Devils Roses 05 - Death

was stupendous the other time in the other world." I roll my eyes and grip the sheet. The effects of him and the weird hunger I had are wearing off. Sanity makes an attempt at creeping back into my mind. My fingers are numb from the clenching of the sheet. He opens the door to a massive bathroom. It's marble and stunning. He closes the door behind himself. Closing us in there together.
    My face, that’s already bright crimson, heats up more. "What are you doing?"
    He grins, "I enjoy washing you." A devious smile crosses his lips, "You enjoy it also."
    I shake my head and grip the towel. "What? No. Out." I point at the door. He chuckles and walks, still completely naked and slightly hard, to the shower and turns it on. The shower is a huge walk-in. He holds his hand under the stream of water, checking the temperature. I can't help but let my eyes wander down him. His ass is incredible. I have the strangest urge to bite it.
    Something is horribly wrong with me.
    He reaches back and grabs my hand, dragging me into the shower. He rips the sheets from my hands and pulls me into him. He grins, "No need to get shy now Hanna."
    I cover my breasts and lower my face from his. "I'm not shy. I'm just not, whatever happened in that room, that’s not me. I'm eighteen years old and still a virgin. I don’t do that. You did something to me. Those eyes and the blonde, Aimee and the ghost people. Bowler hat." My voice fades with the last few words.
    "You aren’t making sense."
    I shake my head against his chest. "It's the frightening experiences and my father making me come here and the overwhelming ness of it all. It’s made me act crazy. And slutty."
    "That's not a word. Actually, I don't believe slutty is either."
    I laugh, "This was a mistake. A fun one but a mistake nonetheless."
    He grabs my shoulders and pulls me back, "Hanna, I love you. I have for years, several times, whatever the bloody hell Ari does. I honestly am not going to try to explain that again. I have loved you through it all. You make me the man I want to be."
    I frown and push on his chest, "Whoa. Isn't the virgin supposed to get all needy and clingy? Stage four virgin clinger?"
    He looks exasperated, "What?"
    I pull out of his grip, "You know Wedding Crashers? Dude, I get that you had a wicked orgasm and that’s cool for you. You got the V-card. Congrats. But I sort of saw this as one of those 'it was nice to meet you' encounters. You don’t have to like call or anything. I'm cool with it. I can just leave when I shower up. I have friends. They'll come and get me. It's cool." I'm still clutching my hands to my chest. My face is on fire.
    His face drops, "Was any of that English? You did graduate high school this time? Ari made you stupid. Dear god."
    "Who? What? I gradded. Why are you being mean to me? You're the one who finished back there."
    His face is stoic. "Right. Excellent. I'll just wait outside of the bathroom for you to finish." He runs his hands through his dark thick hair and over his body, then steps out of the shower. He seems annoyed. I turn my back to him.
    My face is flushed and my stomach feels weird. I swear I can still smell him when he leaves the bathroom.
    Something is wrong with me.
    Who is Ari?
    A grin crosses my lips. I lost my virginity to the sexiest man I have ever seen.

Chapter Nineteen

    Aimee

    The air is hot and sticky. It feels like it weighs a ton.
    "Ready?"
    I glance at Oliver and nod.
    He takes my hand in his and pulls me through the bayou forest.
    "Where are we?"
    "Blackwater Bayou. It's in Louisiana. Just outside of Baton Rouge." He is calm and quiet. I don’t think he will be the same as he was until he finds the necromancer. Even then I'm worried.
    His warm hand wrapped around mine is the only comfort I have. The bayou stinks with blood and magic and stale air.
    He pulls me to a cabin. It's a shack with a yard littered with old jawbones and old logs in weird shapes and the skinned hides of dead animals. The grass isn't grass but weeds and sticks with what looks like mini mounds of dirt. I grip his hand tighter.
    I don’t know what a necromancer does, beyond the obvious translation.
    "You know I had no choice right?" I ask.
    He looks back, "It's all my fault Aimee. Not yours. She pulled the darkness from me. She pulled Henry and Marcus's memory wipe. She pulled it all. I'm free and clear again. Clean slate. Like a newborn and she is dead because of it."
    The guilt on his face hurts my heart. Mostly because he is