Chapter Eighteen #2
In that time, he’d wandered over to the couch and sat down so I was straddling his lap. His hands slid under my dress, caressing my sensitive skin. Then he pulled my zipper down so my dress came loose before teasing his fingers down my spine.
The straps of my dress hung off my shoulders as he trailed kisses across my skin, pulling me close enough that I felt the hard thud of his heart against my breasts. It echoed mine. His grip on me was rough and possessive, his words emboldened by the hold.
“I’ll tell you everything,” he whispered his promise between hot kisses and sharp, greedy breaths. “But first I need you, little wisp.”
“Then what are you waiting for? I’m all yours for the taking, Ghost Daddy,” I teased him, and his husky laughter was so damn special, it made my face light up.
Explanations could wait. My Ghost needed me, and I wasn’t the girl who’d ever find a reason to say no to him.
I dropped my hands down to his pants and freed his cock, earning myself a sharp intake. He batted them away and dragged his fingers across my wet center. I was already plenty ready for him. Another rumbling groan left his throat.
He liked it when I was so wet it dripped down his fingers. He always made the same sound.
I’d gone commando of no fault of my own. I’d brought enough panties for the trip, but they were nowhere to be found this morning. I didn’t have to be a genius to figure out who was the culprit. My Ghost obviously didn’t like when I wore them—and now it was clear why.
I’d never tell him I was grateful for less in our way. In this dress, I couldn’t wear a bra either, as if he’d planned it that way. Ghost was calculating and clever, so he definitely had.
Desire was a bright flame in his eyes. He didn’t wait. He lifted and guided me down onto his hard shaft in one movement. A keening moan rushed out of me, the sensation too delicious to smother.
He pressed his face into my breasts as I swallowed every inch of him until he was fully seated inside me. The familiar stretch and feel of him was quickly becoming home. I rolled and rocked, sinking greedy fingers into his hair. He bit the top of my breast, then slammed his mouth into mine.
We didn’t speak. We didn’t need to. His violent thrusts and wild grunts as he fucked me said enough. The bruising hold he had on me, like he was afraid I’d get away, didn’t ease even as we both came, shuddering together.
My hold was just as clingy, just as needy. My heart pounded in time with his, and I let him do however much or however little he wanted.
Because I’d completely fallen for Famine.
I woke the next day in Ghost’s arms, his naked body wrapped around mine, the bliss of a night full of positions and moaning still an ache between my hips. For once, he wasn’t awake. His eyes were closed, his soft breaths even and deep.
I crawled out of bed, quickly redressed, and then grabbed the phone on the nearby dresser.
I wanted to get my daily call into Felix before we talked world-ending stuff.
I didn’t want to be emotional or forget to call.
Felix might’ve told me not to keep calling every day, but he was dreaming if he believed I’d listen to him.
My colorful cuties were bopping around my head as I made my way down the hall and dialed Felix’s number. But it wasn’t his voice that picked up.
“Hello, Nomi. Don’t speak or I’ll make sure your lovely old man pays for it,” the man who answered said, leaving me to suck in a surprised breath.
My heart picked up and my pulse was so loud I nearly missed his next bit of instruction.
“You’re going to see a symbol appear on the wall ahead of you. It’ll glow. When it does, you’ll drop the phone, touch it, and it’ll bring you directly to me. If you don’t, I’ll kill him. Don’t test me, Nomi. I don’t have the time or patience for it, and a mortal like him is nothing for me to kill.”
A cry got lodged in my throat and tears burned pathways down my cheeks.
I still didn’t speak. I couldn’t. Felix was in danger, and the voice on the phone sounded the same way my father always did just before he’d beat me.
It brought all those old, horrible memories careening to the surface, locking up my limbs in terror.
Like he said, a glowing symbol appeared on the wall in front of me. Without waiting, I dropped the phone and touched my hand to it. My stomach dropped out, and it felt as if I’d fallen straight through the floor. But then I was standing in our bakery café.
Felix was already in front of me, his expression dark and angry.
His much-smaller frame stood as if he were six-feet tall and covered in muscle.
His protective aura radiated all around him.
It was the same aura he wore the day my father chased me down the street, screaming profanities and threatening to kill me once he got his hands on me.
Felix had always been my hero, and that was what worried me the most as he faced down the tall man whose violent red stare didn’t leave any room for misinterpretation. He’d kill whoever and whatever he had to in order to get what he wanted.
“You demonic bastard,” Felix growled, looking over his shoulder at me. “You shouldn’t have come, baby girl. You should’ve stayed where it was safe. I don’t know what kind of monster he is, but he wants you.”
I hugged him, then gave my favorite human in the whole wide world a kiss. “There are letters for you in my room under the bed. Live for a very long time, Old Man. I mean it,” I growled at him, tears rushing down my face. “If you don’t, I’ll find a way to come back and haunt you.”
I hadn’t once seen Felix cry when Mary died. I didn’t think he could, but he was now. The sadness was bleeding out of him like a dam had been broken. He didn’t hide one bit of his grief as I tried to move away.
“No, baby girl,” he whispered, grabbing my wrist. “Let this old man protect you one last time.”
My lip quivered as I shook my head, but it was too late. He’d rushed around me, grabbed his rolling pin, and gave a loud war cry as he dashed for our enemy. It wasn’t even a good weapon against a human, but Felix didn’t care. He’d fight with every last breath.
He was the hero I always wished I could be for him.
I rushed after him, but I was too late. The tall man with dark hair and piercing red eyes thrust his black wing out. It had feathers like a bird, but the way they acted, it landed like a weapon. It struck Felix right in the chest and sent him flying back. His body hit the ground, and I screamed.
When I tried to go to him, I was intercepted by our attacker. I glared up at him, curled a fist, and slammed it right into his chest. It didn’t do a lick of damage. His smile was all devil as he grabbed my arm and yanked hard. I hit his chest, and my blood went ice cold.
“I like the fight in you. You’ll make a good bride,” he whispered, then his hand was around my throat.
It felt as though he’d ripped out my insides and dragged them right through the floor. Pain rocketed through every limb and seared me from the inside out.
I fell through the floor like before, tumbling weightlessly, but then I was left standing in a space surrounded by the shadows that crowded me the first time I was attacked.
I was on a piece of earth encircled by high walls of fire and slow-moving lava.
Stairs ascended to a throne, and my dark-haired captor was behind me, leaning in.
“Welcome to my fiery kingdom, Nomi. You can call me Lucifer.”