Page 66 of Haunted Hearts

“I want to hear you say it.”

“I love you,” I whimper. “My King, I have loved you from the moment you pulled off your hood and I saw your face. That first morning I cooked you breakfast, I wanted to make sure my king was sated because I couldn’t bear the thought of you facing the world and shouldering all those problems on an empty stomach.”

Theo’s fingers start moving again, but the smile on his face fades away. His gaze becomes piercing as he strokes my insides, applying pressure in just the right area.

“I didn’t deserve you before death, and I don’t deserve you now, Willow.”

My body trembles as the tension begins to coil once more. Theo’s image in the mirror disappears as I close my eyes again. One of my hands rests lightly on top of Theo’s as he works, the other reaches behind me and wraps around Theo’s neck. I start to pant as the pleasure begins to grow unbearable. My legs tremble. I’m so close…

“Theo, my king, my gracious and kind king… I’m going to,” I swallow as I tighten my grip over Theo’s hand. “I’m going to cum.”

“No, you’re not.”

Theo’s words surprise me. He throws me off again when he removes his fingers from my core despite me trying to hold him in place.

“What? Why, Theo?” I whirl around to face him and he chuckles again. My skirt falls back into place as I glare up into Theo’s fuchsia eyes.

“Because Brock just arrived. I would hate to keep the reaper waiting,” Theo says.

Brock? He’s here? The relief that wells up is chased by hope. Apparently, I’ve been leaning on the side of seeing him tonight. Just the thought of being near my reaper again settles some of my nerves. If he’s willing to hang out with us, maybe there’s a chance in the near future that I can mend what’s between us. If not tonight, maybe tomorrow.

Theo takes advantage of my momentary distraction to lean down and steal a kiss from me. Playfully, I pout.

“I take back everything nice I said about you. You’re cruel to leave me hanging like this,” I push him away as I head for the door. He laughs as he grabs my wrist and pulls me back.

“Your needs will be met tonight, I promise,” Theo vows with a twinkle in his eye.

Whatever he and Brock did while they were gone seems to have put him in a good mood. This chipper side of Theo is a rare sight to behold. So rare, in fact, that I refuse to be annoyed with him.

I point my finger at him, “I’m going to hold you to that.”

Theo leans forward and bites my finger. I hiss and yank it free.

“You’re feeling feisty this evening, aren’t you?”

"Feisty?” Theo’s brows furrow as he considers the word. “You know, I don’t think anyone has ever called me‘feisty’ before. But I suppose I am.”

“Why? Where is this coming from?”

Theo flashes me a wide grin. “You’ll just have to see. Now come on, we don’t want to keep the others waiting.”

Knowing there is a surprise in my immediate future gives me more pep in my step. Together, we leave the bedroom hand-in-hand.

“There you are!” Jonah flashes me a wide grin. “I thought you guys would be in there a little bit longer.”

Heat flares up in my cheeks at his words. Especially when Brock looks between the two of us. But rather than be bashful about something that didn’t happen, I meet his gaze.

“Ready whenever you are,” I tell him.

Ready to leave the house, to relax for the evening, and to apologize. To my surprise, Brock smiles back at me before offering me his hand.

“Then let’s go meet some friends.”

* * *

“You guys, knock it off! I told you to play it cool.”

Brock’s exasperation is amusing, despite the thirteen pairs of eyes ogling me from a distance. These are the most unusual people I have ever seen. They come in all shapes, sizes, and… species. I’m not sure why I always assumed all reapers were human-esque like Brock, but the lizard woman staring at me with pale green scales, two small slits for a nose, and a forked tongue that pokes out occasionally from between her lips, proves me wrong. As does the faun standing the closest to me. His eyes are probably the widest as he gawks. The thirteen of them have all frozen around the massive bonfire they’ve erected at the edge of the pond next to a small, quaint house. There is a pig on a spit that seems to be rotating on its own and a few fishing rods set up in the sand with the lines out in the water.

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