by R. A. Boyd
He hadn’t meant to let Nev’s secret fly through his lips. As long as Damon kept his trap shut, Nev wouldn’t hate him, and Cass wouldn’t be worried about something that may not even affect her.
Damon growled and scrubbed his hands down his face. The worry and fear were evident in his tense posture. “I won’t say anything. You have my word. Cass may not even get the ability to see fucking ghosts. So we won’t worry until we know for sure. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Bastian, you are way less of an asshole today. In fact, your asshole meter has gotten better since you moved here to New Rose.”
Being around sane people will do that to you. The Ghosts back in Salvatore were one red nose away from being a pack of feral clowns, and being away from them healed something deep inside of Bastian. Within a matter of days of moving here, he felt it deep in his stomach and in his chest. The love and stability were infectious. The mates came in and changed everything for everyone. The Ghost shifters of Salvatore had a lot of changes to make before any of them would be able to take care of a mate. They could barely take care of themselves.
Bastian stood and grabbed the bag of food. “It’s this place. It makes me better. And Nev. She makes me want to be better, too. I don’t want to annoy everyone when she’s around. It’s like I used to get off on that shit. I know it sounds sick, but getting a rise out of anyone willing to do it made my day.”
“How long?”
“For at least a month. I ate at the pub damn near every day just so I could watch Nev. Even before she tried to take my temperature – her words, not mine – I knew I liked her. I knew I wanted her. I just didn’t want to sully her, you know? Without even knowing what kind of person she was, I knew I didn’t want to bring my shit into her life.” Bastian’s words were utterly uncensored. He’d rather punch himself in the face with a cactus than tell anyone how he felt, but talking to Damon was always like a therapy session. Bastian took a deep breath and said, “Things didn’t get steady for me until I moved here. Damon, you have no idea how unhinged life is in Salvatore. I don’t want to be like that anymore. Never want to be that way again. Who would have thought?”
“Yeah.” Damon sat back in the rocking chair and closed his eyes. “I would have. Mates have a way of doing that to you. Making you want to be better, not just to them, but in general. That’s what will make this world better. Not only trying to be good for ourselves but trying to be good for other people.” He stood and grabbed the empty bottles. “I’m going home to my mate. Go on home to yours. This will all be alright.” His voice wasn’t so convincing.
As Bastian walked through the front door, he could hear Nev upstairs singing and sloshing water around in the bathtub. She sounded happier. Before he left to get the food, he’d listened to her light sniffles as she sat alone in the bathroom, crying and talking to her saber-tooth. He’d gone back to console her, but before his hand could hit the doorknob, she called out and said she would be fine, and that she expected a meal when she came out of the bathroom.
The way she tried to laugh it off let him know that was her light-hearted attempt to make him leave her alone without being rude, and it had worked. But now, she sang a theme song from one of his favorite cartoons. Bastian smiled as he listened to her mimic the voices of the different characters. He could hear the water splash with each emphasized word. That had to mean she felt somewhat better.
Instead of bothering Nev, Bastian grabbed a pair of pajama pants from the laundry room and quickly took a shower in the guest bedroom. By the time he finished, Nev walked around the kitchen and checked the cabinets. She didn’t ask for help but took her time to figure out where everything was. She fist-pumped the air when she found the plates.
Nev looked sexy as shit in pajamas. Her pants had multicolored turtles with stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs all over them, and her black tank-top showed off her large breasts. She didn’t have on a bra, and Bastian was mystified at how her tits sat up in the little shirt. The fuzzy pink and purple socks set the outfit off, and he had to stand behind the island so she wouldn’t see his boner.
Nev came to a halt when she turned around to look at him. “Why aren’t you wearing a shirt, Bastian?”
Hell, yes. Nev liked the way he looked. The scent of her arousal made his erection painful. He knew he should have rubbed off an orgasm while he was in the shower, but he hadn’t wanted to keep her waiting.
Leaning his elbows on the counter, he let a grin take over his face as he watched her. “You should be thankful I put on pajama bottoms. I usually walk around naked after I shower.”
Her full lips curved upward as she looked away from him. “Well then, thank you for the pants. You should be happy I have a cutesy tank-tops with a built-in bra. I usually let my girls hang down after I take a shower. I don’t know why I just told you that.”
The thought of her big old titties hanging in his face while she rode him to orgasm made his beast react. The quiet snarl that vibrated in his throat caught her off guard, and she took a step back.
“Was that a happy sound?” she asked, lowering her gaze from his eyes to his dick. She bit her bottom and crossed her arms, bringing Bastian’s attention to her breasts.
Slowly, Bastian walked around the island, his swollen cock leading the way. “Careful, Nev. I’m trying not to rush you, but putting ideas in my head is going to make me toss that gentleman shit we talked about earlier right out the window.”
Nev took a step closer and looked up at him beneath her dark lashes. Her eyes lightening to a blazing bronze made her look like the sexiest predator he’d ever seen. “I’m a grown-ass woman, Bastian. I’m not afraid of dick.” She shrugged her shoulders up to her ears and gave him the cutest smile he’d ever seen. “But I am starving, and whatever you brought back in that bag smells divine. Raincheck on the penis?” She waggled her eyebrows and picked up a fork.
“Madam,” he said, reaching out and grabbing the elastic waistband of her pajama bottoms. “You now have a live-in penis that is available twenty-four hours a day. You can get it any time you want. Food is just fine with me. You have something in those pants I could eat right now, but I don’t want you to choke on your dinner while I make you come on my tongue.”
Nev threw her head back and let loose a sexy laugh that made her whole body vibrate, and Bastian was content he’d been the one to make her happy.
She used her hand to lift his dick out of the way and stepped in close until her head rested on his chest. “Thank you for making me laugh.”
“You laughing at my penis?” That sounded so technical when she first used it.
Looking up at him and then down to the tent in his pants, she said, “Heck, no, I’m not laughing at your penis. You’ve got a whole lot of it down there, and I don’t think it’s something to laugh at.”
“Absolutely not.”
“But thank you for making me feel better. Let’s eat.” She kissed the spot over his heart and moved away from him. “Whatever is in this bag gives off a tasty air sandwich.”
Bastian watched as Nev opened each container, stunned by what she’d done to him. She had kissed his heart. He didn’t know why it made him pause, but he couldn’t move. All he could do was stand and look at her. The spell finally broke when she waved a bar-b-q rib at him.
“Does that mean yes or no to the ribs?” Her thick, arched eyebrows furrowed as she lifted the other container. “There are steaks in here too. Or are you the kind of person who goes straight for the dessert. And by the way, there are like three different kinds of cake here. Are you okay?”
As if clearing away the fog in his mind, Bastian shook his head and pointed. “Yes to both. Sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you. I’ll take steak and ribs. Here,” he said, grabbing the plates and nodding toward the kitchen nook. “Go on and sit down. I’ll fix your plate. Just tell me what you want, and I’ll get it. I want you to tell me about yourself. Nurse turned waitress? Sounds like an interesting story.”
Her hips
swayed as she walked to the table, the hypnotic movements distracting him from making their plates. She was so damn sexy, sensual. He could tell she was comfortable with her body, and that confidence caused another rush of blood to his aching cock. When she turned around, he pretended he hadn’t watched her walk across the kitchen.
“My life sounds interesting?” Nev rolled her eyes and took a seat. “It’s really not. I’m pretty sure your history is a lot more eventful than mine.”
“But I want to know.”
Right now, there was nothing in this world that mattered more to him. If Nev was willing to tell him, he was more than ready to listen.
“I started working at a hospice as a candy striper when I was just shy of sixteen years old. It was a private facility in a Victorian-style house. It was stunning. Fourteen bedrooms in total. Monica, the woman who owned the place, said it had been bed and breakfast, but her mom fell in love with it. So, she bought it for her mom but then found out she had stage four brain cancer not long after. Monica was a nurse practitioner and took care of her, and after she passed away, Monica turned it into a hospice.”
Bastian listened as he fixed their plates, and when he was almost done, Nev got up and poured them two glasses of lemonade. Once they sat down next to each other, Nev spoke in between bites.
“Monica put out an ad for someone to read to the patients, and I got hired. I was a kid, so there wasn’t much else I could do. After I worked there for a few years, I told her I wanted to open up a place just like it when I was older. I got into one of those college programs where you graduate from high school, took classes, and also became a certified nurse’s assistant. Monica wanted to expand her business and trusted me. She gave me five years to go to school and become her business partner. A few years later, I graduated as a registered nurse with a degree in biology.”
Bastian chewed and swallowed his potato salad and then pointed his fork at her. “So you started there when you were fifteen and was a partial owner of the place by twenty-five? Impressive.”
Nev winked and licked bar-b-q sauce from her finger. “Twenty-three, but yeah. By the time I was thirty, we had eight houses up and down the east coast. The style of the houses varied by state. Victorian, Tudor, Mediterranean style. We had a great crew of renovators that would go in and make them ready to receive patients. We worked constantly, but it was great. A company approached us about expanding across the US, and we agreed. It was around the same time my mom was diagnosed with cancer. Monica came up with a great idea for us and the business. She was tired, and I was busy with mom.”
She stared down at her plate for a few minutes, and Bastian didn’t know whether he should ask her what was wrong or wait for her to say something. She took a few bites, and when she looked up at him, her eyes shined with unshed tears.
Nev swallowed a few times and smiled. “She suggested they buy us out with a majority of the shares. And they jumped at it. Monica and I both received a severance of a little over fifteen million. We’re consultants for them. Monica and I are paid quarterly and occasionally scout locations. There are over fifty houses now, and the numbers are growing. I took care of mom, and when she died, I left. I traveled nonstop for over a year, came home for a few months, got bored, and got in my car.”
Wow. How could she not think that was interesting? Nev had worked a job she loved, owned the place, sold it, and did whatever the hell she wanted.
“Nev. That is awesome. Do you know how many people would love to tell that story? Not to mention you leaving out all the ghosts you’ve met along the way.” He pointed a rib bone at her. “I want to know about that, too.”
She chuckled and took a sip of lemonade. “I didn’t say it was boring. I just said it couldn’t possibly add up to the life of an angel. Well, the spirits I met along the way did make it fun. Sometimes. They could also make it a pain in the butt. When I got in my car and started driving, it wasn’t for fun. It was to find a place that didn’t have so many ghosts running around, asking me to do stuff for them. You cannot imagine how unpleasant it is to get in the shower, only to look up and see a Roman soldier watching you bathe. Or have a woman who’d been burned at the stake as a witch demanding you seek retribution for her. Even with the dead guys lurking around the front of your property, New Rose is sparse when it comes to the ghosts. Oh, and I was married.”
Bastian almost bit his tongue off at her admission. He had to calm himself before he spoke. “Oh. Okay. You were married. But it didn’t work out?”
The grin on her face was teasing. “Oh, it worked out. We were outstanding together. As friends, Bastian. Cool off.”
The thought of her being with another man soured the pit of his stomach, almost making him not want to eat another bite. But there were crab balls and cakes, and Nev was his now. There was no need to be jealous.
Bastian snorted and grabbed a crab ball. He shoved it into his mouth and practically swallowed the damn thing whole. “I’m good. You’re fucking gorgeous. Why would you not have been in a serious relationship?” That really didn’t make it any better.
“I’m over forty, Bastian. I’ve been with men. Not a lot, but Derrick was different. We met in junior high school and were best friends. So, we got married. We were good together, but it was like living with my buddy. He met a woman at his job, and I knew he was in love with her. But he would never hurt me, so when he told me about her, I could see he’d fallen in love. I offered to give him a divorce. We parted ways, are still good friends, and he and his wife are happy as can be. They have children, and I’m their god-mother. I’m delighted for him.”
Nev was fucking perfect. Kind, intelligent, funny, and not afraid to do things by herself. Even though he’d just learned that about her, it gave him a sense of pride to belong to her. A lot of people would never travel by themselves, or happily divorce their spouse because they’d found someone else. He’d never met anyone like Nev before.
“Tell me about you and your long, long life.” Nev sat back against the seat and rubbed her belly. “I am stuffed and need a few minutes before I can dig into those cakes. I want to know everything.” She crossed one ankle over the other and started wiggling her toes.
Bastian took their plates over to the sink, rinsed them, and glanced at his cell phone that sat on the counter. Three missed calls and one text. Call me, or I come and tell them everything.
Bastian had to stop himself from chuckling. Remus, the dumb son of a bitch, wouldn't bring his evil ass into New Rose for anything, least of all to come tattle on Bastian. The empty threat meant nothing.
“My brethren and I,” he said, shutting off his phone, “were made during the second and third wave of angelic creation.”
“Your story is already better than mine.”
Bastian snorted a laugh and continued. “The Creator told us about the coming of men, and Lucifer lost his shit. A handful of us didn’t want to fight in the Great War. Not because we wanted to see who would win, but because we didn’t want to kill our fellow angels. I mean, come on, we knew who would win. It was inevitable. We came to Earth and shifted ourselves into saber-tooth cats. That was the first choice any of us made. The planet shook, the mountains crumbled, all that scary shit. All because of our brother’s temper tantrum. When we tried to turn back into our original form and join the war, we were stuck. Our brother Samael came and told us that the Creator cursed us to live as saber-tooth cats, that we would never know life as angels again, and that we would be made human when the time was right. He said that our animals would be locked inside us until we found a mate and that our grace would be returned to us when we found a mate who would give us back our ability to shift. That’s the cliff notes version.”
She chewed her bottom lip, absently nodding her head as she took it in. “Wow. That is a lot. Now I have questions.”
“Ask away.”
“The bad angels were sent to Hell?”
“Yes.”
“When did you turn into humans again?”
“When we got off of the Ark?”
Nev pressed her lips together, and he could hear her heart rate increase. “Noah’s Ark?” Her throat worked as she swallowed in disbelief.
“Yes. That’s the one.”
“How long were you stuck as saber-tooth cats?”
“A few million years.” Anticipating her next question, he said, “I am billions of years old. I existed for an immeasurable amount of time I fell from grace. This planet is a lot older than human scholars are willing to admit it is. Civilizations rose and fell millennia before your scientists are willing to admit. They’ve seen the proof, but it seems as if they aren’t willing to rewrite the history books. They are afraid to admit they were wrong. Ever heard of Derinkuyu underground city in Turkey?”
She seemed to think it over for a moment and then nodded. “Yes. It was on one of those late-night shows on the History channel. What about it?”
He loved telling this story. Well, actually, he’d never discussed it before outside of his brethren, but he sure as shit loved thinking about it. “They say it was built around 780 CE. It’s thousands of years older. Ancient humans measured the space and used tools to construct the underground habitat.”
Nev blinked slowly and then rested her head against the cushion of the chair. When she finally looked up at him, she gave him an incredulous smile. “You are going to tell me everything, and I am going to have such a mind-blowing time listening.” She got up, rinsed out her glass, and filled it halfway with milk. She grabbed the plate full of desserts and brought it back to the table. “Start talking, lover.”
Chapter 8
Nev startled awake to the soft sounds of snoring and someone’s breath tickling the back of her neck. It took her a few moments to realize that she wasn’t at home in her bed, and every memory from yesterday that bombarded her mind really happened.