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Long, gangly arms crisscrossed on my back and he squeezed me so tight I let out an undignified squeak.
“Too…much…”
Ghost released me with a small snicker, and I stumbled back to sit.
“Just so we’re clear,” I started. “What happened earlier was consensual. I didn’t expect anything from you. I never will, Ghost. It doesn’t have to happen again if you’re uncomfortable. I never want to pressure you into doing something you don’twant. But I’ve got to ask the same from you. As nice as that was, it kinda came out of left field for me. Next time, I think it would be better if we communicated a little more, you know? Not that there has to be a next time. I’m just saying.”
Ghost snorted and pushed the fish at me.
I cringed. “Yeah, I like fish as much as the next guy, but I kinda need—”
Before I could say anything more, Ghost scraped his claws over the fish, peeling off the scales. With a quick swipe of his claw, he cut off its head before jamming it onto a stick and shoving it into the fire. Then he sat back and looked at me. He couldn’t grin with his jaw being the way it was, but I had the distinct feeling he was smiling deep down.
“So you know how to cook food, huh?” I muttered and adjusted how the fish was sitting in the fire. “You just like your pizza rolls cold, then?”
It was meant to be lighthearted, but Ghost squirmed and his bulb turned blue. “Electricity…hurts.”
I blinked, understanding dawning on me slowly. “Shit, that’s why you were always shutting off the generator. Because of…” Images of him being zapped with cattle prods while in captivity flooded my brain and I cringed. No wonder he was always shutting off the generator. He wouldn’t have felt safe to come inside while the electric was on. I eyed him curiously. “Howdidyou get inside?”
I had never seen him open a door or a window. I’d always assumed he was a ghost capable of walking through walls, but he clearly had a solid form.
Ghost lifted a stick and let it rest on his arm, staring at it in concentration. The bulb on his head turned black, emitting no light at all, and the stick passed straight through his arm as if it wasn’t even there.
“Holy shit. So you are like a ghost. That’s so cool!”
But no wonder ESCU wanted to study him and make more irqed. The military applications of those abilities would be near endless.Just imagine if soldiers could be invisible or walk right through the walls of an enemy base.
I shuddered. No human military should have that kind of power. I got the need for militaries and governments and shit, but wasn’t the end goal to create a world where we didn’t need armed people on standby all the time? Maybe I was an idiot idealist, but that’s how I’d always thought of it. If people accepted the inevitability of war, it meant they’d never even considered peace as an option. That wasn’t a world I wanted to live in, even if it was true. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Maybe Charlie and Hotdog could since they were vets, but not me. I just couldn’t understand why world leaders thought it was better to buy tanks and guns over medicine and housing for their citizens. I mean, it was totally backwards, right?
I sighed and put a hand on Ghost’s arm. “Ghost, we need to talk about taking me back.”
He snorted and pulled away.
“I know you don’t want me to leave, but I have to. I have a life I need to get back to. Friends. I have to deal with Honor.”
“Stay away from him, you bitch,” Ghost recited.
I cringed. “Yeah, that’s Honor. He’s, um…He’s family.”
Ghost's claws curled and he let out a low growl, his bulb flashing yellow. “Hurt Ghost. Hurt Axel. Honor bad.”
“He’s notbad,” I said with another sigh, even though I wasn’t sure I believed it. “At least, he’s not like the people who hurt you before. He means well, even if he’s sometimes a little…misguided. When he attacked you, he thought he was helping me.”Even though I didn’t want his help. I looked over at Ghost, pulling the blanket tighter. “Either way, I can’t live out here like this, Ghost. I’m not adapted for it. I need clothes. Proper shelter. And I have to go to work a few times a week. If you keep me outhere much longer, people are going to come looking for me. You can’t keep me all to yourself. I’d get sick out here and die.”
Ghost moved so fast, I let out a startled gasp when his clawed fingers curled around me and yanked me over to him. “No! No die! Ack-sul is Ghost’s mate. Ghost protect Ack-sul.” He started rubbing his cheek against the top of my head.
I was worried he might accidentally catch me with one of those razor-sharp teeth, so I shrank away. “Yeah, about that. Look, I know you probably don’t know much about human culture, but you can’t just kidnap people and tell them they’re your mate and expect them to go along with it. I know we sorta did stuff, but like… You understand that doesn’t mean we’re mated for life, right? I mean, you might think we’re mates—although I’d love to know how you came to that conclusion—but it’s more complicated for me.”
Ghost tipped his head to the side. “Ack-sul is not human.”
My cheeks heated with a blush. “Maybe not, but I was raised human. I live with them.” I sighed and combed my fingers through my tangled hair. Damn, that was going to be a bitch to brush out. “Look, Ghost. I like you. At least, I think I do. But we don’t really know each other. If you want to be my mate, we have to get to know each other. That takes time, and trust. You’ve got to let me have my space. It has to be a choice to be with you.”
I didn’t know if I was down for the whole mated to a monster thing. That was a conversation we needed to have once I was properly fed and rested and not trapped in the middle of nowhere, relying on him for survival. I’d always considered myself a perpetual bachelor. While I’d seriously dated a few people over the years, I wasn’t very good at it. People got irritated with my memory lapses and weird habits, or our libidos didn’t match up. I had a crazy high sex drive, and it wasn’t easy to find someone who could keep up with me, let alone put up with me.
Ghost didn’t seem pleased with the idea of letting me go, though, and I felt bad leaving him all alone out there. He needed a friend, but I needed some autonomy. There had to be some middle ground somewhere.
“What if you came to stay with me?” I volunteered.
Ghost perked up at that, tilting his head quizzically.
