Page 63 of Ghost

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Something shook Milaawake.She frowned and rubbed her eyes.The room was dark except for soft moonlight filtering through the curtains.The fatigue weighing down her eyelids told her she’d slept only a couple of hours.

What had woken her?

Ghost thrashed next to her, his legs kicking and his body tense.“No, I’ll fucking kill you.”His voice was rough with sleep, but his tone rattled her.

He sounded scared but furious...and sad.

“Don’t touch her.”He jumped, and his hand swung as though he were hitting someone.“Evie!”

Worry wrapped around Mila’s spine.“Ghost.”She brought her palm to his cheek.

His skin was cool and clammy, his jaw tight.He snatched her wrist.Hard.He could snap it if he wanted to.

“Ghost!”

He dropped his hold and rolled into a sitting position, dragging his hand through his hair.Mila sat up next to him and rested her hand on his back.His muscles were tight and rigid.

“Are you okay?”

His breath came out irregular.“Yeah.”He turned, and his eyes found her face in the dark.“Did I hurt you?”His voice was pained.

“No,” she said, moving her wrist in slow circles to reassure him.

“Sorry.Don’t know what that was about.”He pinched the bridge of his nose.

She wrapped her arm around his waist and pressed her cheek to his shoulder.“Sounds like you had a bad dream.”

His chest rose and fell rapidly.She waited.The air crackled with unspoken words.

Evie.Another woman.She closed her eyes and chastised herself for her naiveté.Anotherimplied she was his woman, and she most definitely was not, even if he’d claimed her body more than any man ever had.Heat emanated from his skin, and his warm, masculine scent made her want to curl closer.

“Can I get you anything?”Her gentle question seemed to ground him in the here and now.

“No.I’m fine.”He lay on his back, wrapped his arm around her waist, and crushed her into his side.

She curled her hand on his bare chest.His heart pumped against her eardrum.

Curiosity gnawed at her.He didn’t strike her as someone who could be afraid of anything—but something had him rattled.Something from his past.She chewed her lip.Any lingering tiredness was long gone.A burning need to learn what demons haunted Ghost had her wide awake.

“Who’s Evie?”she whispered.

His pec flexed beneath her palm.“No one.”

She sighed.“You don’t have to tell me anything.I’m just...concerned, I guess.I don’t mean to pry.”

He rested his hand on her wrist.“You aren’t prying.”

Swallowing, she stayed silent.He knew so much about her—everything—and he was still a mystery to her.But she couldn’t force trust.

She moved her face closer to the crook of his neck.“Try to go back to sleep.”

His fingers absently tapped the back of her hand.“Evie was my stepsister.”His voice was jagged and gravelly.He exhaled a long breath.“My mom dated her father for a few years.He ran off.Left Evie with my mom.”

So not a love interest.Relief loosened her muscles, but her heart ached at the sadness in his voice.“How old was she?”

He scrubbed his hand over his forehead.“Five when he left.I was fifteen.”