Dead RINGER: Happily Ever Afterlife, Book 2
M/M Paranormal Romance | Fated Mates, Still Dead | Murder Bear Mayhem | Human Logic
✨ Danger, Snark, and Naked Time in the Castle Library. ✨
✨ Danger, Snark, and Naked Time in the Castle Library. ✨
Available with Kindle Unlimited
If someone had asked Rune Calix where he saw himself in a thousand years, his answer definitely wouldn’t have involved mediating the petty squabbles of the dead. Still, amid the rack and ruin, he’s managed to carve out a life that doesn’t make him want to swan dive into the River Acheron. It’s neat, organized, predictable—just the way he likes it.
Then a new soul arrives on the riverbank, smelling of honeysuckle and chaos, and threatens to turn his orderly world upside down.
Keegan Marsh is neither confused nor fragile. He’s stubborn, resilient, and angry. He also knows hell, and the Underworld isn’t it. Not when it comes with a fiercely protective shifter who would die, and maybe even kill, for him. Yet, while death brings freedom, his second chance is also a dark reminder of what he left behind.
Or more precisely…who.
When Keegan is forced to confront a past that already destroyed him once, Rune knows he can’t stop him, but he’s not about to let him face it alone. He’d wage war through the depths of Tartarus for his mate, but where they’re going, his daggers won’t help them.
And there’s every chance that they won’t be coming back.
Then a new soul arrives on the riverbank, smelling of honeysuckle and chaos, and threatens to turn his orderly world upside down.
Keegan Marsh is neither confused nor fragile. He’s stubborn, resilient, and angry. He also knows hell, and the Underworld isn’t it. Not when it comes with a fiercely protective shifter who would die, and maybe even kill, for him. Yet, while death brings freedom, his second chance is also a dark reminder of what he left behind.
Or more precisely…who.
When Keegan is forced to confront a past that already destroyed him once, Rune knows he can’t stop him, but he’s not about to let him face it alone. He’d wage war through the depths of Tartarus for his mate, but where they’re going, his daggers won’t help them.
And there’s every chance that they won’t be coming back.
EXCERPT
Keegan huffed and rolled his eyes. “It’s not the same thing.” He extended his index finger and poked himself in the chest. “I’m the one that said yes. To the sketchy meeting in the middle of the night. To the summoning ritual. To the tether.” He jabbed himself again, harder this time. “I’m the one who dragged Noah into this!”
“Or,” Rune said, his tone sharp and unyielding. “This female found you. Preyed on you. Used your grief to manipulate you by offering you the one thing no one could say no to.”
“But I let her,” he shot back, his nostrils flaring and his eyes stinging. “If I hadn’t been so weak, no—”
His words ended in a gasp when Rune grabbed the back of his neck and brought their mouths together in a kiss filled with quiet authority. It wasn’t demanding or possessive, just a light whisper, but for some reason, that simple touch was what finally broke him.
The tears he fought back spilled over to track down his cheeks, and his lips parted in a quiet sob. Rune didn’t pull away, though. He didn’t coddle him. He just swallowed down every hitch and hiccup as he traced the seam of Keegan’s mouth with his tongue.
It was comfort and longing mixed with a gentle promise, and he clung to it, drowned in it. Wrapping his arms around Rune’s neck, he leaned into him, giving himself over to the feelings coursing through him.
Rune growled his approval and wound an arm around his waist, surrounding him in strength and steadiness as he deepened the kiss, pillaging the depths of Keegan’s mouth.
“You aren’t weak,” Rune murmured to him when they finally broke apart. “But you don’t always have to be strong either. You can lean on me.”
He wanted that, and it sounded great in theory, but for how long? At what point did the newness wear off and all those soft feelings turn to bitterness and resentment? When did his problems become burdens rather than riddles to be solved?
“I just don’t want to annoy you.”
“I won’t patronize you by telling you that won’t happen. We’re probably going to piss each other off, and things aren’t always going to be easy. I don’t have any problem speaking my mind, though, and from what I’ve observed, neither do you.”
Keegan chuckled wetly and wiped at his eyes. “That sounds pretty accurate.”
“I may not always like what you have to say, but I still want to hear it.” Gripping Keegan’s jaw, he urged his head up, waiting for him to meet his gaze before he continued. “You seem to be under the misassumption that this is temporary.” A growl slipped into his voice, and his beautiful blue eyes flared with golden light. “It’s not.”
Then he sealed the vow with another kiss, this one harder, more forceful, the kind that simultaneously tamed and consumed. It was rough, demanding, and filled with natural dominance that earned submission rather than demanded it. The type of kiss that screamed of possession and left Rune’s name branded across his soul.
“You are mine, kaelaer.” His mate’s eyes flashed again, shining with an ethereal glow, making him look like a dark, vengeful god. “Not mine for now. Not mine for a little while. Mine.”
The confident tone resonated deep within him, igniting a part of his psyche driven by pure instinct, and he shivered as the weight of the words settled over him.
“I believe you,” he panted, his hands shaking and his heart throbbing in his throat. “I believe you.”
“Or,” Rune said, his tone sharp and unyielding. “This female found you. Preyed on you. Used your grief to manipulate you by offering you the one thing no one could say no to.”
“But I let her,” he shot back, his nostrils flaring and his eyes stinging. “If I hadn’t been so weak, no—”
His words ended in a gasp when Rune grabbed the back of his neck and brought their mouths together in a kiss filled with quiet authority. It wasn’t demanding or possessive, just a light whisper, but for some reason, that simple touch was what finally broke him.
The tears he fought back spilled over to track down his cheeks, and his lips parted in a quiet sob. Rune didn’t pull away, though. He didn’t coddle him. He just swallowed down every hitch and hiccup as he traced the seam of Keegan’s mouth with his tongue.
It was comfort and longing mixed with a gentle promise, and he clung to it, drowned in it. Wrapping his arms around Rune’s neck, he leaned into him, giving himself over to the feelings coursing through him.
Rune growled his approval and wound an arm around his waist, surrounding him in strength and steadiness as he deepened the kiss, pillaging the depths of Keegan’s mouth.
“You aren’t weak,” Rune murmured to him when they finally broke apart. “But you don’t always have to be strong either. You can lean on me.”
He wanted that, and it sounded great in theory, but for how long? At what point did the newness wear off and all those soft feelings turn to bitterness and resentment? When did his problems become burdens rather than riddles to be solved?
“I just don’t want to annoy you.”
“I won’t patronize you by telling you that won’t happen. We’re probably going to piss each other off, and things aren’t always going to be easy. I don’t have any problem speaking my mind, though, and from what I’ve observed, neither do you.”
Keegan chuckled wetly and wiped at his eyes. “That sounds pretty accurate.”
“I may not always like what you have to say, but I still want to hear it.” Gripping Keegan’s jaw, he urged his head up, waiting for him to meet his gaze before he continued. “You seem to be under the misassumption that this is temporary.” A growl slipped into his voice, and his beautiful blue eyes flared with golden light. “It’s not.”
Then he sealed the vow with another kiss, this one harder, more forceful, the kind that simultaneously tamed and consumed. It was rough, demanding, and filled with natural dominance that earned submission rather than demanded it. The type of kiss that screamed of possession and left Rune’s name branded across his soul.
“You are mine, kaelaer.” His mate’s eyes flashed again, shining with an ethereal glow, making him look like a dark, vengeful god. “Not mine for now. Not mine for a little while. Mine.”
The confident tone resonated deep within him, igniting a part of his psyche driven by pure instinct, and he shivered as the weight of the words settled over him.
“I believe you,” he panted, his hands shaking and his heart throbbing in his throat. “I believe you.”