Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed [Good Will Ghost Hunting 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (21 page)

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.”

She turned to look at him and noted his teasing half smile despite his serious tone. “How long will I live?”

He shrugged. “Abby was human, if that’s what you mean.”

The smile slowly creased her face. She felt it touch the darkest places in her soul. “I get to stay looking this age for…”

He smiled in reply. “Yeah. Not a bad deal, huh?”

She laughed and rested her head against his broad chest. “So I can play the ‘forever twenty-nine’ game forever.”

“Well, twenty-five, in your case.”

“You never answered my question about the Pill.”

“No, you don’t have to go on it.”

Sudden sadness pierced her heart. He immediately felt it and clarified. “Yes, we can have kids, as long as you’re able to have children. It’s a long story. We don’t need to go into it right now.”

“Did you and Abby have any children?”

Now it was her turn to feel his sadness. The heaviness suddenly weighing down his soul brought tears to her eyes.

“No,” he whispered. “She couldn’t have children. We wanted them, and we tried for…we tried for a long time. Just because there are supernatural perks of the job doesn’t mean laws of nature aren’t still enforced in some regards.”

“So you do want kids?”

He nodded and kissed her neck. She couldn’t think straight when he did that. “One day. Not right now. We need to spend time, a lot of time, not just getting to know each other but getting you adjusted to what’s happened. There’s no rush.”

No, there was no rush. Especially considering he wasn’t even able to tell her he loved her yet.

Soon, though. Very soon.

“You don’t know my mother. She’ll be knitting baby booties and sending me Babies“R”Us ad fliers.” Another thought. “Is Aidan your only living relative?”

“Only close relative. We have an extended family throughout The Firm. We’re all related in some way. Distantly, at least. As far as what most people would consider family, Aidan is it, all I have.” In the distant past he would have mentioned Ryan, too. But not tonight.

Kal turned to face him, straddling his lap. His cock stiffened between her legs. He might have been less than willing at first but, like her, had apparently quickly warmed to the idea of being soul mates. She leaned forward and kissed him, let him take over her lips while she shifted in his lap and impaled herself on his shaft.

He slipped deep inside her, his hands settling on her hips. No, there were far worse things to spend her life doing than making love to Will Hellenboek.

Like putting up with her father.

Kal rested her head on Will’s shoulder as his arms encircled her. She closed her eyes and sighed as he gently thrust, slow, languid strokes meant more to tease than to bring release for either of them. She felt safe in his arms.

His fingers caressed her back as they sank a little lower in the warm water. “I feel like an idiot,” she whispered.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know anything.”

“I don’t understand.”

“About…about sex. I don’t even talk dirty.”

His warm, rumbling chuckle melted her insides and set her muscles spasming between her legs.

“You could have fooled me. You’re amazing.”

“You haven’t had sex in twenty-five years. Maybe you’ve forgotten how it’s supposed to be.”

“No.” He kissed the top of her head. “You really are amazing. As for the talking dirty…” He nuzzled her behind the ear. “I’ll be more than happy to teach you that.” His voice sounded much deeper, huskier, full of barely restrained passion.

“Yeah?”

His lips nibbled along her shoulder. “Yeah.”

“Like what?” she gasped. Nothing that came out of this man’s seductive mouth could be wrong, ever.

“Hmm. How about”—he playfully nipped her earlobe, making her shiver—“I want to take you back to bed, run my hands over your body, and make you come again.”

She had to remember to breathe. “That doesn’t sound very dirty.” But it sure as heck sounded like a lot of fun!

“I want to ease you into it. Just like I want to ease my cock into that sweet mouth of yours and watch as you swallow me.”

Kal gasped. “Okay,
that
sounded dirty. The good kind of dirty.”

He laughed again and hugged her tightly to him. “Kal, sweetheart, why don’t we go back to bed and I’ll show you all the good kinds of dirty you want.”

This man was so different from the sullen, withdrawn man she’d dealt with for the past several weeks. She definitely wouldn’t call him The Great Brooding One anymore.

“Okay,” she eagerly squeaked.

* * * *

Will successfully masked his amused smile when Kal tried to talk dirty. It was unbearably uncomfortable in a hysterically funny way, like listening to Winnie the Pooh narrate
The Story of O
. “Sweetheart, you don’t need to do that if you don’t want to.”

“But I enjoy listening to you do it.”

“Then I’ll keep doing it.” He nuzzled her neck as her hands gripped his shoulders. “It doesn’t mean you have to do it if you’re not comfortable with it.”

“I’m not very good at it, am I?”

He couldn’t help it. He laughed as he rolled to his side and laced his fingers through hers. “You’re still new at this. Give it some time. Just do what feels right.”

She nodded, staring into his eyes. “You feel right.”

“Then by all means, do me.”

Kal grinned. “See? You’re a natural.”

“I’ve had a lot more practice.” He glanced at the clock. It was nearly two in the morning, and they’d made love for hours since leaving the tub. “Let’s get some sleep.” He kissed her shoulder and pulled her to him. Her body perfectly fit against his. As he drew the sheet over them, he felt peace settle in his soul and knew for the first time in over twenty-five years he wouldn’t have nightmares.