Page 50 of Petrify

“Fuck.”

He’s coming in me again, his thighs shaking against mine. His exhale rumbles in his chest. I feel the vibrations against my back. Feel the beating of his heart against my spine.

And then he’s ripping himself away from me, leaving me suddenly empty and cold.

I nearly fall against the door. My legs are useless. His cum leaks down my thigh. Struggling to catch my breath, I turn to lay my back against the cool wood. Watch him fist himself, staring at me shaking against the wall, as he tugs on his cock, which has only softened slightly. So human, not ghost at all.

“You’re insatiable,” I say, unable to look away as he jerks himself.

“You’ve done something to me. Ever since you came here, you’ve been a fuckingplagueon my mind. I can’t stop.”

“You should leave me alone,” I whisper.

He exhales a dry laugh. “You keep saying that. But I won’t.”

I knew this is how it would be. As soon as I let him in, he would refuse to leave. And one of us is going to regret it.

He tucks himself away before stepping closer. “I don’t think that’s really what you want.”

“Show me your face.”

“Making demands, are we?”

“Show me.”

“No.”

Only a few days ago he taunted me about running. “Why do you wear it?”What are you hiding from?

“This is me,” is all he says. “The entire house is scared of me—scared of therumorof me. But you.You.” And then he’s stepping into my space again. “Haven’t you thought aboutwhythey are so scared of me?”

I pretend like my heart doesn’t drop. I pretend that his words don’t affect me. “Do you want me to be afraid?”

His dark eyes—the only part of him I can really see—flick back and forth between mine, the faint suggestion of black eyebrows and long lashes appearing through the holes of the mask. And then his palms come to my shoulders, roughly shoving me back, and I don’t even have time to shriek before I’m falling onto the bed.

“Yes.”

From the foot of the bed, fists at his sides, he stares down at me. “You should be afraid.”

I clutch the sheets in white-knuckled fists. “Why?”

“Why?” His laughter is dark.

He doesn’t need to go on: I am an idiot for letting him in. I should be scared because he is haunting this house, and he’s set his sights onme.

He shakes his head, the movement almost imperceptible, like he can’t believe me. “Close your eyes.”

My heart thuds in my chest, fingers nearly tearing through the sheets as I obey his command. Something hot falls from my lashes. Crying again, I’m always crying.

A few moments pass—I expect his touch, his voice,something. There’s the soft sound of his feet against the carpet.

And when I open my eyes, he’s vanished.

Chapter 23

The Ghost

While her fleshis so intoxicatingly sweet, her questioning does nothing but remind me exactly why Ishouldn’thave her.