Page 53 of Cursed
“Thank you.” Evan lifted their joined hands to his lips for a kiss. “But I never want to bring harm to you. Please don’t take that kind of risk again.”
Seth wasn’t surprised at Evan’s response, although it didn’t make him regret his choice or convince him to avoid a similar gambit in the future. “I don’t want to live in a world without you in it,” he said in a voice just above a whisper, confessing his greatest fear.
Sometimes the lengths he would go to for Evan’s safety rattled Seth. He had never felt so deeply for someone aside from his brother and parents, but Evan made him believe in the idea of soulmates.
“Neither do I,” Evan replied after a moment’s silence. “So, we’d just better make sure we both stay safe.” Something in his voice told Seth that his lover knew that if the situation repeated itself, Seth would make the same choice.
Instead of answering in words and risking making a promise he couldn’t keep, Seth burrowed his nose into Evan’s hair, drinking in his scent and loving the feel of being pressed together skin-to-skin. Tonight, his exhausted body couldn’t muster the mojo for a second round of sex, but Seth didn’t doubt that in the morning, they would both be ready for a welcome home fucking.
He fell asleep wrapped around Evan, listening to his breathing, feeling the beat of his heart, and couldn’t imagine anything more worth fighting to keep at any price.
Seth wokeEvan with gentle touches that gradually grew more urgent, rubbing his nipples, rolling his balls, and stroking him into hardness with Seth’s morning wood snuggled between Evan’s ass cheeks.
Evan made a happy noise and shimmied his hips, pressing Seth’s cock deeper into his cleft. Seth reached for the lube and opened Evan slowly, taking his time and enjoying every moan he wrung from his equally hard partner.
“Please, Seth. Don’t make me wait.”
Seth pushed in, reaching around with a slick hand to give Evan’s leaking cock a channel for friction. Despite trying to make it last, it didn’t take long for them both to crash over the edge, bucking against each other as they came.
“Good morning,” he murmured when they stilled. Evan reached for the box of tissues on the nightstand and passed him a handful to clean them up.
“Always the best way to wake up,” Evan replied in a rough, sexed-out voice that always made Seth want to go again.
“Absolutely,” Seth agreed, holding Evan close for a few minutes, unwilling to leave the warmth of their bed or break the moment.
“I hate to kill the mood, but I’m hungry and I need to piss.” Evan wiggled loose and padded to the bathroom with a sexy swish of his naked ass for Seth’s viewing pleasure.
They cleaned up and dressed quickly, but that still left time for stolen kisses and a few teasing gropes that promised passion later.
“Did you decide what you want to do today?” Evan asked as they opted for a quick breakfast of coffee and cold cereal. “We have plenty of time before the party at Nash’s bar tonight.”
“By the way…the turpentine factory exploded late last night. Must have been all those old containers of flammable liquid,” Evan continued as if he were sharing a random headline. He rolled his eyes, clearly not convinced it was a coincidence.
Seth shrugged. “That would take care of the blood and all the ritual stuff. Fire cleanses, so it would wipe out any of Vernon’s residual magic that might have hung around. Kinsley, Caden, and the others made sure to deal with the bodies and bullet casings.”
He paused. “Back to what you want to do today.” Seth slid his phone over to Evan, showing the list he had made. “Figured we could hit one of the historic home tours this morning, and then do the brunch riverboat cruise for lunch and the early afternoon. If there’s time after that before the party, the Prohibition Museum could be fun.”
Evan had done a good job narrowing the choices to ones that he knew Seth would probably like. Nearly everything in Savannah was a perfect subject for photography, and Seth was sure Evan was looking forward to taking a lot of pictures.
“Those all sound good,” Evan replied. “But we don’t have to do everything in one day. I figured we’d at least take two days since there’s nothing pressing except whatever client work we didn’t do while we were chasing down Vernon.”
“We can play it by ear and see how the timing goes,” Seth agreed. “I’m all for stopping for coffee and watching the boats on the river. God knows we don’t need more stress.”
“Just so you know, when I put my suggestions together, I left out all thehauntedhistoric house tours, the creepy cemetery tours, and anything that had ‘ghost’ in the title,” Evan said. “For one thing, those are too much like work. But I also worried sincewe do the real thing whether it might upset the actual ghosts, and I didn’t want to cause a scene or endanger the tour.”
“No idea whether that could happen, but no sense taking chances,” Seth agreed. “And I’m just as glad to skip those. I’ve had enough ghosts for one trip. I’m sure those tours are fun for regular folks, but I don’t know if I could keep a straight face if the guide embroiders the facts.” He also didn’t want to run the risk of picking up psychic residue from something that wasn’t even on the job.
Savannah had plenty of well-preserved antebellum mansions that offered tours, so they picked a couple and scored tickets to their first choice.
“You know mansions are likely to be haunted too,” Evan pointed out.
“According to some of the travel articles, everything in Savannah is haunted.” While he had left picking attractions to Evan, Seth had read up on the city and its history. Given its storied past, he wasn’t surprised at all that Savannah rated as one of the most haunted cities in the country.
“If we wear our deflection charms, maybe it will signal we come in peace to the ghosts,” Evan suggested.
“I’m sure that plenty of people who have much stronger psychic abilities go on ghost tours—either on purpose or accidentally—and the world doesn’t end,” Seth replied. “Can you imagine those poor ghosts, looking for a little peace and quiet in the afterlife, constantly besieged with tours every couple of hours? I hope they have a quiet place in the attic they can hide.”
That image made Evan snicker. “I never thought about it that way, but you’ve got a point. I wonder how many of the guides who offer the haunted tours actually have psychic abilities. I’d think it would be draining to be around the spirits every night like that.”
