Page 27 of Virgin Lust

Princess?As Shepherd’s words penetrated my thoughts, I realized I was in his dreams—relieving his past as if I were him.

I bolted upright and held a hand to my chest. I subconsciously entered Shepherd’s mind again. Instead of invading his dream, I intruded on his memories. And once again, he found me there.

I rubbed my face as my heart raced and then smacked my cheeks repeatedly.So embarrassing!I kept coming to him.Forget sleeping!I was far too curious about Shepherd, but I wouldn’t enter his memories again to find out more.Time to face the facts, Prudence.I went there because I fell asleep thinking about him. Like I’d been doing since I left him in the bed of his rusty truck.

I chose not to peek at his past with my Reaper powers, but I found myself wanting to know.

Curling my hands around my middle, I recalled what I learned about Shepherd. Goodness. He wasn’t even aware of what he was until his body went into safe mode to protect him from a collision. I held my palm over my chest as the ache settled in. That couldn’t have been easy. And killing two people by accident…Oh, Shepherd.

I was all too aware of how out of control a person could feel inside their own body. Touching my bottom lip, I gasped. That was the link. I could relate to my soulmate. Through our pain, I had found the first connection.

Eight

Shepherd

Tiffany’s breath hitched as she stood and grabbed her lower back. The blonde hair she used to dye black turned gray and lines marred her face, but age could never erase her beauty. I didn’t look a day over thirty, but my little sister had become an elderly woman.

“Do you think her hip is bothering her again?” Dirk asked.

Tiffany’s granddaughter tugged on her blouse, wanting her attention. Ali pointed to the slide and yelled, “Watch!” before running over to the playground. Soon the rest of the kids wanted Tiffany to watch. My sister never failed to take out her four grandkids at least once a month. Sadly, I had a lot of nieces and nephews who didn’t know anything about me.

In my reaping form, there was no way my sister could see me. She thought I’d bailed on her decades ago. After two years of waiting for me to show up, she gave me a proper burial.

Without being able to reveal myself, all I could do was observe her tears. Three years passed with me stuck as a shadow, not knowing what I’d become. It wasn’t until I met the Grim Reaper, and he told me about reverting to my former self, that my existence changed.

But it was too late to tell her I lived. I’d learned too much, and too much time had passed. Our mother unknowingly slept with a demon before Dad. I was the result.

“You’re running out of chances.” Dirk stood with his arms crossed as he looked at Tiffany. “You’ll run out of time one day, and you’ll be filled with regret.”

Wallis picked his nose and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing,” I clipped out. “Let’s go.”

“Wait!” Wallis yelled. “I haven’t had my touch.”

My form rippled as I looked at him. What was he searching for?

“Marty beat you to it,” Dirk said.

A black and white Husky approached Tiffany. She clutched her chest when the dog nudged her leg. Twisting around, she wheezed, and then smiled. “Well, hello there.” She rubbed the dog’s head, not knowing Marty controlled the animal.

Possession was a little trick meant to protect gremlins if a larger creature came after them. It was the same principle as a ghost jumping into a living person to escape a Reaper.

“No fair!” Wallis wailed. “Let me find a dog.” He darted after a black Labrador and jumped inside of him.

“Where are you going, Bentley?” his owner shouted.

While the gremlins created havoc, my thoughts drifted to Prudence Reaper. Finally,I had a name for the beauty. It had been a day since I’d seen her.What was she up to?With the time differences between worlds, it could have been longer. I desperately desired to go to her, especially after she had been in my head the previous night. Quite frankly, that could have been problematic. What if the little she saw kept her from coming back to me? I didn’t want to scare her away with my past when she was my future.

My soul imprinted onto hers. While Dirk said it could be dangerous for my soulmate, I was determined to fight my baser instincts.

But how long must I wait?

“Sire,” Dirk said.

“What?”

“You’re wilting again.”

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