Page 75 of The Phantom's Vice

“Ghost!” I yelp, my mouth wide with shock. “Ghost, I’m not on any?—”

He shakes his head, his jaw clenched as his body shudders with the last wave of his orgasm. “No. I-I cannot… I cannot give anyone children.”

Oh.“Oh…”

“I should have told you, but I couldn’t wait.” Another groan pours from his lips as he slips out of me.

“Yeah, that would have been helpful—” My voice is cut off as Ghost dips down, planting his mouth squarely over my dripping cunt.

“Fuck,”he curses, taking a deep breath before lashing his tongue out, sampling the new taste. “You taste so good with my seed dripping out of you.”

My face heats, and I wiggle back as he nudges my clit, sending shock waves down to my toes. “Ah! Sensitive!”

“I’m well aware,” he murmurs, continuing to enjoy my pussy. “I told you I wasn’t going to be able to stop.”

As my body convulses around his tongue, I try my best to lean back and let him work his magic. And—sure enough—within another half hour, I’m on my way to another one.

If I knew this was what I was missing, I wouldn’t have held out for so long.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

GHOST

The Code: Rule #14

Masks shall be terminated at the age of forty, regardless of fitness.

I flip the bacon,listening to the satisfying sizzle of the fat against the hot frying pan. I breathe deep, trying to ignore the claustrophobic sensation my mask brings. After yesterday, I’m not sure where Brett and I stand. Things were fine until we went to bed—and she let me touch her again, then hold her while she slept. But this morning, when I rose, she had this faraway look in her eye, and not even morning cuddles from Rupert and Venom would take it away.

So now I’m trying the next best thing—food.

I just pray I didn’t fuck things up. I’m not sure what I did, but knowing me, I don’t have to be conscious of it for me to make a mistake. Especially when it comes to Brett. I can’t seem to think straight around her. Just the sight of her and I’m a puddle at her feet.

It doesn’t make what I have to do any easier. But no matter how I feel for Brett, I can’t stop. Too much is riding on my plan—too many lives. I will just have to keep her safe until then and find a way to do so after. Which could be tricky, considering there’s a large chance I’ll be dead.

I sigh, transferring a few pieces to a paper towel-lined plate. Her taste still swirls on my tongue, and I’m hesitant to eat any of this for fear I’ll never experience it again. My brain is a mess, and my nerves are shot, but as soon as I catch a whiff of her sweet scent, all of it fades away.

I turn my head, my chest squeezing at the little smirk playing on the corner of her mouth. She’s dressed in one of my button-ups, the sleeves so long they cover her hands, leaving only her long, toned legs bare. My mouth waters as I take in every perfect inch of her, the smell of burning bacon in the background the last thing on my mind.

Must have her. Now.

I don’t realize I’m in front of her until her gasp rings out, and I come to with my hand under her shirt, my fingers in the middle of a hard pinch to her budding nipple.

“Ghost,”she moans. My name rolling off her tongue makes me come undone. It’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever known—more comforting than rain on a tin roof during a hot summer night and as soothing as the waves lapping against the rocks of the Moriton cliffs. For I am up here, safe, with Brett Evangeline—the sweetest, most darling woman on the face of this earth.

And she’s letting me hold her.

“Brett,” I whisper, leaning down and pressing my face into the crook of her neck. She gasps as the cool metal of my mask touches her skin, and in the next moment, her fingertips are prying at the sides.

“You put it back on,” she murmurs, a pout in her voice. “I was hoping you’d leave it off after…”

I straighten, cupping her face with my palms and staring into her beautiful blue pools. “I wish I could, darling. But Orion will be around soon, and I cannot risk it.”

She nods, that faraway look returning.Never mind,I want to say.I will take it off—will do anything to bring back that smile.

But just when my mouth is opening to say the words, the scrape of the front door sounds out. Brett gives me a sad knowing smile before pressing up on the balls of her feet and kissing my mask where my cheek would be.

“Well shit. Don’t stop on my account.”

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