Ghost of a Chance (1 Night Stand Series)

by Remiel, Deena

  ***

  What is that tiny flutter where my heart used to be? How is it possible to be feeling anything at all? When he’d found Susannah crying by the fountain earlier, he’d hated himself to the core, blaming himself for her sorrow, but he’d had no choice but to disappear. It took a lot of energy to produce the transparent outline of his body for extended periods of time. When she left, he faded away and hadn’t expected her back so soon. It took a bit of time to return to his opaque appearance. Now, her acceptance and blatant need of him overwhelmed him, and he prayed for his impressions to be true. Beneath him at this moment lay a woman who could be falling in love with him. As it stood, he was crazy nuts over her. He’d be thanking his lucky stars—or Madame Evangeline—for years to come, if a relationship came out of this one night together. Reality paled for him, and boldness took hold.

  “If I use my voice some more, will you let me make love to you, Susannah?”

  “Y…yes, I will.” Her breath came out in ragged spurts. “Let me hear you, Remy.” She gazed at him with the most beautiful eyes filled with trust and desire.

  Lord, Almighty. She’s all worked up, and I made it happen! I can’t believe I’m doing this! Remy began his sensual assault by humming and gliding his mouth down her slender neck. He paused where her pulse throbbed and sang in a lower tone, following the line back up to the sweet spot just behind her ear.

  “Oh, my….” She closed her eyes, and arched her neck, an invitation for Remy to continue. He lingered there for a while then journeyed down to the slope of her breasts, continuing to murmur a tuneless piece. She bit her bottom lip and tiny goose bumps rose across her skin. Susannah grabbed her tank top’s hem and lifted it up so that her breasts were exposed. He blazed a trail around each, circling closer and closer to their taut nipples. When he reached his goal, he parted his lips and groaned.

  “Oh, dear God in heaven!” She rolled her head from side to side. Even he felt a slight rumble in his chest and reveled in the growing implications. Susannah moaned as she grabbed a bit of blanket. How is it possible to bring such pleasure to her simply by using my voice? He had no clue, but no desire to stop long to ponder, either.

  He traveled further down her body, planting little seeds of vibrations just under her breasts, over her ribcage, and around her belly button, which set her undulating beneath him. She unzipped her shorts and wriggled out of them, showing him a present wrapped in black lace.

  If he’d been able to breathe, he would have forgotten how, as he anticipated her reaction to his attentions there. He started just below her navel and made a path straight to the heart of her. He varied the pitch and volume of his voice as he hummed Ravel’s Bolero seductively by her mound, simulating what his hand might have done in its place. Faster and faster he hummed; louder still, until he heard Susannah murmur the word “yes,” crying out his name as her body writhed on the blanket. She kneaded her breasts, sending her into another fit of shockwaves and spasms. And finally she stilled, her chest still heaving.

  He’d come to rest next to her. She turned toward him and smiled. “Wow. I can’t believe what just happened. You’re amazing!”

  “Thank you. You are, too. But I gotta tell ya, I’m glad I can’t feel anything, because I’d be in a hell of a lot of pain right now.” They laughed, and forgetting himself for a brief moment, he rolled over to embrace her. He got nothing but air, and his chuckling died as he sat up.

  “It’s chilly in here. You should get dressed or you’ll catch cold, sweetheart. I don’t have the power to keep you warm.” He shot up and floated over to the French doors, passing through to the patio. He tried picking up a pebble to toss it, focusing his energy, but no luck.

  “Damn it!” He’d thought that since his voice could touch Susannah and there’d been rumbles here and there that he was on his way back to normal. But she had to be in love with him. That kind of thing didn’t happen in an instant. Regardless, he had one chance, to capture her heart. He started at a click as the doors opened behind him. “Remy?”

  “Hmmm?” He didn’t turn around. She sidled up next to him, and he snuck a glance at her as she gazed up at the sky. She’d put her clothes back on.

  “Remy, look at me.” She paused until he faced her. “You’re upset. Please don’t be. I’m having a phenomenal time with you. A magical time, in fact.”

  He smirked. “Yeah, nothing beats masturbating beside a fake lake.”

  “Stop it! You promised,” she admonished. “You must know I don’t think that way at all. You made love to me. Your voice…did things to me…I’d never experienced before. I wish that it could be as amazing for you. I feel like I’m failing you. What am I supposed to do about it?”

  Energy drained from his ghostly form, and he would go invisible in a matter of moments. “You aren’t letting me down at all, Susannah. I’ve done it to myself and have been living with that knowledge for ten years.” He shimmered and faded slightly. “I’m sorry. Please don’t be frightened. I must leave for a little while. I’ll find you. I’ll come to your suite. But before I go, please know, you and only you are what brings out the little bit of life there is left in me.”

  Chapter Five

  Dumbstruck, Susannah watched as Remy disappeared into nothingness before her eyes. Alone on the patio, with nothing but birds and crickets and the whisper of a breeze to keep her company, she picked up a pebble and rolled it around in her palm. An action so simple, yet so confounding to the man she’d become enamored with. She tossed it and watched as it blended with the others on the ground. What am I going to do about him?

  Walking along the myriad of hallways that led back to her room, she contemplated her options. She could view this as a one-time date. Enjoy her hours with him, thank him for a wonderful time, and say farewell at the end. But that didn’t sit well with her at all. She’d signed up with the express hope of Remy sweeping her off her feet for the evening. Well, he had. And she’d been prepared to have a relationship with him despite the apparent obstacles. Any roadblock, though, could be overcome with a little ingenuity. Remy Charles had stolen her heart from the moment she’d heard his voice asking if she was coming back. It wouldn’t take long before he had her soul as well.

  ***

  Showered and changed into a chocolate satin negligee, Susannah decided to do a little investigating into curses on her laptop. She hunkered down on her bed and began a search of curses and their cures. If Remy isn’t going to be forthcoming about how to fix his damned state of being, then I will just have to find out for myself. It took a long while before anything popped up related to his problem, but finally she struck gold.

  “Aha! I found it!” She shifted on her bed. As she read about the “Ghost of a Man” curse, she marveled at the intricacy involved in the casting of it. Her eyes fell upon its reversal and narrowed as she read on. She shook her head. That’s all he needs? In ten years, no woman has fallen in love with him? Are they insane? He has so much to offer—intelligence, humor, manners, sensitivity, a smokin’ hot voice. Well, too bad for them! He’s all mine now.

  No wonder he wouldn’t say anything. It would have been too awkward for him. You can’t force love, and he wouldn’t have wanted to make her uncomfortable by explaining how crucial she could be to his restoration. She could understand that logic. What if they didn’t click? But over the course of the evening, she had been falling for him. She’d held just a bit of her heart back at the beginning as she tested the waters of this unusual circumstance.

  His plea for her to return to him at the fountain earlier had removed her fear and misgivings. His clever conversation energized her mind. And his lovemaking built a bridge to her heart. With all she had experienced so far, she armed her soul with the knowledge that she could save him. The power rested within her to bring him back to life. But were her budding feelings for him enough to win the battle? She prepared to find out.

  She rustled up some soft, sensual music to play in the background, called housekeeping for some candles
and room service for champagne and chocolate sauce. It’s my turn to make love to him, and damn it, I’m determined he feel everything. Now all I need is Remy!

  ***

  “What did I tell you? You never listen to your mother and you’re not listening to me. He’s no good for you. You need a real man.” Aunt Molly shook her head and tsked.

  “But I can make him one again. I know I can. I’ve fallen in love with him. He’s everything I’ve been missing in my life. I appreciate your concern, but it’s not necessary.”

  “There’s evil around him, Susannah!”

  “I know. It’s the curse. I’m here to fix that, you’ll see. Now you need to stop harassing me. Enough is enough. I love you, but you need to go be at peace.” Aunt Molly grinned, nodded, and faded into black.

  “Susannah. Susannah, wake up, sweetheart. I’m back.”

  She opened her eyes, unaware that she’d even fallen asleep. She still sat straight up in her bed with the computer open on her lap. “Oh, my goodness! How long have you been here?” She scrubbed her face and checked the time. Two o’clock in the morning.

  “I just arrived. Don’t worry. I haven’t been watching you sleep, although that does sound intriguing.” He laughed and her pulse quickened. “It’s good to see you.”

  “It’s going to be very good to see you.” She closed her computer and moved it to the desk. The outline of his brows furrowed, but she made no further remark. Refreshing herself in the bathroom, she returned invigorated. “Welcome to our date, Part Two. You planned the first half of our date, so I decided to take over this one.”

  She walked up to him and cupped the outline of his face. “I have something special in mind for us.” His real face shimmered in and out, but when she removed her hands, he lost substance again.

  “Whoa. What just happened? My brain fogged up there for a minute.”

  “I have no idea. Come sit on the bed while I set out our sensual treats.”

  Of course she knew! But she wouldn’t let on. Peeling away the layers of the curse would take some time, but she had the stamina and the will to bring him back to life in the most seductive and rapturous way possible. As he floated to the bed, she brought over the bottle of chocolate sauce.

  “What’s this for? Tell me that’s going all over you and I think that’ll be enough to cure me.” He laughed wickedly and shook his head. “To lick you like a decadent treat would be orgasmic, that is, if I could taste anything at all.”

  She nearly dropped the bottle; she shook so with desire. “If you keep saying stuff like that, I won’t be able to think. Now, I’ve been waiting for this moment since you left me. It’s my turn.”

  “Your turn? For what?”

  She crawled onto the bed and came up behind him to whisper by the outline of his ear. “I’m going to make love to you, my sweet, tortured soul of a man.” She watched as his shoulders rolled and he growled. “And you are going to feel every moment of it.”

  “I love your optimism here, but I don’t want to see you disappointed. Not because of me.”

  “Are you wearing any clothes, Remy?”

  “Uh, yes. The same ones I’ve worn since the curse took effect. Jeans and a T-shirt.” He laughed ruefully. “It happened the first day I’d taken off in months. I’d put my comfy clothes on. That’s irony for ya.”

  She leaned over, close to his other ear. “Take them off.”

  “Are you serious?” The high pitch of incredulity sent sensual waves cascading over her body and she trembled.

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, will you take off yours as well?”

  “Oh, I plan on it, sweetheart, but all in good time. When you’re done, lie down on the bed.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” His form shrugged out of his clothes and rested on the bed, his head making an indentation on the pillow and his body sinking into the lush mattress. “I’m all yours, if you can find me!”

  She giggled. “I can find you just fine, sugar. Here I come.” She took a deep breath and exhaled as she pulled the negligee off her body and tossed it to the floor.

  “Oh God, Susannah, you take my breath away. I think my entire body is aching for you. Impossible, though.”

  She smiled. “Just close your eyes a moment. I’ve got a surprise for you. No peeking, now! I can’t tell one way or the other, but you gotta promise me.”

  “I promise. I promise.”

  This is it. Time to bring my man back from the purgatory he’s lived in for far too long. She tossed her hair behind her shoulders and moved to the foot of the bed. She reached both palms out to begin her exploration of his body. As her fingers approached his feet, she prayed for her burgeoning love to be strong enough. She needed for him to feel her. She closed her eyes and touched something, not the bedcovers. Startled, she opened her eyes and pulled her hands back as his feet faded in and out. Perfect, it’s working and Remy hasn’t noticed yet. She crawled like a panther in between the outline of his legs. She followed the line to where his manhood stood erect and touched him again. Tall and thick before her, she didn’t pull away. She kissed him there and licked him, and each time her tongue laved him, he glimmered to reality.

  “Holy shit, Susannah!” He lifted his head and rose up on his elbows, staring at her down the line of his body. The more she stroked and kissed him, the longer the area stayed corporeal. “Oh, my God, I feel you!” He nodded and groaned. “I…I’m returning to my real self.” She kept stroking and playing him while she planted kisses along the hills and plains of his now-shimmering stomach and chest.

  He moaned. “Mmm. Jesus, it’s been so long. So damn long. Oh my God, this means you…. Tell me, Susannah. Tell me what I’ve been praying to hear. Ahhh….”

  She stopped stroking and slithered up his wavering form to see the outline of his mouth. She whispered against his shimmering lips, “I’m falling in love with you, Remy Charles.” She gentled a kiss upon them and whimpered with longing. As his lips formed more substantially under hers, she traced circles up and down his arms, and they too did their shimmer dance.

  After a few moments, she’d touched every part of his body. Flickering like a light bulb, he wavered between real flesh and bone and transparency. He pulled her down onto him in a fierce embrace. Consumed by raw emotion, she melted into him as his body, rock hard, quivered beneath her. Her fingers took a frantic journey over every part of him that she could reach. Skin, she felt his luscious, smooth skin! And muscles that strained with sexual tension. Remy rolled her over onto her back. She peered up at him, at his glorious face realized before her for the very first time, and smiled.

  Pinpricks and energy jolts assaulted his body as he returned from his ghost-like prison, but Susannah’s delicate yet needful touches and strokes soothed them away into the background. Finally, he could feel and taste her as he’d only been able to describe earlier in their suite. At last, he was free to love her and receive her love in return. He whispered against her ear, “I love you, Susannah Cravens. Mind”—he kissed her right shoulder—“soul”—he kissed her left shoulder—“and body.” This time, they lingered while his hands blazed a trail over her curvaceous landscape. He settled in at the sweet heat between her legs, and her moisture enveloped his fingers, telling him without words how much she needed him.

  She moaned and writhed beneath him, reaching out to the tray beside them. He watched as she pulled out a string of condom packets from under the napkin.

  “Housekeeping is so agreeable,” she joked softly.

  He laughed and took them from her. “These should last us, oh, until daybreak, I’m thinking.” He ripped into one and sheathed himself. “Ten years, Susannah. It’s been ten years and a lifetime at least since I’ve wanted to make love with a woman as much as I want to with you right now.”

  He teased and rubbed and plunged into her, succumbing to his physical and emotional cravings. He froze for a moment, enjoying her warmth tightening around him. Susannah wrapped her legs around his waist and urged him on.


  “Oh, my God, you feel so good. So good. Don’t stop,” she murmured.

  “As you wish,” he replied. He pulled out and thrust into her again and again until the pressure proved too great, the rapture a mixture of pleasure and pain. He closed his eyes and let go as she cried out his name over and over. They rode the passionate wave of their climax together, and he clung to her in desperation, afraid to open his eyes and see he’d gone transparent. Rolling them onto their sides, he managed to stay inside her, not ready to leave her warmth. She kissed him on his cheek.

  “Welcome back to the land of the living, Remy.”

  He peeked through his eyelashes and raised a tentative hand to check. It’s true! I’m still flesh and blood. He sighed with relief and overwhelming joy.

  “It’s so very good to be back. And I would recommend the way you did it to anyone with the same problem.”

  “Now just to be sure this is for good, we’ll need to repeat this. And as you know, I have reinforcements.” She gazed up at him and winked.

  “Chocolate sauce, here I come.” He kissed her and pulled out, getting hard again just anticipating the next bit of sensual fun. He arose from the bed, taking the condoms with him. “Join me in the shower, won’t you, and bring the chocolate.” He grinned over his shoulder and headed toward the bathroom.

  “You got it, mister!”

  He threw away the spent condom and tossed the packets in the shower. He examined himself in the mirror. Holy shit! He’d expected to see a forty-five year old man, with slight wrinkles formed around his eyes and mouth, some graying along his temples, a little paunch maybe in his middle since he couldn’t workout like he used to. But nothing! His thirty-five year old, buff body stood and smiled back at him. Ten years may have passed, but it hadn’t affected him at all.