Page 24 of Shake the Spirit

After the sun rises, I sit up next to a still sleeping Ike. One of his arms is tucked back behind his head. He’s kicked off the blankets, leaving his tattooed chest uncovered. In the sun-kissed room, I admire him and accept how he’s mine to savor. I can remain quiet until he wakes up on his own. Or I can kiss his throat like he did mine last night.

After several false starts, I finally force myself to lean over and suck at his hot flesh. My wild child moans at the feel of him against my tongue.

“You’re giving me a boner,” he mumbles as his arm wraps around the back of me.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, baby, that’s a good thing. One day, we’ll enjoy my boners together.”

My wild child insists I ask to fix it right now. Before she can speak up, I think about how stressed Ike seemed last night. He wants to make everything magical, like in the woods. If I push him, he’ll indulge my lust. Yet, if anything goes wrong, he’ll feel guilty.

“Tomorrow, maybe,” I say and wiggle against his hard body. “That’s not too soon.”

Ike opens his eyes a crack and smirks at me. “All night, I kept checking to make sure you were still next to me. You’d think the lumpy bed would be enough to tell me how I wasn’t at home.”

“What’s your room like?”

“Blank white walls. Bed against one wall. Small dresser in my closet. A bunch of shoes piled in a corner. I’m not a creative or orderly person,” he says as his fingers slide across my cheek. “What’s your room like?”

“It’s a tiny room in the back of the house that I share with my sister, Anouk.”

“Are you two close?”

“Yes. She has a little fire in her, but I don’t think she’ll ever break free.”

“Do you miss her?”

Fighting my guilt over leaving Anouk behind, I shrug and mumble, “It’s only been a day.”

“Does that mean you’ll miss her once more time passes?”

“Probably, but I can’t visit her. My family will never forgive me or approve of you.”

“Well, if need be, we’ll steal her away and keep her at our place.”

His words temporarily ease my guilt over ditching Anouk. “Really?”

“Sure. I don’t care about pissing off your family.”

“What if you don’t like my sister?”

Ike doesn’t answer immediately. Finally, his fingers slide across my shoulder as he explains, “I’ll set her up with a guy. That way, she’ll be so busy with his dick that we’ll have the house to ourselves.”

“Do you mean your parents’ house?”

“At first. Or maybe we can stay in my older brother’s place on the homestead. Otto’s been spending a lot of time out of town to take care of his sick mother-in-law. I bet he and Betty wouldn’t mind us shacking up in their empty house. You know, just until you and I build our own home on the homestead.”

“Have you always planned to live on the homestead with your family?”

“Sure. We’ve built our own little neighborhood.”

“What if they hate me?”

Ike considers my question before offering a little smile. “I love my family with everything I am, but they’re weak, Oana. Or maybe just lazy. No matter how big a stink they initially make, they’ll back down and fall in love with you.”

“You can’t be sure how they’ll feel about me,” I insist as he slides out of bed.

“No, I can. They talk a big game about never accepting new people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them hold a real grudge. The one in-law who got on their bad side didn’t live long enough to be forgiven. Otherwise, they’ve always wussed out.”

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