Chapter 10
Present Day
It’s her.
I pace along the ten-inch strip of concrete that serves as a back patio to Rhea’s house, my breathing shallow. Every inch of my being wants to walk right into that house, take Nova in my arms, and never let her go.
Nova is the one I’ve been searching for. She is the one I always felt guilty for betraying every time I stuck my cock in another woman. She is the one I saw through the fog in my deepest sleep.
Tonight, when I laid eyes on her for the first time, I knew.
I was supposed to be making a racket, slamming doors and pounding on the walls the way Koda showed me how. It was simple really—the same way that I could conjure up clothing, I could make myself corporeal enough to grasp at things or hit inanimate objects and structures. I could feel how weary I was from doing so, for however short an amount of time. It took a lot of energy to touch.
And then she stumbled into my line of sight at the other end of the hallway.
I forgot to keep myself invisible to her eyes the second I saw her, her fearful expression glowing in the light from her phone. When she saw me too, I felt something snap into place between us; something so true I wanted to weep with relief that I’d finally found it. I wasn’t sure, but the way she’d frozen, her eyes fixed on me, her feet edging her closer to the hallway instead of further away, I think maybe she felt something too.
“Nova,” I whisper to myself, testing her name on my tongue. “Nova.”
A blaze of frustration hits me out of nowhere, overpowering the urge to force my affections on her. I don’t even have a clear picture of what she looks like, save for a lustrous mane of brown or black hair and pale skin. I want to see her again, to commit her to my memory until it would be impossible to extract her from my mind.
“You guys are assholes.”
I look over my shoulder at Jimmy, his chest heaving. “You were right,” I choke out.
He draws back, surprised. “I was?”
I release a self-depreciating laugh, turning around fully. “Yes, you were. We need her.”
Possessiveness takes over his features. “What do you mean?” he asks, crossing his arms.
“I’ve been looking for her,” I confess, scrubbing my hands over my trimmed beard. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve been looking for someone. I didn’t know who it was, but I didn’t find her before Rhea killed me. Rhea actually drew me to her in a way that I thought meant it was her. But now I think maybe I was drawn to Rhea because it led me to Nova. I think Nova is meant to be mine.”
“Maybe you’re not the only one that feels like they found something they’ve been missing,” Jimmy scoffs. “Why do you get to make that claim?”
I shake my head. “I swear, Jimmy. I don’t know who she is to me, but she’s important. I’m telling you. Something is happening between us that’s bigger than this—bigger than Rhea or this house.”
“Very philosophical of you, professor,” he mutters, looking toward the house.
“I need to see her,” I blurt out. “I couldn’t see her well and she was afraid. I just want to see what she looks like. Jimmy, please. Help me.”
I see him debating as he stares at me. Then he sighs. “Fine, Rohan. But you cannot show yourself or touch her. She’s had enough tonight.”
“I swear I won’t,” I say eagerly.
“Come on,” he sighs, sounding almost petulant. We materialize through the wall into the kitchen, and Jimmy puts a finger to his lips. “Remember to keep yourself hidden. Your voice too.”
I follow behind him, more nervous than I’ve ever felt, that I can remember. Our footsteps don’t make a single noise as we move through the kitchen. Jimmy stops, putting his arm out to keep from moving past him. I step up next to him and lock eyes on Nova as she cleans up the mess we made, grumbling under her breath.
“Stinking overzealous ghosts, making messes. And who has to clean them up? I do. I have to clean up. Pains in my butt.”
I grin at her monologue, ducking and weaving to catch a glimpse of her face. It’s hidden by a curtain of hair as she bends gracefully at the waist, shuffling papers into a neat stack. Just when my patience about runs out, Jimmy elbowing me when I press against his arm, she stands up, flipping her hair back as she does.
Her hair cascades back over her shoulders, away from her face, and I’m left staring at the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. She has green eyes full of kindness and warmth, the cutest little pert nose I’ve ever seen, and full bottom lip met by a slightly thinner one with a perfect cupid’s bow in the middle.
She sighs. “You could have cleaned up your own mess,” she mutters.
“I’m sorry,” I say, flinching when Jimmy elbows me again. But she doesn’t hear me. I made sure to mask my voice. “I’m so sorry.”
After a few minutes of straightening up under mine and Jimmy’s scrutiny, Nova sighs and glances around, satisfied with her cleanup. She turns off the light over the cluttered little table, making me realize she took care of everything we wrecked. When I glance up, the light bulb has been replaced, and I notice all the glass has been cleaned up too.
I start after her when she heads for the living room, but Jimmy stops me.
“That’s enough,” he whispers. “She’ll sense us if we stay too long or too close.”
“Just a little longer,” I plead, my eyes glued to the lines of her body as she moves. Even her steps are sensual and appealing.
“Rohan,” Jimmy groans.
Nova turns off the light and turns, hesitating at the opening of the hallway. She squints her eyes.
My stomach flip flops. She’s looking for me.
She takes a deep breath and then launches herself forward, taking determined steps to the bathroom. The door slams shut once she’s inside and I can hear her talking to herself.
“None of you ghosts better be watching me pee,” she gripes.
Both Jimmy and I chuckle.
She reappears a few moments later and heads directly for her bedroom, the door closing behind her.
“A little more,” I say, grabbing Jimmy’s shoulder. “You know you want to.”
He hesitates. “We should give her privacy.”
“You mean like Koda will?”
Jimmy’s attention snaps back to her door. “Just a couple of minutes,” he relents.
We move together, stepping through her closed door. Both of us stop short when we do. My mouth goes dry, any attempts to swallow at the vision before me proving fruitless.
“Oh, fuck,” Jimmy whispers. I don’t look at him, too fixated on Nova, but I know he can’t look away either.
Nova sighs as she pulls on her nipples, her tank top shoved beneath her perky breasts so that they’re on full display. Her hips lift as she tugs and twists, a whimper escaping her. One hand staying on her breast, the other slides down the center of her torso and under the waistband of her shorts.
“We should leave,” Jimmy murmurs, his voice strained.
“Uh huh,” I say, distracted.
Neither of us moves.
Nova makes a low moan in her throat, her back arching, pushing her uncovered breasts toward the ceiling. The hand in her shorts appears to be playing with her clit, moving in circles, her knees bent and pressed open on the bed.
I’ve never wanted to touch someone so badly. I am, somehow, painfully hard as I watch, wishing I could see her play with her pretty cunt.
“Yes,” she moans. “Please, God, yes.”
Nova’s hands move faster, the one still plucking at her nipple while the other rubs harder, faster underneath her shorts. Her breaths come in shorter pants, tinged with moans and whines as she nears a climax. Arching her back so it bows off the bed, her voice cracks on a groan.
“Jimmy!” she cries out, her hips leaping into the air while her hand continues to move hard and fast.
It’s my turn to hold back Jimmy, stealing any chance I had to think about being jealous. I grab him the second he steps forward, a wild look in his eyes as she calls his name over and over again as she comes. He fights me, trying to break out of my hold.
“Jimmy,” I hiss. “You can’t.”
“I really fucking can,” he snarls in my face. “She needs me.”
I huff a laugh despite the tussle we’re involved in. “I’m fairly certain her hand has done the trick for now.”
At my words, he pauses, glancing at her. Nova lies in the same position, legs spread and tits out, but her arms are splayed out now, cast out to either side as she breathes heavily with her eyes closed. He shoves away from me, but doesn’t go to her, crossing his arms and pouting at her instead.
We freeze when she turns on her side, but her eyes never open. With a long, deep sigh, she gives a hum of contentment, her chest rising and falling with a rhythm that indicates sleep.
I step forward, earning me a shove from Jimmy. “She’s asleep,” I explain. “I won’t stay too long. I just want to be closer to her.”
“If you’re going, I’m going,” he argues.
I shrug. “Fine.”
And I am. Something tells me that Jimmy’s affections for Nova are okay, regardless of my certainty that she belongs to me.
We ease toward the bed until we’re standing at its edge. I grit my teeth when she shivers, a clear in response to our presence. I reach out, wanting just one touch. I want to know what she feels like.
Jimmy catches my wrist, wordlessly. We stare at one another, a challenge building between the two of us. The challenge shifts, something heavy clicking to place between the two of us. I blink at him, at the desire I suddenly feel.
“No more,” Nova breathes, interrupting us. She draws in a long, sleep-filled breath, her eyes still firmly shut. “No more tonight. Bother me later, dumb ghosts.”
I smile at her sass, glad to see it after the way I’ve heard her react so submissively to Rhea. “Good night, Nova,” I say softly.
We respect her wishes, both Jimmy and I returning to Rhea’s room with a simple thought. I exchange a look with Jimmy when we arrive, the message clear—we keep everything about tonight to ourselves.
“There you are! Where the fuck have you been?” Koda demands, stomping toward me with a scowl. I spy Theodore reclining against the wall behind him, looking very pissed off.
“Out,” I reply simply. “I needed to clear my head.”
He rolls his eyes, but waves off my words with a flick of his wrist. “We’re talking about next time. Next time, we’ll—”
“Count me out.”
Koda stops, turning toward me slowly. “Come again?”
“I want no part of it,” I reply. “Nova doesn’t deserve this.”
“Nova,” he sneers. “Does the little bitch have another lap dog?”
I shrug, downplaying how I want to lash out at him for the way he referred to her. “She’s innocent.”
He laughs coldly. “And?”
I learned a long time ago that there is no point in arguing with children, as I so often had wanted to do in my role as a professor. Turning my back to him, I allow myself to vanish, knowing I must do whatever I can to build my energy once more.
Because Nova is here, and that’s enough to warrant my existence beyond death.