She knocked quietly, because she could hear Faye talking, presumably on the phone. She turned to leave, thought of Jake’s determined stance that the house wasn’t haunted, and stalled out.
She had to know the truth.
How wrong would it be to tap again, then poke her head in the door? She needed to speak with her right now, without Jake.
If Faye’s flustered aroused expression meant anything, it was that once she left for her date, she wouldn’t be home until morning.
And anything could happen at Perdition between now and tomorrow. Nothing evil; she had no concerns about the typical haunted mansion horror flicks. She wasn’t a woman to head into the basement with nothing but a candle to light the way.
She grinned.
Perdition House, for all its weird sexiness, was not scary. Homey was the word that best described the house, big and drafty though it was.
She tapped again, then opened Faye’s door just enough to stick her face in. She plastered on an apologetic grin and nearly choked on it when she saw Faye.
Faye was talking all right, but not on the phone. An almost mirror image of Faye hovered in a staircase that led to God knew where. The roof? Maybe.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
The hovering image blinked out, just like that. Pfft.
Lexa stepped all the way into the room. Held the door handle at her back. “That was the spirit interfering with Jake and me, wasn’t it?”
Faye rolled her eyes. Then she crossed to a dresser and picked up a brush. “What do you mean?”
“I saw her, Faye. She looked just like you, but she wasn’t…” She groped for a way to say what she saw. “She wasn’t of this time. Her clothing, her hairstyle. She was dressed like my great-grandmother Annie when she bothered to wear a dress.”
Faye’s shoulders slumped. She opened her mouth to speak, but the image returned in full body, clearer now than before.
A lustrous green appeared in her dress, her hair went shiny blond like Faye’s, and her shawl deepened to a rich black.
“You tell her,” Faye said to the image.
“I’m Belle, Lexa, a friend of Annie’s and Matthew’s.” She floated toward the bed.
Lexa blinked. Yes, floated was the right word.
“My great-great-aunt,” added Faye. “I think there may be more greats in there.”
“Annie wanted you here, so I facilitated things,” Belle said in the voice Lexa remembered. A wave of the long-dead madame’s hand bade her sit on the bed.
Lexa sat.
Her great-grandmother Annie Creighton had orchestrated this visit. How weirdly comforting. “Why did Annie want me here?”
“She’s afraid for you. You’ve shut all the joy out of your life. You’re so driven to succeed, you’ve denied yourself the pleasures of life.”
Her ambition must have touched something in her great-grandmother. She warmed at the idea.
“It’s more than ambition, Lexa. Annie’s stubborn drive to work the way she wanted to work nearly ruined her chance at love with Matthew. If he hadn’t put aside all his ideas about women and their place in society, they never would have had a life together. She doesn’t want to see you make the same mistake. You must make room in your life for love with a good man.”
“There’s plenty of time for that,” she said. “I’m only twenty-seven, and there are plenty of fish in the sea.”
Faye gave a light cough while Belle’s eyes widened. “In my time, twenty-seven was over the hill.”
“Times change. I’m sure Annie thinks the way you do, but believe me, my business won’t succeed if I don’t buckle down.” Setting aside the whys of her summoning, she had some questions. After all, it wasn’t every day a girl got to chat with a woman born over a hundred years ago. Especially not a woman with Belle’s experiences.
“Why can I see you?” Lexa asked. The spirits in the gazebo had been too shadowy to see clearly.
“You’re family,” Belle explained with a gentle nod that seemed designed to ease Lexa’s mind. It didn’t.
“And?” she demanded.
“When those horrid cousins of yours tried to frighten you as a little girl, you turned everything they said into wishes and dreams. Why shouldn’t we show you the truth?”
Lexa smiled, remembering her fanciful daydreams. “Annie and Matthew watched over me.” They brought Jake here too. For her.
“Love doesn’t stop with death; it’s a living, breathing entity. It was their love that watched over you, that encouraged you to see beyond the frightening ghost stories.”
“You were receptive, Lexa,” Faye added. “So was I as a child.”
Lexa tore her gaze from Belle to look at Faye. “That’s why you live here,” Lexa concluded, “with the spirits of Perdition. Does that make you a guardian or a gatekeeper?”
Faye laughed. “To the underworld and beyond? No, I’m more like an enabler. I’m trying to keep the house going so each spirit will have a chance to tell their story, then move on.”
“How many are there?”
Faye bit her lip. “That’s up for discussion. Belle is not as forthcoming as one in her position should be.” She gave her great-aunt a stern look.
Belle arched an eyebrow. Then she faded to beige, all color gone. Her expression dulled into disapproval.
“Ooh, looks like she’s miffed,” Lexa pointed out, quickly picking up on the quirkiness of the other women’s relationship.
“You catch on fast.” Faye laughed, a tinkling seductive sound of amused indulgence.
“I saw you in the driveway.” Lexa warmed at the memory of Jake having her while Faye pleasured herself, each of them watching the other.
“I know.” Faye leaned against the dresser, arms folded. “Perdition oozes sex. The walls, the floors, the beds, the very grounds themselves are imbued with memories. And”—she shrugged one smooth round shoulder—“I like sex. I love orgasms. I indulge in them often.”
“Because the spirits entice you?”
“When I first moved in, I had no control, but now I’m in charge. It’s the only way to stay true to myself.”
Lexa nodded, wondering how much of what was happening between her and Jake was real. “Will Jake be able to see you too?” she asked Belle.
“Jake’s dealing with something else at the moment. But he does have an open mind.”
She decided to keep it to herself that Jake denied the house was haunted.
Belle allowed a celery green to appear in her gown, but it was still a far cry from the emerald she’d been wearing before.
Lexa figured she enjoyed talking about men and that her stormy mood had lifted. “How do you mean, true to yourself, Faye?”
“I had two lovers for a time.”
“You needed two lovers, you mean.” Belle’s colors deepened to grass green and smoke gray in her shawl. “I enjoyed them as much as you did,” she said. Her mood was definitely improving.
That was a good sign. A powerful spirit in an amenable mood would be more likely to answer questions.
Faye gave Lexa a slight upturn of her lips in acknowledgment.
Seemed the still living were well in synch here.
Lexa sighed in relief. “And?” She brought Faye back into the conversation.
“By the time I figured out how to block all the sexual suggestions, I’d figured out I wanted to work on my love life as opposed to my sex life. Now I’m in a committed relationship with a wonderful man who fully understands the needs of the house.”
“Needs of the house?”
“Without a solid income, Perdition would fall to ruin, and we’re not sure what will become of the girls.”
Lexa nodded. “So, why spend money on the gardens?” There was that ambition again. She didn’t want to lose this contract.
“Belle’s idea, not mine. I don’t think we can afford you at this point, but she’s determined to have nothing but the best for Perdition, just as she did during her lifetime. Belle built the house,
so she knows exactly how it should look.”
“You have a great store, though. TimeStop, right?”
“Two locations and I’m hoping for more. But I still don’t think we’ll have enough income. Perdition House is heading for the century mark, and with the last few years of neglect to contend with, there are a lot of repairs to be done.”
Lexa’s dream of a showpiece garden went up in smoke.
“That’s why we’re going into a new venture,” Belle piped in.
Lexa waited. Belle’s expression glowed with enthusiasm, and emerald shimmered through the dress, making her shawl glow black again.
A happy ghost was a chatty ghost. “We’re going to hold bachelor auctions for wealthy women.” Belle’s announcement brought a smile to Faye’s face.
Lexa didn’t need any more explanation. Both women wore identical expressions. Salacious smiles lit their faces while images of straining, writhing bodies all over the house woke up Lexa’s libido. Her pussy twitched awake, and she squeezed her thighs together. Heat rose into her chest, bringing her nipples to a peak, hard and fast.
“Yes! It’ll be just like that,” said Belle with a bawdy grin.
Faye rolled her eyes. “Stop it!” she called out, then swiveled to glare around the room. “Someone’s putting thoughts into Lexa’s head. Now is not the time!”
Chilly air raced through Lexa time and again, each swipe raising her internal temperature while cooling her skin to the point of gooseflesh. The sensation created a thrilling arousal.
“Oh, God, I’ve got to find Jake.” She stood and made for the door. Roiling with liquid need, she walked away, aware of each clenching muscle in her thighs as she took each step. Every sinew attached to her groin, each ligament, every muscle tightened, drawing her cradle into a clenched ball of sexual need.
Her lips and clit plumped; her inner channel filled and dripped with wetness. Heat suffused her whole body to the point of pain.
“I…I…I’ll come back soon,” she managed to mutter as she opened the door.
“Have fun with Jake.” She heard Belle speak, but the sound seemed to come from inside her head, not from the room behind her.
She closed the door and heard footsteps downstairs. She leaned over the open railing that ringed the second floor. “Jake! I’m up here. Hurry!”
She pressed her mons to the hard smooth railing to ease some of the pressure. Soon, he’d be here soon.
One look at her face and he’d know. He’d take care of her. He’d plunge inside so hard and fast her muscles would rejoice and release sweetly all over him.
9
J ake heard Lexa’s cry of need and dropped his clipboard and notes on the dining room table. He ran to the staircase to see her at the railing above him. Blood rushed at the sight of her. She glowed with an aura of sexual need. Her beautiful face yearned; her hair seemed alive as it flowed across her breasts in teasing swirls and tendrils.
He knew then and there he’d lost his heart completely. He could hold nothing back.
He took the stairs two at a time, hit the landing, and shot over to her.
“Baby, what’s happened?” Her cheeks were flushed, but under the red, her skin was pale and white. She burned in his arms, but her flesh was chilled. “Never mind, I can feel it.”
And he did. Her painful arousal, the chilly rushes of air, her burning need. He had to get her out of harm’s way.
Before he lost all control.
He swept her up and carried her back down the way he’d come. She clung and mewled in his arms, clasping and needy. The need to take her here, now, grew and grew, a monstrous ball of writhing lust.
Fighting himself, and every other spirit who lusted, he made his way downstairs. The front door stuck; the knob slipped out of his grasp, but he kept on, muscles straining, determination gathering with every setback. Finally, the door gave way, and he wrestled his way outside with her, into a headwind that threatened to knock him on his ass. “We’ve got to get away. We’ve got to think for ourselves.”
“Jake, oh, baby, please. Touch me where I need it. Touch me where I hurt for you,” she pleaded and cajoled, squirming in his arms. “I’m wet for you…need…you…” She kissed his neck, sucked his earlobe. Hearing her cries was the worst of it. They called to the man he was, the man who wanted to drive into her, come with her, be man to her woman.
But a roar in his head forced him to keep moving. The need to protect his woman overrode everything and kept him fighting.
His heart pounded, his own blood and hers racing through every artery and vein. He could feel it all, while the roar to keep her safe gathered strength. His pulse thumped as he set her on the passenger seat of her truck, then rounded the hood. Each step away from her felt like stumbling in a quagmire. Invisible hands tugged, thoughts of possession and deep plunging sex pulled until exhaustion threatened. If he turned back toward her, all resistance would disappear and it would feel as if he had wings on his feet. Nearly seduced into giving up, he tried one more headlong lunge and pulled himself around to the driver’s door.
It took all his strength to open the door wide enough to hoist himself into his seat. “Hold on, Lexa, we’ll be off the grounds in a minute.”
But she didn’t seem to hear, swallowed as she was by lust and rapacious need. Even as he spoke, she climbed onto his lap, crotch to crotch. Her body burned his, his cock raged, his lips itched to kiss and bite and hold while he plunged.
Resistance ebbed until he felt the sparklers from her thighs bracket his hips. If he lost this fight, she’d never believe that they had what it took to build a life together. For her, this weekend would always be about great sex and wild spirits.
He turned the key in the ignition, relieved when it caught. Dodging Lexa’s lips was tougher than escaping the house. But with his love for her spurring him on, he slammed the truck into gear and sent up a spit of gravel from the tires. The truck took off with a lurch around the driveway. A sense of victory egged him on as he barreled down the straightaway to the gate. He plowed through the cedar boughs that blocked his way.
“Lexa, get off me!” Words he never imagined saying in a million years. “I can’t see around you.” His hard-on pulsed against his zipper, sending rolling black through his vision.
She crooned and cajoled, oblivious to her surroundings. Her eyes glazed to unseeing; her scent rose as need swallowed her. She was beyond knowing.
When the open gate came into view through the overhanging boughs, he gave a silent thank-you to Faye for leaving it open. He didn’t have the strength of will it would take to climb out and open it. Moving away from Lexa at this point would be impossible.
With a final push, he shot through onto the quiet street. No maelstrom of need here, no headwinds, no quagmire holding him back. Blessed peace.
Once free of the entrance, he slammed the truck to a halt, unable to drive any farther with her on his lap. The truck idled while he clasped her face gently.
“What?” Lexa’s eyes widened, cleared. She looked around, surprised, then crawled off him. Her face and neck were red, flushed with sexual arousal. “How did we get here?”
He wanted her so much he could taste her. Her silken mouth, her soft skin, her wetness. He squeezed the steering wheel and eased the truck to the side of the road. As it rolled to a stop, he rested his forehead on the wheel to let his racehorse-paced heartbeat slow.
“I had to get us out of there. I’m sorry, babe.” His heart still thudded in the silence, but his pulse no longer pounded in his ears. For now this was as peaceful as it would get.
She slid her palm to his cheek. “Don’t be sorry; you were right, Jake. Something had hold of me. I couldn’t resist.” Her chest heaved with each breath. “Thanks for getting us out.” She placed her hand on his thigh, her touch burning through to his balls.
“Don’t touch me,” he said. At her wounded look, he explained, “I’ve just had the fight of my life, and I don’t have the strength to fight you too.”
Her eyes danced with understanding, and she pulled her hand away. Scooting over to her side of the truck, she clipped her seat belt into place. Way over on the passenger side where there would be no mistaken touches. “This okay?”
“Thanks.” If he was going to win her heart for the lifetime he wanted, she had to know him as he really was. There was nothing he could do to stop the burning sparklers when they touched, but he could sure as hell ease the sexual influence the ghosts exerted. “We need to spend time away from the house. I want to learn who Lexa Creighton is outside the bedroom.”
“You’re admitting the house is haunted?”
“This is more than spirits having fun. More, do you understand?” He hoped that would help pave the way for his explanation of the curse. He put the truck back into gear and pulled out onto the road.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Anywhere away from here.”
Anywhere ended up being a neighborhood of funky shops and restaurants off the expressway. “Do you know where we are?” Jake asked.
“No, never been here before, but it doesn’t matter. I feel more like myself now, so I don’t care where we end up.” Her glance was warm but brisk.
He grinned. “I hear you. I…” If he knew what to say, he’d say it.
She was busy looking out her side of the truck for a parking space and didn’t realize he’d halted. “There’s a spot. We could go for a stroll around that lake.” She pointed to a public pathway filled with walkers, cyclists, and skateboarders.
He parked and ran around the truck to open her door. She blushed prettily at his action, and he had to wonder how the previous men in her life had treated her.
“Surprised?”
“You’re very gallant, considering we’re driving a fourteen-year-old Ford pickup that has seen better days.” But she held out her hand so he could take it and help her down from the truck’s high seat. The snap and hum gathered steam between them, but she tucked in close. He looped his arm around her shoulders. She placed hers around his waist, letting the buzz settle into a gentle heat where they touched.
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