Page 77 of Haunted Ever After

Nick groaned as his hips met hers, seated fully inside. “Christ.” The word was a harsh exhalation in her ear. He thrust once, twice, a quick sharp rock into her body and back out again, never fully withdrawing from her. He laughed then, a guttural, desperate sound. “I swear I usually last longer than this, Cass, but right now I gotta…”

“Please.” She tilted her pelvis, bringing her thighs up on either side of his hips, holding on tight. “You can impress me with your stamina next time.” Because there was going to be a next time. A lifetime full of next times, if she had anything to say about it.

With one hand planted next to Cassie’s head for leverage, Nick grasped Cassie’s thigh, pulling up farther. The change in angle was like flipping a switch, sending Nick into a frenzy. He thrust hard, harder, and Cassie gripped his shoulders, then the back of his neck, holding on for the ride. His fingers dug almost painfully into the soft skin of her thigh, and the room was filled with the sounds of their sighs and their bodies coming together.

After a few moments his movements began to stutter, his rhythm faltering. He rocked against her deeper, as though trying to reach every part of her. Cassie felt a release starting to build again—so soon after her last one!—and she dropped one hand, sliding it down her stomach, down to where they were joined. It wouldn’t take much, just a few strokes…

“God. Yes.” Nick’s head dropped as he looked down, watching her. Watching them. “Touch yourself. Bring yourself there. I know you can. Come on…”

His words spurred her on, and before she knew it she was coming again, harder than before, her muscles tightening around him inside her, her legs tightening around his body, her hand tightening in his hair. The sounds of her orgasm were swallowed up by his kiss as his mouth plundered hers, as he finally lost all control. His hips drove into hers one more time, his body shuddering, his hands clutching.

They spent an eternity there together, on the living room floor, while their hearts slowed to a normal rhythm and their breaths calmed. Finally, Nick raised one weak arm.

“One surface down.” He made a lazy check mark in the air, as though knocking an item off a to-do list. “What else you got?”

Cassie didn’t have the energy to laugh. The most she could do was a delighted exhale. “Give me a minute,” she said. “Once I can walk again, I’d be happy to give you a thorough tour of the Hawkins House.”

Thirty-Two

Cassie was so beautiful that it hurt.

She looked purely blissed out, which Nick hoped was from the several orgasms but could very well have been from the frozen pizza they’d finally heated up when they ran out of energy. She sat across from him at the kitchen table, wrapped in a black-and-yellow floral bathrobe, her dark hair loose, flowing down past her shoulders, and when she gave him a tired smile it felt like a dart to the chest.

Because he knew the truth. The painful, unfortunate truth.

He loved her. He loved her with everything he was. And he still might have to let her go.

“So.” Oblivious to his turmoil, Cassie popped the last bite of pizza crust into her mouth and brushed her hands off. “That’s the downstairs.”

Nick nodded solemnly, trying to play it cool. His heart really shouldn’t be beating this fast, despite all the cardio they’d just been doing. “Nice place you’ve got here,” he said. “This tour has been exceptionally thorough so far.”

“I’m known for being detail oriented. My poor kitchen counters, though.” Cassie glanced over her shoulder, and he followed her gaze, his blood simmering at the memory of the things they’d just done over there. “They’ll never be the same.” When she turned her gaze back to him, though, her eyes were more serious.

“Hey.” He started to reach for her, but something in her eyes made him lean back in his chair. “What’s the matter?” Up until now, he’d loved every look he’d put on her face this evening. But he didn’t like the way she looked now.

She stared at her hands, folded on the table in front of her, picking at a thumbnail. “What happens now?” The question practically fell out of her mouth, and her eyes widened as though she hadn’t meant to say it out loud. But she didn’t meet his eyes; her gaze remained fixed on the table.

“Now?” Nick was confused by the question. “Well, we’ve covered the downstairs, so if you’re not too tired maybe we can continue the tour? We can skip the stairs themselves, though. I’m almost thirty; I don’t think my knees can take that.”

That made her look up, brought some humor back into her eyes. “Same.” Her lips twitched in a smile. “The rug burn from the living room is bad enough.” Her cheeks pinked, obviously remembering the cause of that rug burn, and Nick wanted to crawl across the table and kiss her again. It was so nice, being able to do this. To be here with her. Alone here with her.

But she wasn’t done. “I mean now. Tomorrow.” The pink in her cheeks drained away. “Next week, next month. What you said before, about being all in? Is that…Did you mean that?”

“Yes.” His answer was as abrupt and immediate as her question had been. “I meant it then, I mean it now.” His brow furrowed. “You believe me, right?”

“Sure.” But her eyes slid away from his, back down to her hands folded in front of her on the table. “But it’s been an emotional night. There was a lot going on. That’s over now, and once you’re thinking clearly, you’ll remember that you don’t do relationships, and…”

“Listen. I told you. None of that matters anymore. Give me all the strings. All the pressure. I want it all with you, Cassie.” Sitting here with her, Nick couldn’t remember why he’d ever thought otherwise. Situationship Nick didn’t exist anymore; he’d been banished from this earth, just like C.S. Hawkins had. All he wanted was Cassie, and wasn’t that a kick in the head. Because he couldn’t have her. Not long term.

He took a deep breath, which did nothing to help the ache in his chest. But fuck it. She needed to know, and he needed to be brave enough to say the words. “I know you’re not staying. Just my luck, right? Always falling in love with the woman who doesn’t wanna stay.” He couldn’t look at her. Instead he stared hard at the center of the table, boring the pattern of the woodgrain into his retinas. “But I can’t help it. I love you, Cassie. I’ll love you as long as you’re here in Boneyard Key, and you’ll take my heart with you when you go. I don’t know if there’s room for me in your life when you’re back in Orlando, but if there’s any way we can—”

“I’m staying.” The words were a nuclear bomb in the middle of the small kitchen, stopping Nick’s words and almost stealing his breath.

“You…” He chanced a look up at her, and there she was again. All huge brown eyes, shining in the low light of the kitchen, and long dark hair against pale skin. Painfully gorgeous.

“Yeah.” Her smile dawned across her face. “Say it again.”

Nick’s heart soared so high that he’d need to retrieve it from the ceiling later. “I love you.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Now you say it again.”

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