Dolls Gone Wild (Ghost Cupid #3)

Chapter 1

Kris

Being married without being actually married was a very interesting way to live life.

It seemed to still come with all the responsibilities of marriage, with a whole new level of commitment, as the bond was definitely more binding than a marriage license.

Just without the tax benefits. And then there was the whole living together with someone you were barely dating.

Let’s just say there were pros and cons.

One of the pros was definitely breakfast. Zhen was a morning person, and I was decidedly not with the working hours I kept. We’d figured out early on he was in charge of coffee and breakfast, because if I was doing it, it would be more like coffee and lunch.

I tromped down the stairs this morning, still half asleep.

We were expecting Zhen’s best friend and fellow hunter, Jo Jo, to come and stay with us on Thursday, so while we still had a few days, I’d been up last night like a possessed person making sure the house was more or less put together.

It was bound to be a busy week, and luckily, the guest rooms were the last thing on our list to knock out.

We’d gotten home two days ago from a swamp mission from hell—thankfully the final job for Zhen’s month—and I’d summoned the energy to tackle the guest bedrooms yesterday, Zhen helping me put the beds together and assemble any remaining furniture.

I could rest easy now, knowing Jo Jo would have a comfortable stay and I could focus on work the next few days until his arrival.

Sann joined me at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing up against my legs and purring. I knew why.

“I know for a fact Zhen fed you,” I told him, although I still bent down to rub his head, because our speckled void baby was a conniving old man but still a loveable one. “You are not a hobbit. You do not get two breakfasts.”

Sann followed me into the kitchen anyway because he was nothing if not hopeful, but kitty love was a good way to start my morning.

Truly, I loved my months. Mostly because there were no EFTs.

I hated the Evil Flying Things with a passion.

And swamps. Swamps were now on my shit list. I was also leery, though, because we were now in October.

October, or the month of Samhain, was an insane month for demon hunters.

Anything that could go wrong, would go wrong.

And by that logic, go epically wrong simply for shits and giggles.

I’d already promised Zhen to be flexible this month.

If something went absolutely pear-shaped, I was down to go and had already warned Boss.

It would only stress us both out if I tried to put my foot down.

We’d need to start fresh with the work schedules in the upcoming year and schedule it so that going forward, October was always Zhen’s month.

This year we’d screwed up because we hadn’t thought ahead.

At least Charlotte was now trained to handle office stuff in my absence, so there was less stress on my shoulders.

I smelled coffee, which meant my lovely husband had done his job, and beelined for the pot. I poured myself a cup, doctored it, downed half, and felt like my brain might fully come online now. Wheeeeee.

“You look awake but not operational,” my husband observed.

I grunted, taking another sip. He looked very functional. Black hair damp and loose around his shoulders, he’d clearly showered recently. He even had pants on at this godforsaken hour.

Turning, I looked around the kitchen. Zhen had cleaned up after himself this morning…or was he going the easy route with cereal? So long as it left the kitchen clean, I was fine either way. In fact, he was sitting at the bar with a bowl in front of him and...wait. Was that two cereal boxes?

“What, you couldn’t decide between the Lucky Charms and the Shredded Wheat?”

“Yeah,” he agreed, before scooping another spoonful into his mouth.

Then I realized he meant that literally. He’d poured both cereals into his bowl! “You heathen, you’re eating both at once?!”

He grinned and shoved another spoonful of brightly colored marshmallows and mushy Shredded Wheat into his mouth. The visual alone disturbed me on a primal level.

“There’s something wrong with you,” I said with a shudder. Seriously, those two cereals did not mix!

“Everyone we know would agree with you.” Not at all bothered to be an outlier, he kept eating.

Well, I had been planning to eat cereal, but after that show-and-tell, my mouth was too horrified to contemplate it. Bagel it was.

I toasted my bagel, slathered it with some blueberry cream cheese, and settled at the bar beside Zhen.

My husband was in his favorite black short-sleeved shirt and jeans.

Black was definitely his color. Brought out those dark brown eyes of his.

Not that he needed more help being handsome. “What’s your plan for today?”

“Since guest rooms are ready and I’ve got a few free days, probably working on my swords. All of them need sharpening, and I’ve got to redo the hilt of the wakizashi.”

The last fight we’d had was hard on his equipment.

The Lizard Man’s scaly green skin had acted something like armor, wreaking hell on the swords.

Zhen had used the wakizashi as an anchor at one point, and the hilt had suffered as a result, a whole chunk now missing.

It wasn’t exactly comfortable to wield. No surprise he’d want to spend the day fixing his swords.

Zhen tried to keep battle-ready, after all.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned from your hunts, it’s to not bring any clothes I’m partial to. And bring soap strong enough to perform exorcisms.” I shot Zhen a pointed look.

“Aww, honey, just because you got covered in green blood and piss—”

“I’m still debating which is worse.”

“You were covered in piss but at least you weren’t on fire,” he pointed out.

Husbands. Making unhelpful comments since the beginning of time.

Really, I’d been able to avoid most of the hunt while Zhen ran around like a crazy person.

I hadn’t stepped in until the final boss fight, partially to lower Zhen’s stress levels, partially so I could snipe.

It was a testament to how far we’d come with our bond that we could spend most workdays away from each other.

It used to be we couldn’t manage more than a few hours, and even then only if we stayed in short range of each other.

Now we were able to do about eight hours and around ten miles apart.

Which was amazing, as it meant we could both do our jobs without breathing down each other’s necks.

Well, mostly. If Zhen had to travel outside of Demonbreun, which he’d done practically all of September, I still had to go with him.

Even after our acceptance, the bond only allowed so much distance to come between us before it started getting uppity.

At least now—unlike in late June, when I’d first been forced to go hunting with Zhen—I had the choice of staying in a hotel if Zhen deemed the fight too dangerous or Boss needed me to hop on a client call, which was how I’d operated a good chunk of my time last month.

But thanks to Uncle Ty, I’d found I had a talent for sniping.

In this business, every helping hand was needed, and I liked sniping, so I wanted to continue honing my skills to be of use whenever the situation allowed.

But I did regret coming in to snipe that last hunt because I hadn’t been able to really avoid the worst of the gunk. Anyone within a half mile got hit, or so it felt.

I only wanted to fight from a distance. I’d had enough of monster fluids, thanks muchly.

Bond progress aside, the temptation to wring Min Min and Jian Ju’s necks remained strong.

The you hun ye gui really should not have performed a binding spell on us.

Why they’d bulled ahead despite the taboo of binding living people together, I could not fathom.

I know they’d said they wanted to share the happiness, but seriously?

I refused to play matchmaker outside of work anymore if non-consensual binding was going to be my thanks. We’d taken the information to Zhen’s family right after the housewarming party, and while it’d helped give us context of how the bond had happened, it didn’t tell us how to undo the binding.

I still wanted it undone because I wasn’t keen on following Zhen around on missions, but at this point, I felt more ambivalent toward it.

The bond no longer actively hurt us or crippled our ability to do our jobs.

I’d be on my way home from work by the time it started getting antsy, like a dog you had to let outside after being gone all day.

We’d eventually figure out how to undo the bond, or it would adapt enough to let Zhen do short hunting trips without me.

We’d made so much progress on that front already that I remained quite hopeful.

All complications aside, I liked being with Zhen.

He was fast becoming my favorite person ever.

We’d only been “married” four months, so I was still learning about him like you would in a typical dating phase, but he’d made a rough situation so much easier by bending over backward to help make me more comfortable.

I’d been attracted to him from the first moment we’d met—I mean, I think most girls would be, what with his model height, infectious smile, and those sharp cheekbones—but the attraction was more than physical now.

He was genuinely great company, kept me laughing, and made me feel listened to.

Bonus points were that the sex was scorching hot and he was a good cook.

I mean, the man had built me my own library. What’s not to love?

Well…I might be tempted to strangle him sometimes because of his nonstop energy, but so long as he had something for the wiggles, my sanity stayed intact.