Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Elliot
Us ghouls tended to latch onto people. It was how packs ended up forming. I had a small group of close friends I’d known for years, and there was a fairly decent ghoul community in California, because we tended to migrate to warmer areas. We weren’t that great at retaining body heat.
We were only supposed to latch onto other ghouls.
Not humans, which was totally what I’d done with Ricky, even though we’d only had a few short conversations when we bumped into each other at the start or end of our shifts over the week he’d been working here.
But I was always weirdly aware of him on the other side of the wall while we both worked.
I could always tell if I’d just missed him in the back office or the corridor.
That mouthwatering scent would still be lingering—spice and clean, warm skin.
Most humans smelled good to ghouls, especially when they were around food and it made our brains think dinner was ready, but Ricky smelled… glorious.
Ricky, with his shy smile and soft-looking hair and sun-kissed skin, was glorious. Ricky was my new obsession.
I’d always had a slightly addictive personality.
I was addicted to cheap, off-brand orange soda.
I was addicted to the soup we made here with lots of garlic and celery.
I was addicted to kung fu movies. I was addicted to vegging out at home when I didn’t have to work.
My mom thought I was wasting my life—she said I should’ve gotten a “real” job by now, that this was only supposed to be a stopgap while I decided what I wanted to do after school.
But I liked my life. I liked my job. I’d worked my way up to oversee the ‘special’ kitchen here, and even though the pay wasn’t all that great, it was enough for me to afford my own tiny place. And when I clocked out, I didn’t have to think about work anymore until my next shift.
My dad said I was turning my back on our “traditional ghoulish values.” He’d wanted me to work at the family-run funeral home.
But my perfect, do-no-wrong brother ran the place now, and Bobby was a total narbo.
Yeah, sure, it would’ve meant I had a steady supply of meat, but I had that here without being bossed around by my bogus older brother.
Wonder if Ricky has any siblings, I thought as I ladled soup into four containers for a waiting order. What were his parents like? Did he still live at home? He looked to be around my age, maybe a little younger. Had he gone to college?
It was lucky I’d worked here so long, because muscle memory let me keep doing my job while thoughts of him consumed my brain.
What shampoo did he use to smell so freaking good?
What did he do in his free time? Did he sleep naked?
Did he jerk off in bed or in the shower?
Did he like dudes? Did he want his dick in my mouth?
Because I was totally down for that. I wasn’t sure how great my control would be if there was an actual warm, living piece of human in my mouth, but I was pretty sure getting to swallow his load would be enough incentive to stop me from…
you know. Biting down or anything. Or at least biting down too hard.
No, zero biting, I sternly told myself as I snapped the lids on the containers, then grabbed a pen to scribble the order number on each of them. Human dudes don’t like teeth near their dicks.
Maybe just a gentle nibble, though. Real gentle.
I found the lightest scrape of teeth on my junk extremely enjoyable, so maybe a human would too.
I wouldn’t know. I’d never fooled around with a human, because ghouls weren’t supposed to want to fuck them.
We were supposed to only want to eat them.
I was crossing major lines here, even just inside my own head, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
About him. Sweet, delicious Ricky. I’d sell my left nut just to give his neck a quick lick.
“Taking an order out,” I told Johnny, who was idly stirring the broth. He jerked his chin in response.
After sliding the four containers into a paper bag with our logo printed on the side, plus our tagline, It’s Ghoulishly Good!
, I left the kitchen and made my way to the store front.
The other kitchen had a window that let them pass their orders through, but we had to hand ours directly to the customers to make sure no one—as in, no humans—accidentally grabbed or was given the wrong one.
“Order two-one-seven?” I called woodenly when I reached the front counter.
A group of four young female ghouls stepped forward, the one at the front flipping back her hair as the other three giggled behind her.
“Thanks,” she said coquettishly, eyelashes fluttering as she smiled and showed me her receipt.
I smiled tightly back and handed her the bag over the counter. Aside from the fact that they looked barely out of high school, they were barking up the wrong tree with this guy.
“Enjoy,” I said flatly, ignoring her pout as I turned to head back. I let my eyes dart over to the pass to the other kitchen, but I couldn’t see Ricky in there through the window. My lips pursed into a pout of my own.
Then a huge smile was spreading over my face before I could stop it when the door to the kitchen opened and Ricky stepped out. I felt like an overjoyed dog seeing its master after a long day of waiting at home alone.
“Yo,” I said quickly before he could walk off. “How’s it going?”
He blushed, like he did every time he saw me, and it was still just as freaking cute as the first time.
“Oh, hey.” His eyes darted behind me to the front counter, his blush deepening. “I, um, didn’t know you were out here. I was just…”
As he trailed off, fidgeting but not making a move to leave, something a little dark and primal flared to life inside me. My smile widened.
He’d totally seen me through the kitchen window. He’d come out here hoping to bump into me. He wanted to see me.
My sweet, sweet Ricky. You can see as much of me as you want.
“You were just…?” I smirked and ambled closer until I could smell his delicious scent. Oh god, he smelled even better than normal. He’d just been chopping garlic—I could tell instantly. The savory scent of it was clinging to his uniform.
“Bathroom,” Ricky blurted, then went even pinker. “Just needed the bathroom.”
I nodded, crossing my arms and leaning my shoulder against the wall right next to the door. Ricky’s throat bobbed, his eyes darting to my mouth, then down my front, before he focused on a stain on the floor.
“When’s your shift over?” I asked, gaze roaming over the slope of his neck as I fought the urge to lean in and rub my nose against it.
“I’m closing.”
I chuckled. “Putting in a lot of hours, huh?”
“Yeah.” He gave me a shy grin. “I need the money. I’m, um, saving up to finally get my own place. Or at least move out. I’ll probably need to find somewhere with a roommate.”
My head cocked. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-three.” His eyes met mine, a flush staining his cheeks again. “I know I should’ve moved out already, but I couldn’t afford college and… Um, how about you?”
“I’m twenty-six.” I smiled at him. “Worked here about eight years.”
Some of the embarrassment fled his gaze. “No college?”
“Nah. Not for me.”
He unclenched a little with a laugh. “Yeah, me neither, honestly.”
I grinned at him. “Nothing wrong with that. So, what do you do for fun?”
“Oh.” Ricky blinked. “Um, I like to surf, but I’m not all that good. Just… hanging out, I guess.” He shrugged, chuckling self-consciously. “Not much. I guess I’m a little boring.”
“Not boring.” My voice came out lower than I’d intended. Almost a purr. Once again, Ricky’s eyes darted to my mouth before he quickly looked away. “I don’t do all that much either. Just like to veg out when I’m not working. Play some video games. Drink some beer.”
His eyes brightened. “Awesome. Me too.”
“Maybe we could do it together sometime. Hang out after work.” I tried not to look too creepy and intense as I said it, but the thought of being alone with Ricky…
He swallowed, his blush spreading down to his neck. Even his ears turned pink. It was, without exaggeration, the most adorable thing I’d ever seen.
“Y-yeah, that sounds… That’d be rad.” He sounded a little breathless. My smile widened.
“Sweet.” I straightened up from the wall. “Well, better head back. See you later, Ricky.”
“Yeah, see you… um, see you, Elliot.”
Gah, the sound of my name coming from his mouth was freaking exquisite. I wanted to hear him crying it out in ecstasy. Moaning it. Gasping it while my hand was shoved down his pants.
I let my shoulder brush against his as I walked past and heard his breath catch. I was still grinning when I sauntered back into the kitchen, visions of watching Ricky sip beer in my apartment before I crushed my mouth to his already filling my head.
“What the hell was that?”
I glanced back to see Johnny sitting in the rickety old chair by the door, flipping idly through a magazine. “Huh?”
He gestured at the door. “I could hear you out there. Did you seriously just ask to hang out with a human?”
Jaw clenching, I turned to busy myself at the counter, needlessly rearranging the utensils. “So what if I did?”
Johnny snorted. “You wanna go hang out in the freezer with all the meat too?”
“Yeah, ’cause it’s totally the same thing,” I said sarcastically, crouching to grab more containers from under the counter.
“Just sayin’, it’s weird.” He chuckled and flipped the page in his magazine. “If it was a girl, I might’ve even thought…”
I gritted my teeth harder as I straightened. “Thought what?”
“That you’re some freak who likes to fuck his food.”
Paul, over by the chopping boards, burst out laughing as I stiffened. “Grody.”
Voice tight, I said, “They’re not food when they’re alive.”
Johnny spluttered a laugh, lowering his magazine. “So you’re saying they’re fair game until we eat them? Barf. That’s messed up, dude.”
“I’m just saying they’re people.” I turned to glare at him. “Don’t remember telling you to go on break yet, Johnny. Get back to work.”
“Chill,” he muttered, but put down the mag and heaved himself up. “But I guess I should probably stand guard over the meat in case you get any sick ideas.”
He and Paul glanced at each other and snickered. Nostrils flaring and my skin prickling with anger, I turned back to the counter and snatched up the printout for the next order.