by Sahara Kelly
Cory turned to stare at him. “Déjà vu? Is there something you haven’t told me about, Louis?”
She tugged him back through the door just as the groans increased in intensity. “Come on, I wouldn’t want you to get any ideas in there.”
“Too late.”
Cory stopped dead in her tracks and Louis bumped into her. Apparently the whole being-a-spirit thing didn’t apply to the two of them. “Oh my God.”
Louis looked around. “What’d I miss? Triplets?”
She frowned. “Very funny.” Then she waved her hand at a door. “I could swear I just saw Honey go into that room with a man that looked a helluva lot like Maurice.”
“Now you’re really seeing things.” Louis tried to go back to the blondes’ room for another peek, but Cory held on, keeping him back.
“Of course I’m seeing things. So are you. We’re both seeing things. That was a real stupid thing to say.” She sighed. “Sorry. This is so frickin’ weird it’s freaking me out.”
Louis squeezed her hand, gently this time, offering comfort. “Yeah. All the sex aside, it is pretty fucked up, isn’t it?”
“Why are we here, Louis? Did you ask yourself that? Are we supposed to meet someone, hear something, see something? What? We’re here together, holding hands and can see the past. We’re in the past.” A note in her voice told Louis she was serious and he looked back at her.
“Did you ever think there might be a fundamental reason for all this strangeness and the otherworldly events in your house?” She stared at him.
He smiled. “And here I was just thinking we were getting a free peep show from the past. Of course this doesn’t make sense, Cory. It is way beyond anything I’ve ever dreamed of.”
Images of Mabel and Maxine darted into his brain, but he pushed them out again. Uh uh. Best not to mention that. Women don’t understand. “Look, I just gotta go with it, you know? What other choice do we have?”
Louis knew he was right. He should probably have been a whimpering lump of terror by now, but something inside him held back the panic. Some certainty that whatever was happening to them wasn’t going to hurt them. He’d lived with paranormal oddities since he’d arrived at Love Alley and not one had ever hurt him.
They’d brought him a dream-fantasy about the twins that had surpassed any he’d had in college—and they’d brought him Cory. Sure he’d had to chase his tools around, but overall he couldn’t accept that they were in any danger.
“All right. So we’ve seen a shitload of hot sex, but this is the first time we’ve seen anybody that looks familiar.” Cory moved to the door. “I’m wondering if it’s a clue or something. If you’re up for it, I reckon we should go find out.” Cory pulled Louis’s hand.
He almost grimaced at her choice of words. He was definitely up for it.
*~~*~~*
“Ah yes, it’s been too long Alice. I missed having you.” The bearded man stood behind the woman draped over the footboard.
Louis and Cory materialized in the room just as he began fucking her in the ass.
With the similarities between these two and the Honey and Maurice from the twenty-first century, it was difficult for Cory and Louis to stand there and watch as the man violently hammered into her. But she just whimpered and the euphoric look on her face did not speak of pain but a joyful pleasure. Her large breasts dangled from her chest as she propped herself up to take his cock.
“Yes Alice, that’s my whore. You like your Captain fucking you like a whore, don’t you?”
Instantly Cory looked at Louis. In unison they spoke. “Captain?”
“That’s the captain from the portrait in that small room of yours. Remember?” Cory blinked. “Now I know why Maurice looked familiar.”
Louis nodded. “Yeah, they must be related somewhere back in the family tree. Maurice told me he grew up around here.”
The man began to growl as he pawed at Alice’s ass and lower back. His knees bent as he thrust forward with a powerful force, every muscle on his body tensing as he reached the brink of his explosion. He threw his head back and with a groan he pulled free of her ass, spewing his seed on Alice’s back. Over and over he gushed onto her bared skin. Alice slumped down onto the bed with a sigh, turned her head and smiled.
Louis dragged Cory from the room. “Now I’ve seen enough.” His eyes glinted wickedly at her. “How about we go back and try some of the things those twins were doing?”
About to answer him, Cory paused. Which was probably a good thing, since she had a sneaking feeling her answer would have been “okay”. Now wasn’t the time. Or perhaps it was, since she had no idea which time they were actually in. Any more of this and her brain was going to fry.
A laugh distracted her and she glanced down to see a woman walking up the staircase.
Elegant and green-eyed, she was smiling, holding folds of her dress in one hand as she made her way to the second-floor landing.
“Claudine.” Cory’s hand twitched convulsively around Louis’s, and in her other hand the little amulet bag began to throb. “Louis, it’s Claudine.”
Louis didn’t answer. He too was staring at the beauty walking toward them. She turned and opened a door, passing quietly beyond and closing it behind her.
“Come on.” Cory pulled at him. “This has to be why we’re here.”
“Not the twins?” His voice sounded a little wistful as he followed her.
“Shhh.” Without hesitation Cory seeped through the walls of the room after Claudine, knowing that Louis would follow where she led. This was one time she was glad he didn’t argue or stop to discuss the matter. Twins notwithstanding, she knew he was part of this whole—whatever it was. He had to be there, to see what she saw and hear what she heard.
“I know this room.” Louis looked around. “This is the master bedroom, Cory. That molding—” He nodded to the heavily ornate wall decoration that loomed over the large bed. “I replaced that a few days ago. Right there, too.”
“Yep.” She nodded absently, her gaze fixed on Claudine as she moved around the room, dabbing a delicate lace handkerchief to her upper lip as she blotted the perspiration from it.
A touch of perfume from a large crystal bottle followed, flooding the air with the scent that was so familiar to both Cory and Louis.
“Sheeeit.” Louis’s fingers crushed Cory’s. “It was her scent.”
Heat boiled up inside Cory as that delicate floral fragrance curled around them. It had to be some kind of aphrodisiac. Or maybe it was just the man next to her.
She jerked her thoughts away from Louis and back to Claudine. The woman had straightened her appearance, sipped something from a glass next to her bed and smoothed the covers, smiling as she picked up a bunch of delicate white flowers and touched the petals.
Was she awaiting a client? A business associate? A maid? Obviously she was waiting for somebody.
Both Louis and Cory gasped as one of the wall panels on the far side of the room swung open and a man entered.
“Holy fucking shit—”
Cory didn’t know if Louis’s exclamation was because of the panel or the man, but it was one she could understand.
The new arrival moved to Claudine and slipped his arms around her waist. “Cherie.” A whisper of sound, no more, but what a wealth of emotion in just one word. The couple leaned in for a long and passionate kiss.
“Do you see?” Cory breathed the question to Louis as she looked at the man. Tall, much taller than anyone they’d seen up to now, he was dressed conservatively, much like a servant.
He was also amazingly handsome, his black skin glowing against the whiteness of his shirt, dark curly hair lying softly on his collar. His teeth gleamed brilliantly as he pulled away from Claudine’s lips and smiled down at her. “I missed you, cherie.”
“And I you, Baptiste mon amour.” She nestled against him in a move that screamed “lovers”. There was a familiarity and a comfort in her gestures that told Cory more than all the words in the
world.
“It goes well this night?” He stroked her cheek gently.
“It does. Thank God.” She glanced at her bed and the flowers that adorned the pillow. “You brought me orchids.”
“I found them today. I know you love them.” He leaned over and picked one full bloom, running it around the skin of her breasts just above the lace of her gown. “They will look better when you are naked. And we can be alone.”
Cory sucked in a breath. “Do you know what those flowers are?”
“Um…orchids?” Louis couldn’t take his eyes off the couple in front of them, and neither could she.
“Yes, but not just any orchids—those are Ghost orchids.”
“No shit. I thought we were the ghosts.”
Cory ignored him. “They’re real rare. I saw them in some botanical garden once.”
“Ah.” Louis sounded unimpressed.
Claudine kissed Baptiste once more, smiling as she drew back. “You are already hard.”
He thrust his hips into her body and the dark skin of his hands shone against the silk of her gown as he grabbed her buttocks. “Around you I am always this way, Claudine. And well you know it.”
Her hand crept to his face and she stroked his cheek in her turn. “Later, my love. When the house is quiet, the music stilled. Then we shall make our own music, yes?”
Baptiste moaned. “Yes, oh yes. Ah oui, cherie. It will be sweeter for the wait, painful though it is.”
There was a tap on the door causing both Claudine and Baptiste to jump apart. “Who is it?” Claudine’s voice was calm although Cory could see her breath coming faster as she stepped back from Baptiste.
“Me, Madame.”
Claudine sighed. “‘Tis only my maid. But you must go.”
Baptiste nodded and returned to the still-open panel. He blew Claudine a kiss. “Remember, cherie. You and the orchids. Nothing else.” With a quick and delightfully wicked smile, he was gone.
Claudine turned to the door. “Entrez.”
And both Louis and Cory found their jaws dropping and their eyes widening as Zulee walked in. Or a younger version of Zulee. The face was the same, although less lined, and the clothing wasn’t as colorful but matched the time period they were in. Whatever the slight differences, though, Cory knew it had to be Zulee. Or one of her ancestors that was as like as two peas in a pod.
“Okay. Now I’m ready to go home.” Louis’s hand twitched convulsively in Cory’s as they both stared at Zulee.
“Yeah. Me too.” She watched Zulee cross the room to Claudine and make her sit down in front of a vanity mirror so that she could tidy the soft curls on Claudine’s head.
“You a’right, Madame?”
Claudine smiled dreamily. “Oh yes, Zulee. Very all right.”
“You gon’ see dat man o’ yourn later?” She glanced over at the orchids on the bed. “Never min’. You don’ need t’answer that.”
The two women grinned at each other. “He’s my heart. You know that.”
Zulee sighed and reached for a hairpin. “I know it, chile. It don’ need tellin’. De two o’ you light up de room together.”
“Oui.” Claudine closed her eyes. “And Etienne…”
Zulee grinned. “Dat boy gonna be trouble, sho’nuf. Already he charmin’ de gals.”
Claudine giggled. “He gets that from his father.”
Zulee’s face sobered. “You gotta be careful, chile. You know dat.”
“I know. We are.” Claudine sighed. “It’s hard when you love somebody that much, though.” She lifted her head and stared at her maid in the mirror. “I couldn’t live without Baptiste. Nor he without me.”
“Love like that? It never goin’ t’die, chère. It live while you got chillen and dey’s chillen’s chillen.”
“Are you sure?”
Claudine’s question caught at Cory’s heart, it was so full of emotion, anguish and passion.
“I’m sure.” Zulee’s answer was firm. What she did next astonished Cory and Louis.
Her head turned slowly and she stared directly at them.
“You gonna have a long line come from you, Madame. Strong wimmen. Wid’ strong lovers. Dey ain’t never gonna let you down.”
The message was clear.
Zulee was speaking to her and Louis—Cory knew it without question. Whether she could see them or not—well, who could tell at this point. But it was uncanny the way her black eyes seemed to roam over their faces.
A chill crept down her spine as Zulee left the dressing table and approached where they were standing. “I found dis, Madame. You dropped it last night…”
Cory swallowed as a dark hand reached for hers and grasped the strings securing the little bag. She was almost surprised to find it still in her grasp but apparently it had refused to part from her.
Now, however, it was ready to go. Zulee took it from Cory’s hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Shit.” Louis hissed the word beside her, tightening his grasp on her fingers. She clung back in her turn, lost without the warmth of the amulet, desperate for something to hold on to…
As the room began to spin and sway.
Slightly nauseous, Cory closed her eyes and focused on where her skin touched Louis’s. Lights flickered behind her eyelids, whirling this way and that, adding to her confusion.
Her only constant was Louis, his hand still firmly clasped around hers. He was her lifeline, her anchor to whatever reality they would find themselves in.
As before, the experience eased, and Cory opened her eyes, only to shout as she thudded to the floor. In front of her, Louis was luckier—landing on his feet and rocking back against a wall.
He didn’t go through it.
And Cory’s knees were stinging.
“We’re back. This is my room.” Louis whispered the words. “Well hell.” He sagged.
Cory looked up—straight into his fly. “So we are.”
*~~*~~*
The look on Cory’s face as she gazed at his crotch spoke volumes to Louis. Already stoked up to a highly aroused state of mind by their trip back in time, all she had to do was stare and lick her lips.
Bingo. He was harder than stone in two seconds flat. And ready to explode in less than three seconds more.
He groaned as her gaze met his for a brief moment then dropped down again. Deliberately she reached for his zip. “Louis…”
“Yeah. Oh God yeah.” He wouldn’t beg—wouldn’t whimper. He promised himself that even when she freed his cock and stroked it.
Okay, maybe one tiny whimper.
The sound became a groan as Cory licked him, learning him anew with her tongue, coating him with the hot wetness of her mouth. “Shit…”
She scooted closer, the sound of her knees on the floor a sweet delight that permeated the darkness of the room along with the slight slurp she made as she pulled her mouth away then returned to swallow as much of him as she could.
Her fingernails scrabbled against his flesh as she hungrily tugged at his clothes, grabbing a breath and pulling his jeans to his thighs, taking his underwear with them. The wall behind him was hard against his spine and Cory—Cory was all softness and heat around his cock.
“Cory…” Her name was a moan of delight. She’d discovered how sensitive his balls were and was cradling them, moving her hand in concert with her mouth.
“Shut up. I’ve wanted to do this for—two hundred years.” She grinned at him as she held his cock and dropped a kiss on the tip.
He felt a laugh bubble up in his throat and then she cupped him once more, moving her fingers behind his sac and stroking a place that brought tears of ecstasy to his eyes. She found each and every ridge and vein in his cock, treating them to the delicate attention of her tongue, lapping at him and sucking him with fierce enthusiasm.
Once again Louis saw lights flickering in front of him, but this time it had nothing to do with spooky time travel stuff. It had everything to do with an orgasm that was c
reeping inexorably around his groin and sucking his balls up into his spleen someplace as they swelled hotly.
“Jesus, woman…” He clenched his teeth. “I can’t…”
Cory eased back. “Let go, Louis. Just let go.”
Like he had a choice in the matter. The adventures of the evening, the erotic images they’d seen, the scent of her body, the slip of her mouth along his cock—Louis was on a one-way ride and approaching the last station.
It was time to get off. Literally.
He squawked out a shout as he felt himself obey her command and let go. His legs tensed, his muscles locked and he thrust his cock forward, spurting into her mouth as she sucked him with all the eagerness of a new vacuum cleaner set on “high”.
He was blind, helpless and totally lost in the orgasm that exploded from behind his eyebrows and shattered him with its intensity. Visions whirled through his mind, formless shades and colors, matching the rattle of his heart as he emptied himself into Cory.
Finally, she drained him dry and he slumped, his head falling backwards and thudding sharply into a panel behind him.
With a squeak and a rattle, a small section of wall swung open on the opposite side of the room.
Cory sat back on her heels. “Well, I’ll be damned…”
Chapter Fifteen
“Uhh…I need a nap.”
Louis sighed out the words as he pulled his pants back up and stared at the opening in the wall.
“Wuss.” Cory dusted off her knees and rose to stand beside him. She was embarrassed, pleased that she’d rendered him limp and exhausted and privately astonished at herself.
She didn’t mind oral sex, but this had been a case of serious hunger unlike anything she could’ve imagined. “Um, Louis…” She felt the color rise in her cheeks. “Look—about just now…”
He glanced down at her. “Yeah. That was the most incredible thing. Incredible.” He reached out and brushed her cheek. The gesture was eerily like the one Claudine and Baptiste had exchanged and she shivered.
“I just don’t want you to think—”