I scanned the area frantically, spotting the dark night. The full moon in the sky created a white glow over the sandy beach and the water in the distance looked like black glass. “When I arrived here it looked like Memphis.” I jerked my head to Kipp and caught sight of the rocky cliff behind him. “Now it looks like I’m in a postcard from Hawaii.”
Kipp gave a small smile. “Interesting, right? Your mind creates the visual. I’ve been everywhere from Vegas to Mars.”
Glancing down, I slid my toes through the sand below. “Seriously?”
“Like I said, interesting.”
Actually, it was extremely interesting, and explained why our naughty dream happened in his bedroom. Perhaps I imagined it there, but right now, more pressing matters were at stake. I raised my head and asked, “Aren’t you in danger staying here? Holly, that ghost back in Memphis, told me ghosts can become stuck if they stay too long.”
Kipp’s eyebrow arched knowingly. “Well, I’m not really a ghost, am I? Normal rules don’t apply to me.”
The warm wind brushed across me and Kipp tightened his arms, pulling me closer to him. One statement had been the exact truth. While I had made assumptions, Kipp knew he was in a coma. I hadn’t known for sure. Now I did.
Leaning to kiss him, he kissed me back with equal force. The feel of his lips pressing against mine, even if it wasn’t for real, blew my mind. Kipp was a really, really, good kisser. But I forced myself away, knowing we needed to talk instead of continuing to ravish each other. I wrapped my hands around a masculine face I never wanted to release, and said with vengeance, “We’ll get you back.”
He grinned with a firm nod. “We will.”
The breeze swept over us again and ruffled the sandy-colored hair dangling over Kipp’s brow. While I had a thousand questions for him, some more important than others, the thought I had pushed away to ensure his safety now needed clarification. Maybe it was slight curiosity, but the other more significant reason was it would answer a question about my abilities. “Did you know we’ve had sex before?”
Both eyebrows rose. “Pardon?”
He shifted his hips slightly, reminding me he was still buried deep in my body, and I understood why he stayed there. I didn’t want him to withdraw either. I focused away from that part of him and back onto the matter at hand. “That naughty little dream I had during the Hannah Reid case. Did you know that really happened?”
His eyes twinkled. “Maybe.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He dipped his head closer to mine, the moonlight casting a beautiful glow over his face, and looked at me like I should know better. “Because I didn’t understand it. What was I going to say to you? ‘Oh, by the way, that dream you had, well, we really did fuck’.”
I laughed, feeling the sand squish further between my toes. “Okay, I guess not. But seriously, wouldn’t it have been nice to know that before, so then we could have been gettin’ busy this whole time?”
Kipp brushed his nose against mine, his fingers trailed over my back. “I definitely would have suggested it if I’d known what happened. I didn’t realize at the time we were in the Netherworld, only that what took place was real. I knew I was there and enjoying myself immensely.” He leaned away and stared at me intently. “But I didn’t want to scare you, so I played stupid when you woke up.”
I pondered a moment, glancing to the starry sky above. “All right, I guess I can see your point, since at that time, it would’ve freaked me out.” Now thinking it over, I wonde
red how and why my ability to travel into the Netherworld would appear. “It’s weird that being with you brought out that gift in me…” the moment the words left my mouth, I realized an undeniable truth, “maybe because I wanted to be with you so badly. And here, I can be.”
“Possibly,” he agreed. “But once I got here, I met a woman who explained it all to me, and that’s when I finally figured out what the hell happened. How we came here and touched, and that it’s part of your abilities.”
“What woman?”
He shrugged. “Another ghost.”
Weird, but not that weird considering since I’d met Kipp McGowen, weird had become my normal. I brushed my fingers over his wide shoulders and moved lower over his biceps, loving how his body felt beneath my hands. “But then, why didn’t you let us finish the dream?” I remembered he had called my name and that’s what had awoken me.
“It wasn’t my choice. Trust me.” He snorted. “I called your name in the moment of our fun, but I think, you just woke up and that’s what stopped the dream. Then, I played it like I called your name to wake you up so you wouldn’t be scared.”
I gave him a glare I suspected held little heat. “So, that whole time after the dream you actually knew we’d really had sex?” I thought at the time I’d been too obvious because of my reaction to the dream, not that we’d actually done the deed.
He chuckled. “Yes, I knew.” His amusement fled and he sighed, sounding as tormented as his eyes looked. “And if you remember at the time, I had the realization my life was over.”
“Because we had sex?”
He shook his head, sending his hair to fall over his forehead. “Because you told me in that dream you loved me.”
“Hmm…” I kissed his lips softly, and he returned my kiss with a nibble on my bottom lip. When I moved away, I added, “I did say that, didn’t I?” Or more so said, ‘Make me forget why it’s wrong to love you.’
He agreed with another nod. “A big game changer that totally spun me around, as you witnessed. Made me realize how much I lost.” He drew in a deep breath, and everything about him firmed, but he hadn’t stepped away from me. Hadn’t released my face in his hand, nor had he removed his semi-hard erection inside of me. “Now, you will explain why you are here.”