Page 14 of Adored by the Grumpy Ghost (Mapletown Monster Mates #1)

Even thinking about that night fills me with simmering rage.

The assumption that the person she’s speaking of now is someone different isn’t helping, either.

I picture a man of similar stature to the one with the dirty fingernails, with the same lack of manners and unearned confidence.

I wish I knew who he was, or could see a photo of him, so when I fantasize about the loud crack his spine would make when I snapped his neck, it would be a more accurate depiction.

“What’s his name? The jackass who didn’t love you the way you deserved. Tell me.”

Natalie must sense my fury, because she places her hand in the middle of my chest and offers me a teasing grin. “You going to kick his ass for me, Ghost Man? How, when you can’t even step past the property line?”

It’s enough to pierce through my anger and pull a matching grin from me. “A lot of psychological damage can be done from afar, sweetheart. Isn’t that the primary achievement of the internet?”

She nods, chuckling. “I suppose that’s true, but you don’t have to worry about that. Kyle can’t hurt me anymore.”

“What happened?” It’s none of my business, and the deeper we go into this subject, the quicker my anger will return, but I opened up to her about Susanna, and I’m eager to know more about her life before she showed up at my door. “You don’t have to talk about it if it’s too painful.”

Natalie heaves a sigh as she floats on her back.

This angle provides me a perfect view of her dark pink nipples as they poke out of the water.

The hardened tips look like they’re begging for my mouth.

I swallow hard and look away, but not before I notice her hand cup her lower belly in a way that tells me there’s much more to this story.

“Yeah, let’s not,” she finally says. “I’m having a good time, which hasn’t been the norm for me lately.”

I understand, and the last thing I want to do is push her back into sadness when she’s finally able to smile. In fact, I think I have a way to make that smile grow even bigger. “Come here.”

Her gaze narrows, sizing me up. “Why?”

She doesn’t trust me. Why would she?

“I want to show you something.”

Natalie takes a hesitant step in my direction.

I open my arms, and gesture for her to come closer.

“What are you going to do?”

I let out a groan, pretending to be annoyed. “Do you think I’m going to hurt you? Give me a little credit, Natalie.”

Her front teeth sink into her bottom lip as she considers whether I’m friend or foe. I can’t help but smile the moment she decides to trust me. Her small hands are warm as she places them on my shoulders, yet a shiver rips through me, going straight to my balls.

“I’m going to lift you, okay? Wrap your legs around my waist.”

“Oh, no. You don’t have to. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Is she serious? “Natalie, I’m dead. I can lift a car and toss it across the driveway. There’s no way picking you up would hurt me. Got it?”

She nods, a hesitancy in her gaze that disappears when I haul her out of the water. She wraps her arms around my neck, and I breathe in her strawberry shampoo as I grip the back of her thighs. As she crosses her ankles at the small of my back, I forget what the point of this was.

I had a plan of some kind, didn’t I? Now that she’s in my arms, and I feel her nipples scrape against my bare chest, feel the heat of her pussy against my lower stomach, I can’t think about anything other than pressing my lips to hers. Tasting her. Learning her. Branding her skin with my mouth.

“Now what?” she asks, shaking me from the fog of lust.

“Right. Okay, in three…two…”

“Wait, what?”

Before I reach one, I let my corporeal body fade into the misty shadow I became the moment my heart stopped beating, disappearing beneath her grasp.

Her arms flail as she plops into the water, and a second later, she snaps back up, spluttering with laughter as she wipes water from her eyes.

“Christ!” she shouts, looking a little angry, but mostly amused.

“That was so strange.” She pushes the wet hair off her face as she continues to look at me in awe.

“It wasn’t like diving into a pool, where, for half a second, you feel like you’re flying.

This was…” she trails off. “I mean, you were holding me, then I just dropped straight down, and even though it wasn’t from high up, it felt like my stomach was going to shoot up through my throat. ”

I laugh as she looks from the water to me, back to the water. Her grin turns gleeful as she places her hand on my forearm.

“Do it again.”

Knowing how easily she intoxicates me, I move quicker the second time, not allowing the heat of her core to settle against my stomach, but rather slipping into mist as soon as her heels touch my back.

We continue this game twice more, with her giggle increasing in volume each time.

My chest puffs a bit at the sight of her so carefree, knowing I gave her this. This brief respite from pain.

Our chests heave as we stand there, still chuckling about our silly game. Perhaps that’s why we don’t notice our bodies moving closer together of their own accord. Soon, I can feel her soft stomach pressing against mine. We’re out of breath and smiling like idiots as her arms wrap around my neck.

I don’t know if she leans up, or if I lean down, but the distance closes between us, the forest fades away, and our lips find their way to each other at last.