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My tears and sadness conflicted with the pleasure inside of me, and he must’ve experienced a similar surge of emotions, too, because his thrusts became frantic. His pelvis pounded hard against me. My muscles tightened and my warm arousal spread between us.
After a round of primal thrusts bringing me to the brink of my climax, Kipp stilled. He lowered his face to mine, nose-to-nose. While his eyes were dark from his pleasure, the pain in his features was palpable when he whispered, “I love you, Tess.”
My lip trembled, and tears spilled down my face. “I love you, too.”
He slammed his hips forward and with one final thrust, I was crashing and tumbling, while he was jerking and bucking. I exploded, and I knew he joined me, in wave after wave of pleasure sending me to a place with Kipp I wished I could stay lost in forever.
Chapter Seven
Kipp and I remained a tangled web of sweaty limbs, deep breaths, and tears, until he finally leaned away. That’s when I noticed we were dressed in our clothes again, and I wasn’t sure why that happened. I would’ve preferred to stay naked. But his stare on me made the thoughts pass quickly through my mind as he brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. Sadness etched into his features.
In this moment, I realized how unfair life was. All I did was help others find their personal peace so they could cross over, but the only thing I wanted remained impossible to obtain. “I can’t ever let you go.” I inhaled on a sob. “We can’t give up. We need to find a way to save you.”
Another tear slid down Kipp’s cheek.
Seeing him this way, not determined, but accepting that he might not be saved, made me cry harder.
His eyelids lowered, mouth parted to no doubt voice a hard truth I didn’t want to accept, when a sweet, feminine voice interjected, “You want to be saved?”
Kipp had me on my feet in split second. I jerked out of his hold and spun to face to the woman. I didn’t get far. Kipp jerked me in behind him, finally able to protect me. Tension spilled around us as Kipp blocked my view, and even the wind around us settled. I looked up to the starry sky and at least the backdrop around us hadn’t changed. Then I glanced at my feet and noticed it was the stinkin’ road again.
Finally, after another long incredible few seconds, Kipp’s body went lax and he heaved a sigh. “Nettie.”
“Nettie?” I gasped, peeking around his side to see if he was mistaken.
He wasn’t.
There, in front of us, only a few feet away, stood Nettie, looking exactly as the photo I’d seen in her diary. The woman who held the exact gifts I did, or so her diary had told me. She did, in fact, have blonde hair, which I couldn’t tell before since her photo had been black and white. Her clear blue eyes softened with her smile—also things I didn’t
see in the photo. Her appearance now, even though Kipp had seen her in the Netherworld before, stunned me.
I moved from behind Kipp, but he immediately took my hand and tucked me into his side, meaning he didn’t trust Nettie’s arrival one bit. Perhaps we’d both become suspicious of anyone, and even more so, a ghost who lived in the Netherworld. Although, a sudden—horrifying—realization came to my mind. “Oh, my god, you weren’t watching us, were you?”
Nettie’s warm smile never faltered. “Watching you talk to each other?”
I looked at Kipp, and he shook his head, indicating that was a narrow escape. If Nettie had joined us minutes earlier, she would’ve gotten a show I doubted she wanted.
More than relieved, I pushed the thoughts out of my mind as something else made me curious. Answers that would solve my worries about my travels to the Netherworld this woman possessed. “Why haven’t you crossed over?”
She approached, her brown boots clicked against the pavement, as she glanced around. Maybe she admired the view. The softness in her features made me wonder if my backdrop was something she hadn’t seen in a while.
For as long as she’d been in the Netherworld, which had been since the early nineteen hundreds, I wondered if maybe she forgot what the real world looked like. I also figured when most people traveled into the Netherworld to cross over, they would picture a place like Heaven, not something so dismal.
The side of her mouth curved as she glanced up at the stars before she looked to me. “I didn’t want to leave.”
She finally reached us, wearing a long black skirt with fancy white blouse, making her look ridiculously outdated compared to our relevant clothing. When I glanced away from her clothing, her smile remained. “So, you chose to stay?” Which, I had to admit, came as a huge relief, considering I wasn’t entirely sure I could go back into the real world. One less worry to think about now was a definite plus.
Nettie nodded. “I’m the Netherworld’s guide.”
That one statement registered like a good ‘ole smack upside the head. “That’s what you meant that you belonged in the Netherworld. It’s because you wanted to stay and help from here.” At her raised eyebrows, since I realized what I said, I instantly clarified with warm cheeks. “Err…I’ve read your diary.”
Her eyes widened. “Have you?”
I nodded, and shame coursed through me, causing my fingers to tighten around Kipp’s. “Sorry. I realize that was probably private for you and not something I should’ve read.”
“It’s not that.” She shook her head slowly, sending her blonde hair to flutter over her shoulders with a little help from the breeze that returned. “I’m surprised it’s still around.”
“Well, it’s part of history.” I shrugged, nibbling my lip, knowing that didn’t come out quite right. “Or ghost history, I should say.”
