Ghosts of Averoigne

by Krista Wolf

  Oh please… please do it…

  Two strong hands grabbed her hips, lifting her ass up. Logan’s cock was throbbing and ready. It looked enormous as he dragged it up and down through her dew-covered pussy, getting it all slick, all wet…

  “Go on, man. Fuck her.”

  The words were Jeremy’s. They drove her absolutely insane. That they came from another man — from another lover encouraging the first one to screw her — was all but inconceivable. It elicited all new depths of emotion. Raw, powerful emotions that Kara never even knew existed.

  But knew that she loved them. Desired them.

  Jeremy was still buried in her throat as Logan entered her. He was cradling her head in his lap, slowly fucking her face as Logan shoved himself all the way inside.

  OHHHHHHH…

  Kara spread some more, accommodating his invasion. She whimpered around Jeremy’s cock, even as he brushed the hair back from her face to get a better view.

  “Look at you,” Jeremy smiled down at her. “This is so hot. Watching you get fucked like this…”

  His emphasis on the word was intentionally wicked. It made Kara’s whole body flush with heat. Down between her legs, Logan was plowing away. It was deliriously good. His thick cock was stretching her from the inside, when a second pair of hands reached up to pin her legs back. Jeremy again. Helping Logan for once, instead of hindering him.

  Oh it’s good… It’s so fucking GOOD…

  Kara had never really imagined it; being with two men at the same time. It had been a fantasy, nothing more. A silly, frivolous thought. And yet here she was, spreading her legs for two men. Two large, powerful, beautiful men who’d already been inside her. Who already had carnal knowledge of Kara’s innermost places, although never together at once.

  The guys exchanged a knowing glance, and then wordlessly they switched. Kara felt their hands again, strong against her body. They spun her around as easily as if manipulating a child, and then Jeremy was entering her, thrusting inside. He felt impossibly long, impossibly hard., even as Logan pushed the tip of his glistening cock against her swollen lips.

  They rolled her over. Fucked her flat on her stomach until Kara literally cried. She felt owned. Dominated in ways she’d never thought she’d ever allow herself to be. And yet she craved it. The more they took charge, the more she wanted them to. The harder they fucked her, the more they passed her back and forth? The more wildly Kara grunted and groaned, screwing herself back against whomever was inside her at the time.

  Tears of joy were still streaming down her cheeks as she climaxed hard on Jeremy’s cock. She did it while looking up, straight into Logan’s eyes. He had his hands on the sides of her face. His palms on her cheeks as they went eye-to-eye.

  “Tell me you love it.”

  Kara moaned into his mouth as he kissed her. Her hair hung down, swaying as Jeremy screwed her.

  Logan squeezed her cheeks. “Tell me you—”

  “I love it!”

  The words were less spoken than they were torn from her throat. Kara’s forehead was beaded with sweat. Her teeth came together, her lips curling back in a determined grin.

  “I fucking LOVE it.”

  Logan smirked right back at her. In response, he spun her around again. He entered her roughly from behind, the way she liked it, his hands gripping her hips. His fingers were iron. They curled deep into her supple flesh. Kara sighed as he began sawing in and out of her in full, deep strokes.

  It’s still a competition, she thought to herself as Jeremy took his place in her mouth. Still a dick-measuring contest.

  In a metaphorical sense, it was probably true. The thought amused her.

  Only the yardstick they’re measuring each other by is who can fuck you the hardest. The deepest. Who can make you scream the loudest.

  If that’s what they were going for, it was a very close race. Jeremy’s dick was big, and slightly longer. It scratched places inside Kara she didn’t even know needed to be scratched. At the same time, Logan was definitely thicker. His cock felt so wonderfully snug; her pussy clung to it on every outstroke. It fit so perfectly it was almost like he’d been born to fuck her.

  They pulled her up, onto her hands and knees. Spitroasted her in turns. When Kara’s legs got tired they pushed her onto her back and took her that way too. Took turns spreading her legs and throwing them high over their broad shoulders. Fucking her deeply into the bed.

  It was sex — raw, pure, unadulterated sex. That part she knew she could handle. But for Kara, it was also more. There were feelings that went with it — emotional attachments to both men that brought all new levels of depth to the experience for her. In a way, she loved them. Logan. Jeremy. She loved them both, had experiences and history with each of them. Both men had been given large pieces of herself even before they’d arrived at the Averoigne.

  Having that connection, that prior history, made it all the more intense for her. Kara had screwed for the sake of screwing before. Lots of times. But this…

  This was rapturously different.

  Her world became a blur of flesh and muscle. And her mind… her mind soared. Kara’s brain all but overloaded now, beclouded with conflicted feelings, saturated with the endorphins of having come nearly a half dozen times. Her body went limp as each of them took her in their strong, rippled arms. Crushed her against the hard surface of their broad chests.

  And all the while, fucking her mercilessly.

  Fucking her absolutely senseless…

  It was over for Jeremy rather abruptly, as he spilled himself in her mouth. She heard his telltale groan, saw the look of almost-pain on his face as he rushed to grip the base of his cock. Kara pumped his balls with one hand as he came down her throat. It was more than she was prepared for. Jeremy’s seed ran down the sides of her cheek and chin, dribbling onto the bed as she struggled to swallow all of his load. When the last of his contractions subsided, she pulled him from her mouth and took a big gulp of much-needed air.

  Logan lasted another minute, maybe two. No longer though. He pulled out when he came, shooting long, ropey strands of hot come all over Kara’s back and ass. She knew from their time together he sometimes liked to see it. This time, it was probably for Jeremy’s benefit as much as his own. A trophy, a statement… whatever the hell it was it felt dirty. Thrilling. Wondrously sexy.

  Kara lay there for a while, chest heaving, face-down in the red silk sheets. She was spent, mind, body and soul. Soaked in come from tip to tail. Dazed. Sated. Elated.

  Someone eventually got up, and a tiny towel landed beside her. She recognized it as all the bathroom had to offer, so she sat up and made do with it.

  They dressed wordlessly, awkwardly handing each other scattered articles of clothing. Then they were back to reality, all suited up again. All business. The guys settled back on opposite edges of the bed. Kara sank exhaustedly into the ironwood chair.

  “Well,” she sighed finally, breaking the silence. “Cross that one off the bucket list.”

  Thirty-Nine

  The room continued to be uncharacteristically quiet. Which was more than a little awkward, because they really could’ve used the distraction.

  Kara thought about what had just happened. She decided she would process it later. Right now, there was too much at stake. Their entire assignment hinged on knowing what to do next, on being able to—

  “Look,” Jeremy said abruptly. “The mirror’s glowing.”

  It was hard, nearly impossible to detect at first glance. But then Kara looked deeper, allowing her eyes to unfocus as if she were trying to make out one of those infuriating computer-printed 3D puzzle images.

  And then she saw it. A glint, a glimmer, deep within the surface of the mirror.

  “Everything’s set?”

  The guys bent to the task of checking their gear. Kara pulled out the old photograph and checked Jeremy’s setup. The artifacts they’d collected were arranged left to right; the bell, the candle, the book — open to the exac
t page it was on the day of Rudolph Northrop’s ceremony. There was a space left on the dresser where the scrying crystal should be. When she looked at the whole thing dead on, it lined up exactly with the glow in the mirror.

  “The cameras on?” asked Kara.

  “Been on since we got here,” Jeremy confirmed.

  Logan laughed. They turned to face him.

  “You know we just shot a porno movie, right?” he chuckled.

  Kara’s face went bright red. Jeremy squirmed. “Shit. Gonna have to delete all that,” he said.

  Logan smirked. “Ya think?”

  For a moment Kara indulged herself, imagining Xiomara’s face upon reviewing their ‘footage’ of tonight’s events. Then she went back to work. The glow in the mirror was more distinct now. Still small, but gaining in brightness.

  She bit her lip. There was still something troubling her.

  It doesn’t look right.

  If there were anything she’d learned from the Hallowed Order, it was to follow her instincts. When it came to men, her instincts had always gotten Kara in trouble. But in every other aspect? They were generally right.

  What’s wrong… what’s wrong…

  She stared down at the photo. Rudolph Northrop gazed back at her, his blank stare traversing time. She hoped something would happen. That she’d feel the ‘whoosh’, and be shown something she needed to see. But as the minutes ticked by, there was nothing. No sense of falling away. No tingle at the back of her neck.

  Something’s not—

  Suddenly she saw it. It was subtle, a change of color, of texture. Very hard to make out, in the faded old photograph.

  “It’s not here!” Kara declared abruptly.

  The men stepped up on either side of her. They stared over her shoulder.

  “What’s not here?”

  “This,” she said, shaking the photo. “The whole room is wrong. This isn’t the place where he performed the ceremony.”

  “How’s that—”

  “Look,” Kara pointed again at the old photograph. “The floor. It’s not wood. It’s dirt.”

  There was a long pause. Jeremy took the photo from her and squinted at it.

  “Well it’s too late now,” said Logan. “We don’t have time to go looking for—”

  Jeremy snapped his fingers. His whole expression went wide with discovery.

  “I know where it is!”

  Kara’s heart started beating faster. She felt her mind working, racing to the same conclusion. “The basement,” she breathed.

  Jeremy nodded. “It’s gotta be down there. Beneath the hotel.”

  Logan seemed thoroughly confused. “But this is the mirror,” he said. “This is the place—”

  “No,” said Kara. “Just because the mirror is here doesn’t mean anything. Victor Walcott’s farmhouse was torn down, and the Averoigne built over it. There was no refrigeration back then. The original footprint would’ve included a cellar hole.”

  Logan scratched his chin. “But Radcliffe said there was no basement,” he argued.

  Kara shook her head. “’No ‘usable’ basement. That’s what he said. Those were his exact words.”

  They stared at the photo again, together this time. It was more obvious now. Even alarmingly so.

  “If Rudolph Northrop was trying to undo whatever Walcott did,” Jeremy theorized, “he would’ve gone down to the cellar. To the only original structure left over from Walcott’s place.”

  “That’s why everything looks off,” Kara agreed. “None of the furnishings are here either. His ceremony never took place in this room.”

  She looked up at the mirror. The glow was even brighter now. It was shifting, moving, but a distinct shape was starting to form.

  “So how do we get into the cellar?” asked Logan. His gaze shifted over to the glowing reflection. “Uh, quickly?”

  Kara put one hand on her head, grabbed a handful of her own hair. She squeezed hard…

  And then it came to her.

  Forty

  “Grab the mirror,” Kara shouted as she flung open the door. “And the rest of the artifacts!”

  “What about the gear?” Jeremy pleaded. “The cameras! The—”

  “No time for that,” Kara yelled. “Follow me! Quick!”

  She didn’t even stop to look back. Out in the hallway, everything was still pure darkness. She ran forward by memory, her eyes working hard to discern shape from shadow until she came upon the grand staircase.

  Down she went. Through the door, and onto the second floor. Rather than continue downward, she turned and ran for the elevator. She pressed the button… and when the doors didn’t open right away she began pounding the wall with her fist.

  “What is it?” asked Jeremy. He was just catching up to her. Logan was further behind him, the beautiful Venetian mirror tucked under one arm. “What are you—”

  DING!

  The elevator doors shuddered as they slowly parted. It seemed like they took forever to open. Kara rushed inside, then whirled around to look at the panel.

  “There,” she said, pointing. “Do you see it?”

  Logan and Jeremy followed her finger. “What, the keyholes?”

  “The bottom keyhole,” said Kara. “Not the maintenance one, the one that looks different.” She tapped it with a fingernail. “The one that looks original to the hotel.”

  The two men edged their way inside as the doors came together. There was a heart-stopping moment as it looked like they might close on the mirror, but then Logan pulled the frame in at the last second.

  “Be careful!”

  He smirked at her — the same charming smile he always threw her way. If things weren’t so frantic Kara would’ve stuck her tongue out at him.

  “If you’re right,” Logan said, “and this thing does go down to the bottom level… how are we getting there? Looks like we’ll need a key.”

  Jeremy was already kneeling before the keyhole, exploring it with his fingers. He wore a troubled expression.

  “I’m not sure I can pick this,” he said.

  But Kara’s arms were folded in what appeared to be triumph. She looked ecstatic.

  “You have the key?” Jeremy asked incredulously.

  “No,” said Kara. “But I know where it is.”

  She returned to the elevator covered in sweat, having run through most of the Averoigne’s first floor. Jonathan had been in the kitchen, scrubbing out one of the walk-ins. It had taken way longer than she wanted to find him.

  When Kara asked for the other skeleton key on his keyring — the longer one — the old janitor had smiled and given it to her. Maybe he knew what it was for. Maybe not. None of it mattered. All that mattered was getting back.

  “Here,” she said, thrusting the key into Logan’s hand. He inserted it deftly and turned it as she caught her breath. There was a loud ‘click’, somewhere deep in the elevator’s guts, and then the car began rolling downward from the lobby level.

  “I’ll be damned,” swore Jeremy.

  The little car shook violently as it descended. Dust sifted in from above. For half a second it actually stopped — caught up on something, apparently — and then the whole thing lurched downward a good foot. Kara lost her legs, and once again Logan caught her. He smiled again, and she even half-smiled back. Somehow they’d come full circle.

  When the elevator doors finally creaked open they were greeted with utter darkness. Logan and Jeremy clicked on a pair of flashlights, illuminating a dug-out cellar filled with a whole century’s worth of junk and cobwebs.

  The floor wasn’t a floor at all. It was dirt.

  “This is it!” Kara cried excitedly. “It has to be!”

  There wasn’t a lot of room. To the left lay crates and wooden boxes, all filled with God-knew what. They looked old though. If the hotel had once used the cellar for storage, it had stopped a very long time ago.

  “Over here,” said Logan. “There’s another room.”

  They followed him
cautiously, being careful not to trip. The ground was uneven, and covered in debris. In places it was even broken. For a little while it looked almost like Logan’s corridor was a dead end, but then it opened into a larger area. An actual room.

  “Look!”

  Standing on the opposite wall were two tall bookcases. They were empty now, but they were just like the ones in the hundred-year old photo. Kara approached, holding her phone’s flashlight out in front of her. In the space between them she could see a vague outline…

  It was exactly the shape of the mirror.

  “Hang it,” said Kara, running a hand over the rough cobbled wall. “Even the hooks are still here.”

  Logan did it quickly, like he was anxious to get rid of the mirror. Kara couldn’t blame him either. The glow was bright now, and spooky as all hell.

  “The table’s here too,” grunted Jeremy. With a plume of dust, he rolled a wooden table free from one of the side walls. Kara helped him turn it upright, then center it beneath the mirror.

  “Holy shit,” said Logan. He coughed out a big bunch of dust. “I can’t believe you found this place.”

  One by one Jeremy set up the artifacts, placing each precisely where it needed to be. With the mirror and the bookcases for reference, the accuracy was uncanny. When they stepped back and looked at the photo, it was an exact match.

  This is it, thought Kara. She lamented the loss of their recording equipment. Wondered if they had enough time to go back for it…

  “What happened after you saw the scrying crystal?” Jeremy was asking Logan.

  “It got brighter and brighter,” he replied. “A few minutes went by where I could see it very clearly. I was looking right at it, and then all of a sudden it flared out and was gone.”

  Kara tapped her chin. “And what time did you say this happened?” she asked Logan.

  “A little after one. Maybe one fifteen.”

  One-fifteen…

  Another thought leapt into her head, and a good one too. Kara marveled at how much her mind had become a blank canvas. She was thinking crystal clearly.