Chapter 20
Xander
(Two Years Ago)
SWEAT LINED MY FOREHEAD, MAKING the ends of my black hair cling to my face. The energy of the crowd still rushed through my veins as the guys and I filed into the backstage area with shouts of Sinners Do It Better still echoing through Madison Square Garden.
“That’s how you do a show,” Zagan cheered, clapping all of us on the back. “Fuck, that was perfect.”
“My body is buzzing,” Perseus practically moaned. His heavily ringed fingers tugged at the elastic band holding his golden curls back and shook his hair out. “I can’t wait to burn off all this pent-up energy in the hotel room with a delicious meal.”
All of the guys snapped their fingers, turning any sweat and grime on their bodies into shadow.
They were as clean as though freshly washed.
I could’ve done the same, but there was something I found therapeutic and refreshing in taking an actual hot shower after a concert.
Typically, I’d follow that by joining the rest of the guys at whatever after-party we had set up where there would be lots of sex with humans, music, drinks, and human drugs.
But tonight was different.
“I’m actually going to dip,” I announced. “I have other plans.”
“With your pet fish?” Perseus asked flatly with a raise of his brow.
I flashed him a wide grin while ignoring the confused looks that Zagan and Dante now wore. “You got it.”
Much like last night, our concert ended late, the clock reading just past 11 p.m. I wasn’t sure what time Kendyll would be released from her duties with Bethelma after their live show, so in case she finished before me, I’d given her my apartment address and the security code to get the elevator up to my penthouse.
My blood heated at the thought of Kendyll waiting on me in my place right this very second.
With a rush of shadows converging around me, I vanished and reappeared in my penthouse living room.
My demonic senses picked up on a presence.
I turned and found Kendyll sitting at my kitchen island, an array of to-go boxes laid out before her.
Nightly, the stuffed bat, was in the chair next to her, and Catsper perched on the kitchen island, trying but failing to get into the boxes of food.
She straightened her glasses when our eyes met and cleared her throat. “I thought you might be hungry after your concert, so I grabbed food on my way over.”
The smell of the authentic Chinese food wafted over, making my stomach growl and something even sharper twist through my chest. She could’ve brought any food, yet she’d chosen this restaurant. “You remembered that place?”
“Of course,” she grumbled with a purse of her lips and averting of her eyes. “It was my first meal after leaving Mountview.”
I closed the distance between us and braced my hand on the back of her chair to box her in between me and the island. I reached behind her to peek through the dishes.
“You got all the good stuff. What a good girl. Give me five to shower. I’ll be right out.”
“I’ll make the tea while you wash off.”
I hopped into the shower, but where I normally would’ve taken my time to enjoy the heat and steam, I finished quickly tonight.
With only a pair of sweatpants on, I padded back out into the main area of the apartment.
Kendyll was pouring the tea into two cups, dark hair falling into her eyes as she looked up at me.
Her gaze dipped to my bare torso where a few drops of water landed from my damp hair.
She pressed her lips together and refocused on the tea. “The food should still be warm.”
From the color dusting the tops of her ears, I’d wager the food wasn’t the only thing warm.
The memory of the other night was still maddeningly fresh.
Kendyll discovering herself was hotter than anything I’d ever fucking seen, and I didn’t even see anything.
Her clothing had remained on, our physical contact the bare minimum.
I was trying to take Perseus’s advice, helping her learn how to be comfortable with herself, which would hopefully help her be comfortable with me.
But it was gooddamn hard, especially when our eyes would meet with a deep longing for more simmering there between us.
I wanted to see her lose herself to pleasure.
I wanted to see every naked inch of her stunning body. But I’d wait until she was ready.
Sitting side by side in my kitchen, we dug into the food.
“How was the live show?” I asked her while grabbing some smashed cucumber.
She sighed around a bite of her black sesame bun. “Exhausting. There were actually a lot of people there with attachments. Once the ghosts realized I could see and communicate with them, it became a mad house, each of them wanting their turn.”
I could just picture an overwhelmed Kendyll surrounded by a sea of apparitions that all fought to talk over each other in order to be heard.
The mental image of her floundering to give everyone a chance while trying to ensure the show went smoothly had me reaching over to drag a hand lightly up and down her shoulder blade.
“I could barely get them to calm down enough to feed the information to Bethelma,” she continued with a weary rub to her face.
She leaned into my touch, though she didn’t seem to notice her own response to me.
“Even after the show was over, I had ghosts pleading that I pass on their message, so I talked to countless people afterwards, pretending that Bethelma told me to tell them that their loved one said …” She waved her hand to indicate whatever messages she’d been given tonight.
“Shit. That sounds like a lot in one evening,” I noted with a frown.
She nodded, offering me a bite of noodles between her chopsticks, which I leaned forward to accept.
“Ever since the TV show got big and Bethelma became known as the ‘real deal’—” she air quoted with a roll of her eyes “—the people that flock to her live shows for live readings almost always have a spirit they’re hoping to talk to.
Of course, not every dead person remains behind as a ghost as I’m sure you know. ”
“Indeed,” I agreed.
“Still, a lot of people with a deceased loved one attached come, and there are just too many to keep up with on a live set. I told Bethelma to stop doing these shows, but she just sees dollar signs and won’t listen.”
“Should I pull a little Mountview trick and change up the date of your contract to end earlier?” I offered with a mischievous grin, half-joking but also ready to do just that if she wanted me to.
She narrowed her eyes and paused midchew like she was actually considering the offer. Eventually, she resumed eating. “Don’t tempt me. Anyway, how was your concert?”
It surprised me how natural all of this felt—eating a late dinner with her after work, cleaning up the kitchen after a meal, settling on the couch to watch TV and continue our hushed conversations.
Nightly was wrapped around Kendyll so that the massive plushie’s wings cocooned her, and Catsper curled up on the couch between us, his translucent black body nearly invisible against the dark couch.
Was this what humans felt when they thought of home?
I liked it. I liked sharing a home with Kendyll.
I glanced sideways, only to find the human woman curled up, temple resting on the back of the couch. Her lips were slightly parted as she breathed evenly, and her lashes fanned over her cheeks behind her glasses as she slept.
A thousand thoughts ran through my mind, but I couldn’t hope to make sense of them all.
Instead, I grasped at the ones I understood.
I had three uninterrupted days with Kendyll.
Technically, I had things to do with the band, and I’d find a way to do them.
But for three days, Kendyll and I could make up for lost time.
Not just lost time for the two of us but lost time for her.
Already, the things I wanted to take her to do and see fired through my head.
I’d make sure these three days were the best she’d ever fucking had.
Smiling, I gently plucked her glasses off her face before turning off the TV. I scooped her into my arms and carried her into my dark bedroom where I settled in the lush bed beside her.
She groaned lightly and stirred as she rolled over to face me. “What is it?”
Smirking, I draped my arm over her waist. “Nothing. Just moved you. Go back to sleep.”
“Mmm,” she murmured incoherently and snuggled against my bare chest. “Good night, Mr. Monster.”
My chest warmed right where her cheek pressed. I squeezed her tighter against me and dropped a light kiss on her temple before whispering, “Good night, Ghost.”
“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?”
Chuckling, I nudged Kendyll with my elbow. “What does it look like?”
Her wide eyes scanned the store we currently stood in, and her mouth moved uselessly for a moment. Finally, she managed to screech, “It looks like a torture device shop.”
I placed my hand on her back and guided her through the different aisles, watching her look at everything we passed with a mixture of horror, curiosity, and even a flash of desire.
“Some of them are for pain, sure. But it’s a good kind of pain. You don’t have to worry about those things right now, though. I don’t anticipate you being interested in getting tied up and whipped anytime soon.”
“Or at all,” she practically hissed with a wild look at me. Though she couldn’t hide the fire in her eyes or the way the tips of her ears turned pink.
The adult toy and clothing shop had anything a person or couple could possibly need for their sexual endeavors. Kendyll practically stayed glued to my side like all of the devices and items around us might leap out and shock her. I grinned and held her close.
“Let’s start with this section,” I told her, stopping in front of the female toys.