Chapter Twenty-Three

Pagan

The security guard at tonight’s club led me back to the room where Dank was waiting for me. The whole just-appearing-in-places thing was a lesson that Dank had yet to teach me. I always panicked at the last minute and ended up random places like service station restrooms or the milk aisle of grocery stores. I was providing Dank with endless entertainment with all my trials and errors.

The guard stopped in front of a door marked private and knocked once, then opened the door and stepped aside to let me enter. The room was similar to most of the rooms provided for him by the venues where Cold Soul played. There was a bar with drinks and bottles of water, and large sofas and chairs for seating. The walls of this one was lined with mirrors.

Dank was reclining on the couch, but stood and walked over to me as the man closed the door behind me. “What took you so long?” he asked with a grin on his perfect face.

“Miranda and Nathan had a make-up session in our room and I wasn’t going anywhere near it until the noise stopped. “

“Ah, can’t say I blame you. We really need to teach you how to change clothes at will. The only time I take off my clothes is with you. The rest of the time I just decide what I want to wear and my appearance changes.”

I thought about that and decided I’d leave that lesson for later. My skills weren’t great and the thought that I could end up naked in public because I’d done something wrong terrified me. “Let’s not teach me that just yet.”

Dank chuckled as if he had read my mind and knew exactly what my fear was. “You just let me know when you’re ready. We’ll work on it.”

I nodded and he reached for my hand and pulled me over to the sofa. “I wrote a new song. After we, uh,” he looked over at me and a shy smile played on his lips.

“After we had sex?” I asked.

Dank shook his head, “No, Pagan, that was making love. Don’t confuse the two.”

Pleasure from his words coursed through me. I liked that this new body still felt sensations.

“I wrote it the morning after we made love. I haven’t shared it with the band yet, because it’s personal.”

I sat down and he reached over and picked up the guitar lying on the chair beside me. He rested his foot on the edge of the sofa and slipped the guitar strap around his neck. Just when i thought Dank Walker couldn’t get any sexier he proved me wrong.

“What are you grinning about?” he asked looking down at me.

“Oh, I’m just thinking that I have the sexiest boyfriend on the planet. The only thing that could make this better is if you were shirtless.”

Dank smirked and pulled the guitar strap back over his head then reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it off tossing it in my lap. “This better?” he asked as he put the strap back around his neck.

“Oh my, yes.”

Dank shook his head and laughed, “You make it hard on a guy, Pagan Moore. I was getting ready to be romantic and now my mind is all about the naughty.”

I leaned back and crossed my legs and held his discarded shirt up to my nose to smell it. I may not give it back.

“Damn,” Dank whispered as he watched me. “I don’t think I remember the words to the song now.”

I stuck out my bottom lip in a pout, “But I want to hear it.”

Dank closed his eyes and adjusted his guitar on his bent knee. “Your wish is my command,” he replied with a grin with his eyes closed. His tongue darted out and licked his lips. Suddenly, hearing the song wasn’t that important. I wanted to lick his lips too. Then he began to play. I lifted my eyes from his lips as he opened his mouth. Our eyes met and he held me completely as his words joined the music.

“Daylight fades away as I watch you from a distance.

Darkness claims the sky and I wish you could only know.

We’re supposed to be miles away but something draws me closer.

We’re supposed to be far away but gravity brings us closer.

Closer than your skin, rebellion deep within, you’ve taken over me and I can’t seem to swim to the top of myself. I’m under your control.

Wondering how we got here, wondering how we got here to the place we should go.

Oh- oh- oh- oh, yeah

The place we should go.

Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh-oh, yeah

Souls aren’t meant for things like this.

Our worlds were never meant to collide.

You’re better off leaving while you have something to leave behind.

We’re supposed to be miles away but something draws me closer.

We’re supposed to be far away but gravity brings us closer.

Closer than your skin, rebellion deep within.

You’ve taken over me and I can’t seem to swim.

To the top of myself I’m under your control.

Wondering how we got here.

Wondering how we got here to the place we should go. We’re supposed to be far away but something draws me closer.”

The moment his hands stopped moving, I was up and reaching for his guitar. I needed to hold him. Now. Dank understood my intentions and he slipped the guitar off and laid it down without taking his eyes off me. I hurled myself into his arms and grabbed his face and took a small lick against his lips before slipping my tongue into his mouth.

Dank’s hand cupped my butt and he picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I loved him. He was mine.

“They’re at it again. Damn, Dank gets more action than I do these days.” Looses’ s voice interrupted us. Stupid drummer.

“Go away,” Dank replied without looking back at our intruder.

“Can’t, man. We go on in five,” Les replied. Great, we had the entire band as an audience. I glared at them over Dank’s shoulder, which only caused them all to laugh.

“Sorry we’re breaking up your happy time, Sweetheart, but we need our singer,” Loose winked. He would have never winked if Dank’s back had not been turned.

Rubber slapped him on the back of the head and murmured, “Dickhead.”

Dank let me slide down his body, but kept his hands firmly on my backside. “I think I’m going to give this hobby up. You’re the only audience I want. And these idiots keep messing with my free time.”

I looked back at the three guys that made up most of the band. They had a keyboard player, Jet, who barely managed to show up right before the band went onto the stage. He was incredibly high all the time.

“They need you and I will always be waiting on the side of the stage when you’re finished. Don’t give this up for me.”

Dank tucked some hair behind my ear, “As long as you’re waiting for me, I guess I can keep this up a while longer.”

“Three minutes,” Loose announced, reminding us they were still there.

I pressed my lips to Dank’s, and gave him one fast kiss and then pushed him toward the door. “Let’s go do this thing.”

Dank

“When are you going to start letting Pagan come with?” Gee asked as we stepped into the hospital.

“I’m not. She may be immortal but asking her to deal with this isn’t something I will ever do.” Death wasn’t easy. It was a tragic thing to humans. Unlike me, Pagan had been human. She understood those emotions; she still experienced them. These emotions were a part of her. As much as I hated being away from her, I didn’t want to bring her into this world.

“She is tough, Dankmar. The girl was able to force her memories to return through her heart. Her memories had been wiped clean, yet she

brought them back and lived through it. Give her some credit.”

I knew Pagan was tough. She loved me. Loving Death wasn’t something that just anyone could do. I wasn’t the bearer of good news.

“Leave this alone, please. I want to collect these souls and get back before Pagan and Miranda are done with their girl’s night out.”

“Well I want to get back before Loose ends up banging some random slut in a bathroom stall. We all want something.”

She was still seeing Loose. That was all kinds of screwed up. I didn’t even want to consider what that might lead to. Gee was just a transporter. She wasn’t deity. She didn’t have the power I did to get away with breaking rules.

“This still a fling, Gee?” I asked as we stood outside a hospital room where sobbing and heartache awaited us.

“I like his ‘dreads okay? And all that practice he’s had screwing around has made him rather skillful in the area. He’s just for fun.”

She didn’t sound convincing. This wasn’t good. I’d deal with that later. Maybe Loose would end up ending this and I wouldn’t have to handle it.

“It isn’t like we see each other but a couple times a week. I know he is getting it elsewhere the rest of the week. I’m good with that. He’s human, I’m not.”

Nothing about her tone supported her statement that it was okay. She was going to go jealous-girlfriend on him really soon. God help the boy survive that. He’d never pissed off an immortal before. This could not be good.

When I entered the room I didn’t see the soul I’d come to collect. However, the familiar face standing in the corner holding a weeping female caught my attention. Jay stood solemnly as he tightly held the blond in his arms. I recognized her soul. It was the one he’d been unable to stay away from while he was dating Pagan. A translucent glow wrapped around their two bodies connecting their souls.

“Well look what we have here,” Gee said as she came up beside me. Her attention captured by the bond visible between their souls.

“I didn’t see this connection between them before,” I said studying them as Jay whispered soothing words in her ear.

The soul we’d come to collect walked away from the body on the bed. He was young. He was also trouble. There was a darkness surrounding him. The darkness marked him as hazardous. This soul wouldn’t get another chance. He’d messed up in this lifetime.

“Uh, oh. We got a bad egg,” Gee grumbled as I stepped forward to wrap the iron band reserved for angry souls around his wrist. It provided control for the transporter until she delivered the soul to its final resting place. Dealing with damaged souls could be tricky. Once I’d had to take them down myself but over time we figured out a better way to handle it. I didn’t like wasting my time on the trip.

“Come on, bad boy. Let’s get this over with,” Gee told him.

This soul had been Victoria’s mate. Now that it was damaged, the connection had transferred. Jay’s soul was now complete.