Chapter Seven
Nomi
Idid manage to tell Felix I loved him before leaving. He gave me another concerned look, but he didn’t press the issue. After getting home, I made Ferguson his usual meal.
Ghost had been relatively quiet most of the day. Other than the cookie incident, he hadn’t done anything else. No demons or angels either. It was a quiet day. Almost uncomfortably so if you thought about how I’d been told I was being hunted by supernatural monsters.
I glanced over my shoulder after cooking my dinner, eyeing the white-haired pretty boy on my couch. He was back to his game. I hadn’t expected him to do normal guy things when he didn’t eat or sleep or really act human in any other way.
Ferguson was perched on the counter despite my constant beratement. I was so scared one day he’d burn his little beans on the stove and I’d have to rush him to the vet. But thankfully, he stayed where he was, head bopping as he watched the wisps flutter around.
It was enough I had to deal with Ferguson, but Ignis and Glacies were absolute troublemakers.
I turned with my plate, but Glacies swept the kitchen floor before Ignis could follow and I slipped. Ghost was already there, behind me, his hands on my shoulders to keep me from falling back. I clutched the plate for dear life and sucked in a grateful breath.
“If the angels and demons don’t get me first, these two will,” I mumbled.
His head was over my shoulder, curious eyes on my plate. I’d made something simple. Just the stir-fry Felix had taught me to make. I couldn’t ignore the fact that his hands were still on my shoulders, keeping my back pressed into his front. He hadn’t pulled away. If anything, he’d gotten closer.
Like I was starting to notice with him, Ghost never said much on his own. So, lifting the plate, I turned my head toward him. “Want some?”
My breath caught as his hands glided down my arms and guided them to lift the food a little higher. His face was inches from mine as he inhaled, closing his eyes. My heart battered my breastbone when those gorgeous red eyes snapped open and slid over to mine, waiting.
I bit my lower lip and struggled to understand what his lack of expression was saying. Then I thought back to earlier. Maybe he wanted me to feed him. It was odd to have him behind me like this and raise a fork with a good bite on it. If I’d read him wrong, this was going to be extra awkward.
But I hadn’t.
He leaned forward, his firmness melding perfectly with my softness. I swallowed a gasp as his hands went to my hips and dragged me back as if he didn’t think I was close enough.
I tried not to think about what might be in his pants or how good he’d be at using it. This position was entirely too intimate for strangers, but the way he acted made me think he didn’t know any better.
I fed him the bite of stir-fry and his large hands firmed around my hips. Ghost didn’t express his thoughts like most, but the little sound he made carried a lot of emotion. Not exactly a moan, but a hum of delight.
“You like it, huh?”
His gaze shot to mine, a spark of surprise in it again. “It’s good.”
To anyone else, a lackluster compliment. But from someone like Ghost, words carried a lot more weight. He so rarely chose to speak.
I beamed and fed him another bite, finding way more joy in the act than I ever imagined. He didn’t hesitate to eat everything I offered him, and he didn’t bother to move away. His hands stayed firmly set on my waist.
“Felix taught me how to make this. It’s one of my favorites.”
He made a soft sound in his throat, and his hot breath painted my face.
Ghost smelled incredible. I wasn’t sure what cologne he wore, if at all, but it was an absolute pleasure for my nose.
He licked his lips and then the fork, giving me an up-close and personal show that would definitely feature in my dreams tonight.
I’d never been this turned on by something so normal. Never thought the act of feeding someone could be this sensual. But Ghost had given me a whole new perspective on it. With the right person, it was foreplay.
I hadn’t been paying attention, lost in my head after the fourth bite, when suddenly the fork was in front of my mouth. I pressed back into his body in surprise. Ghost had lifted the fork I’d been using for him and waited for me to take a bite.
Embarrassed, I tried to move away, but his free arm slid around my waist and locked me in place.
“I can feed myself, Ghost.”
He waited, the fork staying where it was in silent demand. My eyes flicked from the food to him, but by the way his arm stayed firm on my waist, I quickly understood he’d wait however long it took for me to eat.
Opening my mouth, he fed it to me. I barely tasted it when I thought that this fork had been licked by his tongue not that long ago.
I was struggling with an out-of-control pulse and slickness between my legs, only made worse when Ghost’s thumb brushed my chin, capturing stray juice.
I gawked openly as he sucked it off and hummed in his throat.
“Very good,” he rumbled, his guttural tone making my legs a little shaky. My head was lost to more fantasies. “I now understand why the other Horsemen are so fond of eating.”
As if he hadn’t destroyed my body with the intimate act of feeding each other, Ghost released me and wandered back over to the couch.
I leaned heavily against the counter, quaking and struggling to breathe.
Ignis and Glacies took turns rubbing themselves over my face and arms before I finally came out of my stupor.
Did he know what he was doing to me? He couldn’t be this clueless, could he?
I took a few more bites, staring at the back of his head as he returned to playing his game. Or rather, my game.
My experience with men was so different from anything with Ghost. Granted, he was a supernatural being and we’d only really known each other for a day, but I got the impression he didn’t interact with humans often.
And definitely not women. And yet, anything he did, I had so much trouble keeping my heart and body in check.
Still, I couldn’t overthink his actions. They probably didn’t mean anything. And I had bigger issues to worry about. Like how I was going to avoid demons and angels and for how long.
After finishing my meal, I washed the dishes I’d used and took a seat next to him on the couch. “How long do you need to protect me?”
His hands stopped mashing buttons, then he was looking at me. “As long as it takes.”
“For what? The end of the world or until I die?” I asked calmly, though my heart was anything but. “Is there a deadline on the end of the world?”
His controller went down and he turned to me. “Not that I’ve seen, but what we know about it is relatively minimal.”
“Even the Horsemen meant to bring the apocalypse are clueless? That’s…a choice, I guess.” I leaned back and sighed. “So you’re going to watch me forever then? That’s a long time to play protector.”
His impassive face twisted for just long enough to give him away. I read it off him—he didn’t intend for it to be that long. He was going to leave me at some point, but it wasn’t clear when or for what reason.
If he was the only one who could take my soul, then I didn’t understand why he didn’t just let the angels or demons kill me so I couldn’t be used. It felt like I was missing something.
“What about the others?” I asked instead.
He cocked his head.
“The other Horsemen. Are they after me, too? There’s meant to be four of you, right? Can they take my soul for the apocalypse as well?”
“No, they can’t. They have their own souls.”
“That they will take? So what’s the point of protecting me when they’ll do it with their own anyway?” I asked in all seriousness.
Probably a bit stupid to argue protecting me was pointless, but I needed to get this story plot out of him so I could figure out how much time I had or if there was anything I could do to stop it from happening.
I didn’t have powers that I was aware of. I wasn’t under any misguided impressions; I couldn’t fight an angel or demon if they attacked me. It was a simple fact.
His silence was heavy. Even if his face didn’t give him away, something told me he wasn’t sure if he should go into more detail than he already had. But it didn’t take him long to decide.
“They don’t want the end of the world, either,” he told me confidently. “But one does need my help, and…she’s like your Felix. Chosen family.”
I was surprised by his candid statement.
He didn’t seem like the type to openly admit something personal to him.
I hadn’t expected Ghost to tell me things, but it made sense that me, a total stranger, wasn’t his main objective.
It was a relief to know that at least the other three didn’t want the end of the world.
That meant Felix was at least safe no matter what happened to me.
“Horsewoman?” I snickered. “That’s badass. Which one is she?”
“Mortals call her War,” he finally answered after a pause, his head still tilted. “I’m the one they call Famine.”
A lightbulb went off in my head. “Oh! So these cuties bring cold and heat to kill crops and such? That makes so much sense.”
I snuck a glance at them as they bounced from one of my knees to the other, leaving streams of water dripping down my legs. I’d had the good sense not to wear pants. Wet denim was a sensation I’d rather avoid today.
Ghost stared at the two, and I noticed belatedly he was much closer to me than before. His side was pressed against mine. “You’re very perceptive for a mortal.”
“Thanks?” I sassed with a laugh. “So, War needs your help?”
He nodded, his eyes cutting up to mine. His expression was much softer than it’d ever been, and I had to wonder if that had something to do with her. He’d said family, but maybe…