by Ginny Lynn
“No serious girlfriends? I find it hard to believe,” I stated while I propped myself up on my pillows. There was no lying back down until he decided to leave my room.
“Why is that such a surprise to you?” he asked.
“Seriously? Come on?”
“I’m dead serious.”
“Well, you’re handsome, talented, and a hard worker. If you didn’t possess the last two qualities then my grandfather wouldn’t have hired you on.”
“You think I’m handsome?”
“Oh geez! Are we really going to have this discussion?”
“Why is it a difficult topic? You brought it up,” he reminded me.
“Fine. You are what most would consider to have sexy nerd qualities that are adorable and charming at the same time. Well, when you’re being nice.”
A chuckle rumbled in his chest, and he didn’t stop it from curling in the air around us. It was good to hear him laugh. He needed to do it more often, and I told him so.
“I’d like to add that I can be very nice when properly motivated.” He sighed and batted his eyelashes before going on. “So far we have established that sex noises are embarrassing, I’m nerdy sexy, and I need to laugh more. Anything else?”
Lord, what could I possibly say? Yes, Kenrick, in my dreams you fuck like a pro. Oh my goodness, no! I’d die before the words hit the atmosphere. Death by embarrassment. My head would explode from the abundant blood rushing to it from every part of my body.
“Why are you turning a nice shade of pink?”
“This whole conversation is ludicrous.” I fidgeted with the blankets wrapped around my torso.
“I like the way you blush but you typically don’t unless it’s sexual in nature. Am I right?”
“I’m not even going there. We both need to go to bed and get some rest.” I tried not to look him in those lovely eyes.
“We need to go to bed?” he asked with a gleam of mischief about him.
“Yes, we do.” And then it hit me how I sounded. By the time my blush deepened and my face heated, he was kissing me.
Against my mouth, he whispered, “Best. Idea. All. Day.” Then he started kissing me so deeply there were no words in my brain.
I matched his passion and grabbed at him. He made the first pass at me when we were talking earlier this evening, and now he had invited himself into my room. This kiss was meant to start a fire and I was the kindling just waiting for his blaze. He tasted so good. It was even better than the ones I had dreamed of. And to think this was the real life Kenrick in my bed, not the figment of my imagination. Butterflies flew in my stomach as his tongue swept across mine like warm velvet. I was practically panting for more, and we were both totally dressed.
He slipped across the bed and settled himself above me while I leaned against the pillows piled against the headboard. It was so intimate having him see the expressions on my face. If we’d been making love in this position then I would have been more vulnerable than in any conversation we could possibly have. This was eye to eye and breath to breath. Suddenly, I wished I’d worn something more attractive than a thin nightshirt but at least it wasn’t a cartoon character shirt.
He played with the wisps of my hair spread against the cotton pillow cover. I wanted him to bury his fingers in the strands and pull me into him, to be conquered and left completely ravaged. I’d never felt this way before and it put the dream to shame. Running my hands over his shoulders felt wonderful and he slid up in a way where the muscle rolled under his skin. It was the image of a lion with the ability to pounce on its prey at any given moment. And this cat could devour me at any time.
I shivered as he slid his sinful mouth over my chin and down to nip at my collarbone. My nails dug into the masculine expanse of his shoulder blades and I gasped as he hit a spot that had my core heating up. Just a kiss and I became instantly ready for him to thrust into me. Was I a slut or had the dreams reminded my body of what it had been missing for so long? I wanted him and we were both consenting adults. I pulled him up for another kiss and hoped I was giving as good as I had gotten. A moan sounded from him and it drove me onward. My hands were sliding up the back of his t-shirt when a loud noise had us both jumping.
It was the window by my headboard, something had hit it.
“Must be the storm,” Kenrick said as he paused to see if it would happen again.
“Probably,” I stuttered and waited for him to either kiss me or move away from the bed.
After a moment, nothing else happened except the tinkling of the rain against the window pane.
“Where was I? Ah, right here,” he said as he nipped my other collarbone.
Just as I gasped at the pleasure, the window shattered all over the room.
Wind came whirling into the room as if a tiny tornado had been set loose on us. It whipped the glass to nick at our skin and had us both jumping for cover. I was on the opposite side of the bed with the cover pulled over me but I had to stay away from the fragmented glass spread across the floor. The wind screamed at us from the bedside, and I was afraid to look as the glass would rip my face to shreds.
“What the hell happened? Are we in the middle of a tornado?” I yelled at Kenrick who hid in the covers with me.
I was amazed at how quickly we had jumped off of the mattress. Adrenaline beat out the passion fading from my veins, and I clutched at him.
“No, we were in the clear,” came his muffled response.
“Please tell me I’m asleep and this is still my nightmare. Please?”
“If it is a dream then we’re both having the same one because I am most certainly here,” he yelled above the wail of wind.
I listened carefully and the wind resembled a wailing spirit. It was eerie how human it sounded. Wind didn’t do this. My spine crawled with the energy that swept around us. Something told me to see what was going on. My senses were itching with what was taking place.
Grabbing a handful of the cover, I peeked out the corner closest to the head of the bed.
“Don’t do it, Renata,” yelled Kenrick as he tried to pull the blanket back around us. I felt the pings of glass bounce against our protection.
Prying it away from him, I saw what he didn’t want me to see. Aster’s form hovered above the bed as she wordlessly screamed at us. What the hell? She came barreling down on me, and I scrambled to move away from the bed. I didn’t want to be pinned against the frame with glass to one side and her on the other. I had to get out of the room. The door remained ajar and if I moved fast enough I could avoid her. Just as I scampered out of the covers, ignoring Kenrick bellowing for me, I slipped and hit the dangerous shard covered floor under me. Cuts were the last thing on my mind as I saw her face twist in a mocking smile that chilled me to the bone.
****
Waking up in the attic was not what I had expected. Neither was the ghost singing as she moved around my prone figure. Her white summer dress floated around her ethereal figure and the hem skated over my legs, making me shiver. Pretending to still be unconscious, I perused the room from under my eyelashes. Apparitions being unable to hold matter was now marked as a myth in my shell-shocked world. Aster was gliding around, collecting items and setting them on the trunk which held her diary. Opposite of me sat Kenrick, who had been tied to an antique chair that he was bent over. I could see his chest moving as it took in oxygen but his face wasn’t visible through the curtain of his hair. I hoped he was pretending to be out cold instead of actually being seriously injured. It made me wonder what a ghost like her could do to us and it frightened me that we were about to find out.
The storm still roared as it echoed through the wood rafters. Aster giggled with glee as she set up several candles across the leather trunk. Her diary laid open in the middle of them and the flickering flames of the light held the pages in an eerie glow. She had the sheers from my vision in her apron pocket and I saw her bending over a large platter that held a ceramic bowl. I recognized the plate and all of this did not bode wel
l. She was material enough that the air stirred around her movements but I could still see a shadow of the objects behind her. Spooky. Was she physical enough to be injured? Had she already performed a spell on us? Were we too late to stop her?
“Renata, you can stop the pretense now. I knew the moment you mentally woke to us,” came a high pitch voice which was more melodious than the one I had in my vision.
It was perky and childlike yet with a mature tone that showed age in its word choices. I bet many had mistaken her voice for the innocence of a young girl but few knew the evil temptress within.
“What’s going on?” was my first silly question.
“As you are gifted, but not as a witch, I don’t mind sharing my actions with you. I’m preparing my things for a special spell. You will be one subject and my dear love will be the other,” she stated simply as she moved her fingers into the contents of the bowl. There was powder coating her fingertips and she added several bits of green from the platter on the floor.
If there was no sense acting like I was asleep then I might as well start checking out what she was up to. First, I would have to see how many needed to be saved here.
“Is Kenrick out cold?” I asked her.
“I slammed your bed on top of him, but he should come to shortly. He’s no good to me if he’s dead.”
I prayed she was correct because I had fallen for him. Damn it. How had I allowed it to happen? I barely knew him but the thought of him being hurt by this psycho made my heart stop mid-beat. If we got ourselves out of this, I was going to see if we could make this work. But how did I get us safely away from a ghost who had us tucked away in the attic?
“Do you mind if I ask what your plans are?”
I sat up and crossed my ankles, noticing there were several streams of blood coming from different sized cuts on my legs and feet. I remembered being on my knees when we dove off of my bed and looked to see what was tearing up the room, but not how I had cut up the top of my feet.
“Would you rather ask me about your injuries?” she asked as she glanced at me from the corner of her eyes. She had stopped in her actions as I had taken notice of my oozing wounds.
A few of them had already scabbed over but the larger ones were reopened by my actions. Why couldn’t I recall what had happened? It bothered me almost as much as my feelings for Kenrick.
“Yes, please tell me what caused this?” I fought to keep my voice calm and polite as I knew it would get me better results than arrogance or hysteria.
“You reached out to me but the force of my power knocked you away from Kenrick and across the floor. You were senseless at that point and Kenrick jumped up to save you. It was his own undoing, and I wasn’t going to allow it to happen. I toppled the bed frame over and the headboard hit him in the back of the head just as he was about to grab you.”
“Why do you need us to be separated?”
“You two lovers can be together once I finish my plans for this evening.”
“I’m confused. Can you elaborate?”
“Of course, my dear. You see, I’ve had my eyes on Mr. Giles for many years and after this evening, I’ll have a second chance with him. It’s one of the things I didn’t get to accomplish before I died, and it makes me very sad.”
She was looney. Even when I’d been in the hospital, I hadn’t run across someone like her. She was all innocent and light but with a severe god complex. She could no more twist the hands of fate than she could the sands of time.
Then it hit me. No. No way. I couldn’t be right. There was no way he could be the one. I looked at her and she gave me her full attention. Her eyes flickered as she took in the look of astonishment on my stunned face.
“Yes. Kenrick Giles was the man I had set out to marry. Why else do you think that I’m so interested in his well-being?”
“There’s no way he’s the man from your book. He’s about my age so it had to be his father or grandfather.”
“And you think a simple little witch like myself couldn’t have something to do with that small detail?”
It couldn’t be true. How could she make him live this long unless she’d cast a much more powerful spell than the one she was attempting now.
She walked over to Kenrick and lifted his face up by his mussed locks. His eyes opened and fear spread through them as he took in where he was.
“What have you done?” he asked in a trembling voice.
“Nothing. Yet.”
Yanking her hand away, his head snapped back with the force of her sudden release of him.
“We girls were just speaking of your timeless good looks,” she said with a large amount of glee.
“Renata, are you okay?” he asked me.
“I’m fine, even if I don’t remember how I got here or what happened to cause my injuries. How are you?”
“I have a headache the size of this house and I know exactly what caused it,” he stated as he sent a withering look over to Aster’s book as she had turned back to reread a passage.
“I was naughty to my poor Kenrick. Wasn’t I, my dear Cajun?”
“Obviously, you wanted my undivided attention, Aster. Well, now you’ve got it. What do you want?”
“The same thing that I wanted before, you.”
Chapter Thirteen
“I didn’t love you then and certainly don’t love you now, witch,” he spat that as if it was the foulest of words he’d ever uttered.
“Tsk tsk. You’re in too precarious of a situation to be getting pompous with me.” She shook her finger at him as if he was a scolded child.
“Can we discuss this rationally, Aster?”
She started laughing hysterically and it crawled down my throat like a spider on a tight web.
“I’m a ghostly witch and you think this can be rational?” She cackled like her namesake and floated above the floor a few inches as I speared him with a look which would hopefully have him not make any further remarks like that.
“See, Kenrick, this is why I treasure you so. You continue to amaze me and I’ll never be bored with you.”
He wouldn’t be stopped. “Why can’t you just be dead like anyone else?”
“Shut up, Kenrick!” I snapped.
“Renata understands that you don’t say these things to a scorned woman who has enough power to turn you into a monster, you should heed the warnings.”
“Aster, go into the light or whatever else spirits do when they’ve exhausted themselves on the earth with mortals who have forgotten you.”
“Kenrick!” I yelled as she turned toward him with the sheers suddenly in her hands.
He didn’t even flinch. Please let me be dreaming again.
“I see what you are doing, my love,” she said as she began wiping her sheers clean, using the apron tied around her small waist.
“If you don’t see that I don’t want you then you are blind.”
A tickle of laughter came from the ghost again but this time she carried the mirth of a toddler with her. I never wanted to hear her laugh again.
“You don’t want your lover to know what all of this is about. Would you rather I killed you so she’d never know your little secret, cher?”
His face went blank and I could see she had made a point. I was finally going to be told what was going on and why Aster said Kenrick was over a hundred years old.
“Tell her,” the ghost goaded softly. “Let us move on to better things.”
He pressed his lips together so tightly that I waited for the blood to stream out of them.
“Tell her, you asinine man,” Aster shrieked.
“If I’m such an ass then why do you want me so badly?” he dared to ask.
“You want to die, don’t you?” Her eyes almost popped out with her anger at him.
“If it will end this farce of a life, then yes, please do so. Then you can go straight to hell where you belong in the bed of the devil himself.”
Lightning struck outside but I could have sworn it came from her a
nd not the bawling sky. Silence fell until the thunder boomed across our tense figures while we waited for her next move.
“Tell her or I will and my version will not be laced with the sweetness of your tongue,” she whispered so softly I felt the edge of ice in it.
Something had to have passed across her features because he shrank into himself right in front of us. I couldn’t see her face but knew she was staring him down and I felt content with it. If it made him have that reaction then I wouldn’t want to draw her attention back to myself. Instead, I needed to look around and figure a way out of this.
His voice was timid as he began to talk. “Aster probably told you that I was her love from a century ago but the truth is she tried to seduce me but I wouldn’t have her tainted body in my bed.”
Aster spun as if on a spinning top and Kenrick was flung backward with the force of her blow. How had she done all this as a spirit? She wasn’t mortal so she shouldn’t have been able to do that to him. Were the stories of spirits channeling energy true? Did she have the ability to collect enough to keep moving until she exhausted her metaphysical storage? If it was true, then we could take away enough power to make her unable to complete the spell or harm us much further. The whirlwind she had created earlier should have drained her to a point where it would have delayed her actions. Staring at her hovering figure, her motions were a bit stilted, as if it was a bad copy of a movie playing.
Kenrick just lay there, looking up at her as if he was daring her to do anything else. That man either had the biggest balls I had ever seen or he was the deadest one.
“Do you want me to stay down here as you complete the story, my dear,” he bit out in disgust.
I saw him spit blood right past her seething form. I was glad it hadn’t hit her for fear that it would have given her more power. Maybe he just meant it as the insult it represented and nothing more.
“It would be lovely to have you at my feet but it’s not dignified,” she said sweetly.