Death (The Devil's Roses #5) 7

Marcus rolls his eyes, "The women are free."

I glance over at Henry. He stands perfectly still. A transparent woman is before him. She kneels and offers her hand. He takes the ghostly white hand in his, "Stand niece." Henry whispers.

Marcus looks confused.

Aleks looks sick.

The girl's head lifts. She looks toward Aleks and smiles, "I forgive you." She whispers.

He bows his head, "I'm so sorry." His deep voice is a whisper as well.

The girl turns back to Henry, "Let them all rest uncle."

Henry nods once and she is gone, but the blue ghosts that look just like Ophelia are there. They look the way she did.

Dorian nods, "Ophelia's body will be brought to the Necromancer when it's all worked out. Aimee is about to go there. Oliver is there already. It's being done. Be ready. You can't go near the dark witches but when the necromancer raises her, you will need to release your power upon her before she uses her dark magic."

They nod their heads and are gone again.

I lean in and look at Hanna. She has her eyes closed still.

Aleks sighs and looks around, "This is what it feels like to live. The forlorn feelings that weighed me down are gone."

Marcus crosses his arms, "Time to go. I'm certain you can have this conversation elsewhere."

Aleks laughs, "You're such an arse Marcus."

Dorian looks at me, "Go where the doctor showed you. Oliver is there already. This lug and me are going to go guard O's body. Lorri is with Sam chasing down Jonathan and Giselle is with the wolves and Phillip and Tristan at Lydia's. We are meeting back there."

Aleks cups my face and turns it to his, "Be safe." He looks like he's going to kiss me but he doesn’t. He steps away with Dorian and then they're gone. Marcus watches me for a moment. "You know he's only attractive because of the curse. The curse makes you love him."

Henry shakes his bowler hat covered head, "Curse broken."

I furrow my brow, "Broken? No more magic smell and weird aphrodisiac on his skin? No more angel irresistible weirdness?"

The bowler hat shakes again, "Curse broken."

I'm stunned, "But I smelled. I smelled it just there. He was going to kiss me and I felt that same feeling." I touch my lips with my finger and wink before Marcus can mock me.

Chapter Eighteen

Hanna

I watch her leave through my eyelashes and continue to pretend to be asleep. The whole thing is freaking me out. My body won't react but my brain is.

The dark haired man I am left with turns to face me. His face softens when he sees me. He walks over and scoops me up. Instantly I smell it. I smell the thing Aimee was talking about.

The man carries me down the hallway. He stops and turns at a door. He closes the door when we're inside of a room. I can't see it through my lashes but I feel the bed when he lays me down in it. It's soft with thick blankets and pillows.

His breath is over my face, driving me crazy, "Pretending to sleep won't stop what I'm about to do to you."

My eyes are open and I'm scooting away from him instantly.

He chuckles, "Oh Hanna. I've missed you."

I frown, "Who are you?"

He shrugs, "Friend of your father's." His smile turns wicked, "And I guess your mother's as well."

My heart skips a beat. "You knew her?" he looks too young to have known them well. He's not much older than I am.

He lays on his side and smiles, "I did. How are you feeling? Still scared?"

I nod slowly, "I just don’t understand any of this."

He pats the pillow beside him, "I won't bite you. I swear." His eyes sparkle with delight and promises. And not the one's he is saying out loud.

I lie on the bed too, facing him but not close. Luckily the bed is massive.

"Are you afraid of me?"

I almost shake my head, but I nod.

"Why?"

"I don’t know you at all. The ghosts in the other room and the people who are there one minute and gone the next. The man bowler hat killed is still dead on the carpet. The list is pretty long." I can't fight the smile at the end of it.

He looks disinterested in my fears, "But me, are you afraid of me?"

I almost nod but something in his eyes is so familiar I can't. I shake my head, "No. I know you from somewhere."

He grins, "Excellent." He leans toward me, "Are you hungry?"

I think for a second, "Yes. I guess I am." I don’t know what to think or say. I feel lost inside of myself.

He climbs off the bed, "Be right back."

He leaves the room, which gives me a chance to look around at it all. It's huge. Dark blue walls and huge fabric curtains made the room eerie. The limited light coming in seems odd. Like Marcus is hiding in the dark. I noticed it about the front room. It's the size of a basketball court but the light is limited.

I climb off the bed and walk to the window. The glass is old, the home must be hundreds of years old.

"I brought you some root beer and cook is making you waffles."

I look back and laugh, "So do you run this as an inn or house hundreds of orphans?"

He sighs, "Look, we've had this conversation many a time. I know you think I'm ostentatious and live beyond my means."

I'm lost, "What?" I have to admit I think that but I never said it.

He sits on the bed after he puts the root beer on the table, "We have met before. It was a different world maybe or just a different time and I don’t want to explain it."

I cross my arms, "Are you supposed to be taking some kind of meds? I have this friend who is supposed to be on some kind of antipsychotic medicine and when she feels really good on the meds, she stops taking them."

He laughs bitterly, "You make me psychotic, trust me."

I frown.

He lies back on the bed again and the look in his eyes pulls me across the room. I sit on the bed, I can't break the stare. He has me trapped in it. I see it suddenly and whisper, "What are you?"

He grabs my hand and pulls me to him, "The man who loves you very much."

I believe him. I don’t know why. His eyes have me bewitched. He lowers his face and brushes his lips against mine. It's soft and sweet but I can sense the kiss is about to explode into something else. His lips brush mine so softly, I shiver from the gentle touches. He drags a hand up into my long hair. He reaches around the back and grabs a fist full of it. He jerks my face. I moan, loudly. I pull away from him, mouth breathing and all. My face is on fire.

I shake my head, "That hurt." I don’t know what else to say.

His eyes flash at me seductively. He bites his lip and shakes his head slowly, "No it didn’t. I know for fact you liked it."

I climb of the other side of the bed slowly, as if backing away from an animal, "This is too weird. Too weird." He crawls across the bed and then he's against me. My back slams into the wall across the room, I moan again. I can't stop myself. I'm moan-laughing. A sound I've never made before. He licks my neck, pressing his body against mine.

"My sweet Hanna. I've missed you so." He spins me hard and fast, pressing my face into the dark wall. He lifts my hair and kisses softly along the back of my neck. My skin is shivering and going crazy. My brain is trying desperately to argue giving in to the seduction, but the pleasure is more than I ever imagined. I spin myself around and feel a growl creep out of my throat. An excited grin crosses his face. I shove him hard. He stumbles back towards the bed. I shove him again, knocking him onto the bed. He scrambles up the bedding. I crawl up after him.

My body is on auto-slut.

I couldn't stop if I wanted to.

I pull my shirt off and crawl up to his face. He sits up and I wrap my legs around him. We are grabbing and pulling at each other's clothing. I shove him back and pull his shirt up over his face. He is blinded by it, with only his mouth sticking out. I bend and press my bare chest against his and suck his bottom lip hard, biting into it. I sit up and drag my nails down his body, marking him. He inhales sharply. My body is convulsing and pulsating and I can't get control of my breathing or get enough of him. I rip the pants from him. He throws me on my back and kisses my stomach. He pulls my pants off.

There isn’t any foreplay. Neither of us have the patience. I want him inside of me. He grabs his erection and kneels between my thighs. I'm panting, waiting. The terror that should be there isn't. He rubs himself against my opening and then in a giant thrust, he's inside of me. I scream, expecting pain but there isn’t any. That doesn’t change the fact it isn’t the romantic moment I had planned for my virginity. He screams out after about a minute. He's pumping hard and crying out.

"Hanna, you're a virgin." His voice is weak. I have no idea what he's talking about, but I'm lost in the heavy weight of the disappointment. My body doesn’t release the way I need it to. He's just gone completely rigid and collapsed onto my stomach.

He looks up at me, obviously embarrassed.

I frown, "What was that?" I ask. I don’t know a lot about sex but I know it should be better than that. "All that build up, for that?"

He swallows and breathes hard, "You forgot to mention you were a virgin. That wasn’t how I planned for things to go either."

I tilt my head, "I think I need a shower and then I think you owe me something."

He laughs and climbs off of me, "Yes. Right. Well, of course I do. I dare say I might die from the horrors you put me through just now. I wasn’t prepared for that."

I laugh and he laughs and I can't help but feel completely comfortable, considering the circumstances. His blushed cheeks and horrified look, are making it much better than an orgasm would have done.

I wrap myself in a sheet from the bed and drag it down the hall.

"So what happened with that Jimmy Stratton fellow?" He asks leading me down the hall.