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Maybe he went to the Netherworld because he thought he should have. He was a ghost, maybe he was making a statement to himself, but I hoped he realized how much he didn’t belong there and that his place with me.
Before it was too late.
Chapter Seventeen
Kipp’s heated gaze warmed me from head-to-toe. The feel of his touch against my skin shivered within me. An icy wisp of air brushed over mine, raising more warmth than cold in my body.
He smiled, a delicious grin, as his touch swept up my thigh and moved toward my center. I held my breath in anticipation of the cold air. When the chilly breeze swept over my most intimate flesh, I sighed as wild sensations stole over my mind.
“I love watching you like this.” His tone was rich, thick with lust. “And imagining what it feels like to have your warm breath rush from your lips.”
He placed both hands beside the pillow staring down at me. Regardless that the chill from him touched me, heat burned wicked in my body.
“You’re so beautiful when your pretty green eyes dilate. When I can tell that you want nothing more than for me to touch you.” He leaned away, swiping his hand over my breast. “In places like this.” He trailed his fingers down my stomach and reached my center. “And here.”
I laughed softly, yet my voice held a husky edge. “You drive me crazy when you talk like that.”
“Then touch yourself,” he whispered. “And imagine it’s me caressing you, teasing and marveling over your body, as I wish I could.”
With my focus on him, I lowered my hand to my heated flesh watching his gaze burn deeper as I satisfied my ache.
“That’s sexy.” His voice dipped low. “You’re sexy.” His attention shifted from my hand, to my face, and repeated the move a few times over before he shed his clothes in his magical way.
I wanted to touch him, reach out and feel his hardened length in my hand, as I brought him to the same level of pleasure I experienced. He, though, proved to bring himself there without my help.
His jaw clenched as he stroked himself in slow movements mirroring my own soft embraces. Nothing looked as incredible as Kipp did in throes of passion. Zings of sensations coursed through my body and my eyes fluttered closed.
He tsked. “You wouldn’t deny me the right to watch you when you lose yourself, would you?”
I struggled to open my eyes to him, moaning not only against the building tension, but at his expression. No man. Not once. Had ever looked at me like he would go to the ends of the Earth for me to fulfill all my desires.
He nibbled on his bottom lip, as he always did when his release was near. I zoned in on it; mesmerized by his beauty. His eyes widened, yet the depths of them remained deep and primal. His hand around his erection moved faster and I kept up with the speed that he set on my own body.
“It’s time,” was all Kipp groaned.
I answered his plea of release with a whimper as my muscles tightened. My body quivered. I was stolen by sensations that left me a panting woman in their wake. More than just a release of pleasure, but the acknowledgment that we belonged to each other.
“I love you, Tess,” Kipp said, quiet and tender, drawing me out of my climax. The intensity in his features touched me right down to the tips of my toes. “I love you more than a man ought to love any woman. I love you enough to stay here as a ghost until you join me.”
I leaned up, brushing my lips over his and met frosty air with no pressure. “And I promise you that one day I will.”
I tore myself away from the memory and the lump in my throat grew thicker. I turned my head into the pillow and cried into it. How could Kipp be gone? His promise, his words of love to me, now lost in a faint memory like it’d never happened.
A pain so profound sank into the pit of my stomach. I gasped, trying to breathe, yet merely let my sadness flow. Kipp hadn’t returned. Not the morning
after I’d searched for him. Not later that night. And not now into the next morning.
I’d slept the better part of yesterday morning away after tears forced me to sleep. I’d woken to call Zach to tell him what happened with Kipp, and do the magical ritual Gretchen advised. From all appearances, it seemed to work. I’d left the jar of cream in the circle I cast with the wand by the air conditioning units at the side of my condominium. Hidden, but exposed to the moonlight like it needed.
After which, I cried more, then slept again.
Now the sunny morning greeted me, but even the sunshine couldn’t brighten my mood. I wiped my face on my pillow to dry the tears from my face when loud bangs on my front door erupted.
I didn’t have the strength to move from the couch, and in fact, hadn’t moved since I plopped down on the spot that I’d made my home the last day. Each hour that passed dragged on feeling like a lifetime.
Part of me was so angry with Kipp. He should’ve known that I’d never kiss Dane. That I loved him. But the other part of me, the one weighed down in grief, missed him terribly.
The hard thumps sounded again, beating at the door, which made it rattle on its hinges. I heaved a sigh. Only one person would bang on my door like that and demand entrance.
