Page 165 of Infernal Secrets

Zeke’s gaze lingered on me. “Goodnight, Rae.”

The longing on his face struck me. Maybe I saw what I wanted after the elevator incident, but the way he looked at me before Cyn interrupted said I wasn’t wrong.

When they left, Ash looked down at me. “I really am sorry I hurt you. It wasn’t my intention.”

“I know now. I think everything I’ve been through recently has me out of sorts and expecting the worst.”

He brushed my hair from my shoulder, tracing his fingers over my skin. “No one can blame you for that. But I want you to know I have no desire to hurt you.”

I nodded, staring up at him. “Did you trim your beard?”

“Zeke found a trimmer.”

“It’s nice,” I said, brushing my fingertips over the neat beard along his jaw. I loved how his long hair and braids framed his facial hair, giving him an intense look despite the softness he showed me.

His eyes closed as he leaned into my touch. When my fingertips brushed over his full lips, he opened his eyes to look at me again.

Without a word, he turned my body to straddle his lap, his fingers threading through my hair as his lips found mine.

His hardness pressed through his lounge pants and my leggings, and I moaned into his mouth. His hands found my hips, and he pulled me tight against him, grinding my aching core against his shaft.

I tore my mouth from his, staring up into his eyes while panting.

His olive eyes studied me, and he frowned. “Should we stop?”

“I… are we really gonna do this again?”

“I’ll never do anything you don’t want to,” he said, kissing my forehead. “Do I want to again?” His laugh was strained. “I’ve thought of what it felt like to be inside you every day since. I’d give anything for another taste.”

My face flamed. “Why’d you have to say it like that?” I whacked his shoulder.

He laughed. “Violent little thing, aren’t you?”

“I’ll have you know I’m not violent at all.”

“Only to me then?”

“You’re a special case,” I mumbled. “And I’m not small, either.”

“Oh, but you are to me,” he said, grinning as he leaned in to kiss the side of my neck. “I like being special to you.”

My eyes met his. “You are special. I know things happened with…” I waved a hand toward the door, not saying Cyn’s name. I didn’t want to think of him. “And things are weird with Zeke, but I promise I’m not someone who gets around. It’s not my thing. I haven’t slept with a man in a long time.”

“What about relationships? No one?”

“I can’t drag them into my brand of crazy.” I averted my eyes. “If I felt an itch that needed scratching, I got someone to scratch it. But I don’t do that often. I don’t like flings. I need an emotional connection to have sex. And serious relationships are impossible when I might walk down the aisle one day and freak out when my bridesmaid’s face rots off.”

He pulled me close, the warmth of his body a comfort against mine.

I sighed, nestling against his chest, secure in his firm arms around my waist.

Knowing he didn’t resent me soothed my heart. But a lingering ache remained when I thought about losing him someday soon.

With new information surfacing about my necklace and the bookstore woman’s warning, I suspected Ezra would find a way home soon.

The cold realization that the afterlife wouldn’t reunite us left me lonely.

His lips brushed the top of my head when I sniffed. “What are you thinking right now?”