Page 66 of Grave Possession (Grave #2)

Chapter Fifty-five

Mallory

“ I t’s time to wake up, little siren.” His rumbling voice pulls me from the dream I’m so deeply wrapped up in.

This time I’m the predator, not the prey.

Johnson is nowhere to be seen, and I’m ending Jefferds’s life for threatening everything I worked so hard to get back to.

His blood sprays across my face as I make him pay dearly for shooting my soulmate.

“Mal-lory…” Gentle kisses trail across my skin as his strong arms band around me, pulling me close.

“Gotta go,” I whisper to Jefferds as I slit his throat and fade from the dream. The real world flickering back into focus as my lashes flutter open.

“Who were you talking to?” Nox asks, eyes gazing down upon me worriedly.

“What?” I groan, mind still groggy.

“You were mumbling in your sleep, which isn’t unusual. Then you said ‘gotta go’ clear as day before you woke up”

“Oh…” Well this is embarrassing. Do I tell him the truth, or lie again? After the other night, I don’t think I have to be dishonest, and this was only a dream. I didn’t kill Jefferds, he did. “I was…ummm.” Why is this so fucking hard?

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.” He looks so dejected, and it breaks my damn heart.

“No, I want to. Just…UGH!”

Baby steps. This is the start of not hiding who you are at the core from him.

“Mal—”

Cutting him off, my words fly out of me faster than an auctioneer. “I dreamt that I was torturing Detective Jefferds, and when I heard you calling my name, I said ‘gotta go’ before I killed him.”

Nox’s eyes dilate faster than I’ve ever witnessed, and I’m almost positive he’s immediately turned on.

Well, that’s better than wanting to admit me to a psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane.

A muscle tics in his jaw as he grits his teeth against the throb of pain in his abdomen that pulses with the beat of his heart in his cock.

Nox inhales a deep, steadying breath and exhales slowly.

“I didn’t know you could lucid dream,” he says, clearly trying to divert the blood from his dick back to his brain.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, I think it can help treat recurring nightmares, PTSD, and other things. Something about you being able to control the outcome because you know you’re dreaming. I’m not totally sure, but we can research it if you’d like?”

“Yeah, I think that would be good. I know nothing about it.” Nox smiles, and I wrap my arm around the back of his neck, pulling his lips to mine. The kiss is soft, sweet, and quick. “Thank you, you’re the best.”

“I’m not, but I’m trying,” he confesses.

“Hey,” I ensnare his gaze with mine. “You’re perfect for me.” His eye twitches in pain, the clenching of his teeth audible with my lips a hair’s breadth away from his. “You think there’s a pill we can get you to keep erections away?”

“What?!”

“Do you think I can’t tell when you’re hard?”

“I’m…not.”

“Yeah, sure,” I reply, trailing my hand down his body, and flicking him on the very hard tip of his cock. He rolls back in pain, and I shoot from the bed. Flying out the door, and down the hall to the bathroom to tinkle and grab my pyjama pants.

When I emerge, he’s leaning against the wall, a delicious smell wafting towards us from the kitchen. “Did you make breakfast?”

He nods. “Don’t know if you deserve it now, though.”

I breathe in deep, and my mouth starts to water. “Pancakes?”

“Waffles,” he replies. My favourite. “ With butter and cheese-whiz.”

I cross the small distance to him, inching up on my tip-toes to plant a kiss on his cheek.

Looking at his ruggedly handsome face, I wonder if it will always be like this.

Will my heart soar every time I look at him?

Will butterflies always awaken when I glance his way, only to find he’s already looking at me?

Will this magnetic pull fade over time? “See, you’re perfect. ”

He smirks down at me, “And you’re deranged…but I love you anyway. Who puts anything other than maple syrup on waffles?”

I roll my eyes, “Will you try it, just once?”

“Absolutely not. It’s an abomination.”

“Wimp,” I joke. “Eat with me?”

“Always.”

Halfway through our second helping of waffles and scrambled eggs, Nox breaks the comfortable silence. “Do you have any plans today?”

Well, I was going to look up my murder case and see if there had been any evidence found, but I can’t tell him that. “Nope. I assume you’re going to be working from home for a few days until your face heals up from that not-ass-kicking you got?”

He narrows his eyes at me, and in a mocking tone replies, “Yes, I’ll be working from home.”

“Good, I like having you around.”

“Oh, do you? Why is that?”

“As if your ego needs any more inflation,” I mumble before shoving more eggs into my mouth.

“Mallory…”

“Can’t talk— Mouth full—” I manage to say without spitting food everywhere. Grabbing my plate, I place it in the sink, then start to clean up the mess. Lennox’s gaze burns into the back of my skull the entire time, but I brush it off.

Wiping down the countertops, I notice something is different. “Hey, when did we—” I spin around to finish my question, and Nox is right behind me. “Holy shit!” I slam my palms into his broad chest. “Stop doing that! ”

His eyes are hungry as he looms over me, dragging his lower lip between his teeth. “But you look so pretty when you’re scared.”

“Stop it, you need to heal.”

“I know, but torturing you in the meantime will make the wait worth it.”

“Ass,” I grumble. “Did you break my coffee pot?”

“No… Did the magical coffee fairy bestow a new one upon us?!” He moves to the appliance on the counter, mock shock and awe on his face. I fight to keep my features impassive, but it’s near impossible when he’s being such a goof to make me laugh.

“Are you the coffee pot fairy?”

He completely abandons the skit, “Yes. I broke it the other day. I tried to get the exact same one but they didn’t have any. This one’s supposed to be better though, it has a clock you can set so it’ll start brewing whenever you tell it to.”

“You know I don’t care about that stuff as long as it makes coffee, right?”

“Yeah, but I do. If I can gain five minutes of cuddle time with you, it’s worth it.”

“Sap.”

“Only for you. Now, go get dressed. We’re going for a ride.”

Graves

An hour later, my ass is numb, and my stomach hurts something fierce. A quad ride may not have been the best way to spend the day together, but there’s so much beauty in the woods she deserves to witness. Also, I know without a doubt, she would want to see this abandoned forest fire lookout tower.

Her helmet bumps into the back of mine as she squeezes me from behind, squealing with glee as I hold back my groan of agony.

She’s off the ATV before it’s completely stopped, and racing towards the ladder.

“Can we go up there?” she yells. Her helmet hits the ground, and without waiting for my response, she’s already climbed three rungs.

Why bother asking if you’re not going to wait for a response?

I can’t help the absolute happiness I feel watching her, the biggest smile plastered on her face.

“Go ahead.” I usher her up with a wave of my hand then turn to grab the bag from the storage compartment.

“Nox! It’s locked.” She yells from the top of the ladder, and I can’t deny I’m shocked she made it to the top that fast.

“Coming!” Slinging the duffle over my shoulder, I dart to the ladder and start my ascent.

She’s started to climb down as I come up behind her. “Go back up there.”

“Didn’t you hear me? I said it’s locked.”

Holding tight to the weathered metal, I fish my keys from my pocket, handing them to her. Her eyes widen in surprise, then soften in adoration. “You didn’t.”

“I found it while looking for you, and didn’t want any vandals ruining it before you got a chance to see it.”

“Nox…”

“Do you remember what happened the last time we were on a ladder together?”

Mallory’s face flushes, “Yes. ”

“Then I suggest you get a move on or there will be a repeat…and this time there’s a very real possibility of death if we fall.”

“You’d never let me fall,” she says with a confidence I envy.

Her faith in me is unshakable, and I can’t fathom how.

I didn’t find her. I’m not her hero. I’m a failure who’s not worthy of her love, much less even being in her presence.

Sparing her the self-deprecating remarks, I force a smile her way. “What key is it?”

“The one with the blue cover.”

“A colour I don’t have yet.”

“I know.” All of Mal’s keys are colour coded, and it’s one of the little quirks that make her… her. She turns back around and climbs up to the top, fiddling with the lock.

I slink up behind her, dragging the tip of my nose up the back of her leg.

“I’m trying to focus,” she growls as I lightly nip at her.

Just as before, I bury my face between her thighs and breathe her in.

Her legs stiffen as the keys jingle loudly.

“This key isn’t fucking working! Are you sure it’s the blue one? ”

“Did I say blue? I meant black.”

“Are you kidding me?” she mumbles from above as I climb higher, wrapping my body protectively around hers. I kiss along the column of her throat as she works the lock free, pocketing it and the keys.

I hold tight to the ladder behind her, caging her in so she can safely make her way into the tower. I follow in behind her, dropping the duffle to the floor as I kneel to lock the door from the inside.

“There’s binoculars in the bag,” I say, observing her taking in the forest from every angle. I flop back onto my ass, inching back until my spine rests against a wall.

She crouches down, unzipping the bag. “Are you expecting a fire fight?” She nervously laughs, pulling out my .45 and .9 mil.

Wrong bag. Wrong bag. Wrong bag.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I launch myself across the small distance to stop her from rifling further, but I’m too slow. Blinded by pain as my vision hazes, lights flash across my sight, forcing me to drop my head and wait for it to pass.

Mallory sucks in a sharp breath, finding her notebook from the cellar. I listen to the brittle pages move, crinkling beneath her fingers, as I prepare myself for the verbal lashing I deserve.

“Nox, why do you have this?” Her voice cracks, barely above a whisper, “Answer me.”

“I found it.”

“Fucking obviously! Why did you keep it? And why didn’t you tell me you had it?”

“I didn’t?—”

“Oh shit… Did you read it?”

No point in lying. “Yes,” I rasp, as my vision finally clears.

“How could you?”

Did I know it was wrong? Yes. Did I care?

Not in that moment I didn’t. However, every time after that…

I had a pit in my stomach. I knew invading those moments of her vulnerability was unbecoming of me, but in the dead of night when I couldn’t sleep because she’d awoken from another nightmare, it reminded me that even at the lowest po int in her life, she chose to keep fighting instead of extinguishing her own light.

“I found it right before I found Victoria. It’s how I knew I was in the right place. ”

“Right before you left her there,” she mumbles under her breath, flipping through the pages.

“Hey!” I snap. “That’s not fucking fair.

I was put in an impossible position. Torn between what I know you’d want, and my own selfishness.

” She glares at me from across the room, having backed herself away from me to sit on a desk next to a two-way radio.

“Victoria was willing to die for you, so when she gave me an out, I took it. No matter how much I knew you’d hate me for it. You come first, always.”

“I bet she regrets her decision now,” she whispers.

I use those mere seconds where her ire with me crumbles, and dart across the expanse between us. Wrapping her in my crushing embrace, “She doesn’t,” I whisper. “She just isn’t as resilient as you.”

Mal looks up at me from beneath wet lashes and chuffs, “Yeah, I’m real resilient.” Wiping the tears from her eyes.

“You are. Vic just needs more time.” She nods against my chest, breathing me in.

We stay like that for what feels like an eternity but still not long enough, looking out at the horizon. Mal breaks the silence, “Can we see the cabin from up here?”

“No,” I whisper.

“Where is it?”

“Why?”

“Curiosity.”

“It’s about twenty minutes north-west of us.” Knowing I was so close to the cabin when I started my initial search of the area was a massive punch to the gut, but I just threw that knowledge onto the ever-growing pile of guilt to be dealt with later.

“Can we go?”

My entire body freezes, going rigid against her. “It’s a crime scene.” Technically the cabin has been processed and released, it’s the woods that are still being combed through.

“So? You’re a cop.”

“You’re serious?” I inquire.

“Mhmm.”

Scrutinizing her entirely, I look for any sign that she’s not up for this. But as my gaze sweeps from her face to her toes, I realize that’s not my call to make. If she wants to go, I’ll take her.

“Alright, let’s go.”