“I’m…I’m so close,” I moan as my inner muscles tighten. One hand falls to Ethan’s side as I come, and as soon as the orgasm hits me, Ethan grips my hips and pulls me down onto him. My pussy spasms around his cock, sending another wave of pleasure through me. He holds me tight against him, bucking his hips.
“Fuck…Ethan…” My entire body trembles and he doesn’t let up. I let my hands fall to the mattress behind him and start riding him hard, until a second orgasm ripples through me. I’m writhing against him, body in overdrive. His fingers dig into the flesh on my thighs as he comes as well, cock pulsing inside me.
Panting, I let my forehead rest against his, holding myself on him for a moment before moving off and falling to his side.
“I think you’re bleeding,” I say, voice still breathy, when I see little dots of blood on the bandage on his arm.
“It was worth it,” he replies sleepily and turns on his non-injured side only to wince and lie on his back again.
“It was,” I reply with a grin, body still humming.
“Come under the covers with me,” Ethan says, eyes fluttering shut as he fights against the pain medication.
“I’m going to use the bathroom first,” I tell him and slip out of bed, picking up one of his flannel shirts from the ground. I slip it on and go to the door, cracking it open and looking out in the hall before I dash out and into the bathroom. I pee and clean myself up and make it back into Ethan’s room without anyone seeing us. Julia said she was off to run errands, but I have no idea if anyone else came home while we were occupied. Not that I care, really. We’re both consenting adults who enjoy good sex—and sex with Ethan is very good—and there’s nothing to be ashamed of there.
Ethan is passed out when I get back into the room, silently closing the door behind me. I take his shirt off and climb in bed next to him, pulling a fluffy white comforter over the both of us. It’s been another long fucking day, and exhaustion crashes down on me, pulling into a peaceful sleep, tucked into bed all snuggly and warm next to Ethan…who I think I’m starting to fall for.
I rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes, wanting nothing more than to drift to sleep only to wake up together later. But I’m me, and things don’t go as planned.
I’m almost asleep when I hear the bird-demon screech. My eyes fly open, and I sit up, heart racing. Running my hand over my face, I look at Ethan. He’s sound asleep, and a bit of blood stains the gauze on his arm.
Shaking my head, I try to push away that feeling…the one where the most obvious story has been laid out before me and I’m missing the biggest plot twist in the history of plot twists.
The ghost…the bird-demons…I know they’re connected now. But how? And why? Careful not to wake Ethan, I get out of bed and pull the picture from my pocket.
“What happened to you, Ryan?” I ask, looking down at the blonde ghost. “Why are you coming to me? Did those bird-demons go after you too?”
If they did, it didn’t end well for him.
I put the photo down and get my phone instead. I open a Google search and blank on what to even look for. I type in Ryan, murder, Syracuse and get nothing. Biting my lip, I look at the search results. “Maybe you weren’t murdered,” I say out loud and change my search criteria to Ryan, suicide, Syracuse.
An article pops up, and I sharply inhale. Years ago, a boy name Ryan was found in the woods by his father. Ryan’s wrists had been slit, and the article—dated and insensitive by today’s standards—goes on to say that Ryan was a bit of an outcast and that was suspected reason for the boy to have taken his own life.
Did he kill himself? The way he died matches with what I feel, and the sense of hopelessness could be from the weight of his depression.
But what was he running from?
I don’t think it was symbolic running, like he was running away from mental demons. Was he running away from the bird-demons? Feeling overwhelmed, I go back under the covers, finding comfort next to Ethan. The Pricolici seemed bad enough, along with the demon who sent them. Now there are creepy-ass bird-things.
In his sleep, Ethan drapes an arm over me, and my pounding heart starts to slow. Was he right to suggest I temporarily banish Ryan’s ghost so we can focus on one issue at a time? At the rate demons are coming after us, I don’t think I have much of a choice.