Refusing to be denied, the wraith stirred again, stronger, pushing.
Will sat up. “Is it trying to break through?” he asked.
Kal nodded.
He knelt between her legs, gently spread them wider, and kissed the base of her throat. Her fingers wrapped around his arms, pulling him to her.
His large, engorged head gently nudged against the slick entrance of her pussy. She held her breath.
He touched his forehead to hers. “Just relax,” he whispered.
She nodded and wrapped her arms around him.
He carefully and slowly pressed forward. She tried to thrust against him, but he resisted her attempts to take him in too soon. He stretched her in a pleasurable way. When he met resistance, he stopped and kissed her again.
He raised his head and met her eyes. “I’m sorry, Kal,” he whispered.
She shook her head. “Don’t be. Seriously.”
Will smiled again, not as large and bright as in the pictures, but it gave her hope.
“You deserve better than this life,” he softly said.
“You’re a good man. Maybe one day you can love me half as much as you loved her. If so, I’m a very lucky woman.”
He closed his eyes. “You have to ask me to make you my soul mate,” he softly said.
She wrapped her legs around him and kissed him. She whispered in his ear, “Go ahead. I want to be your soul mate.” Even as she spoke the words, she knew it was the truth.
She wanted to spend her life with this man. However long that turned out to be.
Eternity looked pretty good.
He buried his face against her shoulder. He withdrew slightly, then thrust his hips forward. She felt a jolt of pain that faded to mild discomfort, then was replaced by pleasure as he filled her to her very depths, his cock hard and hot and feeling better than anything she ever imagined.
Clutching him, she tried to wiggle her hips against him, but he held still.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“That wasn’t all, was it?” she gasped.
Her heart soared when he chuckled and kissed her neck. “No. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“How about I tell you if it hurts, otherwise, you don’t stop.”
He laughed! He raised his head, and she met his eyes and saw he was near tears again. “You’re really okay?” he asked.
She eagerly nodded. “Yeah. Real good.”
He slowly stroked, taking his time. Her hands traveled down his back and grabbed his hips, trying to pull him deeper. She felt his tight muscles working beneath her palms, and she figured out how to roll her hips against his.
Refusing to be rushed, Will continued his slow, deep strokes, kissing her, his tongue working in time with his thrusts. After a few minutes he carefully pushed deep and stilled his motions. He sat up.
“What?” she asked.
He smiled again. “One more,” he said. He shifted his weight and slipped a hand between their bodies, his thumb finding her swollen, sensitive nub.
She moaned. “Oh, that feels good!”
“It’s supposed to.”
“You have a very handsome smile, Will.”
“I haven’t had a reason to smile for a long time.”
“I know.” It was hard to talk between his fingers on her and the wraith struggling to break free, and she finally couldn’t hold the words back. “I love you, Will.”
He stopped, watching her. “You don’t have to say—”
“I mean it.” She swallowed, trying to moisten her dry mouth. “I want to be the one that makes you smile again. I wasn’t going to say it because I didn’t want you feeling guilty. But I don’t know what happens…after. I want you to know how I feel now, so you know I’m not being forced to feel this way about you.”
He studied her, and after a long while his fingers resumed their gentle, teasing strokes. “You don’t hate me for this?”
She vigorously shook her head. “No. Right now I’m not sure I hate Ryan that much anymore.”
He laughed. “I’m not sure I share your view on that last point.” He nuzzled her nose. “He put you through hell, Kal. Put you at risk. I don’t know if I can forgive him for that.”
The tingling sensation swelled inside her again, centered under his fingers on her clit, quickly spreading throughout her body. Impaled on his hard cock, filled with him, it felt even better than before. It felt right.
“Tell me when you’re close,” he whispered.
His eyes locked her to him. She whimpered as the sensation built. He slowly resumed his strokes inside her as his fingers teased her toward the edge. She wanted, needed this.
The wraith struggled for dominance, fighting through her need. “Hurry, Will,” she whispered. “It’s trying.”
His fingers carefully caressed her. After feeling like she hovered on the edge forever, he whispered, “Come for me, sweetheart.”
The passionate explosion tore through her, ripping the breath from her lungs. He waited only a moment before driving his hips hard against her. With an ever-increasing tempo he took her as she wrapped her arms around him and met each thrust with her hips, finally finding an intimate rhythm with him.
He dropped his head to her shoulder again and buried his face against her neck. Holding him tightly, she whispered, “Please make me yours. I want you to do it.”
Will took three more hard thrusts. With a loud cry he shuddered, buried inside her. That’s when she felt it—a deep, warm, pleasant burning sensation within her belly. Suddenly the wraith ripped free, agonizingly painful.
Frightened, she closed her eyes. Will rolled to his side, taking her with him and holding her tightly against his chest, gently murmuring to her.
The wraith felt like it was playing pinball inside her body, bouncing around her very soul. Kal felt Will’s soul inside her. She held on to him, hoping the agony would stop soon and yet not wanting to ever separate from Will again.
“It’s okay,” he whispered, his lips pressed to her ear. “Just hang on. It’ll be over in a minute.”
The wraith struggled, mental claws ripping and tearing, struggling to hang on to her. She sobbed against Will’s shoulder, trusting him, knowing she loved him even as she felt a soft, velvety mental caress.
“It’s okay.” But Will’s gentle voice whispered in her brain, not her ear.
His soul reached out to hers, going deep inside her. Finally the wraith was loose and free, and Kal screamed as it fought its way out of her.
Weak and gasping, she went limp against Will and sobbed, barely aware of him pulling the sheet over them.
“It’s gone,” he said, kissing her damp forehead. “It’s okay. It’s gone.”
He was right. Her soul felt lighter. The invading presence had left.
“It won’t come back?”
He kissed her forehead again. “No. It can’t.”
She sank into him, relieved, nuzzling as close as possible. “Please don’t let me go.”
He held her tightly against him. “I won’t. Never. I promise.”
Chapter Fourteen
From the moment Will’s release started he felt it—a fuzzy, dull roar that rolled through him, quickly becoming clearer, until he felt her very heartbeat in his soul. Damn, it had been so long.
Then, with a final, explosive burst of agony, the pain he’d lived with for over twenty-five years was suddenly gone as if a bubble had popped. The sudden relief nearly took his breath away. He still felt a slight, dull ache, but that was nothing compared to the torment he’d felt since Abby’s death. He’d had no idea that would happen, never realized the pain would disappear when he took Kal as his soul mate.
Will felt the wraith ripping through Kal, trying to maintain its grip on her. Will carefully worked his way into her soul and kicked the wraith’s funky ass to the curb.
When she shivered against him, he knew he was lost to her. He also knew yes, she had some feelings for him, that instant attraction before they bonded, but it d
idn’t assuage his guilt. She was a good person, deserved a normal life, not an eternity roaming the planet trying to stay alive. He couldn’t tell her he loved her yet. And someday, he would take his revenge on Ryan for doing this to her. But he would die to protect her and prayed one day he’d be worthy enough to deserve what she would hopefully come to feel for him.
Wicked smart, too. He’d sensed that from the first moment he met her. She wanted him to know her true feelings. Brilliant girl. Had she not opened up to him before they bonded, he might never have believed she could truly, willingly love him, regardless of who she was before. Just because her soul had been Abby didn’t mean she would automatically love him in this life. Now he knew it was possible.
Inhaling deeply, her sweet, unique scent, mixed with the musky aroma of their lovemaking, captured his soul. It had been so long.
So, so long.
He’d never wanted another soul mate. He’d wanted to die and join Abby and be free for the first time in his long existence. To be released from the pain he’d felt since her death. He didn’t ever want to put another innocent at risk. While he despised Ryan’s trickery, he reluctantly admitted Kal was far from the worst choice.
And she had been Abby, even though he could never tell her that. He had her back, in a way.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“What?”
“It’s like you’re holding your breath.”
He realized that’s what he’d been doing, waiting for a new blast of pain to hit him. It’d been so long since he hadn’t been in pain he’d forgotten what it felt like. He nuzzled her again. “My pain’s gone.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Mostly. It’s not like it was. Bearable now.”
She tightly hugged him. “That’s a good thing, right?”
He kissed her. “A really good thing. I just didn’t know that was going to happen.” He still felt a little overwhelmed by the sensation of being relatively pain-free.
Kal gasped. “I’m not on the Pill!”
He nuzzled the top of her head and relished the lightness in his soul. Kal’s hair felt silky soft against his flesh. How had he not noticed how soft it felt earlier? “It’s okay. That can’t happen tonight.”
“Do I even want to know why?”
“Does it matter?”
She sighed. “I guess not.” She looked at him, meeting his eyes. “Do I need to get on the Pill?”
“You don’t have to keep sleeping with me.” But dammit, he sure hoped she’d want to.
She kissed him, hard. When she finally released him after his soft member started throbbing and stiffening inside her, she whispered, “I know I don’t have to. I want to.”
He frowned, studying her. She wasn’t just saying that. “You’re not…”
“I don’t know why you guys think you can force a woman to love someone just because you say it’s how the ritual or whatever happens.” Her teasing, playful smile couldn’t be denied a reply. He rolled her onto her back, now fully erect inside her.
“I don’t understand. I thought you’d automatically feel—”
She wrapped her arms around him as he thrust. “Does it matter?”
“I guess not.” He kissed her again.
A man spoke, shattering their peace. “Well, isn’t that a pleasant sight.”
At the sound of Ryan’s voice, Kal screamed. Will pressed her against the mattress, tried to shield her body with his as he fumbled for the sheet to cover them. “What the fuck, Ryan?”
Ryan leaned against the bedroom doorway, his arms crossed, a smile on his face. “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
“Get out of my house!” Will roared. Kal kept her arms tightly wrapped around Will and tried to peek over his shoulder.
“I just wanted to make sure all was well,” Ryan said, winking at her. “Or if I had to dispatch our unwilling Aidan to finish the job.”
“Ryan, get. The fuck. Out!” Will roared.
“Oh, you don’t mean that, do you? Such a poor host you are.”
Will pushed himself up. His eyes turned black, and Kal knew she didn’t imagine that the amulet around his neck briefly flared with color. “Out!”
Ryan smiled. “I’ll talk to you later, then.” With that he touched his amulet and disappeared from the room.
Will climbed out of bed, stood, touched his amulet, and closed his eyes. When he muttered something under his breath, Kal felt the air shift, expand, contract, then her ears popped.
“What was that?”
He opened his eyes and got back into bed. “Sort of like a force field. People can’t just pop in here again like that. They have to knock on the front door like anyone else.”
“Did you lock the front door?”
“Damn.” He got out of bed and left the room, returning a moment later and settling under the covers with her again. “Okay, let’s try this again.”
She cuddled against him, her hand resting on his chest. This wasn’t bad at all. She could easily get used to having him in bed with her all the time.
Kal thought maybe he’d fallen asleep when he spoke, startling her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She was still dealing with everything and didn’t want to commit to more than that. “Are you?”
“Yeah. Let’s go take a bath. It’ll relax you.”
“Okay.”
He had a large sunken tub in addition to the separate shower. The bathroom light was harsh, and he disappeared and returned with a pack of emergency candles and a lighter. “From my hurricane kit. Sorry it’s not more romantic.”
She smiled. “It’s fine.”
He lit the candles and turned off the light, and they settled into the warm water. Kal rested against Will’s chest, his arms around her. In the light she’d seen his chest and her earlier suspicions were correct. While handsome, his flesh was also crossed by scars that bore mute testimony to previous encounters totally incongruous to the night they now shared.
Will kissed her neck behind her ear. This felt right, being with him. For the first time in her life, Kal realized she felt like she was exactly where she belonged.
“I’m sure you have questions,” he softly said, his chin resting comfortably on the top of her head.
“You won’t blow up if you enter a church, will you?”
He laughed, the sound warming her heart. She could make him smile and laugh.
“No, I’ve been in plenty of churches over the years. Weddings, funerals, bat mitzvahs. I won’t melt into a puddle.”
“My parents will insist on a church wedding.”
“Okay.”
She looked at him. “Just like that?”
He nodded. “Just like that.”
“You’ve got to propose first.”
He studied her face. “Tonight?”
“Not tonight. Although we are sort of doing it backwards, having the wedding night before the wedding.” She sighed and settled against him again. “We’re going to have to ease my parents into this. Thank God they’re in Ohio and not down here. We won’t have to pretend. I can tell them we’re dating and in a couple of months tell them to set a date.”
“Tell me about your ring. You’re not wearing it.”
“Do we have to talk about that tonight?”
“No.”
He didn’t push. She realized he was serious, that they didn’t have to talk about it. He was content to sit there with her.
That made her want to talk about it. “My father gave it to me when I turned fourteen. It was a big deal, they did this huge thing in the church. It was supposed to help me stay pure until I met Mr. Right, instead of settling for Mr. Right Now.”
“Your father put it on you?”
“Yeah, it was like a wedding ceremony. I wasn’t the only one, there were five other girls. Their dads did them, too.” She realized how that sounded after the words left her mouth.
Will said it first, trying to mask his amused snort. “Tell me that’s not creepy on about
twenty different levels.”
She laughed. “Yeah, they meant well. I look back on it now and see it, though. It kind of worked to Ryan’s advantage, didn’t it?”
Will nodded. “I suppose.”
“You’ve only been with two women, ever?”
His lips traced featherlight circles across the nape of her neck. “Ever. Abby, and now you. That also works to Ryan’s advantage, because it made me a lot stronger than other archdemons over the years.”
“So archdemons don’t have to have a soul mate to survive?”
“No. I didn’t want to be with anyone but her until…” He didn’t finish, and she pulled his arms tighter around her.
“Will your pain come back?”
“I don’t know. I hope not.” He searched his soul. Yes, a small pocket of grief, anger, and agony still resided deep within him. But it felt like a stubbed toe in comparison to what felt like a double amputation without anesthesia before. “I didn’t know it would go away.” Then a flash of realization hit him, and he clamped down on it, hoping Kal didn’t sense his suspicion. Maybe it wasn’t simply because he’d taken a new soul mate. Maybe it’s because of who she used to be.
“So that’s good though, right?”
“Very good.”
“Thank you for not letting Ryan kill me.”
“I couldn’t let that happen, Kal. Never. No matter what.” He didn’t give voice to his suspicion that Ryan knew with certainty Will would never let Kal die. Part of him hated Ryan for forcing him to make that choice, to live, and yet…
He also wondered if he had steadfastly refused, if Ryan would have taken her instead. He knew damn well Ryan lied about being the only one strong enough and without a soul mate.
He also knew damn well Ryan, albeit a perennial asshole, would never let an innocent die if he had the power to stop it.
“You gave up your plans for me,” she said.
He nuzzled her hair. Jesus, she smelled good. “Like I told you, I felt something different for you from the moment we met. I didn’t understand why at first. Now I do.”
Will wouldn’t give Ryan the satisfaction of knowing it but yes, he loved her. Maybe his feelings weren’t as deep and passionate for her as they’d been for Abby. Will also knew it wouldn’t take long for him to feel like that about Kal. Especially knowing what he knew about her. “You’re not allowed to die on me, Kal. I can’t go through that again.”
Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed [Good Will Ghost Hunting 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 16
