Unbidden, an image of the two of them, still mostly clothed, slipped into his mind. His trousers around his ankles, Justin had Rose pinned up against a wall, her dress bunched beneath her breasts and her legs locked around his waist. He was taking her roughly, almost violently, his vision a direct contrast to the loving, gentle man Rose had been describing.
Looking into the present Rose’s eyes, Justin began to sweat. The desire to touch her, taste her was getting stronger again and he wondered, not for the first time, if he was somehow being influenced by magic and if, perhaps, James hadn’t been exactly as Rose remembered him. While Justin liked sex, this drive, this overwhelming need to posses Rose went beyond all reason and logic. It was as if something more powerful than his own will was driving him to take her.
Then, in an instant, it was as if time stopped and the world around them ceased to move. Justin was only aware of the soft rise and fall of Rose’s chest, unheard of because ghosts didn’t breathe. Her pupils dilated, nearly obliterating the silvery irises, and her lush-looking lips parted. He could feel his cock pressing painfully against the fly of his jeans.
Though his mind seemed frozen, Justin’s body apparently had no problem acting of it’s own free will, almost as if something else was, at least temporarily, possessing him. At first, it was as if Justin was outside his body, watching his head lower and his lips seek out Rose’s.
In that instant, Justin stopped fighting whatever had a hold on him and he relaxed into the moment. He felt himself snap back into his body and suddenly, he was aware of the press of Rose’s lips against his and the softness of her body nestled against his.
He didn’t stop to realize that what he was feeling wasn’t logical or even considered impossible. Instead, he pushed the thought away and simply allowed himself to feel, something he hadn’t done in a very long time.
Chapter Six
The morning hadn’t gone exactly the way Rose had hoped it would. In her heart, she’d prayed that spending time with Justin would jar his memory, allow him to remember the life he’d lived when he was James Morgan, her husband. Instead, they’d played cat and mouse, answering each other’s questions, but never really doing anything more than scratching the surface.
Then there was Justin himself and the conflict of emotions driving him.
More in tune to the universe than Justin realized, Rose had been able to feel his rising tensions – the fear and anger – as well as the reckless passion and desire that flared in him every time he set foot inside the house. She’d tried to calm him, diffuse whatever overwhelming emotions he was feeling but then time had stopped, just as it had the night they had all died.
Moments before, Rose had involuntarily stepped closer to Justin, almost as if she had been pushed. She felt the heat radiating from his body, soothing the cool chill she had known all of her ghostly existence. She watched his chest rise and fall, the sight almost hypnotic. More than that, she’d felt the press of his erection against her belly and the raging desire he felt arced across their connected bodies until she wasn’t sure where she ended and he began.
Then he’d kissed her and she’d been lost.
Now, she could feel the tease of his tongue against her lips, coaxing her to open for him. She didn’t want to, not yet, but she found that she couldn’t help herself. She wanted Justin, wanted to feel him buried deep inside her the way James used to be. She wanted to feel his naked skin on hers, his hands kneading and caressing her now-aching breasts.
Though she wasn’t quite sure how it was possible, Rose knew she was feeling what a living, breathing woman felt and deep inside, a part of her that she didn’t know had been frozen, slowly unthawed. Liquid heat flowed through her veins and she felt warm, almost as if she were alive again. Reveling in the feeling, she let out a low moan and twined her leg around Justin’s so she could rub her feminine mound against his hardness, even though multiple layers of cloth separated them.
Rose wanted this, wanted Justin in a way that defied logic. Despite everything, he still wasn’t James. Her husband was dead and though his spirit had been reborn into this man, he was still different, angrier and more prone to violence than the man she had once married. Yet at the moment, none of that seemed to matter. All that mattered, at least to her, was touching him, feeling him.
Unable to help herself, she reached out and cupped him, stroking up his long length and imagined him thrusting in and out of her.
At her touch, Justin gasped and broke the kiss. As Rose pulled back, she could see that his eyes were half closed, his lids heavy with desire. Justin reached out and stroked her cheek, his voice a mere whisper and filled with a mix of emotions she didn’t even want to begin to identify.
“Rose, I need you. I want to be inside you.”
His words broke whatever spell was holding her in place and she pulled back in embarrassment. She had just met this man; no matter that he looked just like James and in many ways was James. She still didn’t know what the other differences between them were and until she did, she had no business being with him like this.
“I…I can’t,” Rose mumbled and then she did the one thing she had long ago sworn never to do, the one thing that only reinforced her existence as a ghost. She vanished into thin air.
The instant Rose reappeared in the attic, she knew she’d made a mistake. In her rush to stop the emotions swirling inside her, she’d taken the easy way out, not realizing that disappearing would only cause Justin to seek her out. She couldn’t allow him in here, not in this suite of rooms that had been their special place, the one she and James had escaped to whenever they could in an attempt to forget about the world outside and those in it.
She quickly decided to redirect Justin to the kitchen with a good rattle of the cabinet doors, but before she could disappear again, the attic door swung open to reveal Justin standing there like an ancient god, breathing hard and a mix of hurt and anger on his face.
“Why did you leave me, Rose?” he demanded, crossing the room to stand before her. She began to gather her energy in an attempt to disappear again, but Justin’s hand snaked out to clamp around her wrist. “Oh, no you don’t. You can’t run away if I’m touching you.”
Rose frowned because he was right. He just wasn’t supposed to know that; nobody was. Then again, she reasoned, he was a ghost hunter by trade. He probably knew more paranormal tricks than she did. After all, she was a pretty lousy ghost.
When she didn’t say anything but instead glared at him, he shrugged. “I learned the hard way, but I did learn. Now why did you run?”
Rose closed her eyes, unable to look at him. “Because you’re not James and it’s not right. You’re not my husband.”
“But I was,” Justin countered, pulling her close again so that she was tight against him. The warm sensations began flowing over her again and she began to forget why she had tried so hard to stay away from him. “You admitted as much to me.”
Still, Rose wasn’t ready to give in. “Yes, but you’re different now. I explained that. What if I don’t like the man you are now? I would be giving myself to a stranger. I am not that kind of woman.”
Justin, however, was unswayed. He was tired of fighting the rising tide of desire and he was so hard he ached, almost to the point of pain. He had no idea how ghost sex worked, nor did he care. All he knew was what he wanted – to be pumping in and out of Rose’s luscious body sooner rather than later.
“Would you? Really?” he asked, his voice now gentle and coaxing. “Am I a stranger, Rose? You didn’t seem to think so last night. What changed?”
She shook her head. “I had time to think. I had time to remember, remember that you are not him, no matter how much I might wish it.” She held herself back but she hadn’t pulled away. Justin took that as a good sign.
Pressing his advantage, he reached out and stroked her breast through the thin fabric of her dress until her nipple peaked. Then he tilted his head so he could suck the hard tip through the fabric of her dress.
“Do you remember that?” he teased, knowing full well that she did. “I do, Rose. I saw myself do that to you in these memories that keep popping up in my head. Strangely, they all seem to be about sex.” During his mad dash up the stairs, Justin had given in to the memories assaulting him and simply allowed them to take over his mind. He’d been well rewarded. Almost instantly, he’d been able to recall exactly what it had been like, including sneaking up on Rose and suckling her breast, making her wet and leaving her begging for more.
Rose wanted to continue to fight Justin’s persuasive words, but she found that she had little resistance left. It had been so long since she’d felt anything, but longer still since she had experienced the feel of a man’s hands on her, or more specifically, the feel of her husband’s hands on her.
When Justin bit down lightly on the tip of her nipple, Rose nearly came apart in his arms.
“I’m not exactly like him, Rosie,” Justin whispered in her ear, using the now familiar endearment, “but deep inside, I’m still the same person. I’ve felt it since I entered this house last night. You’re the only thing I can think about and all I want is to fuck you senseless. I know that doesn’t make any sense, but it’s what I want.”
Justin’s words struck deep into Rose’s mind. Those rough words were James’ words, the same ones he had often used when he was courting her, determined to make her his before anyone else could claim her. He had wanted to get her pregnant, to show the world that someone like her could love someone like him.
With that, the rest of her resistance fell away. In time, she might find out that Justin was different from James in ways she did not care for, but she would deal with that later. Deep inside, this man was still James, was still her loving, adoring husband and she wanted him with a depth of passion that scared her. Decision made, she allowed her wanton side, as her grandfather had termed it, free reign.
“Yes,” she hissed, as Justin continued to play with her nipple. “I want that too. Take me the way you used to.”
Bringing his lips back up to meet hers, Justin kissed her deeply and this time, Rose didn’t need any coaxing to part her lips and allow him inside. Instead, she began tugging at the bottom of his shirt, trying to pull it over his head. Now that she had made the decision to be with him, she was anxious to get to it.
However, it was now Justin’s turn to hesitate. Though it had faded, the alternating hot and cold sensation still lapped at him, teasing his skin and reminding him that Rose wasn’t human. Still, he could touch her, feel her, so he reasoned that they could have sex.
As much as he wanted her, however, he now began to wonder if he had coerced her into having sex with him. Even though he ached for her, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if that were the case.
“What’s wrong?” Rose asked as she finally worked his shirt over his head and noticed that he was hesitating. “Having second thoughts? Please don’t say that you are. I don’t know if I could bear it.”
He shook his head, knowing he was being silly. Rose wanted this; she said she did. So he did what any man in his position would do – he lied. “Not second thoughts, just unsure how to proceed. You are, after all, still a ghost.”
“I thought we covered this,” she said as she began working on the button fly of his jeans. “I’m not a regular ghost.” When he didn’t say anything, she stopped and looked up at him. “I want this, Justin, and I know you want it too. We’ll make it happen. It might be different than what you’re used to, but it will still happen.”
As if to prove her point, Rose stepped back and reached around until she found the zipper on her dress. In one smooth motion, she unzipped her dress and let it fall from her body, pooling at her feet. As a ghost, she hadn’t really seen the need for undergarments so she hadn’t worn any, just her shoes, which she kicked off rather quickly. She supposed she could have simply made the clothes disappear, but this seemed more adventurous somehow.
Now, she stood before Justin stark naked, the way she had so many times before in a time long since passed.
The air around them seemed to thicken and Rose was aware that time was stopping. She wasn’t sure why; it never had before. However, at the moment, seeing Justin’s gloriously bare chest, she also didn’t care to stop and figure it out.
“Remember how you used to command me to strip for you, like the bar girls from the edge of town?” she teased, slowly slinking around him until she reached her dressing table. Once there, she pulled out a chair and sat down, legs wide open. “Remember how you watched me please myself?”
She wet one finger in her mouth and let it trail down her body to the nest of curls between her legs. Justin watched transfixed as she began to stroke herself, every so often flicking the little nub of pleasure that he had seen in his vision last night. She moaned slightly and shifted her position so that she had better access to her most intimate of areas.
“Remember how you used to do all those naughty things to me?” Rose was teasing now, but she couldn’t help herself. Somehow, here in the attic, time as they knew it had ceased to exist. As she had begun to touch herself, she felt her very being start to change, becoming a mix of the woman she had been and the ghost she was.
The deep, aching cold that she lived with daily receded, only to be replaced by blessed warmth, as if she were alive again. Her skin softened and her body had weight to it, just like a living, breathing person. She could smell the mustiness of the attic and felt the press of an approaching summer thunderstorm in her bones. Both were sensations she hadn’t experienced since she died.
“Touch me, Justin,” Rose whispered, desperate for him to experience the changes taking place within her. “Feel me. Feel what I become for you.”
Silently, almost reverently, Justin approached Rose and knelt before her. Tentatively, he reached out and covered her hand with his as she continued to stroke herself. Instantly, he knew he had done this before, many times. He had helped Rose get excited, enough so that he could slide right into her and hopefully get her pregnant. He’d wanted the entire town, no the entire world, to know that she was his.
As he continued to stroke her intimately, Rose moved her hands to her breasts and began pinching her nipples, teasing the already taut peaks until she began to squirm beneath his touch. She had always been so easy to bring to orgasm, he remembered, not even bothering now to push the thought away. While in this house at least, he and James were essentially one and the same. It was no longer worth fighting the sensations.
It was then that he realized Rose’s skin had become soft and warm, almost human. He reveled in the feel of her silken skin and felt moisture bead at the tip of his cock.
“How…?” he began but Rose put a finger to his lips.
“Shhh. Don’t question. Just feel.”
Slowly, Rose slid off the chair and sank to the floor so that she was now level with Justin. “Remember where we used to lie together?” she asked as she left his side and crawled towards a large, thick fur rug in the corner.
Justin couldn’t help but follow, watching her perfect ass sway in the dusky light. Around him, nothing moved. No dust motes floated in the ever-rising streams of sunlight. No birds sang in the trees outside the window. There wasn’t even any sound from below, even though he knew that at the very least Reed and Callie should be here by now. It was as if everything around him was frozen in place or maybe he had been removed from time itself. In any case, he knew that it was just the two of them, at least for now.
Once he’d pleasured her, somehow he instinctively knew that time would return to normal. He couldn’t say how or why he knew, just that he did.
On the rug, Rose lay on her side, her fingers skimming over her breasts, her eyes fluttering closed in pleasure. This was what he remembered, how he used to find her waiting for him many nights. He’d come home from work and she would be here, on this rug, waiting for him, even in the days before they were married.
“Rose.” Her name was like a prayer on his lips
and he no longer fought the ache that was rising inside him. Crawling across the floor, he was at her side in moments. He knelt before her, simply drinking in the sight of her. It had been so long, so many empty years without her by his side. In that moment, he was James Morgan and Justin Grant had ceased to exist.
“You know what I want,” she whispered, “what I have always wanted.” Then Rose rolled onto her back and turned her head, gazing at him with a mix of longing and sadness. “Don’t deny me this, not after so long. Please.”
With practiced ease, Justin reached out and stroked her mound through the nest of curls. Rose moaned and shifted so that she leaned into his touch. Lightly, Justin traced small, lazy circles around her most intimate area until she squirmed beneath him. She would be wet now, Justin knew, but not quite wet enough.
Parting her nether lips, Justin ran one finger through her slick channel and rubbed lightly at her nub of ultimate pleasure. Rose gasped and arched off the rug, one hand reaching out to clutch his shoulder. He continued teasing her until he sensed she was about to come, then inserted first one finger and then another inside her.
Immediately, her intimate muscles clamped around his fingers and, with an assurance born of time, he gently crooked one finger so he could stroke her inner walls. Almost instantly, Rose shattered, her orgasm washing over her in waves as her body convulsed around his fingers. As the intense pleasure subsided, Rose sank back onto the rug, her hands coming to rest above her head.
“That was amazing, my love,” she nearly purred, her body still soft and warm as if she were human once more.
Justin grinned wickedly as more images from his past bombarded his brain. He saw himself taking Rose in nearly every position imaginable, their bodies locked together in passion and shared desire. He wanted that, badly. He just didn’t know which way he wanted to have her first.
Ghosts Of Lovers Past Page 5