“What happens if we ignore it?” Ashlyn asked as she sat there, trying to wrap her mind around everything.
“It’s already too late for that,” Shayne said softly. “The curse always comes after us after a trigger has been reached. It’s different for each one of us. For Tadgh, it was when he found out that Macha was pregnant. Within days, it takes him without fail, leaving Macha ta die of a broken heart and dooming her and their unborn child ta do it all over again, except this time. This time, we managed ta stop the curse from taking him, which caused it ta jump ta me, giving me a chance ta break it so that my brothers will get a chance ta do the same and free their soulmates,” Shayne said as he held her gaze. “I was brought back that day ye found me in the emergency room, lass.”
“What happens to us after we reach the trigger?” Ashlyn found herself asking as dread slowly began to pool in her stomach as the realization of everything that he was saying her began to sink in.
“Ye already know, lass,” Shayne said, his expression softening as he reached up to cup her face in his hands.
“There has to be a way to stop it,” Ashlyn said, feeling hollow as she reached up and pushed his hands away.
“I’m already working on it,” Shayne said as she stood up and went over everything that happened, everything he said, her dreams, absolutely everything and-
“What if you made a mistake?” Ashlyn asked, licking her lips nervously as she gestured around them. “What if I’m not who you’re looking for? You said it yourself, your soulmates are cursed just like you. I don’t see ghosts,” Ashlyn rushed to explain only-
“Oh, my God...” Ashlyn said hollowly as she found herself grabbing onto the edge of the bathroom sink as she thought about that night in her uncle’s basement.
“What’s wrong?” Shayne asked as he got to his feet.
“I died,” Ashlyn said, meeting his gaze in the mirror and watched him swallow hard as his beautiful emerald eyes suddenly flashed silver, letting her know that she hadn’t imagined it the other night.
“When?”
“I was in a car accident when I was six. I had a severe head injury and a broken arm. They lost me twice in the ambulance before they were able to bring me back. I kept getting migraines afterwards, so they put me on medication and-”
“Ye saw something,” Shayne said, moving up behind her so that he could wrap his arms around her.
“A ghost in my uncle’s basement after the accident,” Ashlyn said as she found herself leaning back against him, unable to resist him, not when being in his arms made her feel this good. It made her wonder if this had something to do with the curse.
God, this feeling was intoxicating.
“The dreams?” Ashlyn found herself asking as she watched him in the mirror.
“The curse’s attempt to get us to play the game,” Shayne said as she thought about all those dreams that had been driving her out of her mind over the past month.
“We never stood a chance, did we?” she asked only to sigh softly when he ran his hands down her sides as his lips found the side of her neck.
“No,” Shayne said as he allowed his lips to brush over her skin, making it difficult to focus on anything but him, “we didn’t.”
“Did you dream about me, too?” Ashlyn asked, wondering if she’d haunted his dreams the way that he’d haunted hers.
Chuckling, Shayne ran his hands over her hips as he pulled back so that he could kiss the back of her neck. “Every. Fucking. Night.”
“What did you dream about?” Ashlyn asked as she watched his hands move over her in the mirror.
“Are ye sure ye really want ta know, lass?” Shayne asked as his hands settled on her hips and slowly pulled her back so that she could feel the part of him that made her ache pressed against the small of her back.
“Yes,” Ashlyn said, moaning softly as his hands slid over her hips and up her sides only to slide over her breasts.
“I dreamed about how good it would feel ta fuck ye,” Shayne said, giving her breasts a gentle squeeze through the sheet.
“What else?” Ashlyn found herself asking, loving the way that his eyes flashed silver in the mirror.
“I dreamed about what it would feel like to touch you,” Shayne said, giving her breasts another gentle squeeze before he ran his hands down her stomach.
“What else?” Ashlyn asked as she watched his hands move back up stomach and over her breasts again.
“I dreamed about all those things that ye liked,” Shayne said, gently squeezing her breasts again before he was reaching for the sheet.
“And what do I like?” Ashlyn asked as she watched him pull the sheet free as he stepped back just far enough so that he could slowly unwrap her.
