Was that the reason for my apprehension? Could I be afraid of my…boyfriend. My ghost boyfriend?
A wispy hand came to rest on top of mine.
At first, I thought I’d been zapped by electricity. I jerked in my chair. Still unsure of what just happened, I examined my hand. Unintentionally, my mind zoomed back to the pricker bush in the woods…the tiny kiss he had given me there. It didn’t hurt, it felt…
“What just happened?” I asked.
“I apologize. I didn’t expect it to be so strong. I should warn you, at night, my touch can be…very intense.”
“I…I don’t understand.” Surprise and fear muddled what felt to be sexual pleasantries.
“With your permission, I’d like to show you something.”
In my heart, I trusted Sam, but this request only seemed to make me feel worse. I felt my stomach tighten even more and I wished I knew what I was afraid of. I pressed my lips together until I had the courage to say, “Okay.”
Sam replaced his hand upon mine and immediately I felt the heat, the tingling, and the complete pleasure. The sensation worked its way up my arm. “Sam, this is…wow!”
“Do you like it?”
“Ah, um, yes.”
Unexpectedly, Sam whooshed directly at me.
Upon impact, my chair slid back from the table in a wild jerk. With a great gasp, my body heaved forward as Sam passed through my very core. Goosebumps speckled my entire body. As chills ran down my spine, the heat of fire spread across my skin. The formless Sam swirled around me like a trained cloud of smoke and I could barely restrain myself from calling out in pleasure, knowing my parents were still in listening range. Much too quickly, my body became spent.
As if he knew I’d had enough, the white spirit swirled higher into the air, stretching out twice his normal height. Nearly touching the ceiling, it made a sudden arch and darted across the top of the room, before finally settling back into a subhuman form hovering within his chair.
I was still trying to catch my breath as Sam started to speak.
“Emily, I apologize for whatever pain you have had to suffer because of me. And I know I should be sorry that I came into your life, but I am not. I have been a lost soul, wandering the land for many years, and for the first time in my life, I feel complete. The last thing I want is for you to be afraid of me.”
I couldn’t tell if his expression was one of hope or worry.
“At least now you know that I can make you feel good, too.”
“Did we just have sex?” I asked, short of breath.
Sam’s expression remained guarded. “Did you like it?”
“I don’t know. No. I mean, yes, I did like it, but I was hoping to stay a virgin until I married. At least older.” I was so flustered I didn’t know what I was saying.
“I swear on my honor. You are still a virgin.” Sam said. ‘I’d feel guilty tarnishing your reputation so soon.” He placed his feather-weight hand over his translucent chest.
“But you plan to corrupt my innocent youth?” I huffed, still catching my breath.
“Corruption is such a harsh word.” Sam’s body glowed for a brief second like it received an extra boost of energy. “I’d prefer to think you’d be a willing partner because you wanted me.”
“I would want you, but what just happened was…a little overwhelming.” I reached out to touch him, just to double check if the sensation was still there. Instantly, another rush of pleasure spread over my hand. It was so intense. I pulled back. “Does this always happen?”
“Only at night.” Sam replied. Creases developed where his forehead ought to be. “But, you sound disappointed. I had hoped you’d like it.”
“No, it’s not that,” I continued to stammer, still awed by the whole thing. “I’d simply like to know if a normal hug is possible, too.”
“You’re sitting here with a ghost and asking about normal?”
Laughing at myself, I had to confess, “It’s a bit confusing not knowing what to expect.”
“Here I’m trying to impress you and instead I come off as difficult.” Sam’s torso swooshed and swayed for a moment before encasing me in a see-through hug. “Here, maybe you will like this better.”
Heat penetrated into my muscles, instantly melting my body tension into nonexistence.
“It’s like being in a sauna.” Then came the moisture. Just when I was about to tell him I’d need a towel if it lasted much longer, a thought occurred to me. “How can you change your physical state so easily?”
The hug ended quickly. “It’s not as easy as you might think. It takes a lot of energy to spark, like boiling water without a heat source.”
“Spark?”
Sam’s hue brightened momentarily, like there was a sudden surge in electrical voltage. “Silly ghost terminology. It’s not important.”
“Is that how you describe the, intense…feelings when we touch?”
“Something like that.”
“Can other ghosts do this?”
“Emily, sparking is something I’d rather not get into at this time, unless it’s me doing it to you,” he said, with his pale eyes twinkling.
“Maybe I could handle a little more sparking.” I leaned forward and for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me. Instead, he turned a brighter shade of white and flew out of his chair. He buzzed across the ceiling and ricocheted off the walls. He was moving so fast, my eyes only registered a white trail. The room seemed to fill with some kind of energy, and I found myself smiling. The next thing I knew, Sam had me encircled in a white rope of mist.
Goosebumps returned to my flesh and I shivered in pleasure. Blushing, I looked for Sam’s face, but there wasn’t one. “But not here,” I whispered as loud as I could, not to alert my parents. It felt incredible, but the last thing I wanted to do was start moaning out in ecstasy. “My parents are in the other room.”
The circling motion stopped and the form of a human quickly took shape, settling back into the chair. “Yes, I should take you back to my place for a little privacy.”
I was coming to the conclusion that sparking was kind of an all or nothing deal. “Does that feel good to you, too?”
“You have no idea.” The form of Sam leaned back in his chair to relax, but then sprang forward. “I’m so happy I found you.”
His statement took me by surprise. “Wait a minute. I was the one who found you.”
His form dimmed and small flickers erupted across his edges. “Actually…” It took him a bit too long for him to finish his sentence, “I saw you on your deck before you ever came to me. I heard your guitar and I followed the music. It was so beautiful.”
“You were spying on me? That’s how you knew I lived by the railroad tracks?”
“It wasn’t intentional.”
Maybe I was too tired, or too trusting, but his words sounded sincere to me. I found myself a little flattered and cast my eyes on the table.
“After seeing you,” he continued, “I schemed of ways to meet you, and low and behold, you came and found me. Destiny! I tell you.”
I looked Sam straight in his milky-white eyes. “Do you really believe in destiny?”
Keeping the close physical proximity between us, he replied, “Some days I’m not sure what to believe in. But I do know that right now, I almost feel alive.”
Almost alive….
His outer edges thinned and lengthened, curling up and over like an ocean swell. I caught myself listening for the sounds of a crashing wave as I considered the possibility of destiny. Could there really be a master plan that includes a ghost? Dismissing my immediate concerns, my heart filled with warmth. “I’m glad you’re here.” Then I yawned.
A momentary increase in Sam’s hue seemed to indicate he was pleased. “Me too.” A brief smile crossed his face. “However, it’s late and you must be tired, but before you go to bed, please tell me what you know about my sister.”
The question kindled new alertness. “I don’t think it’s good, Sam
.”
“What makes you think you know about her anyway?”
I explained my findings of the Goldenrod while at the hospital.
“If that really is Amelia.” Sam shook his head. “She’s messed up.”
“Isn’t there anything you can do to help her? It’s crazy enough that you are here, but to have both you and your sister still on Earth…what are the odds?”
Sam’s body ruffled. “My poor baby sister.”
I tried to sound encouraging. “There has to be a reason.”
“Not that it’d be a good one.”
Seeing Sam’s expression made my heart ache. It was foolish on my part, but for a moment, I thought I could console him. Then I considered I had never died, lost my entire family, or learned that my sister had become…demented?
“I’m sorry to be the one telling you this.” I reached out touch him. To comfort him. The part of him that I tried to touch scattered like homemade clouds at the children’s museum. It made me feel even sadder.
“No one ever said life would be fair, huh?” Then with movement so sudden it made me jump, Sam swooshed through the back of his chair and twirled up toward the ceiling. “You know what’s one of the coolest things about being a ghost? Flying!”
I tipped my head back to watch him glide through the air. “I wish I could fly.”
After a few more twirls and loops, Sam effortlessly floated back to his chair and the contours of a man began to take shape. “It’s absolutely wild…but it doesn’t even compare to the things I’ve had to exist without.”
Once again, I couldn’t even begin to comprehend what it was like to be dead, but nodded out of respect and tried to imagine….
“What are you thinking about?” Sam asked, bringing me back from a deep thought.
“Prelude to a Kiss,” I whispered.
“What about it?”
“Can that really happen?”
“I’m no expert, but I’d say a drifter might be able to steal a body.”
My arms shot around myself in a safety hug. “Steal it?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it, Miss Emily. It only happens when the original body is compromised in some way, like when your grandpa was having surgery.”
“Is that what you call your kind? Drifters?”
“I reckon not. Those were some unlucky people who died before their time, and now they’re forced to wander the Earth, waiting. For me, it was my time. I’d be a Marmion.”
“Marmion? You mean to tell me there are different kinds of…ghosts?”
“Oh, yes.” Sam sighed. “Our appearance, abilities, and what side we’re on, sets us apart from each other.”
“What side you’re on?”
Sam thought a moment. “In your photographs, have you ever noticed small specks of light? Sometimes, it’s not reflections. They’re party crashers.”
“Party crashers?” I blinked and cocked my head.
“Look at them closely. I’m sure you’ll find tiny glowing specks of light. Ghost hunters call them orbs. Actually, those things were never human. They’re demonic.”
A buzzing stirred in my stomach. “Stop! This is just too much. I can handle you, but I can’t handle ghost hunters or a room full of demonic partiers, okay?”
Sam pursed his snow-colored lips. “I suppose I should be more considerate of your feelings. I’m just so dang happy that you know…I want to share everything with you.”
“I know,” I said, curving over into a slouch. Looking at the reformed hand I tried to hold earlier, I used my finger to trace alongside its edges. “I do want to know everything about you and the way you experience life, but not all in one night.” I paused for a yawn. “You are an amazing man with extraordinary tales. That is one of the reasons why I like you.”
Sam raised his head and smiled. “So it’s not just for my radishes?”
“Sam Easley, you are a rascal!”
Sam’s deep laugh comforted my soul.
Excusing another yawn, it was getting difficult to ignore the pains of being completely exhausted. At the same time, I didn’t want to leave him. “Before I go to bed, tell me one thing. How old are you, Sam?”
“Well, that depends, doesn’t it?”
“On what?”
“If you go by my last birthday or if you continue counting from the time I died.”
His response rang absurd in my ears. My question seemed more so. “How old were you when you died?”
“Nineteen.”
“You’re not as old as I thought. When did you die?”
“In 1936.”
A shudder of remorse rattled my upper torso. “That was a long time ago, yet you seem so… unaffected by it.”
“Miss Emily, I’ve been dead longer than I was alive. This is normal to me.”
“I guess that makes sense. Do you remember dying?”
Sam’s body flickered. “It’s getting late. Let’s send you off to bed and we can talk some more tomorrow.”
Accepting the hint, I rose from my chair. “I wonder if my parents are still up?”
“I’m pretty sure I saw them slink off to bed some time ago.” Sam also rose from the table, wispy edges trailing slightly.
After I pushed my chair back into place and reached for his chair, I felt an unsettling in my stomach. “How wrong are we to be doing this?”
“That’s not what I was expecting to hear,” he said.
“That’s not what I was planning on saying.”
“But you worry.”
“Of course I do, Sam. But now it’s more than about you being legal adult age.”
“You were really worried about that, seriously?”
“Yes and no. I mean, you’re such a gentleman; sometimes I think my thoughts are worse than yours. I absolutely adore your country charm. And I think you are extremely attractive when you have a body —”
“But could you love me, like this?” Sam drifted effortlessly beside me.
Again, I noticed how his translucent form swirled and fluxed, offset by the outer edges rippling like a tail fin in the water.
“It’s not a question of could, but rather should,” I responded.
“Do you want me to leave?”
“Of course not!”
Perhaps in error, a random white wisp brushed against my bare arm. Letting out a quickened moan, I jerked back, reacting like I’d been zapped. “This is just not fair!”
A wicked smile crossed Sam’s face. “But you like it.”
“Of course I like it. That’s not the point.”
Sam shrunk to match my height. “Could you love me?”
My chest tightened. He said the L-word twice now. He wanted to know if I could love him. Love Sam. Love a ghost, or a Marmion, or whatever he called himself.
“I don’t know if there is a thing called destiny that controls the whole universe, or if I’m making the worst decision of my life, but there’s one sure thing I do know right now and that’s the moment I laid eyes on you, there was no turning back. You were all I thought about in the hospital.”
Sam’s chin dropped. “Oh, Emily, I’m sorry.”
“I’m not! I do love you. I’ve loved you from the beginning.”
Under normal circumstances, it would have been the perfect time for a passionate kiss. Instead, Sam let out a loud “Yee-haw!”
His form became long and brilliant, stretching several inches above me. Arching back, the faceless figure dove forward with unexpected force, plunging deep into the middle of my chest. Bright light filled the room and seemed to be coming out of my own body. The rays of light turned solid, cracked, and disintegrated into a dense white fog. Under its own power, the fog started spinning wildly around me, ‘round and ‘round like a small white tornado. My arms felt like they were attached to marionette strings as they rose by an outside force. The wind whirled in my ears and lifted my hair high into the air. Nothing was frightening about it in the least. It was amazing!
I closed my eyes to continue the joyo
us burst of ecstasy as the sultry flavor of Sam exploded through my senses. The taste was suffocating yet intoxicating at the same time. “I love you, Sam Easley!” I called above the windy whirl. Reopening my eyes, I found myself levitating several inches above the carpet.
Chapter Forty
NATURE OF THE BEAST
IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME to ask Sam what his plans were while I slept last night. I simply left him at the bottom of our stairs and said, “Good-night.”
Waiting to fully recover from the sleep-induced grogginess, I knew this day would be perfect, spending its entirety with Sam…and not worry. I further allowed myself to relive an unbelievable dream filled with whispers that made me giggle, touches that made me want more, and hugs that made me feel the special powers of love hidden inside…all leading up to the incredible, breath taking Kiss!
Too bad I woke up before the kiss actually happened. Not that it really mattered. I’d get a real one soon enough.
I took time getting ready. I wanted to look delicious, and smell delicious. Finally approving, I headed for the steps. I could already hear two men talking in the kitchen, presumably Dad interrogating Sam.
“With some creativity, I probably could, sir.”
“Could what?” I asked, barging into the conversation.
There they were, sitting at the kitchen table, acting, and looking, like two normal human beings, except that Sam’s color faded at my presence. Sam rose from the table, just as he had done the night before. Not to be outdone, my dad stood up too. My eyes immediately traveled to the gauze bandage on his face.
“Good morning, Miss Emily.” Sam tipped his head in the greeting.
“Wow! A standing ovation.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“Just good manners,” Sam replied.
“Nauseous,” Dad groaned and sat back down.
“Well, I like it,” I snapped. “It makes me feel important.”
Rolling his eyes, Dad stood back up and motioned to a chair. “Please join us.”
“I’d like to stand. But the two of you may be seated.” I felt a little foolish. “Do I say that?”
“Something like that,” Sam said.
A Kiss for Emily (Emily Stokes Series) Page 23