my feet, thankful to be away from his family. They seem welcoming enough—save for Sam—but I need some time to myself…with Ethan, that is.
“You okay?” Ethan asks when we step onto the covered front porch. “That was a lot to take in.”
“Yeah.” I put my hands on the railing and exhale. The sun is out today, warming the air and bringing back the false sense of a late-summer return of nice weather.
“Really?” Ethan’s hand lands on my back, and I have to work hard to repress the shiver that wants to run down my spine.
“I’m mostly just mad,” I admit, straightening up. “Did my aunt not think I could handle it? That I’m not strong enough to deal? I don’t want to cry about being abandoned, because I wasn’t, but how could she just leave me like that? And I know you don’t have the answers, and I don’t expect you to.” I let my eyes fall shut. “I mean…demons, come at me. But messing with my memory and binding my powers, it feels so wrong.”
“Rightly so,” Ethan says, surprising me a bit. “Your past is yours and yours alone. No one should be able to take that from you.”
“Do you think there’s a spell?” My eyes lock with Ethan’s. “A spell that can undo everything she did so I can get my memories back?”
“I don’t know,” he says apologetically.
I let out a sigh and bring my hands up, flattening my palms against Ethan’s chest. “Maybe I should go see a hypnotist and see if they can help me remember.”
Ethan lets out a snort of laughter. “Most are full of shit, you know.” His hands fasten around my waist.
“So are mediums. Or at least, that’s what I’ve heard.” I give him a half-smile.
“Good thing I know a reliable one.”
“You believe me, don’t you? About everything?”
“I believe you. I see you, Anora. And you’re fucking beautiful,” he says with a growl, and brings my hips to his in a sudden movement. The breath leaves my lungs and my lips part. “I believe every word you say.” He tips his head down toward mine. “And I get the feeling you’re not used to that.”
“I’m not,” I say, voice a little breathy. “Not at all.”
“Well, Anora, get used to it.” With no further hesitation, he puts his lips to mine and the world fades around me. Everything bad, everything wrong just slips away and all I can think about—all I care about—is the way Ethan feels against me. His full lips against mine, the heat that’s rushing through me, and the way he’s slowly cradling my body against his.
It’s like night and day have their arms wrapped around me at the same time. The sense of darkness and danger comes off of him, yet he’s the only thing that makes sense right now, the only thing that’s helping me keep it together. It doesn’t really make sense, I know, and I don’t want to try and figure it out.
Because all that matters is how good it feels to have Ethan this close to me, to have his tongue pushing past my lips. He deepens the kiss, hand sweeping up my back, fingers trailing along my spine. Relenting, I throw my arms around him, holding him close so my breasts crush against him with each breath.
No one has ever kissed me the way Ethan is kissing me right now, and no one has ever seen me the way Ethan sees me.
I’m a medium with a first-class ticket on the hot-mess express, and yet he hasn’t balked at me. If anything, knowing my true self has drawn him in more, as knowing his true self has done for me.
He hunts demons.
I see the dead.
I’ve always felt isolated from the rest of the world, and Ethan has been isolated. Together…together we just work.
“Ethan,” Sam says sharply, opening the front door. I pull back, feeling like my oxygen mask has been ripped off when I separate myself from Ethan. He keeps a steady hold on me and rests his forehead against mine for a beat before turning to Sam.
“Yeah?”
“Your dad wants you. I think he found something about the Pricolici,” she says and goes back inside, slamming the front door.
“I suppose we should get back inside then,” Ethan tells me as he brushes my hair back.
“Right.”
“Are you good?” His hands fasten around my waist again and he pulls me against him. I slide my hands from his arms to his chest, letting them fall until my fingertips