The Curse of Redwood (Ivy Grove #2) - Jaclyn Osborn Page 0,43

faint. I sat on the couch and tried to get my head to stop spinning.

Z sat beside me. “I dread even considering what she would’ve done to you.”

“That makes me feel so much better. Really.” I heavily sighed and rested my head on the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling.

“Not every death in this mansion has been caused by the curse,” he said. “One family who lived here had a young daughter who lived in that room. The spirit lured her into the wardrobe, and the family found her corpse the next day, her bloodshot eyes wide with fright even in death. Scratch marks covered her entire body.”

“Scratches?” I asked.

“Caused by long, sharp fingernails.”

I shuddered and moved closer to him. “Okay. You don’t have to tell me twice. I won’t go in there again. Is there any other room I should avoid?”

“Never go to the third floor,” he responded. “And do not wander around on the second, unless I’m with you.”

“Got it.” I swallowed the tightness in my throat and flashed a nervous smile. “You probably should have told me all this before now.”

He didn’t look amused by my statement. “I distinctly remember warning you about a lot in the beginning. You chose to ignore me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “I’ve never been good at following directions. Call me a rebel.”

“A rebel?” Z ran his finger down the three studs I wore in my left ear. “Is that why you’ve done this to your beautiful body?”

“Hey, I thought you liked my piercings.”

“Oh, I do.” He closed the small gap between our legs and moved his hand to my upper thigh. My heartrate spiked with that one simple touch. “I’m especially fond of the one right here.” He leaned over and kissed my lip ring.

“Keep doing that, and we’ll need to put a sock on the door,” I said, breathing a little heavier.

“A sock? Why?”

I snorted a laugh. “So everyone knows to give us privacy. How did you keep people from walking in on you doing the do in your day?”

“Doing the do?” he asked. “You’re so strange, Carter.”

“When you had sex,” I then clarified.

“Well, we didn’t go around putting socks on the door to let the entire house know about it,” he answered. “In my day, a man and woman courted before being intimate. A woman’s virginity was to be given to her husband. It was the way. However, there were some that went against that tradition and often groped each other any chance they could.”

“Were you ever with a woman?” I asked, interested in learning all I could about him.

“No. I knew I was different from a young age. Father would invite young, unmarried daughters of his wealthy friends to our fancy parties, and I would have to spend the evening entertaining them with dances and conversation. When really… I wished to be with him.”

“Him?”

Could it be the man from the visions? A man I couldn’t see since I was always in his place.

“I do not wish to discuss this any longer,” Z said, pulling away from me.

I didn’t know if it was the adrenaline from almost being mauled by a demonic ghost woman in the wardrobe or if it was something else, but I needed him close to me. As close as possible.

“Let’s stop talking and do something else instead,” I said, looping an arm around his neck and tugging him back.

I kissed him hard on the mouth and tangled my fingers in his silky hair. I was used to banging men with short hair, so having Z’s long, luscious strands between my fingers was different, yet amazing. Everything about him was.

“Not here,” he said against my lips, lifting me from the couch. “Hold on tight, little dove.”

I threw my legs around his waist and squealed in delight as he carried me from the parlor and through the mansion. I got dizzy when I looked up at our surroundings. We were moving much too quickly. For human legs, anyway. I nibbled his neck and smiled against his skin when I felt his cock harden. Then, I bit the area right below his ear.

“Perhaps we should put a sock on the door after all,” he said.

I laughed and held on tighter as we reached the stairs. Once on the second floor, he took me down the corridor. The door shut after we entered his room, and then he laid me on the bed, cushioning the back of my head with his hand as we hit the mattress.