Page 21

Kali

I couldn’t move. I could barely even think. All I could do was stare dumbly at Chance, who stared right back.

He was the first one to snap out of it, his thick black eyebrows arched in shock and confusion. And, goddamn it, hurt.

‘So… You and him, huh?’

I fiddled with my fingers, suddenly very afraid that I’d fuck it all up with him before we’d even been able to get started. Again. ‘Um, kind of.’

He inhaled slowly, his eyes shut tight and his head tilted up to the sun as he worked to ground himself, and I hurried to explain.

‘We sort of hate fucked.’ I choked on the words, embarrassment and shame working hard to close up my throat so I wouldn’t have to say it out loud, but he needed to know it wasn’t what Mortimer had made it out to be.

‘I didn’t think he would take that to mean I belonged to him, or…

whatever that was. But I swear, Chance, it was nothing more than that. ’

He huffed out a humourless laugh. ‘You?’ he asked, tilting his chin back down so he could meet my eyes. ‘A hate fuck? Kali, that doesn’t sound like you.’

Despite my best efforts, I bristled at the admonishment. ‘I’m not the same woman I was before I died, Chance. You were alive, I was dead, and Morty was there. I don’t know why he thought he could come here and stir shit up, but it didn’t –’

‘No, don’t,’ he interrupted, and I slammed my jaw shut with a clack of my teeth.

‘Don’t say it meant nothing, but it obviously meant something.

At least to him. And I know you, Kali. I know your heart.

You’ve never been the type to fuck for the sake of fucking.

You don’t fuck around with people’s feelings, and there’s no way in hell you’ve changed so much that you’re no longer you at a fundamental level. ’

I didn’t know how to respond. Fuck, he was right, but I was reluctant to admit it. Morty terrified me, but in a way that made my core clench and my thighs slick. Denying it was only hurting us both more than necessary.

My shoulders slumped as I released a sigh of defeat, fear and shame warring for dominance inside me. ‘You’re right. It wasn’t nothing, but I meant it when I said it was only a one-time thing.’

His smile was small and sad, but there was no condemnation in his gaze as he held my eyes, only love and acceptance. ‘This isn’t how I thought things would go, but I should have known the universe would throw us another curveball.’

I opened my mouth, prepared to deny it, but he held up a hand to cut off my protests before they could escape.

‘Seriously, Kali. It’s okay. I’m trying to wrap my head around it, but it’s not really my place to judge you.

You’ve been through a lot, he was there when you needed someone to be there, and it’s clear whatever’s going on between the two of you isn’t over. ’

‘There’s nothing else going on, Chance, I swear,’ I tried again, but he didn’t believe me. Hell, I should have just kept my mouth shut, because even I didn’t believe me.

‘You wanna keep lying to yourself, goddess?’ he teased, and my anxiety eased a fraction at the return of the pet name. It gave me hope that I wasn’t too late to fix this.

‘I’m with you, Chance. You , not him.’

His arms wrapped around my shoulders, and he pulled me to him. I went willingly, snaking my own arms around his trim waist and clinging to him like he might disappear if I let go. It was a real possibility.

‘I’m not letting you go, Kali,’ he spoke into my hair. ‘Whatever that was all about with him, I don’t think he’s letting you go either.’

I huffed into his chest. ‘That’s not really how these things work,’ I mumbled, my voice muffled by his muscles.

He chuckled. ‘We’re dead, goddess. I doubt we have to follow the same rules as when we were alive.’

I pulled back to look up at him, a frown scrunching my forehead. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘It means we make our own rules now. I’m not going anywhere. Even if you decide you don’t want me anymore, you’re stuck with me. You have always been my forever, Kali. I can’t give you up.’

Tears stung my eyes and spilled over without my permission. He bent down to press his lips against my cheeks, kissing them away.

‘I’m not giving you up either, Chance. I love you.’

His smile, though small, was so bright I felt it might set me on fire. ‘I love you, too.’

‘Good,’ I sniffed.

I felt it all the way down to my toes when he pressed a kiss to my forehead, and the sensation brought attention to the fact that I was still very much naked. And so was Chance. I pulled away, enjoying the sight while amusement bubbled up inside of me. He arched a brow when a giggle escaped.

‘What?’

My response was to drag my finger down his abs, circle the base of his cock, then reach under to cup his balls. He moaned when I gave them a gentle squeeze, grinding himself into my palm.

‘We’re still naked.’

He hummed in agreement.

‘We got caught.’

Another hum.

I pulled my hand away since he didn’t seem capable of forming sentences when I played with him, and he groaned in protest. ‘ No . Don’t stop.’

I grinned against his firm pecs, pressed a kiss to his perked nipple, then pulled away. ‘Morty caught us in the act, and then stirred up drama while we were naked , Chance. And he didn’t even bat an eye.’

He rolled his lips into his mouth and gave me a look that told me I was a bit slow to catch on. ‘He was hard the entire time, Kali. He liked what he saw and told us as much.’

I felt the muscles in my face twist in confusion. ‘What?’

He laughed then, loud and boisterous, in a way he hadn’t since we were kids, and I couldn’t help but beam back. ‘How can you be so clueless?’

‘Hey!’ I smacked at his impressively large bicep, enjoying the sting. I wondered then just how much he could feel. I hadn’t been able to feel anything until Bianca, yet he seemed to be worlds ahead of me in terms of this whole ghost business. He was a natural.

Grinning, he captured my hand in his and brought it up to my lips to kiss my knuckles. His lips lingered, soft and cool, and I melted at the gentlemanly gesture. That was one thing he had that Blake never did, and it turned my stomach in knots.

‘Kali, I’m pretty sure you have two boyfriends now, and neither one of us is planning on giving you up to the other.’

I blinked at him, my jaw dropping to my chest. ‘What?’

He chuckled again, enjoying my dumbfoundedness. ‘You know, I’m not completely sold on him, but if you saw something worthwhile in him enough to fuck him, then I’m sure there could be worse brother-husbands out there.’

‘B-brother-husband?’ I stammered, then shook myself out of the stupor. ‘We’re not married.’

He scoffed. ‘So? We’re dead. We can make up our own rules. If you want him… well, I guess I’ll just have to deal with it, because he seems pretty keen to share.’

‘Share.’ I said the word slowly, sceptically. I let it sit on my tongue, tasting it. Considering it.

He nodded confidently, like it was already decided. ‘Yup. Share.’

I studied him for a while, curious about what was going on in his head.

His expression was open and inviting, and there didn’t seem to be any hint that he was freaking out.

Just me, then. I decided to take it one step further and test the boundaries of whatever this was he was asking me to do.

What Morty apparently expected me to do.

‘And what if I wanted more men in this growing harem of mine?’ I asked, tipping my lips up into a cheeky smirk.

His head tilted to the side as he considered me, then comprehension dawned in his eyes. ‘Rhodes.’

Fuck. He knew me too well. There was nothing I could hide from him, because he could see right through me.

I decided to play it cool. If he was being honest about…

whatever this weird arrangement was turning out to be with him and Morty, then maybe he could accept Rhodes as well, if the bubbly man was interested, of course.

It could all be nothing more than talk, and besides, I didn’t even know what would happen to him once he passed.

His body was already giving out, and he didn’t have much time left, but his death would be different from mine and Chances.

From what I assumed was Morty’s, too. All the ghosts I had ever met – albeit I had only met the ones Blake had killed before Morty came along – had been murdered.

For all I knew, Rhodes could pass on to a different realm, and this conversation would be null and void.

I didn’t want to think about that, though.

Selfishly, I wanted Rhodes to stick around.

I wanted him to want me back. And, since we were being honest, I wanted him to be a part of whatever this was.

I couldn’t lie that I was intrigued. I had read books about polyamorous relationships, but I never thought it could be possible in reality.

That kind of stuff just didn’t work out.

Too much jealousy, or one person spreading themselves too thin while trying to appease multiple lovers.

I couldn’t see how this could work without anyone getting hurt in the process.

‘I suppose I should have seen that one coming,’ he teased, though it was more thoughtful, the joke turned inward towards himself.

‘How so?’ I asked, unsure why he would think a romantic escalation to my new friendship with Rhodes would be an obvious conclusion.

He smirked like he knew a secret I wasn’t privy to, and he was about to blow my mind. ‘He got this dreamy look in his eyes whenever he thought about you. And he’s an attractive man. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that you would be interested in him, too.’

I gave him a sheepish look, unsure how to respond.

This entire conversation was so far out of my comfort zone, and my attempt to test the waters had not only been enlightening in the most unusual of ways, but it had totally backfired on me.

I had tried to put Chance in the spotlight, but he’d dodged it artfully by shining it on me instead.

His smile softened from teasing to understanding`, and finally, there was nothing but love and acceptance once again.

‘Rhodes is a good guy. I think I’ve only known him as long as you, though I did spend a bit more time with him given the circumstances.

But my point is, I would consider him a friend.

I would be honoured to share you with him. ’

I giggled nervously and fidgeted awkwardly, feeling weird in my own skin.

The absurdity of this entire conversation was making me uncomfortable in more ways than one.

Notably, with the ache between my legs every time he mentioned sharing.

My mind kept conjuring up different positions I could find myself in between two of the men, or even three of the men apparently vying for a place in my heart.

I couldn’t speak for Rhodes, but Chance was a shoo-in, and Morty…

I wasn’t sure he was going to give me a choice in the matter.

‘I don’t know what to say,’ I admitted shyly.

‘You don’t have to say anything right now, goddess.

I am here to worship you like you deserve for the rest of our lives.

Or… well, I guess not lives , but you get the point.

Anyway, my point is, we have a long time to figure things out.

You don’t have to come to any decisions today, or even tomorrow, for that matter, but I’m in this a hundred per cent no matter what you decide.

‘I fucking love you, goddess. I have spent the past seven years wandering aimlessly, without any real direction, because you weren’t there.

Now I have you back, and more than that, I have you, and there isn’t a single force in this world or the next that could tear me away from you.

You are my purpose, goddess . Without you, I cease to exist.’

I had no words. My heart was more full than it had ever been.

We may have been dead, but that only made this all the more powerful.

Chance was, unbelievably, mine. I was his.

There was no path forward where that changed, and I couldn’t be more thankful for him than in this moment.

He was every dream I’d ever had come true, and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was.

But I didn’t know how to get those feelings from my heart to my mouth in words, so I chose a different method instead and kissed him. Hard. Passionately. I pushed all of my love for him into that one kiss and prayed like hell that he understood.

Fortunately, he was a smart man and caught on quickly.

He plastered the front of his naked body against mine, fusing us in an embrace born from more than just passion.

It was years of longing, or yearning for what we thought was out of our reach.

It was countless nights lying in bed, fantasising about a moment just like this.

It was a union that went beyond vows and ceremonies and legal documents declaring us a unit.

His cock was hard again, and I felt its heavy weight pressing against my stomach, but he ignored it.

This wasn’t about that. We could fuck and make love and whatever else we could call it any other time.

This was about answering the call we were too scared to acknowledge when we first had the opportunity.

This was us accepting our second chance.

No more taking him for granted. No more ignoring my feelings, or his. No more pretending to be anything other than what we were always meant to be.

A family.

And if we wanted to extend that family, then what was the harm? We were the core: steady, sturdy, and unbreakable. No matter what happened from here on out, it was us against the world.