19. Jay

19

JAY

E verywhere I looked objects flew.

Teacups, books, and forks zipped past at an alarming rate, while others: a teddy bear, a video game controller, and ball, hovered in mid-air.

From the front door, we could see right through to the kitchen. That's where the real action was happening. Every drawer and cupboard door opened, then slammed shut. Over and over again. Food flung itself out of the fridge. Fire raged from the elements of the gas stove, the flames flickering, then extinguishing, only to erupt in a gas ball of flame when reignited.

The faucet, turned on, poured out water, then formed a perfect U-turn halfway to the drain, only to continue its ascent to the ceiling.

The cacophony of noise made it impossible to think, never mind hear anything other than the smashing of objects and the howl of an unseen wind. How could one apparition create such chaos? Or could there be several?

The place was a complete mess, but in the centre of the kitchen floor Sam and Sharon sat huddled together, surrounded by a ring of salt.

Cade elbowed me. As I turned to meet his gaze he nodded toward the corner of the kitchen.

There stood Olivia.

Hands by her side, clenched into fists. Her rotting face a twisted visage of rage. Her mouth lay open, and her head jutted forward as if she were screaming.

She flickered in and out like a bad electrical current, a lightbulb that hadn't been screwed in tightly.

"How are we going to get Sam out of here?" My heart sank. All our theories on ghosts staying where they were familiar was garbage. I hated that little bitch — but she terrified me too.

"I will try and distract her. You focus on getting Sam and Sharon out to the car. As soon as I see you leave the front door, I'll follow. Then it's back to my place as quick as possible."

"This is never going to work." Panic squeezed my chest. My chest bones felt as if they were compressing my lungs. I couldn't breathe.

"It has to. Now, go!" Cade urged me forward.

"Fuck." Staring into Cade's eyes, I gathered up whatever courage I could muster. I had to save Sam.

I ran in.

Various objects pummelled me as I got close to my boy and my ex. A sugar bowl hit me in the face. My hands flapped as I attempted to beat away the objects, careful not to flail against cutlery and knives, as they floated in the mix.

I got close. Close enough.

"Sam, come. Come to me."

He lifted his head up, crying, his cheeks streaked with tears.

"Come on, Sam. You can do it. We're gonna go to Cade's place. We all know it's safe there."

Sam shook his head. Clearly terrified.

I had to get closer.

Cade had already managed to get in front of Olivia, blocking her view of Sam and Sharon. He had something behind his back, but I couldn't determine what it was.

"Sam!" I reached out a hand to him after getting another couple of steps closer. "Sharon, push him to me."

Sharon was as terrified as Sam. But as the adult, and his mom, she nodded. They both stood, carefully, still within the tight circle of safety. Sharon leaned into Sam and whispered in his ear.

The noise ramped up the minute Sam took a single hesitant step. His toes touched the salt line.

Sharon pushed him toward me and as she did, the salt line broke.

Every object halted.

Hundreds of floating household items wobbled in the spot where they levitated.

Olivia screamed.

The shrill shriek penetrated my skin and crept its way toward my bones. Inch by inch, second by second, as the yell persisted, it became harder and harder to move.

From my periphery I saw Cade. He pulled out what he'd been hiding behind his back — a box of salt — I had no idea where he'd found it, but I didn't care. He ripped open the top then cast its contents toward Olivia.

The ghost's form began to spark and hiss, then she started melting from the bottom up. The scream turned into a growl. She reached toward Cade as he flung the box in her direction once again.

There wasn't much left, but enough that the crystals reached her fingertips and once the salt hit, they began to burn bright and dissolve.

Olivia's neck stretched up as her head tilted back in anguish. She let out a yell of frustration.

Her head whipped forward as the rest of her continued to disappear.

"I will have Sam." Her raspy voice slithered across the floor, sending every hair on my body into an erect stance. The air became electric.

She blinked out, but as she did, every light in the house shattered.

I snatched Sam into my arms, then turned and darted for the door.

Sharon and Cade were directly behind me.

We got into the Jeep. Cade started the vehicle, then slammed the stick shift into first and got us the hell out of the area, racing toward the safety of the witch's cottage.

We flew down the highway toward Cade's new home, until the witch cottage came into view. Cade took his foot off the accelerator. We had made it without incident.

But then Cade's head swivelled as we came to a stop on the highway just on the edge of his drive. He was glaring at the churchyard.

"They're swarming."

"What?" A new spike of terror pierced my guts.

"The number of ghosts in the graveyard have at least doubled. They're pressed up against the iron fence."

"We're fucked." I said.

"Not yet." Cade reached for my hand, clasped it, and gave it a squeeze.

"Can we just get to your house, please?" Sharon's head moved into my side view as she pressed herself through the bucket seats. "I want Sam somewhere safe, and you promised me your house, for whatever reason, is impenetrable to these things." She pointed through the glass windshield.

"Wait, you can see them?" I asked.

"What the hell, Jay, they're all right there." Her face went still, as her mouth formed a small o . "There has to be hundreds there."

"Sharon, you can see them?" Cade asked, one eye squinted.

"Of course."

"Describe one."

"One on the end, in the long robes, tied at the waist with a belt. He has sash over his shoulders. He's bald. And the look of hate wafting off him is almost palpable."

"I see him. He's a priest. From at least a hundred years ago."

"That fits," she said

"But you can see him," I asked her, flabbergasted.

"For fuck's sake, yes. Can't you? He's right there. Honestly, Jay, what the hell?—"

"Easy Sharon. He hasn't got the sight. Your great-grandmother is the witch who owned this cottage. You're a descendent of Shirley, who obviously has a link to the supernatural. You have inherited those gifts, and you've passed them on to Sam."

My stare shifted from Sharon to Cade and then back to Sharon again.

"You have to be fucking kidding me."

"You guys swear a lot." Cade noted, then pulled into his drive, leaving the mob of ghosts in the churchyard cemetery to their own devices.

I eased the door to Sam's room closed, with Sam tucked in close to his mother's side. There had been long conversations about Shirley's beliefs, the car accident, Sam's role in all of this, and Sharon's apparently newfound abilities. Our top priority, though, was safety and what we could do — which equated to nothing more than keeping Sam within the walls of the cottage. But we all knew that wasn't sustainable. Cade wanted to circle back and discuss Sharon's family gift. But Sharon wasn't having any of it.

I was exhausted. Drained, beaten, and scared to death. I turned to Cade.

"Thank you."

"For what?" He shrugged, then pulled me into his arms.

Having this bear of a man wrapped around me gave some semblance of security. I felt useless. I had no skills to deal with our current situation. Everything relied on Cade.

He knew what to do with the supernatural.

He had the safe haven.

He had the nuts of steel needed to deal with this, whereas I did not.

"Cade, I'm sorry." I melted a little into his chest.

"Okay. Again, for what?"

"Everything. I can't keep Sam safe; you did that for us. I don't know how to deal with all of this, but you do. We tried to have some adult fun times, but instead I ended up coming apart at the seams. And, every time, you've been there to pick me up, comfort me, and tell me everything will be okay — even when it seems nothing is ever going to be okay again. And you've never expected anything back in return."

"Ah, well in all fairness, we watched some people come apart at the seams. Not exactly something you witness and then feel immediately horny. If you had, I might have other concerns."

I snorted out of derision. "Still. I'm sorry we're putting you through all this." I squeezed him tighter.

"Well, I think it might be a tad unfair for you to take all the blame. This is my world. That's true. I am far more familiar with it, also true. But there's a small piece of me that wonders if I dragged it all here from the city."

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"I came out here to get away from the population density of the city. I wanted less ghosts, less spookiness, and more alone time. I knew there'd be some ghosts here too. I mean, they're always around. There isn't a single spot left on this earth where someone hasn't died. The entire planet is one big cemetery. So, I knew I'd see some dead. But I wasn't counting on this outcome."

"You mean the whole Sam thing?" I asked.

"Yeah. I do. And so, I feel like I should be the one apologizing." Cade's massive hand slid up my back and came to rest on the back of my head, almost like he was cradling me. It felt so good.

"It's not like you knew this would happen."

"I certainly did not." Cade's other hand found its way under my T-shirt. His hot palm against my bare skin stirred a little fire in the pit of my belly.

After everything we'd been through, I couldn't believe my body would react in such a way, but Cade was just that sexy.

I glanced up at him and gazed into his eyes, full of sympathy.

I slid my hands down the back of his pants, only to find myself with two hands full of fuzzy bear cheeks.

"Why, Mr. McClaren, I do say you're being quite forward." Cade smiled.

"Should I stop?"

"Nope."

"Is it a little inappropriate?"

"Definitely not. I've been trying to get you naked for days now," Cade whispered.

"Ditto. I wish we could have a night to ourselves," I said.

"We have a bedroom." One of Cade's eyebrows ticked, indicating a devilish suggestion.

"We'd have to be extremely quiet." I spoke in hushed words.

Cade replied in the same manner. "I can do that."

He released me, but his hands went immediately to the hem of my shirt. Tugging up on it, I lifted my arms so the garment could be easily removed. I then copied Cade by doing the same to him.

I stood there for a moment, regarding his torso. Two mounds of pectorals covered in a forest of hair greeted me. Cade was a big guy. You might have guessed he played football as a teen, or maybe had been sent to work on the family farm every summer. He had that natural masculine bulk without having ever set foot into a gym.

It was glorious. I wrapped myself around him and rubbed my face against his fur.

Cade pulled me away, cupped my face with his paws, then brought me forward for a kiss. His tongue danced across my lips and that was all it took for me to lose all semblance of control. While kissing him back feverishly, tasting him, and delighting in the wet warmth, my hands were busy getting Cade's jeans off.

He fumbled with my belt.

I won. It took me no time at all to have Cade's pants pushed down to his thick thighs. My hand gripped his erection and stroked the velvety hard cock.

Cade shuddered, "You've got too many clothes on," he whispered into my ear. The hot breath teased my earlobe, making my own hardened member twitch.

It pulsated, trapped in my jeans, and as I clenched my buttocks my cock hardened and pulsated. I could feel pre-come leak out from the tip.

We pulled away from each other and stripped off the remaining clothes.

I fell into the bed. Cade climbed over top of me, rubbing his furry chest against my almost smooth skin. I had some hair, but not like this bear.

I gripped both him and me in one hand — a difficult manoeuvre. I was thick but he was long. Still, I made it work, and while we enjoyed each other's kisses I stroked.

Cade's hips thrust forward several times. "I feel like a damn teenager. If you keep that up I'm going to bust."

"This isn't the four-hour fucking session I had in mind, but I don't care. Come for me."

"On your chest?"

I snorted, which was a bit louder than I had anticipated, "Hell, no. Straddle my chest."

Cade shimmied up, sliding his tree-trunk thighs under each armpit while I continued to grip his excitement and stroke him with one hand. His heavy balls bounced on my chest, while I reached up with one hand and ran my fingers through his chest hair. His nipples were hard as steel, so I tweaked one of them.

"Ugh." Cade's eyes rolled into the back of his head. Taking that as a cue, I focused in on his nipple, applying firm but steady pressure, stroked a little faster, and took delight in watching Cade as he lost himself in the pleasurable sensation. "Oh God, Jay…"

I opened my mouth and brought my head up in anticipation of what was surely to come next.

Cade's low hanging nuts pulled up tight. His cock became completely rigid in my hand and swelled just a touch bigger. I latched onto the tip of his rod and tongued the underside.

"Oh, fuck." Cade whispered.

He came.

He filled my mouth while his hips thrust quick little juts into my mouth.

Come dribbled out past my lips.

A few more bursts of juice into my mouth, and then it was over.

Cade sat back down, nearly crushing me. He pulled out. Then slumped forward holding himself up by placing his hands palms down on the mattress.

He bent over and licked his own come off my chin.

"Show me." Cade whispered.

I opened my mouth and displayed his load to him.

"Hot damn." Cade leaned in and started to kiss me. I swallowed, but not before Cade had got a good taste of himself.

He pulled away. "Your turn."

With the salty taste of him still in my mouth, we switched positions. Cade gripped my rod and stroked but it didn't take long. I shot a rope of come before he had a chance to open his mouth, glazing Cade across one cheek. He chuckled, then swallowed me taking the rest.

When I was done, I swiped my juice off his cheek, pushing as much as I could toward his mouth. Then brought my thumb up to my own face and licked my fingers clean.

"Come here." Cade whispered, helping me slide down. He tucked me into his side while he placed tender kisses on my forehead, down my nose, and then, finally, a couple of soft kisses on my lips. His beard tickled.

Being held and holding onto Cade felt so good. It felt right.

"You're amazing." Cade whispered in my ear, then nibbled on my earlobe.

"If you keep that up, there's going to be a second round."

He giggled. "I'd love that, but I'm pooped. And tomorrow we need to look for a book in the room . Besides, I needed this, badly, but I promise we will have our four-hour fuck-a-thon night together."

I nodded. "Cade…" I stopped for a moment, trying to find the words I needed to say.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not happy with this notion about Sam's new responsibility. But if we have to go through with this to stop the hauntings, the possessions, and the deaths, then I'm glad I've got you. Please don't leave us."

Cade caressed my chest, running his fingertips over my muscles, and down my abs, until his hand stopped at the tip of my now soft penis. He cupped my balls and gave them a gentle tug.

"Jay, I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you. We'll figure this out and fix it together. But I'm all yours." He released my nuts then wrapped himself around me and held me tight, providing that reassurance I found myself needing. I felt the safest in this moment than I had since this whole nightmare had started. "As long as you'll have me, I'm in for this."

"Oh God, you have no idea how much I do need you."

We stayed pretzeled together until we both fell asleep.