through the rest of my sets without my attention straying, it’s a little harder to ignore the chick when I get to the front to look over the file for my new client. Every member has their picture taken when they enroll and the woman who distracted me stares through the computer screen with dark, round eyes and an almost-pout on her plush lips.

Fuck me.

I scan her information. Rhea Kellerman. Twenty years old. Wants a session or two of personal training for strength building to get her started.

It’s wrong, but I go deeper into her file, looking to see if there are other members attached to her—like a boyfriend.

There’s not.

It shouldn’t fucking matter. I’m a professional. But Jesus—I’m also not fucking blind.

I approach Rhea at the start of her appointment time, while she’s wiping down the elliptical. “Hey there. Rhea, right?”

She purses her lips. “It’s Ree-ah. Not Ray-uh.”

Okay, this checks. The pretty ones are normally total bitches.

I grin at her. “Sorry. I suck words unless they’re part of a song.”

She glances at me, her eyes flicking away with irritation, but I wait as her eyes come back to me, an eyebrow raising as she looks me over.

Look, I’m not a fool. I’m hot, all right? I take pride in my body and I’m pretty easy on the eyes. I don’t spend two hours in the gym a day for fun. It takes dedication to earn a body like mine.

She doesn’t fawn like I expect her to. After a hearty study of me, from head to toe, she turns to face me fully. “You’re my trainer?” she asks, lifting a brow.

I’ve never lost my grin, and I know it’s the one I use when I’m trying to score a chick. “Yes, ma’am.”

She snorts. “Ma’am is for old bitches.”

I laugh. “All right, then. Yes, baby girl.”

Rhea stares at me, a smirk slowly growing on her face. “You’re going to be trouble.”

“Nah,” I answer, crossing my arms. “Your file says you want to work on strength training. I can help you with that.”

“That’s not what I was talking about,” Rhea says, but I can’t tell if she’s amused or starting to get pissy.It seems to be the second one when she abruptly turns like she’s about to walk right out of here.

“Wait. Just…Let me help you with what you’re looking for. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Sometimes I think I’m being funny, but it doesn’t always hit that way. I can help you, Rhea. Let me help you.”

I’m sincere. If she’s not interested in me, in that way, then I’ll do my job like I should have been from the beginning. But she stops, looks over her shoulder at me with a sort of ravenous hunger in her eyes. One that I’ve never seen in anyone I’ve been with.

I bet she’s wild in bed.

I’m dragged from my own thoughts by a tentative touch to my jaw. My attention snaps back to Nova, making her freeze with fingertips grazing my skin. Her breathing stops short as she watches me with the same sort of carefulness that someone would have with a feral animal.

My mouth opens to threaten her. “Why can I touch you, but not Rhea?” I ask instead, the words tumbling out.

Nova’s head tilts to the side, her hand drawing back. She releases her pent up breath as her brows furrow together, contemplating my question. “I’m not sure,” she answers after a moment. “I’ve never seen a ghost be able to touch anyone else, I don’t think. I’m not sure I’ve seen them try. But I can. I don’t know why. I usually avoid ghosts, so I haven’t experimented with it.”

This encounter is not going to plan in the slightest, so I abandon the idea of terrorizing her…for now, anyway. “Why? Why avoid?”

She shrugs her shoulders with a nervous half-smile. “A long time ago, I tried to tell people about seeing a ghost. No one believed me. I pretended I didn’t see them after that. It was easier. And,” she adds, narrowing her eyes at me, “sometimes they try to scare me if they realize I can see them when no one else can.”

I want to laugh at the bit of kittenish ferocity that has peeked out from behind her nervous personality. I don’t.

“And I scare you, little Nova?” I ask, my voice way huskier than I intend it to be.

She gulps, her eyes widening a fraction when I close the last little bit of space between us, our bodies pressing together. “No?” she murmurs, her eyes darting to look to where we’re touching.

I lean in close, reveling in the way she sucks in a harsh breath as my lips graze her ear. “You should be,” I whisper.

Nova angles her body, turning enough so that when I glance at her, our noses are almost touching. “Prove it,” she breathes.

I don’t understand this little nothing of a girl. She’s trembling and fearful, but also full of piss and vinegar, as my grandad would have said. It makes no sense. Maybe she’s just as fucked up as Rhea. Maybe she’s got multiple personalities or some shit.

Maybe I am as fucked up as Rhea, too, because her contradictions are making her hotter than fuck with every passing second.

Eyes searching mine as she waits for my next move, Nova bites those perfect little white teeth into her bottom lip. I want to bite that same lip, tug on it with my own teeth.

Just…fuck it.

I slam my mouth against hers, ignoring the little squeak of pain she makes when I cause her teeth to cut into her lip. I only know that because I taste blood. I taste. For the first time since I died, I can taste and Nova’s blood might be my new favorite meal.

Nova makes a halfhearted attempt to shove me away, her hands pressing against my chest, before she gives in with a groan. She sags against me, her fingers curling into my t-shirt, and starts meeting me halfway, her lips locking with mine. I flick my tongue against her bottom lip and then suck it into my mouth, letting out a heady growl when the flavor of her blood explodes on my tongue.

My hand finds her throat but, unlike last time, I only grip to hold—not hurt. Her pulse thunders under my thumb and the simple evidence of how alive she is tips me over the edge.

Using my other hand, I seize her leg, jerking her up higher until her ass is resting against the counter and I’m firmly pressed between her legs. This thing—because a kiss doesn’t accurately describe how we’re devouring one another—becomes sloppy, desperate, and a shameless noise escapes her. Her hands release me long enough to wrap around my neck, pulling me tight against her.

I’m suddenly ripped away from Nova and she topples off the counter, scrambling to grab onto something before she hits the floor. I snarl as I turn on Theodore, but he stops me with a look.

“Don’t make me drain you,” he hisses. “I promised I wouldn’t anymore. Hide yourself.”

I let out an indignant huff and do what he says, glancing back at Nova in time to see her meet my eyes as she gets to her feet from the floor, her breath still coming in pants. I know she can’t see me anymore when she searches the kitchen, letting her eyes dart back and forth.

“Koda?”

Theodore tenses in response to Nova’s whispered plea, his grip on my wrist tightening.

After a moment of silence, she sighs, swiping at her mouth where a tiny amount of blood is smeared. “There’s something wrong with me,” she mutters, dropping her head into her hands. “I just made out with a ghost. He’s dead, Nova. What is wrong with you? Even if he wasn’t dead, you’re just what? Going around making out with random hot guys?” I smirk at her description. “Dad would say you were just like Rhea—a…harlot.”

The way she says the last word makes me think whore or slut was too naughty for her to say.

There’s a beat of silence and she finally picks her head up, searching the room again, her eyes red-rimmed now. “Maybe I am.”

The words are so quiet, I almost don’t catch them. Theodore and I stand still, watching as she sighs and then snatches up the granola bar she was going for when I interrupted her. He doesn’t let me follow her when she glides out of the kitchen, snatching up her backpack as she goes. The front door opens and shuts a second later, the sound of the lock turning seeming to echo.

Which leaves me and Theodore alone, with my dick still hard as a rock. I glance down at the front of my pants, curious. I can kiss Nova, taste her, feel her.

Can I fuck her?

I don’t know the answer to that, but if I’m stuck here, you can best believe I’m going to try. I could have tried right now. The thought makes me turn to Theodore with a glower, and I jerk my arm out of his grasp.

“You fucking owe me, old man,” I snap.

He tries to say something, some argument about how Nova isn’t a game, but I flip him off right before jumping back to Rhea’s room. I don’t care what he says—Nova is definitely a new game to play.

And I plan to win.