Interruption
An excerpt from Little Ghost - Pt 5; Ryker's POV
This summer was such a whirlwind. I feel like it’s still the end of June and I’m wondering where the time went. I know I haven’t been quite as active here as I was before I started my graduate program, and I appreciate every single reader who has stuck around this summer! I’m pleased to report that I got straight A’s in my courses, and the fall semester should be a little easier to engage in posting more often.
One of my lovely friends and author Hallie Townsend will be doing a story tag here shortly—starting September 1st. I’ve agreed to participate, and I’m excited to incorporate that into my fall writing line-up. I will be putting out a newsletter here for the fall within the coming week with more details about my planned shenanigans. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy switching to Ryker’s point of view in Little Ghost as the story continues!
I’d expected her skin to be cold. We were taught that Phantoms were just reanimated corpses that fed off of our fears, blood no longer coursing through their veins to warm their flesh. But Kylie’s body was hot against mine as my lips molded to hers in the unhurried, thorough exploration I’d been denied earlier that morning. My hand in her hair tightened as her fingers scored a line of heat over my bare back, and I slid my other hand down the curve of her waist, gripping her tightly.
The wolf in me rose up, pushing to claim her, and the instincts were enough to overwhelm me. Feelings roared through me, and I couldn’t untangle Kylie’s from my own as I damn near lost the battle with the wolf within me. Stumbling back, I broke the kiss before I did something I would regret. Confusion filled those pearlescent eyes as I stared into them, trying to get a leash on the animal demanding I mark her.
“Ryker?” Her voice cut the sound of our heaving breaths, and I didn’t know how to respond.
My own eyes remained locked on her, realization delivering a gut punch as I tracked every rise of her chest. The Phantom who had vexed me at every turn in school, whose very presence had been enough to irritate me just a month ago, was my wolf’s choice. It had chosen her as its bonded.
“I…” What the fuck was I even supposed to say to her, anyway? Hadn’t I just told her I could suppress my baser nature? Dragging on the lust I still felt from both of us, I tugged on the nature of my Incubus half. “I want more.”
“If that were true, you would still be kissing me.” She pointed out, eyes narrowed as she jumped to the conclusion I intended. I could see her rethinking the entire interaction, and I knew I was losing her. Losing the moment. Reaching forward, I grabbed her waist, yanking her back to me.
“Not when you’ve been pretty clear it’s not what you want.” I murmured, moving a hand up to trail along her collarbone.
“I don’t think I’m the one conflicted.” Her lips brushed against mine as she whispered her response, teasing mine with the feather-light contact.
“Then we can move this to the bed.” Steering our bodies back toward the mattress, I lifted her, coaxing her legs around my waist so I could lift her as I crawl onto the bed on my knees. I felt her gasp against my mouth before I laid her out beneath me. Her dark hair fanned out on the pillow, the long strands shot through with white. When she’d first come to school, I noticed she had far less than most other Phantoms. Still did.
Deft fingers maneuvered my waistband as she unbuttoned the denim. My magic rose up to twine with hers as I allowed my Incubus more control, feeling out her emotions, making sure she was really okay with this. Sliding open the bottom button on her pajama shirt, I was startled when my fingers met bare flesh, the garment vanishing from my grasp.
“Like my party trick?” She teased, her voice dark with temptation as I ground my half-bared hips down against hers. “I can make my clothes disappear.”
A glance down showed me that more than her shirt was gone, and I grinned down at her, skimming my lips over one of her bared breasts. Her gasp spurred me on, and the lust between us fed into my Faction’s power. Our power continued to tangle as I fed, my mouth still moving over her as I kissed the scars above her heart. The contact sent a jolt in me, a spark of electricity spearing through me as it held me to her, unable to move.
Power I didn’t recognize wrapped around my own, trapping me. The pull on my own magic halted my movements, and something within my Incubus half latched onto her magic, joining with it in a way I’d never felt before. I could see the flicker of crimson in her eyes as she wielded, driving her power to meld with mine into something new.
“Kylie?”
The sound of her name seemed to distract her, and I felt her power recede from mine as her irises returned to normal. What the hell? Even though her magic had withdrawn, I could still feel her power, fused with mine. It dampened all of the lust that had built between us, making it hard to control the wolf within.
Incubuses would fuck anything that moved. Kylie moved, therefore even if I hated her ninety percent of the time, she met the base qualifications. Though recently I was more vexed that she was hell bent on ignoring me than hating her for being a bottom-feeding Phantom. None of that explained this sudden driving need to put on the brakes.
“Is something wrong?” Her voice jerked me from my thoughts, the milk-white of her eyes grounding me back in the moment.
Seriously? Can she not feel the shift in power?
“Your magic… You didn’t feel that?” I frowned up at her.
The uncertainty returned to her gaze as she stared back at me, a silent conversation passing between us, only I couldn’t understand what she wanted to communicate with me. Chewing on her lip, she shifted beneath me, and tension hardened muscles that had been relaxed a moment ago.
“I don’t think our power is meant to mix.” She whispered, pulling away.
The wolf within me raised its head, snarling at her retreat, urging me to claim her. My inner emotions hadn’t been in this much turmoil since my Incubus and Wolf had fought for dominance at my Rite. I sorted through the tumult, trying to get a handle on what was mine and what was hers. Why was it always so much harder to untangle my emotions from hers?
“I’m not sure I care.” I admitted, holding out my hand. If she wanted me, I was going to sate this burning need to explore every inch of her body that had been growing for weeks. There was time to figure out my own shit later.
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xo
Grace