STORY EXCERPT

Perhaps meeting Eric had been something of a miracle. Any other ghost would have taken him and tossed him out of his body in an instant had he shown any sort of weakness to them.

Not Eric.

“I’ve missed you,” Ivan confessed, and he leaned down, allowing his head to rest on Eric’s shoulder.

This time Eric was the one to shiver. Ivan was still attempting to figure out how a bodily reaction in a dead spirit was possible. Eric passed through every other body that he tried to make contact with. Perhaps his physical reaction was simply because Ivan was the only person he could be physical with.

Ivan was disappointed, though not shocked, when Eric did not return the sentiment.

Eric protected Ivan from the other spirits, and for a time, Ivan had come to see Eric as something of a friend.

Ever since coming to this land and meeting Eric’s twin brother, Ivan was no longer sure what they were to each other.

Ivan used to lean against Eric like this often, and the other man would put his arm around Ivan’s shoulder, inviting him closer, apparently stunned that he could still experience physical pleasure through touch.

Ivan decided to stop being a coward and give it a try. He put his hand on Eric’s thigh and kissed his neck. His throat worked as he swallowed, and his strong jaw went tight. If someone were to walk into the clearing, would they see Ivan holding onto nothing, pressing his lips against air? He wasn’t sure because no one had ever stumbled upon them during these moments.

There hadn’t been any moments like these ever since Ivan arrived at this pack.

Eric inhaled sharply, and Ivan could feel the man’s thigh become stiffer as his body reacted. His cock lengthened and became hard.

Again, Ivan did not know how this was possible, because this was definitely a spirit sitting next to him. Ivan heard no pumping of a heart, scented no blood beneath Eric’s skin, and yet there was apparently enough blood in his spiritual body to form an erection.

Ivan reached for it when Eric took him by the wrist. His grip was not strong, but the signal to stop was loud and clear. And disappointing.

Ivan hated how the rejection made him want to weep, punch, snarl, and kick. All of those angry emotions running through him at the same time could not be healthy for him.

Eric stood up. He did not need to brush any dirt or blades of grass from his legs, because, although the imprint of his body was on the ground, nothing came back up.

“I need to be going,” Eric said.

Ivan was angry and in no mood to be accommodating. “Where does a spirit need to go?”

“I hear my brother coming. I’ll talk with you later.”

Ivan spun around just as Eric turned his back on him and began to walk away. Where he was walking to, Ivan did not know since the man vanished from sight midstep.

Ivan bent his head and rested his forehead on his knees. His body still pulsed and hummed with how close he had been to Eric, but Eric was denying him again.

Ivan willed away his erection. The task of making himself flaccid was becoming more and more difficult with every time that Eric refused him.

At the age of forty, young for a vampire but still old enough to have some experience, Ivan had had a few partners in his life. That, however, was before his condition had been discovered by others as Ivan could not keep it secret any longer, and suddenly no male wished to come anywhere near the insane, screaming prince.

Eric was Ivan’s first lover in nearly twenty-two years, and he wasn’t even alive. Spirit or not, Ivan enjoyed taking advantage of their lust for each other.

Ivan had told himself that if Eric was simply using the sex as a form of payment for the protection against the other spirits, he didn’t care.

That bargain had been in the beginning of their love affair. Ivan was shocked that he would be so hurt that Eric would no longer wish to be with him.

He wished he understood why.

Eric had been correct, though, when he stated that his twin brother was approaching. Perhaps he was simply putting off the sex because there were more people around here than there were when Ivan had been living as a prince. More people, no soundproof walls, and a better chance of being caught.

Perhaps Eric’s rejection was simply another way of protecting Ivan. This time from humiliation rather than physical attack.

Eli walked at a leisurely pace. Though he looked completely identical to his dead brother, short and dark hair, strong body and wide shoulders, the differences were clear.

For one, this man was wearing clothing, and his cheeks were not pale with death. Ivan could also smell his blood flowing through his veins and under his skin as his heart pumped in his chest.

Ivan sighed at the sight of him and returned to staring into the pond.

It was not that he disliked Eli, but Ivan would rather the company of Eric than of his twin brother.

ADULT EXCERPT

Eric hoped to God that Ivan was right and that Eric wasn’t just allowing himself to give in because he no longer had the spine to resist.

When he first opened his eyes, hearing Ivan calling out his name, he’d thought he’d finally gone to heaven.

But then the confusion had set in because Ivan was not dead, and how was it possible that the other man could have followed him into the next life? Then he became aware of the situation and what was truly happening, and he’d gone on the attack. He was in a place he didn’t fully recognize, and there were so many spirits around them both. All of which would want a piece of Ivan.

He immediately went on the attack. They were much more determined than what was usual, but he would not allow them to take control of Ivan’s body. He would not let them make Ivan into a ghost like Eric!

When he heard Ivan’s scream, his insides, or whatever it was he had as a spirit, jumped into his throat, but Ivan was not being taken control of.

He took his attention away from the spirits he fought just enough to watch as Ivan attacked one of the spirits that Eric did not have within his sights. Ivan was attacking it head-on like a warrior, and he was doing well. Ivan was holding his own, and then he’d frightened the spirit away entirely.

The spirits Eric had been battling had seen that and then looked at Eric. They must have determined that they were outmatched because then they, too, retreated into the night.

Eric had never been more proud of Ivan.

Maybe it was witnessing the vampire in battle, taking care of himself and frightening away his attacker, that was the true reason for Eric’s crumbling resolve.

When Ivan had cast him out for possessing his body, Eric had feared he would never see the other man again, yet here he was, kissing Eric’s face and pleading with him not to go.

All was forgiven then. Thank God. Thank God.

Eric was not one to let such an opportunity slip away. Especially with his body still thrumming with the adrenaline of battle.

He didn’t push Ivan down onto the soft moss so much as Ivan pulled him down on top of him. He felt Ivan’s erection immediately, and he responded to it accordingly.

Eric loved the feel of Ivan’s fingernails clawing into his back as he tore away at Ivan’s pants. Ivan would be walking back naked at the rate Eric was going, but that was hardly the issue at the moment.

“Turn around. Get on your knees,” Eric said. He spat into his hand as Ivan grinned and did as he was told.

Eric wished he was the sort of man who was able to resist the impulse of his body and take his time preparing his lover for what was to come. Ivan moaned so beautifully and pushed against Eric’s fingers so wantonly that he could barely contain himself.

It was then that he noticed the strange slickness against his fingers as he stretched out Ivan's asshole. It was slippery and wet and almost like a lubricant.

What the hell? Was it there because Eric wanted it to be there? Was he somehow creating the stuff to keep from hurting Ivan while they did this?

Maybe it was just ectoplasm or something like out of Ghostbusters. He didn't know if that was gross or not.

“Eric, do not stop, please do not stop,” Ivan begged. He did it so nicely, too.

He pulled his fingers out of Ivan’s pucker and lined up his cock with the entrance. Ivan pushed out as Eric pushed in, and when he was completely submerged, he buckled over Ivan’s body, nearly collapsing on top of him.

He grit his teeth, forcing himself not to move despite the pulsing pleasure just being inside of Ivan was causing. The fact that Ivan was trying to push back against him wasn’t helping either.

“Do it. Fuck me now,” Ivan commanded, looking over his shoulder at Eric, as though asking, What’s the hold up?

He would’ve told Ivan that he was going to be the death of him, but Eric was already dead.

He took hold of Ivan’s hips, gripping so tightly the other man hissed in pain, but then he began to move.

The amazing push and pull of their bodies made Eric groan low in his throat as well as release gasping sighs. Ivan’s own noises of pleasure heightened everything Eric was feeling.

“Yes. Yessss,” Ivan hissed, pushing back against Eric’s thrusting hips. “Just like that.”

“You’re so fucking beautiful like that,” Eric rasped. “I’m never leaving you behind.”

Ivan moaned at those words. He went down on his elbows, keeping his ass in the air while Eric fucked it.

No, he wasn’t fucking Ivan. He was making love to him, and it had been stupid of him to think he was doing anything but that all this time.

“I love you. I love you so fucking much.”

Ivan gasped and Eric wasn’t sure if the other man heard him, so he just kept right on going.