Free Ascension by Bailey Bradford Page B

maybe it’s as simple as that kind of recycling, too.”
    “It sounds as likely as anything else,” Ro said after thinking about it. “So how were you not whole?”
    “I’m not sure, I just felt like I was scattered, like someone took all those protons and neutrons, whatever it was that had a current running through me, and tossed them up like a handful of confetti. Pieces of me were everywhere.” Conner squeezed his hands. “I didn’t come to like you did, passing over from life to death and retaining everything about myself. I remember some things, but it took me a while to feel like I had any substance. At first I was terrified and hurting still.” He shrugged. “Maybe it was the trauma of how I died. Don’t suppose there’s anything saying a spirit can’t suffer from that.”
    How anyone wouldn’t be haunted by such a violent death was beyond Ro. “Makes sense. So what happened?”
    Conner drew them back until they were lying, looking up at the green canopy of leaves. Ro didn’t think they were nearly as fascinating as the man beside him, so he chose to watch Conner instead. “What happened was, I became aware in fits and starts, and somehow gathered myself together, kinda like a magnet taking up metal shavings. Then one day, it was just right, done. I was as whole as I’d ever be, and things began to snap together in my head, the need to reach Laine the most pressing. Took me over three years, but I did it. Now, here I am.”
    “Here we are,” Ro corrected.
    “Yeah, that too,” Conner agreed, his lips curling up in a smile that brought out those dimples.
    Ro wondered if he should suggest they get up. There were things he needed to do, like check on his dad and learn how to be a proper spirit—or at least how to do that popping in and out thing. But Ro didn’t want to think about any of that now. He wanted to stay there beside Conner, studying that chiselled profile for at least a week.
    What did he really have to do? Ro thought about it. He didn’t want to go to the funeral home—that was more than he felt capable of handling. Seeing his own body hadn’t fazed him last night, but he’d been confused and discombobulated. Today, however, he cringed just thinking about seeing his corpse. Checking in on his dad was something he did need to take care of. Even though Conner had said Roger was still walled off from them being able to get too close, Ro still wanted to see him for himself.
    “Can we go see Dad?”
    “We can do whatever you want to.” Conner ran a hand through his thick blond hair, pulling the ends of it at his crown before letting go. “Adela and Martin are with him, or they were when I checked on Roger a few minutes ago.”
    “So he’s not alone.” A knot of worry in his chest loosened a little knowing that his sister and brother were there. He didn’t feel as pressing a need to go now that he knew his da wasn’t alone. “How were they?”
    Conner startled him by lifting him and settling Ro between his legs. With an arm around his middle, Conner pulled Ro until his back was pressed to Conner’s chest. It felt good, right. Safe, though Ro didn’t know what he might be unsafe from at this point.
    “They were sad, Ro, I’m not going to lie to you.” Conner kissed the side of his head, his ear, down to his neck where he inhaled, rubbing his nose on Ro’s skin. “You smell so good.”
    Ro’s cock perked up but he twisted his head around to frown at Conner. “Are you trying to distract me?”
    Conner grinned crookedly, making Ro’s heart flutter. “Maybe. Sometimes you have to let the living grieve and give them a little time. I learnt that from popping in on people more than I should have.”
    Ro frowned harder, until his forehead kind of ached with it. “What would I be hurting, going in and checking on him?” Conner licked his lips and glanced away. The man was sexy as fuck but Ro wasn’t going to be put off. He had the distinct impression Conner knew something he