"But how do you know that I'm—” She stopped. “What? Regain your life?"
He smiled. “Do you want to marry a ghost?"
She pulled away. “I don't want to marry anyone. Are you saying you'll be alive again?"
"Of course."
"Well that's some trick,” she said sarcastically. “Except for the time traveling crap, you seem pretty real and solid to me.” She gave him a little shove. She didn't know why she was so angry, but she did know she was tired of being so confused.
He smiled. And disappeared.
"Would you like to see some more tricks?” he whispered in her ear. He ran his hands over her from her shoulders and on down her arms, then he wrapped them around her waist. “Or perhaps I should say feel?"
With Erik's body pressed against hers and his hot breath on her neck, Christine was almost prepared to give in. No man had ever felt so good against her, and she'd never wanted to be with any man so quickly after meeting him. Fate and magic and the power of love had brought them together and...
Christine pulled away, shaking off the emotions swirling around her, threatening to pull her under. “Erik, if you're a gentleman, please act like one. I'm sorry. I really am, but this is going to take time. I will not get caught up in some paranormal moment and fall madly in love with you in a matter of minutes.” She stared at the empty air. “Come back and talk to me."
He reappeared and had the decency to look ashamed. “I'm sorry, but I've been watching you for so long that it's easy to forget you don't know me at all."
Christine blushed. “Like the other night when I was in the tub?” she asked pointedly.
He scratched his head and looked down. “That was wrong. But I'm still a man and I've been dead for twenty years ... that's no excuse though.” He shrugged and met her gaze. “I suppose I was trying to seduce you."
The heat in his eyes sent shivers through her whole body, but she decided to remain firm in her decision. “Why don't you try romancing me first? We can talk tomorrow. Right now, I need to go to bed."
He took a few steps toward her. “I'll say goodnight then.” He took her hand and kissed it lightly.
Her breath caught in her throat and that was all the encouragement he needed to lower his head to hers and kiss her. His lips were soft and sweet, and Christine opened up to him. His arms wrapped around her, and she pressed her body against his, cherishing how gentle yet sensual his embrace was.
He pulled away slowly. “I'll leave now before I stop being a gentleman. Good night, my love."
Before she could reply, he dissolved in her arms, leaving her clutching at the warm air.
Chapter 3
Two months later...
Christine arched her back as Erik kissed his way down her stomach. His tongue flicked over her clit, and she felt her release building. She'd never ached for a man's touch as she did for his, never responded so quickly. His tongue moved slowly in and out of her pussy.
"Erik,” she moaned as her hands tangled in his hair.
He circled her clit with his tongue again, sending her over the edge. Molten heat spread all over her body as she trembled beneath him. He continued to lap at her pussy till she was still, then he moved up beside her. They kissed as his hands moved up and down her body.
Christine ran her hands over his chest. No man had ever cared so much about giving her pleasure. She kept telling herself she was dreaming, but every day, Erik was still there by her side.
She wrapped one leg around him. “Isn't it your turn?"
His cock pressed against her wet pussy. “The way I see it, it's always my turn."
She giggled and rolled over onto her back. He moved on top of her and slid his cock into her slowly. She grabbed his buttocks and pushed him in to the hilt. As he began moving inside her, he kissed her deeply.
Christine knew she had fallen completely under his spell. They moved perfectly together, and she found herself unable to deny what Erik told her every day—that they had been brought together because they'd never be as happy with anyone else as they were with each other.
As her orgasm broke, Christine bit into Erik's shoulder to keep herself from confessing that she loved him.
As he came just a moment after her, he muttered her name, then looked into her eyes. Her heart pounded as he stared at her. The way he was looking at her, she almost doubted she'd been able to keep her thoughts a secret, but she knew she hadn't said a word. He smiled wolfishly down at her and kissed her forehead.
They'd only been sleeping together for two weeks, but already they were completely comfortable with each other. Just one more thing that confirmed what Christine's heart already knew.
She curled into his arms, enjoying the feel of his body against her for as long as she could. He'd grown stronger in the past weeks, but he still couldn't be solid all the time. He also expended a lot of energy keeping Isabelle at bay. Accidents had been happening at the theatre. Rumors plastered the papers as the new production of Don Giovanni drew near.
She pulled him closer.
"It will all be okay, my love."
"I know it will be,” she said softly. She drifted off into dreams of him onstage singing as she ran around backstage making sure everything was perfect for his performance.
* * * *
As Christine walked to her office on opening night, she saw Erik whispering with Madeleine. He wore his baseball cap and dark glasses, as he always did when he visited the theatre. Most likely, no one would recognize him, but he didn't like taking chances. None of them needed more publicity. Jeremy, the singer playing Don Giovanni, was already coming down with a severe case of jitters.
Madeleine smiled up at Erik, and that made Christine stop. She looked so happy, as happy as she'd looked the day Erik had finally shown himself to her. The two parted quickly, and Christine rushed into her office.
A few moments later, Erik came in. He kissed her on the forehead and sat on the edge of her desk.
"Almost ready for tonight?” he asked.
"As ready as I can be. Unless every scene gets ripped to shreds, we're good.” She tried to smile, but she suddenly realized how scared she was that something like that really might happen.
"Everything is going to be perfect tonight."
She couldn't read his expression, but he had mischief in his eyes.
"What have you got planned?"
"You'll see."
She laughed and rubbed his leg. “I'm not sure I'm up for any surprises."
He kissed her quickly and moved to the door. “Don't worry."
She put on a nice smile as he left the room, but as soon as the door closed, her stomach twisted into a knot.
* * * *
Christine stood offstage, watching a very nervous, very sweaty Jeremy get through each scene. He was in good voice, but his body language showed how anxious he was.
When the scene that included “La ci darem la mano” came up, she looked up to box five on the tier, but she couldn't see Erik.
"I'm right here,” he whispered as he came up behind her and took her hand.
"I thought you might have ducked out for this."
"Not for the reason you think.” He took both her hands and looked deeply into her eyes. “I have to ask you something, and you have to answer me now."
He sounded so urgent, Christine wasn't sure what to expect. “What is it?"
He looked up at the catwalk.
Christine glanced up, but all she saw were the usual scene shifters.
"Tell me truth. Do you love me? Will you marry me?"
"What?” Christine was stunned. She knew she shouldn't be, but she'd thought that, after the show tonight, she would have her chance to tell him that she did love him. And now he had beaten her to it.
He looked up again. “Just answer me. I already know the answer, but you have to say the words to me."
He held his mother's ring in his hand, waiting for her answer.
Christine opened her mouth, but a cry cut her off.
She looked at the stage and saw Madeleine on the other side of the stage in the wings, her face white as a sheet. Then she saw it. The cables above the stage were all snapping. Everything was going to fall onto the stage.
"Answer me, Christine!"
She looked back to Erik. “You know I love you, Erik. Of course I'll marry you."
He slipped the ring on her finger, and they both turned to the stage. Madeleine and Christine rushed toward Jeremy and Emily at the same time, just as everything came crashing down.
But all they met was smoke. Not a single screw hit the floor. Everything had dissolved into dark smoke. Jeremy looked like he was about to faint, and Christine moved him offstage as Madeleine helped Emily up.
* * * *
In all the chaos, including crazed fans and reporters, Christine had a hard time finding Erik. She finally found him standing on the stage hours later, after everyone had been made to leave.
"I meant it,” she said. “I didn't just say yes because everything went crazy."
He smiled at her. “It wouldn't have worked if you hadn't meant it. Let's get out of here. I'm hungry."
She smiled and put her arms around him. “You are, are you?"
He laughed. “I mean for food. I'm hungry for food."
"What?"
He laughed even harder. “You're unbelievable. You believe what you saw tonight, but you don't believe I'm alive again."
She looked into his eyes for a long moment. “I wasn't even thinking of that."
"Well, you better. It means I'm going to be around all the time from now on."
She looked around the theatre, up at the box where she'd first seen his shadow, then back at him. “What will the theatre do without its ghost?"
He made a face, as though he was thinking very hard. Then he shrugged. “I'm not going anywhere. I could work here in a more official capacity."
"Let's worry about making some other things official first.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as a feeling of complete peace and happiness filled her heart.
A LOVER FOR RACHEL
by
Lynn Crain
"Come on, we're going to be late! You're the one who wanted to go to this thing. Besides it's the dead of night, so who's going to see us?"
Rachel frowned at her best friend, Samantha Andrews, again. Yes, she was the one who had wanted to go to the summer solstice celebration at Stonehenge. Who wouldn't if their birthday fell on June 21st and they happened to be in the area? Last time they had come to England in June, they had avoided the place because Samantha had been told there would be thousands of people present. This time there was no way she would miss the opportunity.
"I'm almost done.” She sighed. This was the best it would get. She glanced at herself in the mirror of the bath in the luxurious bed and breakfast that had been their home for the past week. Everyone had told her she had gone from frumpy to svelte in the last year but she couldn't see what they meant. To her, she was the same ole Rach, brown hair, brown eyes and a little too much meat on her bones.
"You'd think you're meeting a lover or something.” Samantha stood in the doorframe and tapped her foot impatiently. “Come on, Rach, you look beautiful."
Rachel smiled at her in the mirror. “You're only saying that because you love me.” She wiggled her eyebrows then and the woman burst into laughter.
"No really, you are. You've changed so much this past year. Still, we need to leave if we're ever going to get there and through the gates before the sun rises. Do you have the special passes?"
They had to apply to get special passes to participate with the group doing their thing at the site. They were as close to Druids as any one could be considering that not much was left in the way of their history. And from everything she had read about the ceremony, it was a very special and personal event.
Sighing, she nodded. “I do and I know what you're talking about. I have changed. I just feel weird that's all. Especially when someone calls me beautiful. I've just never seen myself that way."
"What's there to feel weird about? And yes, you do have a lot of baggage that's associated with the way you used to look. But we've talked about doing this for years, so now is not the time to have any trepidation about your appearance. How many other people can say their birthday is on summer solstice and they spent it at Stonehenge with the Druids?"
"I know you're right. I'm just not going to participate in the getting naked part. Okay?” She was relieved when Samantha nodded her agreement. One more glance in the mirror and she pulled the steely reserve around herself that she normally used in the courtroom. Today was the day to have fun and have no worries. Today was her day, she wasn't going to let the past cloud it in any way. Smiling, she grabbed her backpack from the bed and headed for the door. “Let's go."
Driving through the English countryside was always an adventure; first they had to drive on the wrong side of the road. And then there was always the navigation of those roads which were barely wide enough for two small compacts, let alone anything bigger. But bigger came and went as they dodged the predawn traffic racing along the Salisbury Plains to get to their destination. Thank god they only had a short distance to go. The stars could still be seen in the night sky.
That was one of the amazing things about the English countryside. There were people everywhere and there were very few places one could go to be totally alone in this country. Still, they could see the stars and glancing up at the velvet sky made Rachel wonder just what brought the people here to this place. How did they know this would be special in a forever kind of way? She didn't know but she was glad that over four thousand years ago, whoever ‘they’ were had decided to build the second phase of the henge as it was called. Not all the uses were known but they had a pretty good idea that sun worship was involved.
Pulling onto the road to Stonehenge, Rachel was happy to discover they had made it before the really big crowd. In about an hour, this place would be crawling with people. Getting up at two a.m. certainly paid off in this case, even though it was very hard for her to go to sleep the evening before. She was just too excited for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Pulling into one of the last parking places in the lot, she turned to her friend.
"I am just so excited about this. Do you know that people have worshiped the sun here for thousands of years?” She could barely contain herself.
Sam smiled at her. “Yeah ... you made me read everything we brought home last time ... I can't believe it's been ten years since we were here. Everything has changed so much. I'm really sorry I wouldn't go last time."
They had come the summer they graduated law school because they wanted one last taste of freedom before the realities of life had set in. And set in they did. Samantha had decided she didn't like the rigors of court and so she worked behind the scenes everyday, working with lawyers to prepare their cases. There had only been a few times she had seen the inside of a courtroom since the day she had gotten off a man who swore he would change and not beat his wife. The woman ended up dead the very next week and Sam was done defending just anyone the firm wanted her to defend.
This was one of the very reasons Rachel had decided long ago to go into the more mundane side of law dealing only with contracts and property. Not that they couldn't be boring, as most of the time they were, still, they had their moments when she defended people against the government and eminent domain issues. She once had a case in which murder played a part on a property line dispute but the victim had been a person's dog that had wandered away from the ranch house. Overall though, she could say that she didn't have the same problems Sam had had when she had been working the court system defending less than honorable people.
So this vacation was for both of them. Sam, because her long-term relationship had finally ended when they couldn't come to terms over marriage, children or anything else. And Rachel, well she had never had any relationship beyond about three dates. At one point in her life, she had been o
verweight and she supposed that had scared off suitors. When she had finally gotten down to a healthy weight, even though she felt she needed to lose more, men still didn't seem interested. Maybe it was because she had finally reached the ripe old age of thirty-five or something else that she just didn't understand.
That didn't mean she didn't have any experience. She'd had a boyfriend in high school she had dearly loved but he wasn't driven like she had been. They had drifted apart when she went to college far away from the small Nevada town where they'd grown up. She'd had another one in college for a few months until she realized he liked her more for her homework than herself. He had awakened in her a sexual being she'd never known. It was true, she liked sex and everything about it. Too bad she'd only found the occasional lover and none had satisfied her like that boy in college had.
Thinking about the last ten years made her stop a moment. All in all, it had been a good ten years but certainly not everything she'd wanted. There was more to life than work. This trip would be her boundary between living life and just participating.
"Don't feel bad, you had your reasons. Still, I know what you mean. There's definitely more people.” Rachel pulled her coat around herself and opened the car door. Even though it was the height of summer in the British Isles, there was a nip to the morning air. Pulling her pack out of the back of the car, she got their tickets and waited for Sam.
Once Sam was by Rachel's side, they took off on the trail that led to the henge. Handing their tickets to the guide at the gate, they went in the tunnel that went under the road. Rachel had seen the stones for miles. At first, they were just a shadowy bump on the hills before them but as they got closer, the stones cast their shadows in the nearly full moon in strange and beautiful ways. The celebrations would be going on all day and throughout the evening because the full moon actually fell on the solstice this year. It was a very special occurrence and definitely a once-in-a-lifetime chance to live life, which was why she had insisted on coming here at this time.
Summer Solstice Scorchers Page 3
