“The spirits were talkative tonight.” I offer a small smile. “I just listened.”
She holds my gaze for a second and then nods. “Well, thanks.”
“Hey, it’s what we came here to do.”
Zach comes over, face stricken. Now he looks pretty damn rattled. “How did you set it on fire?” He nudges the dead ghoul with his foot. The magical fire was enough to incinerate the ghoul’s insides and char some of its flesh, but not enough to totally burn the body. The only thing worse than being in a basement with ghouls is being in a burning basement with ghouls.
“Flare gun,” Stephanie answers for me. “Risky, and I wouldn’t recommend it.” She meets my eye again and gives me a small nod. “Now, after a kill, you gotta get rid of the bodies. In this case, we’re going to have to drag them upstairs and burn them outside. So, each of you recruits, take a body.”
It’s a bit of a group effort to get the bodies out in the backyard of the building. My breath clouds around me and I stuff my hands into my pockets, watching Ethan explain the best way to arrange the bodies so they’ll burn, which is harder to do when they’re fresh like this.
My phone vibrates from inside my purse and I dig it out, seeing a text from my childhood best friend, Laney.
Laney: T ell me not to quit my job.
Me: Don’t quit your job. Why are you tempted to quit this time?
Laney: We’re short staffed like fucking ALWAYS. I’m nine hours into a twelve-hour shift and am on my first break of the day.
Me: I’m sorry, that’s not right. Don’t quit, but maybe put in applications anywhere else? Though it’ll probably be the same issue anywhere, right?
Laney: Right. Ugh. I regret being a nurse more times than I don’t at the moment. Anyway…how’s life?
Me: Interesting. I’m watching Ethan teach young hunters how to burn demon bodies. Is it weird it’s kinda turning me on?
Laney: Depends on WHAT is turning you on…watching Ethan or watching bodies burn.
I send a laughing emoji and look back at my boyfriend. He’s calm and confident and holy fuck, is he good looking. My heart does a skip-a-beat thing, and the feeling of being watched comes back tenfold, but it goes away as soon as Ethan looks up and his hazel eyes meet mine.
Me: When are you coming to visit?? I miss you.
Laney: I miss you too, girl. I have a scheduled week off in April.
Me: We need to catch up.
There was a time in my life when I saw Laney nearly every day. We grew up together and she leased a horse at the barn where I kept Mystery. Hours and hours were logged in the saddle, laughing as we walked the trails. We went in different directions for college, and life kept us apart more than we wished after that. But she was only twenty minutes away from my house in Syracuse.
It was hard moving to Indiana, but I know it had to be done. There’s a reason Aunt Estelle left the house to me, and now that I’m going to meet the coven I should have been born into, then I know Thorne Hill is where I’m meant to be.
Laney: We do. I gotta get back to work. Xx
I put my phone back in my purse and pick up the duffle bag full of weapons. A decent fire is going now, and Ethan gives Ben a stick to poke the fire and keep it going. Shivering, I take the bag and go to Ethan’s Jeep, getting in and starting the engine so I can warm up. I waste time scrolling through social media until Ethan comes back to the Jeep.
Getting out, I go around and find him wiping a bloody knife on the frozen grass.
“Everything good?” I ask and he comes to me, setting the knife down and taking me in his arms.
“Yeah. Just gotta make sure the bodies are burned and then we can head out.”
“Good. I’m hungry. Want to stop somewhere on the way home?”
He cocks an eyebrow. “You really have to ask? You know there’s one thing I always am.”
“Horny?”
His lips pull into a smirk. “I was going to say hungry, but when it comes to you, yeah. I always want to fuck you.” He moves my hair back and puts his lips to my neck. A shiver runs through me, but not from the cold.
“Mmhhh,” I moan, eyes falling shut. The same desperation from before crashes down on me, and I hook my hands around his neck, pulling him closer. Ethan steps forward, pushing me up against the side of the Jeep. I widen my legs and let my hands fall down his sides and move one hand under his shirt. We’re on the opposite side, mostly hidden from view, but it wouldn’t take much for someone to look up and notice what’s going on.
“They could see us,” I breathe as Ethan sucks at my neck. My entire body starts to tingle.
“I know,” he growls, not caring. He grabs a fist full of my hair and pulls my head to the side, further exposing my neck. He continues to kiss and suck at my skin while he undoes the zipper on my jacket with one hand. I lean my head back, resting it against the Jeep. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” I pant, looking into his eyes.
“Then turn around.”
My head bobs up and down and I spin in his arms, breath hitching in my chest when I rest my hands against the cold glass window of his car. Ethan steps in closer, one hand on my waist and the other sweeping my hair back, exposing my neck again. His lips brush against my skin, causing goosebumps to break out along my flesh.
“Good girl.”
He pulls one shoulder of my coat to the side and puts his mouth to my skin, kissing and sucking at my neck. Red hot desire floods my body and my eyes flutter shut. Ethan closes the distance between us, hard cock pressing against my ass. He reaches around, unbuttoning my jeans, and slips his fingers inside, going right between my legs. A soft moan escapes my lips when his fingers sweep over my clit and I spin back around, unable to hold out any longer.
Wrapping my arms around Ethan, I urge him to me. We kiss, both desperate with our desire. It’s more than just a physical need, though my libido is demanding to come right now or I’ll run the risk of imploding here on the spot. But it’s how much I love Ethan, how much he just gets me.
“Ethan,” I pant, widening my legs. Without warning, he drops down, urging my pants along with him. He pulls one of my shoes off so I can remove one leg from the pants, making it possible to part my legs for him. I’m backed up against the Jeep, standing in the cold night air with just my shirt and coat on. Any one of the hunters could come around and see us, and the thought exhilarates me.
Ethan puts his head between my legs, kissing my inner thighs and teasing me with his warm breath. Slowly, he brings a hand up, fingers circling my entrance. I reach down, impatiently guiding his hand to me, but he grabs my wrist instead, holding it hostage and making me wait.
He turns his head up so his nose brushes against my clit and my lips part as I look down, eagerly waiting for Ethan to get to work. He’s damn good at what he does, and he knows he’s killing me by making me wait.
“Fuck, you’re wet,” he moan s and lets his lips brush against me as he talks. He turns his head again, kissing my thigh once more. I’m getting closer and closer, and this time, if Ethan pulls back, if he tries to tease me again, I’ll push him away and finish myself because I cannot take another minute of this. My body is screaming, begging at me for a release.
“Ethan Bailey,” I pant, putting a hand on his head to keep his mouth between my legs. “If you…” The words die in my mouth as my head falls back. My lips part as the orgasm starts to roll through me, rocking my entire body. I take my hand off Ethan’s head and grip the door handle behind me, legs shaking so hard I’m about to fall. Ethan moves one large hand up, splaying his fingers over my stomach and pushing me back, helping me keep my balance.