One-Click Buy: September Harlequin Blaze

by Jo Leigh

  Her skin was on fire, her body burning, needing and determined…but something else was joining in the flurry of emotions she was experiencing, and Celeste recognized it with a sudden pang of fear. “No,” she whispered as her energy started to drain, and her body began glowing brighter.

  The door to the room shook, and a female voice called from the other side, “Hello? Is someone in there? We need this room.” Then the woman cleared her throat and yelled, “Can you bring me the keys?”

  Dax’s curse was softly spoken against her hair. “Damn. We’ve got to go somewhere else, Celeste.”

  “I-” She struggled to form the words, but it was getting harder and harder to concentrate, and harder to move away from Dax, and from the heat he generated within her. “I can’t.”

  He looked down at her, and the desire in his eyes quickly converted to concern. “Celeste. What’s happening?”

  She glanced at her hands against his chest, and they were painfully bright now, almost as bright as Cassie had been right before she stepped into the light. And she was so very tired. “Need to rest,” she said, and felt the truth of the statement. If she didn’t rest, she feared that she might have no choice but to head toward the light; she might not have the strength to fight it. But if she rested, she lost more time with Dax.

  Celeste felt her spirit begin to fade. But it wasn’t time yet. Six hours at least; that’s what Adeline had guessed, but it hadn’t nearly been six hours yet.

  “Don’t leave, Celeste. Fight it,” he said. “Stay with me.”

  “Need to rest a while,” she whispered, but the words were slurred as her spirit pulled at her to leave the room.

  The lock to the door turned, and Dax quickly asked, “Where? Where are you going?”

  “Plantation.” It was the only place she could think of to go, and the only word she managed to say before she suddenly found herself on the velvet settee in Adeline’s sitting room. There she closed her eyes and prayed for enough energy to do…everything she wanted before her time ran out completely.

  THE DOOR TO the hospital room opened, and a scowling nurse barreled in. “Excuse me, but did you not hear me knocking?” she snapped. “We need this room.”

  “Right, I’m leaving,” Dax said, pushing by her and catching a glimpse of a gurney, evidently the patient they were wheeling in, as he darted past. Celeste was on her way to the plantation to rest, if the powers that be didn’t yank her all the way back. “She’d better be there,” he said to the ceiling, knowing that the guys above were undoubtedly listening. He spent every waking moment never knowing when he’d get called to help a spirit, never knowing when he’d get called to help them, and right now he needed a little reciprocation. He wanted the powers that be to help Celeste stay on this side, at the bare minimum for the six hours she’d been promised.

  He could still feel her touch on his face, against his chest. The way her fingers had trembled, and the way she’d rubbed her body against his as she laid her head on his chest. He wanted to feel all of her against him, and he’d better get a chance to feel it before the day ended. “I mean it,” he added, sprinting down the hallway and toward the parking deck. “She’d better be there.”

  He rounded a corner and ran slap into his older brother.

  “Hey man, where’s the fire?” Gage Vicknair grabbed him by the shoulders and halted his progress. He had a stethoscope slung around his neck, a hospital badge clamped to the pocket of his navy scrubs and a look of exhaustion on his face. “One of the interns said she thought she saw my brother up here, but she didn’t say he was running a race. What’s happening?”

  “Can’t talk,” Dax said breathlessly. “I’ve gotta get home.” Then he thought about the little ghost visiting with her parents in the hospital room nearby. “Listen. My current assignment, a little ghost named Prissy Fontenot, is here at the hospital in her father’s room.”

  “She’s visiting him before she crosses?”

  Dax nodded, eager to leave and get to Celeste, but also wanting to make sure that Prissy’s needs were taken care of. “I’m sure she’ll be fine staying with them until she has to cross over, but would you mind checking in and just making sure that everything, well, seems okay with them? They can sense her, so they should know when she crosses. And if they do need me for anything, call me and let me know.”

  “Yeah, I can watch her, but why aren’t you staying with them?” Gage asked.

  “It’s Celeste. She’s back. She came back with Prissy, but we don’t have long.”

  “The ghost from the summer?” Gage looked confused. “I thought she crossed over.”

  “I thought so too, but she’s back, for a little while. And I’ve got to go. No time to explain now.” He darted on down the hall, but heard his brother calling after him.

  “Did you tell Celeste that she’s made you a royal pain in the ass to be around since she left?”

  Dax didn’t bother stopping to let him know that he had, in fact, told her that, but he still had plenty more to tell her. And plenty more to do with her before she crossed, if they could.

  “Those rules don’t apply to me. And I’ve been aching for this.”

  She could touch him. That fact alone shocked the hell out of him, but the way her body trembled when she touched him, the way her silver-gray eyes deepened to charcoal-that evidence of how touching him affected her-that had made him harder than he’d ever been in his life.

  Dax wanted in her, to be a part of her before she had to leave again.

  What if she never came back?

  No. He couldn’t worry about that now. He climbed into his car, cranked it and glanced at the digital clock on the dash: 9:28.

  He’d be home in an hour, earlier if he sped, which he would. Seconds were priceless now, and he resented each and every one he wasn’t with Celeste. The fact that she’d already had to rest twice told him that they probably wouldn’t get anywhere near twelve hours together on this side. Midnight was probably as good as it’d get; that was only two and a half hours away, and the majority of one of those hours would be spent driving, trying to get to her.

  Then again, after she rested before, she’d felt better, and was able to touch him.

  But why was she so tired, anyway? Why would a ghost be tired? Something wasn’t right, something that Dax couldn’t put his finger on.

  He hurriedly left the parking deck, his Beemer catching a wheel as he jerked the car onto Jefferson Highway. He punched the accelerator and the car jumped to life. Dax was extremely thankful his company hadn’t skimped on his corporate car. Right now he needed speed, and-as his speedometer neared a hundred-he had it at his fingertips.

  Now, as long as he didn’t meet any cops between the hospital and the plantation, he’d be there soon. And he and Celeste could pick up where they’d left off in that hospital room…

  4

  THE SOUND of a slamming door roused Celeste from her sleep. She opened her eyes prepared to be surrounded by the cold darkness of the middle room. But she wasn’t in darkness, she wasn’t cold and she wasn’t in the middle room.

  Instantly, she remembered where she was, and why. She was in Adeline Vicknair’s sitting room, its hues of rose and pink a welcome change from what she’d been anticipating. And she was here because she’d been given another chance to see Dax. She looked toward the tall grandfather clock centered between the room’s two heavily draped windows. Fifteen minutes past ten. Less than two hours until midnight. Would she get longer than Adeline’s estimate?

  Would she get less?

  Would she get a chance to be with Dax, really be with him, before she had to leave?

  Pounding footsteps echoed outside the door of the sitting room, and Celeste held her breath, hoping that the person so eagerly charging up the stairs was…

  “Dax.”

  His brown waves were tousled, his hazel eyes were intense and eager, and his breathing was heavy, loud en
ough for her to hear him exhale when he saw her. “You’re here.”

  “I told you I would be,” she said, though she’d also wondered whether the powers that be would allow her to stay, after she’d become so exhausted at the hospital. She watched him enter the room, muscles flexing under his shirt, legs moving purposefully toward her, sexy mouth promising to please, and she was very, very grateful to whoever had decided to let her stay on this side a little longer.

  He stopped next to the settee and looked down at her, then toward the clock. “We don’t have long, Celeste.”

  “I know.” She stood and took a tiny step, closing the gap between them. “And I don’t know whether I’ll have another chance to be with you, Dax. I don’t know if I’ll make it back, once I leave again.”

  “I’ll find a way,” he promised.

  She smiled. “I’m sure if you can, you will, but just in case this is my last time here, I want to know…” She brushed back the brown waves at his temple, then slid her fingers through his hair.

  The sizzling bolt of electricity that rocketed through her was even stronger than last time, even more potent.

  “What do you want to know?” he asked, those eyes gazing into hers while she attempted to control the maddening, exhilarating rush from touching him.

  She examined the golden flecks in the middle of the brown and green. She wanted to remember the uniqueness of them, the uniqueness of him, beyond the middle realm.

  “Tell me, Celeste. Whatever you want to know, whatever you want to do,” he urged.

  Her mouth was dry and her center burned for something that she’d never had. She licked her lips, and forced her throat to work. “I’ve been with a man before-” she smiled softly “-or rather, I’ve been with a boy.”

  Those gorgeous eyes widened, but he didn’t speak.

  She cleared her throat. “I’ve never been with anyone who knew-really knew-how to please a woman.” Celeste moistened her lips again. “I want to experience that before I cross, Dax. And I want it to be with someone I care about, someone who makes me feel things I’ve never felt before, the way I feel when I merely touch you.”

  “I wanted you this summer,” he said, his voice raspy with desire. “And I’ve wanted only you since you left.”

  She pushed her fingers through his hair, relishing the feel of the coarse strands tickling her palm. Then she moved her hands to the top of his shirt and unbuttoned the top two buttons. Then, too eager to wait until the rest were undone, she slid them inside, running her palms across the broadness of his chest, then finding his flat nipples and circling them with her fingertips.

  “I want to touch you,” he said. “So bad it hurts.”

  With her lips a mere fraction from his, she smiled, and continued circling his nipples with her fingers. Odd, how exciting it was to feel them harden beneath her command. “I know you do, and I know that this would be easier if you could, since you obviously know more about where to touch, and where to be touched, than I do.” She gently pushed against his chest, guiding him back until he sat down on the settee. “So I suppose you’ll have to tell me what to do.” She did her best to sound confident, assured and ready to do…anything he instructed.

  “Tell you what to do,” he repeated, and she noticed that he shoved his hands between the cushions on the settee, apparently not trusting himself to control them.

  “Yes,” she said, and her voice was deeper, richer with her desire. But she was also feeling something equally as potent; her body growing weak. Consumed with passion, but weak with exhaustion. She prayed that passion would win out this time, at least long enough to…

  She lowered herself in front of him, moving her body between his legs. The hard bulge that distended his jeans was undeniable, and she wanted to feel that part of him, with her hands, then with her mouth, and then inside of her. “Tell me what to do,” she said again, then she looked at him, and lost all fear. “Tell me,” she repeated.

  He leaned forward, brought his face closer to hers. “Kiss me, Celeste.”

  She looked at that sexy mouth, thought of how many times she’d dreamed of kissing him, of tasting him, of exactly how it’d be to tease that sexy smirk with her tongue. Then she eased closer and made her dreams a reality.

  The first touch of her mouth on his caused her entire body to shudder with need, a need to continue, to delve deeper for more. She swept her tongue against his lower lip and moaned her contentment when his mouth opened for her perusal. Easing her tongue inside, she couldn’t control the urge to slowly slide her entire body against his as she tasted him. She yanked his shirt out of his jeans, hurriedly undid the remaining buttons and pushed the sides apart. Then she pressed her breasts against his chest, felt the rumbling beat of his heart against them, and was even more excited. She moved her tongue farther inside, stroking his, while her hips moved in direct correlation. Her need grew exponentially.

  Dax’s tongue mated with hers, then moved hungrily within her lips. He stroked the top of her mouth, slid over her teeth, then sucked her tongue. Her body began shivering, shaking. She’d never kissed anyone like this. She’d never been kissed like this.

  The bulge between his legs grew even harder as she rubbed against it. She wanted him. And she didn’t want to wait.

  A low, deep growl rumbled from his throat and vibrated erotically against her tongue and mouth. That growl sent her desire higher still, knowing that Dax was on the edge as well, and she felt the burning inside getting stronger, hotter, pulling her deeper…pulling her…away.

  No! her mind screamed when she realized what was happening. No!

  “CELESTE!” Dax knew what had happened, but he couldn’t believe that the powers that be would do that to him, to them. “Damn!”

  She’d vanished, in the same way he’d seen ghosts fade away before, but none of their disappearances had ripped his heart out in their wake. One moment she’d been here, touching him, kissing him, driving him near mad with desire, and then-gone. And he was left hard, aching and ready. Ready for something that would possibly never happen. Had that been their last chance? Had she crossed over completely this time? And how would he know?

  Just the thought of her hands on him, of her mouth on his, had his cock pressing solidly against his jeans. “Damn.” He wanted her, and there was more to it than the physical need that had him hurting; he wanted Celeste, the woman who’d touched his heart in the summer when she stayed behind to help Chloe, and the one who, when she returned, had helped another young ghost before allowing her own needs to be sated. And she did have needs-intense needs.

  “I’ve been with a boy, but I’ve never been with a man.”

  Well, she was sure as hell with a man tonight, but not nearly as intimately as Dax would have liked. Would they be given another chance?

  Hell, both of them had helped Prissy first, in spite of the fact that they’d been two months without seeing each other, and without knowing if they’d ever see each other again, and the powers that be evidently hadn’t taken that into consideration before they’d pulled her away-again.

  The front door of the plantation slammed, and he jerked toward the sound. He couldn’t control a swift surge of adrenaline at the possibility that Celeste had returned. But if she had come back, she wouldn’t be using the door. “Who is it?”

  “Dax?” Nanette called, then he listened to her footsteps as she headed up the stairs.

  He buttoned his shirt, not bothering to tuck it in, since his hard-on was going to take some time to give up the ghost. Literally. “In here.”

  “Well, is she here?” Nan asked, entering the sitting room and looking around as though expecting to see someone with him.

  “Who?” How would she know about Celeste?

  “Your little ghost,” she said, crossing the room and dropping into Adeline Vicknair’s bentwood rocker. “Wait, I’m not sitting on her, right?”

  “No,” he said, still not quite
believing how close he’d been to finally making love to Celeste only seconds ago. “She’s with her parents, and for the record, Celeste isn’t here either, though she was.”

  Nan’s green eyes widened. “Celeste? She came back? How? When? She crossed, didn’t she?”

  “No, she didn’t, and she came back with my ghost.” He swallowed thickly. “And now she’s gone again. Only I have no idea where she went. She was here until a few seconds ago, when the powers that be decided, without any forewarning whatsoever, that it was time for them to take her back.”

  She frowned. “Oh, Dax, I’m sorry. I know how much you wanted to be with her again.” Nan tucked her legs beneath her. “So, she hasn’t crossed?”

  “She hadn’t crossed,” he clarified. “I have no idea if she crossed tonight or not.”

  “Surely not,” she said, as though completely certain of the fact.

  “What makes you say that?” Granted, he wanted to hear that Celeste was still hovering between the two sides, because obviously that meant he might get to see her again. But how could Nanette be so sure?

  “Well, if she didn’t cross before, with Chloe-that was the little girl she stayed behind for, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Then why would she cross now? I mean, it must be something else that’s keeping her in the middle. Something other than helping another spirit through.”

  “Part of me feels like I didn’t cross because I couldn’t leave you.”

  Dax really wanted to believe that was it, that she could control her destiny merely by wanting to be with him, but something told him there was more to it than that. And in order to help her stay on this side longer, maybe even permanently, he had to figure out what it was.

  “How did she seem?” Nanette asked. “I mean, is she the same way Ryan was, where he chose to stay in the middle because he didn’t want to cross? If memory serves, he rather liked it in the middle.” She giggled. “Leave it to Monique to convince him that he’d rather satisfy one woman for life than tons of them in their dreams.”