Built

by Amie Stuart, Jami Alden, Bonnie Edwards

  “Seems I read somewhere they take longer.”

  He was right, but she was determined to preserve as much as she could. “Did you get a time frame for completion?”

  “No. I’ll give Faye my estimate, then check out some other restoration companies in the area. I’ll find someone I think can handle the job, then make a recommendation. I’m too busy to come all the way from Florida to handle the work myself.” He stopped walking and stared pointedly at her, his jaw flexing so hard a muscle jumped in his cheek.

  “You look like you want to say something. Spit it out.”

  “Later,” he said, and took off at a fast pace toward the gazebo again.

  The man had a fine ass in his jeans. And out of them. Broad shoulders tapered to a trim waist.

  “I want to see you in your tool belt.” Shirt off, jeans hanging low.

  “What?” He turned but kept walking, backward, his quizzical expression making her laugh.

  “You heard me. I think tool belts are hot. All that leather and the big buckles. Makes me squirm just thinking about you.” She did a hip swivel to emphasize her point.

  His eyes glazed as he watched her hips roll. She’d never had this kind of effect on a man before. She liked it and refused to consider that the ghosts were responsible. Ruined the fantasy.

  And she really didn’t want this fantasy ruined.

  She trotted toward him, noting how he watched her breasts bounce with each heavy step.

  “Naked,” she said when she got close enough to touch him. “I want to see you with nothing on but your belt.”

  “I don’t know if I packed it.”

  “Of course you did,” she pronounced. “What carpenter would ever go anywhere without it?”

  He grinned and took her breath away. His hair got caught in a breeze and lifted, showing her a cowlick just left of a narrow widow’s peak. His eyebrows were two black slashes that set off the blue eyes he used to such great effect.

  The man had no idea how gorgeous he was. So beautiful it hurt to look at him. Hurt more to think they had so little time.

  She gripped a support beam on the gazebo and used it to swing herself up the two steps to the floor inside. Low benches with thick pads covered in yellow gingham ran along the sides.

  Suddenly gripped by images of people waltzing all around her, she spun, trying to catch glimpses of their faces, their clothes, their shoes, but she couldn’t hold on to anything but flashes of shadow. “Damn, they’re here, too, but I can’t make them out. They’re nothing more than shadow.”

  Chilled air swirled around inside the structure, but the trees that ringed the lawn were still and quiet. There was no breeze out here today. Not so much as a hint of one.

  Jake came up behind her and ran his hands down her arms from her shoulders to her elbows in an attempt to warm her. Trails of heated electricity tracked along each stroke of his palms.

  She leaned back against him. “Do me here, Jake. I want you.” And she did, with a ferocity she’d never felt before, not even in the house.

  He turned her to face him. “First, we talk.”

  7

  “I don’t believe Perdition House is haunted.” It was the best place to start, Jake figured. He had to get the idea out of her head. Because if he didn’t wipe away her belief that ghosts were creating this heat between them, she’d never accept the curse as the proof of their destiny.

  “But I just saw—”

  “Nothing but shadows; you said it yourself.” But he’d seen them too. Apparitions of people dancing and twirling in each other’s arms.

  “How do you explain the mantel with the moving figures? When I touched it, I felt their orgasms like a battering ram, Jake. I know I did.”

  “If you’ll recall, I was touching you at the time.” He didn’t remember exactly, but he was betting she wouldn’t be certain either.

  She tilted her head and studied him curiously. “You think it’s normal for people to jump on each other the way we did?”

  “I don’t know about your sex life, but I’ve been too busy these last three years to think about mine.” And he was only counting back to his move to Florida. He’d tired of one-night stands and quickies a while ago. Now he knew what he’d been waiting for.

  Lightning.

  And he thanked the ghosts of Perdition for bringing it to him. He didn’t want to deny their existence, but he couldn’t see any other way out of his predicament.

  She looked uncomfortable with his admission. “Let’s say you’re right and this is simply a case of two people turned on by proximity, convenience, and a very high level of need. What’s with the snap and crackle when we touch each other?”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to spill the beans, but she was still thinking of ghostly influences and wasn’t ready to hear about the MacKay curse. Passed down on the male side of the family, the women often had a hard time accepting it. His own mother hadn’t figured it out until after she’d married his father.

  He raised his hand, let it hover near her cheek, cupped so she could take the next step and rest her silky skin in his palm. Her eyes closed on a sigh. She wanted the lightning as much as he did. The heated thrum was addictive, and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get enough.

  In truth, he never wanted to get enough. “Do it,” he said.

  She tilted her head toward his hand, began to lower it.

  He watched anticipation flit across her perfect delicate features as millimeter by millimeter she sought the feel of his palm.

  A feminine giggle rang through the trees that bordered the lawn.

  Lexa’s eyes shot open. She twirled to see who was watching from the woods, and Jake fisted his hand in the suddenly chill air.

  “Damn!”

  “What the hell’s with this house?” Jake demanded of Faye when she climbed out of her car. He’d waited on the veranda while Lexa took a long soak in the tub with the rose petals. For the last forty-five minutes, he’d been battling with himself over going inside to have her again. The sexual need had grown beyond bearable just as Faye’s car pulled into the drive.

  “What do you mean?” She walked to the passenger side and opened the door. She bent in, displaying a fine ass and fabulous legs that didn’t do a thing for his libido.

  Now he was sure he was cursed. Any man would want a piece of that. Any man not dealing with love at first touch, at least.

  She pulled out several pieces of clothing on hangers. “I found a few skirts and blouses for Lexa to try on. Mostly Sophia Loren, but there’s a sexy little corset in here from a seventies porn flick that’ll show off her breasts nicely.” She presented it to him with a flourish.

  It was deep red with an underwire but with no material to cover the breasts; all he could see were Lexa’s large distended nipples atop the creamy flesh of her tits jutting out of the laced-up corset. His mouth watered, and his semihard cock rose to complete attention.

  Faye’s chuckle brought him back to the conversation. “You have a fuckability about you, Jake. I like it, but I’m involved elsewhere, and something tells me you’re all about Lexa.”

  He wasn’t sure but it seemed that her right hand was sliding across her pussy behind the clothes she was holding in front of her. Her eyes slid shut, and her mouth pursed into a sexy, plump moue.

  “About this house,” he began, trying to remember what it was he needed to say.

  Her eyes opened, arousal rising in their depths. “Yes?”

  “Lexa thinks it’s haunted.”

  “Does she? And what do you think, Jake?” Her hand swished again, faster this time.

  “I know it is.” He couldn’t believe he’d accepted it so readily, but there you go. If a guy could be cursed, why couldn’t a bordello be haunted? “And that’s fine, but the spirits are messing me up with Lexa big time.”

  “Aren’t you enjoying yourself?” Her hand slowed again, but her chest rose and fell in quick pants.

  “Never had better sex, but then, I’m in love, s
o that makes sense.”

  “In love?” Arousal fled from her gaze, replaced by shock.

  “It’s the family curse. Love at first touch. As I understand it, when a MacKay male touches the woman for him, there’s an electrical charge he can’t resist.” He also liked Lexa’s humor, her ambition, and he respected her passion for her work. Accepting a haunted mansion was easy in comparison to accepting that love had hit him and wouldn’t let go.

  “How delicious. Does his woman feel this love touch too?” Her eyes widened as her interest was piqued.

  “Always. It’s hot and burns under the skin. Takes a few years and a couple kids before it eases back to comfortable. Makes the sex happen fast and takes it into the stratosphere, sensationwise.”

  “Really? This is interesting. Did you feel this burn when you shook my hand?”

  “No, but it turned me to ashes the first time I touched Lexa. You’re hot, don’t get me wrong. If it wasn’t for Lexa, I’d be all over you, but now…I’m already crazy for her. Will be forever.” He scrubbed his hair, still shocked at the speed and ferocity of his feelings. “I have to make her see that love can happen this fast. Right now, all she sees is the lust this house keeps slamming us with.”

  “So? Lust can turn into love. That’s what happened with Liam and me.” She smiled, pleased.

  “The ghosts are fucking me up. She won’t believe in love at first touch if the ghosts are making us so randy we can’t climb the stairs without making meals out of each other.”

  “Oh, I see,” she said on a breathless whisper. Her hand moved faster. “The mural?”

  “Oh, yeah. And the mantel. You’ve got some interesting carvings on there.”

  “I do like them.” Her voice went breathy.

  “Can you get these spirits to back off for a bit? Let nature take its course, so to speak? I’ve only got tonight and tomorrow left. Lexa’s smart. She’ll never believe I love her this quickly.” His heart clenched. He had no idea what would happen if the right woman denied the curse. As far as he knew, it had always worked out. But none of the other men had this kind of interference working against them.

  Desperation settled behind his heart. He palmed the tightness in his chest.

  “I’ll try to convince the spirits to tone it down, but you have to understand sexual arousal and release is just about the only physical sensation the spirits retain. They’ve got decades of unwanted abstinence to make up for.”

  “They feel our orgasms?”

  “And enhance them.”

  “No shit.”

  Her hand shifted into high gear, and all semblance of hiding the action disappeared. “If you’ll excuse me?”

  “Go to it,” he said as he rose from the top step of the veranda to join Lexa upstairs. As he opened the front door, he heard a quick sigh of satisfaction, but tempted as he was to watch the lady get herself off, there was another one upstairs waiting for him.

  Lexa stood at the window watching Faye by the car. The blonde’s hand slid beneath her skirt and traveled up her thigh to her crotch. Jigging and rubbing, Faye spread her legs and worked herself into a frenzy of arousal. Her eyes closed and her face tilted to the sun.

  She’d never seen another woman carry herself to orgasm before. Surprised at how hot Faye looked, Lexa enjoyed watching; knowing that Jake was on his way up to her only added to the anticipation of having him again.

  She’d heard the car tires crunch on the gravel while she was climbing out of the tub. Now, wrapped in a towel, still wet from the bath, she enjoyed the wildness of Faye’s self-pleasure.

  The blonde dropped the clothes she was holding and speared a finger from her other hand into her pussy. Lexa could almost feel the wet flesh on her own hands and fingers. If this was what the spirits could do, she was all for it.

  Her belly tightened in need as she heard Jake’s footsteps enter the room behind her. He came and stood at her shoulder, and she knew that no matter how aroused the spirits made her feel, or how much they interfered with her libido, it was Jake she would remember from her time in Perdition.

  “Watch,” she said, pointing out the window to the driveway. “Faye’s going to come any second.” She groped for Jake’s hand and slid it to her aching pussy under her Egyptian cotton towel.

  At first touch, the thrum and humming charge from him centered on her clit and buzzed up to her chest, making her heart stutter.

  “You’re dripping wet,” he growled low in her ear. She could feel him unzipping behind her; then the smooth head of his heated cock slid between her thighs.

  “Move,” she begged, arching backward to present herself for him. She placed each hand on the center window frame and leaned forward. His cock slid back and forth along her trench, the bulbous purple head whispering a touch to her clit with each pass. As gentle as the touch was, it still raked her soul with passion and hot desire. Her delicate bundle of nerve endings pulsed and rang with the need for release. She groaned and arched more greedily.

  Below, on the driveway, Faye hiked her skirt to her waist and put her foot up on a tire while both hands slid and rubbed at her pussy. Her hands moved faster and faster, in time with Jake’s rhythm.

  Flavors burst on Lexa’s tongue as she watched Faye. Even without mouthing him, the spicy taste of Jake’s cock and pre-cum warred with the salty flavor of her own juices in her mouth.

  Faye’s hand plunged into her channel in an outrageous display of feminine need and demand. Her eyes opened as she raised her face again. The distance between Faye on the driveway and Lexa in the second-story window collapsed, and Lexa read the desire-befogged glaze of arousal in Faye’s eyes.

  The intensity of sensation from Jake nibbling her neck, sliding his cock along her trench to her hottest button, and seeing Faye rock herself into a climax combined to take Lexa into a screaming, mind-blowing orgasm. She chugged and groaned and grunted with the shattering release.

  Beyond thought, she allowed Jake to turn her and press her down to her knees. Tasting her own sweet juice on his cock made him more delicious as she sucked and licked him into a cataclysmic spurt. His hips jutted toward her, and his ass cheeks hollowed under her hands, tight and hard.

  His first spurts hit the back of her throat as she worked and milked him with long strong strokes of suction.

  A chill breeze floated past her from the window but couldn’t distract her from the joy of taking Jake to heaven.

  He groaned in his throat as she took all he offered. “God, I love this, love you,” he said.

  8

  A figure of speech, that’s all it was, Lexa convinced herself. Jake hadn’t meant to say he loved her. That would be impossible. They’d just met. No one fell in love on four hours’ acquaintance.

  They had only a couple more days together. He was here until Tuesday morning, but she had to get back to work on Monday.

  That gave them less than forty-eight hours, by her reckoning.

  She put his come-induced comment out of her mind. But it lurked in her heart just the same.

  Faye had finally come into the house and handed off a few skirts and blouses and one hot corset Lexa couldn’t wait to put on for Jake before disappearing into her room to prepare for a date. A lawyer, she said with a sparkle in her eye.

  How she could look so flushed and aroused after working up to a great orgasm out on the driveway was beyond Lexa. Must be the hookers. No matter what Jake said, she was convinced the house was inhabited by the girls who’d once worked here.

  The old family stories were too realistic to be anything but true. Trapped between lives as working girls and finding their one and only loves caused the girls’ spirits to get confused. Something about needing to tell their stories before moving onto their rewards. It was all kind of vague now, because she’d heard the tales as a child from older cousins who’d thought to scare her.

  Instead, the stories had taken on a life of their own inside Lexa’s head. She’d embellished each one and turned them into short stories she’d u
sed to amuse herself.

  If she’d known most of the stuff she’d fantasized had actually happened, maybe she’d have stopped. But then again, as she’d advanced into her own sexual life, she’d come to rely on the made-up stuff to get her through some pretty ho-hum sex.

  Ho-hum until Jake. She’d never experienced the touch of a man in quite the way she felt Jake’s. It bit and tore through her, then soothed and eased and especially teased. The anticipation of touching him again, of having him touch her was already building.

  It would be easy to say it was the spirits of Perdition that caused this reaction, but if she was just horny because they made her so, it wouldn’t matter whether it was Jake’s touch or someone else’s.

  But it mattered that it was Jake whose touch fired her soul; it mattered a lot.

  What she needed to do was talk to Faye to try to figure out what had brought her here. Or, rather, who had brought her here. It hadn’t been Faye’s voice on the line in the wee hours asking for an estimate.

  The voice had been hollow and lusty. Desire had curled into Lexa’s belly as soon as she’d answered the phone out of a heavy slumber. Hours later, sated by orgasm after orgasm, she’d surfaced from her sexual delight, excited at the prospect of working on the gardens here.

  What she couldn’t figure out was why the same voice had summoned Jake. He had no connection to Perdition House that she could figure.

  But he sure had a connection with her. An electrical connection that sent her through the ceiling when he touched her.

  She loved the way his touch made her body hum and buck with a surge of power and sexual need.

  She could do with a lot more time than a weekend. And a lot more of Jake.

  The man with the riveting touch was having a shower, and while she was tempted to join him, these few minutes could be put to use talking with Faye.

  Maybe she could get an audience with the spirit who’d summoned her to Perdition. She had a lot of questions to ask. And she needed answers now, today. Before she lost even more of herself to Jake and his wild touch. She shivered at the thought of his hands trailing sparklers to all her secret places and headed straight for Faye’s room.