Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed [Good Will Ghost Hunting 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (22 page)

* * * *

Kal still lay firmly nestled against Will when he awoke as daylight glowed behind the drawn blinds. Still deep in sleep, her breathing slow and steady, he didn’t dare enter her mind and risk waking her. She’d found her own calm slumber, and after the recent events they’d both desperately needed sleep.

Under his palm her heart beat steady and strong, in time with his, real and willing. There was so much he had to teach her. So much he took for granted for eons, then tried to forget once he lost Abby.

How much would she instinctively remember?

He
would
keep her safe. He wouldn’t make the same mistakes he made before. He wouldn’t get arrogant and assume she was invincible simply because she was his soul mate. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight or range of sense except for assignments, would keep her safe. Fuck Ryan, he’d help protect her. Ryan owed him that. As much as Will hated Ryan, part of him thanked him and wished he could reach out to his soul brother and tell him that.

Too many years, too much time. The distance too deep to ever be bridged in that way. It was Ryan’s fault anyway for turning his back on them when Will took Abby as his soul mate. No friend should ever do that, especially without explanation. Not after what they’d been through, what he’d helped Ryan through.

Not when they were soul brothers.

He also couldn’t help but think if Ryan had been closer to them, maybe Ryan would have sensed the danger sooner, reached Abby in time, instead of—

Kal murmured in her sleep, instinctively snuggling closer to him. His cock stiffened in response.

He closed his eyes and deeply inhaled her scent. No more lonely nights. No more hours staring at the ceiling, in pain, alone. No more looking across a bar at a lone woman and wondering what her lips would feel like…

No more pain. Not like before, at least. All things considered, he might as well be pain-free.

Despite knowing he should try to catch some more sleep, Will lay awake for an hour next to Kal when she stirred. Her dusty-green eyes fluttered open, briefly startled. Then a content smile caressed her face.

“Good morning,” she said.

He kissed her. “Good morning.”

“Fuck me,” she whispered.

He grinned, rolled on top of her, and his cock easily slipped inside her. “See? Was that so hard?”

“No, but you certainly are.”

He dropped his head to her shoulder and laughed. It felt good to do that, to laugh. Something he hadn’t done at all in the past couple of decades. “What am I going to do with you?”

She snuggled closer. “I can think of a lot of things.”

* * * *

Kal noticed he didn’t take the amulet off for his shower, just turned it around so it draped down his back, out of his way. “So how does it work?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know exactly.”

“Why is Aidan’s made out of tiger’s-eye?”

“I don’t know. Everyone has their own. The Firm hands them out. This is what I was given. I never thought to ask why they’re different.”

“How do you do the disappearing thing? Can I do that?”

“With an amulet, maybe. Some soul mates learn how to do it, but most can’t unless they’re descended from a demon line. With one of us you can. It would take a lot of time to learn regardless. You probably won’t get an amulet of your own anyway. Most human soul mates don’t.”

“So I have to be with one of you to do the disappearing trick?”

He smiled. “I don’t know if you’ll ever be able to disappear alone. You can travel when you’re with one of us. I’m not strong enough to travel with both of us yet, though. A few days or weeks, I’ll be able to. You can call me to you if we’re not together. I can come to you.”

“How do I do that?”

“You think about me and say, ‘Will,
appareo
.’”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. Obviously how you say it will give whoever you’re calling a clue as to whether or not you’re in trouble or just need one of us. You should be able to call Aidan, too, now that you’re my soul mate. You two are so close anyway, and he’s my blood relation and soul brother. Maybe the other guys. Abby learned how to call Purs and Gery.”

“Ryan?”

Will frowned. “Yeah, even him. Especially him. I hate to tell you this, but you’ll be dealing with him a lot. He’ll probably give me assignments through you.”

Reality calling.
She shivered. Assignments, that sounded potentially dangerous. “Why?”

“Do you really want me decking him all the time? He’d probably resent it.” His face softened. “Abby actually liked him. She was more charitable toward him than I could be.”

“What happened between you and Ryan?”

Will stepped away from her, under the spray. She felt his mood shift and darken. “Doesn’t matter. It was too many ages ago to think about.”

Despite her intense curiosity on the matter, she wanted to change the subject. She’d seen more than enough of Will’s sullen mood to last her a century. She could pursue this at another time.

“What else can I do?”

He sighed. “There’s a lot of stuff. We don’t need to go through that now. Besides, I’m not sure what you’ll be able to do, exactly. Some if it might not come out until later, once we’ve been together for a while. Once I’ve regained all my powers.”

In the light of day the flip side of the coin clearly revealed itself. Kal understood with the blessing of having Will Hellenboek as her husband for eternity came the reality that she was now beholden to…well, the Devil. She’d be the first to admit she wasn’t as convinced as her father about the existence of a literal lake of fire, but confirmation of that fact still took some getting used to.

“Do we have to go into work today?”

“Not if you don’t want to. I think it’s safe to say our employer won’t give us a hassle about taking a few days off,” Will snarked.

“He should give us a raise, too.”

“I know you give me a raise.”

She playfully shoved him. “See? You’re horrible. And I mean that in a good way.”

“I would hope so.”

After their shower, Will cooked Kal breakfast, and they fell into bed again. She couldn’t keep her hands off him. What straight, single woman
could
keep her hands off him? He was gorgeous. Despite the scars, his handsome body irresistibly called to her. The imperfections only served to accentuate his naturally muscled physique, a man strong enough to wrap his arms around her and make her feel safe. A man who could sweep her off her feet and carry her to safety.

Or to his bed.

Another discovery that pleased her was she didn’t want him to keep his hands off her, either. Every stroke of his fingers elicited pleasure. His lips and tongue nearly drove her mad with need. Not waiting until after their marriage vows to give herself to this man didn’t weigh heavily on her conscience.

Leaving her breathless yet again, Will propped himself on one elbow and kissed her fingers before folding her hand against his chest. He wore a playful smile.

“Don’t you ever get tired?” she asked, feeling his still semierect shaft press against her thigh.

“What do you mean?” Kal felt the blush warm her face. His smile broadened. “Gods, you’re so cute,” he murmured, kissing her. “It’s hard to explain.”

“You’ve been hard, all right.”

“See? You’re getting the hang of it.” He kissed her hand again, slowly sucking her index finger between his lips and laving his tongue over it.

Dang that felt
goood
.

“We’re newly bonded,” he said. “Don’t you think it’s funny you’re still as energetic as I am?” She hadn’t considered it, and he noticed her frown. “Sorry, I…” He closed his eyes and sighed. “I don’t understand all of it. I just know in the early days there’s a lot of energy transference, and we’re…eager.”

“We make magic.”

He met her eyes and nodded. “We do. It is a kind of magic. Not the best word, it’s all energy. Magic sounds a lot more romantic than comparing it to jump-starting your car.”

“When will you go on assignments?”

“Do we have to talk about this now?”

Kal wasn’t letting this drop. “What kind of assignments?”

“Whatever needs doing.”

“Dangerous?” His hesitation in answering her chilled her. “I don’t want to be the one sending you somewhere dangerous.”

“You wouldn’t be.”

“You know what I mean. Relaying the message is the same thing.” She fell silent for a long moment. “How did Abby get past that?” Kal wasn’t sure how much he’d want to talk about Abby, but his reply surprised her.

“It was different back then, when she grew up.” Will considered his answer. “Fight or die was a way of life. Now, the worst of the worst know they can’t fuck with us here and get away with it. Usually they try penny-ante shit, like wanting to steal people over to other realms for slaves. Or some peon asswipe thinks he’ll score points by trying to take us on over here and Ryan sends them back with their limbs in separate bags from their head. Ryan’s not stupid. Despite our differences, I’ll admit he’s smart and careful. He doesn’t take chances. He wants the best possible outcome. If he thinks a mission is dangerous, he’ll send more than one person to get the job done.”

“What happens if you get hurt?”

He nuzzled her neck. “You won’t let this drop, will you?”

“Nope. Quit trying to distract me.”

His fingers laced through hers. “You’re my soul mate. Part of that is when an archdemon has a soul mate, they can heal themselves more quickly and completely, and we have extra protection. It’s part of the power. If you were hurt, the same thing can happen depending on the circumstances. I’m not like Superman, none of us are. We can regenerate ourselves to a certain extent, depending on the injury.”

A horrible thought crossed her mind. “What about Aidan? He doesn’t have a soul mate. He’s never had one.”

Another sad look. “No, he’s never met someone that struck a chord in his soul in that way. He’s no angel—haha—but he can heal himself. Not as quickly, of course, as an archdemon with a soul mate. And he’s bound as a soul brother to me and Ryan anyway. That’s almost as good.”

“Why would we be able to have a baby if you’re an archdemon?”

“My body is mostly like a human’s. I don’t know all of the lost history, or even a part of it. I’m not sure if any one person does. The creation myths are partially right when they talk about everyone coming from the same thing. It’s a type of evolution, humans and archdemons were once one and the same until the Universe did its thing.”

“You’re a human 2.0 version.”

He rolled his eyes but smiled. “More like a negative 2.0, because archdemons are older than humans. Humans are the new version, the genetics diluted through the eons as demigods and archdemons interbred with other beings.”

“What’s this going to do to me?”

With the lightest of touches, he trailed a finger between her breasts and gently rolled her right nipple, turning it into a hard pebble. “Are you sure you want to talk?”

“You’re distracting me again.”

“Is it working?” He lowered his mouth to her other breast and gently bit down, light suction making her moan and pulling a flash of heat from inside her body before settling it deep within her lower belly.

Instinctively, her hand went to the back of his head, her fingers twining in his hair. “Yeah. I still want to know, though.”

He laughed. “Later,” he mumbled around her breast. “Right now I want to see how loud I can make you scream my name.”

* * * *

He took her for a late lunch in Ybor City. Later, Kal and Will stopped by the office. A concerned look on his face, Aidan leaned back in his chair when they stood in his office doorway. “Everything okay?”

Will protectively draped his arm around Kal’s shoulder. Instinctively, she leaned into him.

“Yeah,” Will said, looking at Kal. “Everything’s good.”

She nodded, trying not to lose herself in his steady gaze.

Aidan relaxed and broadly smiled, obviously relieved. “You guys coming in tomorrow?” Tomorrow was Wednesday. Kal didn’t say anything, waiting for Will to answer.

His eyes never drifted from hers. “Yeah, we’ll be here.”

* * * *

Kal wondered if Will would go to the cemetery but decided not to ask him. He spent the night at her apartment. In the morning after breakfast, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her in a way that made her want to up and die right there because it felt so perfect.

“Do you mind going ahead alone?” he asked.

She shook her head. If he wanted to tell her, he would.

“I know Aidan took you there. It’s okay. I’m not upset. You should know about my past.”

“I don’t mind if you go see her. It doesn’t bother me.”

He hugged her tightly. Before she could tell if he was crying, he kissed the top of her head. “I’ll see you in a while at the office,” he said, his voice sounding tight. Then he was gone. The air shifted and popped at his departure. She assumed that phenomenon had something to do with the air displacement.

Will appeared at the office about an hour after Kal arrived. He looked like he’d been crying. She dragged him into the edit room and locked the door, curling up in his lap with her arms around him while he buried his head against her shoulder. Kal didn’t break the silence. He didn’t cry but she felt he was close to it.

After twenty minutes he lifted his head from her shoulder and looked at her. “This has nothing to do with you. You understand that, right?”

“You were together a lot of years. I think it would bother me more if you were pretty blasé about it.”

They shared a comfortable silence. They sat there for another ten minutes with Kal enjoying the feel of one of Will’s hands on her thigh, the other gently stroking her back.

He let out a long, deep sigh and relaxed. She knew he felt at least a little better.

“Why do you even work?” she asked, trying to distract him.

“Something to do. Photography, and then videography fascinated me. Aidan pulled me into doing the show. I didn’t know Ryan was behind that. It’s just fun, a way to stay fairly normal.”