Shadow Kiss: Ghostly Shadows Read online

  “And why would I do that?” He put a hand behind my seat and backed out.

  “You don’t want me dead.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “You ready?” He pulled out onto the dark highway.

  “What am I ready for exactly? What’s my role in this?”

  “I need an intern. You up for the challenge?”

  “An intern?” I crossed my leg over the other. “I already have a job.”

  “Harriet will give you less shifts. She knows this is important. Not to mention, what else do you do with your free time?”

  “Are you implying I have no social life?” Every time I thought Rexton was a decent guy he said stuff like that.

  “I’m more than implying it. Are you going to sit there looking sexy as fuck and pretend I’m wrong?”

  “My social life isn’t worth discussing.” I tried to ignore the warmth spreading through me from his words. He wanted me. And I liked that he wanted me.

  “I’d like to change that.”

  “With this internship?”

  “No. With myself.” He put his hand on the seat beside me.

  “Let’s not mix business and pleasure.”

  “Why? I happen to think business and pleasure mix very well together.”

  “I don’t.” I tried to cool myself off. He was an incubus. That wasn’t natural. I repeated the words over and over in my head hoping I’d start believing them. Incubus or not, the man was literal sex on a stick.

  “Do you have experience with it?”

  “No.” I admitted. “Do you?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Maybe isn’t an answer.”

  “Sure it is.”

  “It’s not a clear answer. Now that’s something different. No answer vs. not clear is entirely different.”

  “Let's focus on the business. What will this internship involve?” I tried to focus. He was talking an opportunity to learn. I needed to think about that and not the heat between my legs.

  “Working closely with me.”

  “How close?” I shivered. I needed to calm down.

  “Close.”

  “Maybe I’ll pass.” I looked away.

  “Come on. Now. This is business. I promise.” His voice was so seductive; it dripped of sex and chocolate.

  “And what about tonight? Where are we meeting this client?”

  “My place.”

  “Wait. What?” My heart rate accelerated.

  “Is there a problem with that?”

  “Yes. Yes, there is a problem with you expecting me to go back to your place considering...”

  “Considering what exactly?”

  “Come on, you know. You’ve said as much.” I wasn’t being tricked into admitting anything.

  “Considering what’s passed between us.”

  “And what we want to have pass between us.”

  “I’m not agreeing to that. I don’t want to do anything with you again.” Nothing could have been further from the truth, but I didn’t care.

  “You don’t?” He put a hand on my leg.

  “I don’t.”

  His hand moved up my bare leg to my thigh. I took a deep breath. I should have pushed his hand away. I needed to push his hand away. But I didn’t want to. I wanted to feel his warm skin on mine. “Tell me to stop, and I’ll stop immediately. Just say the words. His hand slipped up even further. He reached my panty line and slipped a single finger under the band.

  “Well? I’m waiting to hear you.” I moaned as his hand moved down beneath the silky fabric of my panties.

  Without really thinking about it I opened my legs.

  His hand slipped down between my legs, and he slipped his fingers inside me.

  I moaned. Louder this time.

  “You are so wet.”

  Something about his words made me slip out of my daze. I pushed his hand away. “Are you doing that because you want me to stop, or because you think you should want me to stop?”

  “Does it matter?” I was frustrated. I wanted him. I needed him.

  “It matters a whole lot.” He slipped his hand back up. “Because I don’t want to do anything you don’t want, but baby, I want to give you what you need.”

  He stepped on the gas. He was going entirely too fast, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was the crazy build happening between my legs.

  I knew I might regret this later, but at the moment I couldn’t care. I needed this. I needed release. I knew it was akin to oxygen. I couldn’t stop now.

  He said nothing, and that was perfect. It was just the build and the purr of the engine.

  I couldn’t focus on anything else. My eyes closed, and I gave in. I let the pleasure take over, the intensity that wouldn’t stop. I was out of breath. I needed something to hold onto. How could he make me feel in a way that no one else could? I lost control. I saw the pleasure. I tasted it.

  He moved his hand. “Still want to keep things business?”

  “Fuck you.” I struggled to catch my breath.

  “Language.” He grinned.

  “You can’t do that to me and then say that.”

  “It’s a joke, babe.”

  “What was that?”

  “Uh, what do you mean?” He mocked innocence.

  “What was that? That wasn’t normal.”

  “That was me pleasuring you.”

  “But that. I’ve never felt that.” I closed my eyes, trying to remember the intensity. The heat. The fireworks.

  “You’ve never had an orgasm?”

  “I’ve had plenty of orgasms.” Okay. Plenty was pushing my luck, but he didn’t need to know that.

  “Oh?”

  “Yes. But that was different. It had to have been your incubus side.”

  “Babe… it wasn’t.” His hand settled on my leg.

  “It was.”

  “Either way. You liked it.”

  “Oh, come on. How would it be possible not to like that?” I sighed. “How would it be possible to not love that actually?”

  He squeezed my leg. “I like you all loosened up.”

  “I can’t believe you just did that.” Really, I couldn’t believe I’d let him do it.

  “I only did what you wanted.”

  “I hope you don’t think this means I owe you.”

  “Owe me?” He glanced over. “No. I got plenty of pleasure out of that myself. Not to say I wouldn’t want your hand or mouth on me.”

  “Let’s stick to business.” I looked away and out the window. I watched the trees as we passed by.

  He chuckled. “And they say men are selfish lovers.”

  “We aren’t lovers.”

  “Oh, but we are something all right.”

  “What’s going to happen when we get to your place?”

  He laughed. “Really? Want me to spoil all the fun?”

  I pushed his arm. “Not between us. Nothing is happening.”

  “Something just happened, babe. But I agree nothing can happen while our client is there. We need to stay very professional.”

  “Tell me what to expect.” I was finally coming down off the incredible high.

  “Generally, it’s going to go this way. We will get a client that needs a ghost taken care of. We will do what it takes.”

  “What do you mean exactly?”

  “I mean sometimes it isn’t straightforward, but that doesn’t mean we give up.”

  “We don’t have to hurt the ghosts, do we?” We? I was already acting like I was in even though I might not be. I had a job. I had school. I didn’t need to add more to my plate.

  “I mean helping the ghost move on. This arrangement is good for everyone.”

  “Even the ghost?” I didn’t hide my skepticism. “I’d assume not all of them want to leave.”

  “They don’t want to leave because they are scared of the unknown. That’s not a good reason.”

  “Is that really the only reason?” I thought about Ronny. Sure, he was scared, but maybe it w
as more.

  “No. There’s also a desire to get some sort of closure. And usually the best way to handle that is to find a way to give them closure. That also works with the fear. It all connects.”

  “How often do you do this?”

  “Often.” His hand slipped up my leg a little.

  “Come on!” I was starting to really lose my patience. “Can’t you give me a straight answer?”

  “Straight answers are boring.”

  “They are also incredibly helpful.” I pushed his hand away. As good as I knew that would feel, I needed to concentrate.

  He turned onto another street as we headed closer to downtown. “How about we discuss the clients you are about to meet?”

  “Clients? Plural? Are they coming about the same— the same ghost?”

  “Yes. Two brothers. They are trying to sell a family property, but it’s getting difficult.”

  “This sounds like the start to a horror movie.”

  “You and I both know there is a lot of fiction in those movies, but I hope you will believe me when I say there is some reality, too.”

  “What kind of ghost are the brothers having trouble with?” With his hand moved I could almost concentrate.

  “I don’t know exactly. That’s what this meeting is about.”

  “Oh. So, you are bringing me in on the initial client meeting?” That made things better somehow. I got to see the process.

  “Yes. I assume you have no problem with that.”

  “Oh. Yeah. No problem at all. At least this way I’ll get the full idea. Know what the case is about.”

  He turned into the entrance of a parking garage. “You’re excited about this.” He wove a fob, and a gate went up he drove through. “Admit it.”

  “I’m not sure excited is the right word. Curious.”

  “Whatever it is you want to call this, you are interested.”

  “Yes, I will admit to that.”

  “That’s hard for you to do.”

  “I don’t want to be interested.”

  “Because you are afraid of what your ghost friends will think?” He drove up and around.

  “No. Because I don’t want to be interested.”

  “But why not?” He pulled into a parking spot.

  “Because. Because I don’t even want to acknowledge I have the curse.”

  “The gift. I thought you’d at least accepted it’s a gift not a curse.”

  “No. Because a gift would make life easier not harder.”

  “What makes you think a gift would make things easier? When do gifts do that? Take for example the child who is gifted at music. Is his or her life made easier because of it? Perhaps, or perhaps it’s made harder. They now have to practice more. There is more pressure. They may even lose the chance at a normal childhood.”

  “That’s technically true.”

  “There’s no technical about it. It is.”

  “Either way, I don’t generally acknowledge it.”

  “Well, you need to tonight. The only reason they agreed to let you in was I explained you were also gifted. They were relieved I had backup. They seem to think this is going to be a challenge.”

  “And you like it.” I called him out on it. “The challenge.”

  “When it comes to work.”

  “When it comes to other things?” I had a feeling it went well beyond business for him.

  “When it comes to other things, there is no reason for things to be harder than they need to be.”

  We walked to an elevator. He used his fob again and the elevator started to move up.

  I watched as the light lit up until the top number was illuminated. The door opened up inside of a small hallway.

  “Make yourself at home.” He walked away. “I’ll be right back.”

  I followed behind him, and made my way into a large living room which was all one big space with a huge kitchen complete with stainless steel appliances and concrete countertops.

  In short, his place was exactly the way I expected. Modern and somewhat cold. It was nice. Nice in the way any penthouse apartment should be.

  Making myself at home was impossible as I was totally uncomfortable. Even if it hadn’t been for the episode in the car, I would have been nervous being alone with him in his place. Now it was even worse.

  I looked around. Things were spotless. Almost too spotless. Did he even use his kitchen? There were no pictures. Nothing to make it obvious this place was his.

  “Can I help you find something?” His voice came from right behind me.

  I turned to find him in a black suit. The man could wear a suit like few I’d met before. He took a step toward me and I backed up, smack into the cabinets. He put his hands on either side of me.

  “Uh, no. I was just looking around. You did tell me to make myself at home.”

  “Can I get you anything?” He ran his lips down my neck.

  “Hmm?” I couldn’t think straight.

  “Something to drink?” He nipped at my neck with his teeth.

  “You changed,” I somehow got the words out of my mouth.

  “We do have clients coming.”

  “Yes. Yes, we do.” I pushed against him. I needed space. I needed air. I wouldn’t be alone in his apartment for long. And I was only there to meet these people. These brothers who wanted help dealing with a ghost. Dealing. I shivered. Ghosts didn’t scare me per se, but hurting a ghost—or trying to convince it to do what it didn’t want to do—did scare me quite a bit.

  “I’ll ask again. Can I get you something to drink?” There was annoyance in his voice. Was he mad I’d slipped away from him? Well, too bad. As he said, there were clients coming.

  “Oh. Water maybe.”

  “I have wine, too. Just about any liquor you can imagine. Beer.”

  “We shouldn’t drink before meeting with clients.” And we shouldn’t be doing whatever the hell was happening with his mouth on my neck.

  “Why not?”

  “Because. Because that’s not professional.”

  “And you are so concerned with being professional with ghost related clients?”

  “Shouldn’t I be?”

  “If you want.”

  “Listen, Rexton. I haven’t even decided if we should work together. Obviously, it’s hard for us to stay professional—”

  “You mean because of the way I made you feel in the car?”

  “That’s a big part of it.”

  “I made you feel really good though, didn’t I?”

  “Yes.” My body warmed just thinking about it. “But it can’t happen again.”

  His lips twisted into a smile. “Oh. Is that so? It can’t?”

  “No, it can’t.”

  “And why is that?” He pulled a bottle of wine from a built-in wine fridge.

  “Because it can’t. It’s not good for me to be that out of control.”

  “You mean you’re afraid to be that out of control.”

  “I never said that.” I stepped out of the kitchen. I needed some physical distance between us.

  “You didn’t have to say that.”

  “That wine isn’t for me, right? Water really is fine.”

  “Well, it can be for you, but it’s for our clients as well. I took the liberty of finding out their preference.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to offer coffee and tea or something like that?”

  “I have that, too.”

  “You like to blur lines.”

  “Not necessarily. But sometimes the lines aren’t as clear as you’d think they’d be.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes. Sometimes lines are blurred by their very nature.”

  “To be clear, you and I are done blurring lines this evening.”

  “Only this evening?” His eyes widened.

  “Stop. Don’t even go there.”

  “Because you know what happened earlier will happen again.”

  “Then I’m never getting in your car again. I can walk hom
e.”

  He laughed. “I don’t mean in that exact way. But there is no way I am going to be able to keep my hands off of you forever. And you don’t want that.”

  There was a buzz. He picked up his phone. “Yes. Okay, send them up. Thank you, Joe.”

  “Let me get you your water, and we will be ready for the clients.”

  “I’m fine. I can always get it later.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  The elevator dinged and two men walked off. They were both dressed in suits. One charcoal grey, the other navy pinstripe.

  Rexton greeted them in the hall. “Come in. Glad we could find a time to meet in person.”

  “Thank you for meeting us on such short notice,” the brother in the navy pinstripe replied. His brother nodded his agreement.

  “Of course.” Rexton led the way into the living room.

  I didn’t see much of a family resemblance aside from the way they walked. Their steps perfectly mirrored each other.

  Rexton stopped in front of the coffee table. “Can I interest either of you gentleman in a glass of wine?”

  “That would be great.” The navy-pinstripe suit wearing brother settled onto the couch. His brother sat down beside him.

  Rexton opened the bottle of wine and poured four glasses. He wordlessly handed them out, so I didn’t argue when he handed one of them to me.

  “Marist,” Rexton nodded toward the navy pinstripe suit wearing one. “Terrance,” he looked at the other. “This is Gabriella Palmer. I mentioned I was taking on a new intern.”

  “Yes. Nice to meet you, Ms. Palmer,” Marist smiled. “I’ve heard there is no one better than your boss. You have chosen a good man to apprentice with.”

  Apprentice with? For some reason that sounded even worse than intern with. I forced a smile so I didn’t make anyone uncomfortable.

  “Have you always had the gift?” Terrance gazed in my direction.

  I looked to Rexton, I wasn’t sure what kind of information was appropriate to give away. He nodded, so I continued. “As long as I can remember.”

  “And not to sound sexist, but you are really up for the risks associated with this?”

  Risks associated with this? Rexton wasn’t kidding. “I can take care of myself.” That was an honest statement even if it wasn’t really an answer.

  “Why don’t you tell us about the situation?” Rexton put his glass down on the copper end table beside him. “Start from the beginning if you can.”