Authors: Kristen Ashley
He could barely hear her when she asked, “You, James Bennett, feel
lucky?
”
“Yes, poppet,” he tipped his head so his lips moved against her hair. “I couldn’t lose you and, I promise you, my love, we’ll make another baby when the time is right. For now, we need to just be. You and me, we need to just be.”
“You and me,” she whispered.
“You and me,” he repeated.
“You…” she hesitated then said her next words in a way that made them sound impossible, “like me.”
He smiled into her hair. “Yes, Belle,” he gathered her closer before finishing, “I definitely
like you
.”
And, after saying those ridiculous words that in no way defined how he felt about her, he couldn’t stop his chuckle.
She stiffened in his arms and asked, “Why is that funny?”
“I’ll explain some other time.”
“Explain now,” she demanded.
“Some other time.”
“Jack –”
“Poppet,” he interrupted her and then ordered, “Sleep.”
“But –”
“Sleep.”
“I think –”
He gave her a gentle shake and demanded, “Belle, sleep.”
She held herself stiff and then muttered, “Bossy.”
Jack smiled into the dark and advised, “I’m afraid you’re going to have to get used to that, love.”
It took her a while but, finally, she relaxed and said on a sigh, “I guess I’ll try.”
And, again, he couldn’t stop his chuckle.
* * * * *
Jack’s Sunday was not quite complete.
Because in the middle of the night, the dogs started barking loudly.
He jerked awake and felt Belle do the same in his arms.
“What the fuck?” he muttered but before he could ascertain what was wrong, the door to the bedroom flew open.
Jack came up and twisted in bed as the room suddenly flooded with light and Jack stared in stunned disbelief as Angus and Cassandra charged in, Angus, wielding a whip and Cassandra brandishing what looked to be…
He stared incredulously…
A
twig
.
“We’ll not harm ye, wee
ghosty
!” Angus boomed, his eyes across the room.
“She’s vaporising!” Cassandra shouted.
The dogs barked.
Jack threw the covers back and knifed out of bed.
His body went rock-solid when he heard an ethereal, boy’s voice shout, “
Myrtle!
”
At the sound, Jack’s body stayed still but his head whipped around and he saw Angus circle the whip over his head but when he flicked it out, it fell to the ground.
“The turret!”
Cassandra yelled and ran from the room.
Angus, his kilt awhirl, followed her.
“Don’t hurt them!” Belle shouted. She was out of bed and running after Angus and Cassandra, the dogs, still barking, at her heels.
Jack ran after her and caught her at the waist in the hall.
“Don’t hurt them!” Belle screamed after the departing Angus and Cassandra, her body straining against Jack’s hold and Angus whirled back.
“We won’t hurt them, lass.”
Then he was gone.
Belle turned urgently to Jack. “Jack, don’t let them hurt the children.”
Jack grasped her hand and tugged her swiftly down the hall to Lila’s room. Turning the handle, he shoved open the door, switched on the light and Lila came immediately up in bed and stared at them.
Before she could say a word or even blink the sleep from her eyes, Jack ordered, “Do not let Belle leave this room and keep the dogs close.”
Then, without waiting for a response, he left.
He went back to Belle and his room, pulled on jeans, a t-shirt and trainers and ran to the eastern turret where he knew most sightings of the child ghosts took place.
He was climbing the spiral, stone stairwell at a run, taking the steps two at a time, when he saw Angus and Cassandra descending.
“We lost them,” Cassandra informed him, sounding disgusted.
Jack planted himself on the stairs and glowered up at the witch and the Scot.
Then he demanded to know, enunciating his words perfectly clearly, “What.
The.
Fuck!
”
“We’ll talk downstairs, lad,” Angus said in a soft boom.
“What the fuck?” Jack repeated.
“Downstairs.”
“Here,” Jack clipped, “now.”
Angus and Cassandra shared a glance then they looked back at Jack.
“We figured something like this would happen. Belle and you coming back, the children would make an appearance to be sure you were okay,” Cassandra explained, “We gave ourselves
a glamour
so they wouldn’t sense us and hung out. We both felt her when she arrived in your room.”
Jack ignored the absurd notion that they’d given themselves
“a glamour
”, whatever the fuck that was, and bit out, “Who?”
“Myrtle,” Cassandra answered.
“We wanted to catch her before she could disappear again so we could ask her some questions,” Angus added.
“So you came charging into our room, likely scaring the hell out of her, and her brother by the sounds of it, which means they’ll disappear again,” Jack snapped.
“We didn’t think she’d get
away
,” Angus replied.
“Well she fucking well did,” Jack returned.
“That was unexpected,” Cassandra muttered.
Jack’s eyes sliced to the witch, “Unexpected? You’re supposed to be clairvoyant, for fuck’s sake.”
She pressed her lips together and had the grace to look embarrassed.
“After this debacle, I’m supposed to trust that you two can keep my family safe,
Belle
safe, while ridding this castle of ghosts?” Jack asked and his voice was dangerous.
“So you believe in them now.” Angus
grinned
his demented grin.
Jack felt his jaw grow hard before he said, “I didn’t see them but I heard the boy and you didn’t answer my question.”
“Well, that’s something, it’ll be better if you believe,” Cassandra put in.
Jack’s angry gaze swung to her, he ignored her comment and commanded, “Perhaps one of you will answer my
fucking
question.”
“Calm down, mate. It isn’t like this gig is easy. It’s not like it’s a love potion. Ghosts can be unpredictable,” Cassandra told him.
“Especially child ghosts.
They’re always the toughest to deal with,” Angus grumbled.
“One of you, I don’t care who,” Jack cut in, “have two seconds to give me
one good reason
not to toss you out on your asses
right fucking now
.”
“Cassandra leaves, half of her protection goes with her,” Angus replied swiftly. “It’s connected to her essence. There will be some protection but we’re guessing, considering the unusualness of this job, that you need all you can get, lad.”
Jack glared at the Scot.
“And, regardless of this, Angus is the best in the business. You couldn’t get better,” Cassandra put in.
“Thanks, Cass.” Angus grinned at her.
“Well, it’s the truth,” Cassandra said to Angus.
“I know
that
. Still, nice to hear,” Angus returned.
“Fucking hell,” Jack muttered.
Angus looked at Jack and his face grew serious. “I promised you, I’d no’ let you down. This is a setback but,
Bennett, that
promise holds true. I’ll no’ let you down.”
“You need to be patient,” Cassandra added.
“And
you
need to understand that Belle and my room is off-limits,” Jack returned.
“We can’t –”Cassandra started.
“Off-limits,” Jack repeated firmly.
Cassandra opened her mouth to speak but Angus got there first.
“Cass, let it go,” Angus muttered out the side of his mouth. “If he’s declaring limits, that means he’s no’ kicking us out on our arses.”
“Oh yeah,” Cassandra muttered back.
“Fucking hell,” Jack muttered in return.
Cassandra’s face grew soft and she murmured, “Patience, mate, seriously, you have to trust us.”
Jack was unaffected by her soft look. “I’ll trust you when you give me reason to do so. Until then, you need to know, another stunt like this, you’re gone.”
“Understood,” Cassandra said immediately.
Jack scowled at them both trying to ascertain if they did, indeed, understand. When he could tell by their faces they did, he turned his back on them, stalked down the stairs and to Lila’s room.
The minute he entered, Belle flew to him.
His arms closed around her as her hands settled on his chest and her head tipped back.
“The children?” she asked.
Jack’s gaze slid to Lila then back to Belle. “They’ve disappeared again.”
“Damn it to hell,” Lila muttered.
“Gram’s been telling me that Cassandra and Angus can’t find them,” Belle told him.
Jack put his arm around her shoulders and moved her to the door. “We’ll have a full briefing tomorrow.”
“Do you think they’re okay?” Belle asked as Jack whistled for the dogs and nodded his goodnight to Lila.
He had no idea how to answer her.
Firstly, he now did, indeed, believe there were ghosts, as outrageous as that concept was. He couldn’t believe his ears but he also couldn’t deny he’d heard, distinctly, a young, disembodied voice shouting the name Myrtle.
Secondly, given the fact that they
were
ghosts, he doubted they were okay.
Lastly, they were being pursued by the Laurel and Hardy of ghost hunters and therefore felt the need to flee then disappear which meant they were seriously not okay.
“I’m sure they’re fine, love,” Jack murmured his lie.
“I hope so,” Belle whispered and before he closed the door behind them, Jack locked eyes with Lila who was biting her lip.
“It’ll be fine,” Jack assured Belle but his words were also meant for her grandmother.
As he closed the door, he saw Lila pull herself up and nod.
Then Jack waited for Belle to say her goodnights to her grandmother before he guided her and their dogs to their bedroom.
And, approximately fifteen minutes later, dogs settled, Belle’s weight heavy in his arms, Jack looked at the clock and saw that it was twelve oh three.
Finally,
he thought,
this fucking Sunday is over.
Chapter Eighteen
Happy
Belle
Belle woke up, hearing her own low, deep-throated moan.
This, she realised immediately, was because Jack’s hand was cupped on her breast, his thumb doing lazy circles around her nipple which did delicious things to her state of being and his tongue was gliding along the skin behind her ear which made those delicious things delectable.
“Jack?” she whispered, her brain not yet connected to her body and her body not under her control.
This point was further proved when, the instant Jack heard his name, he shifted her to her back and covered her with his long, hard frame, his lips taking hers in a deep, open-mouthed, tongues tangling,
mind
-boggling, upon-waking kiss.
It had only been weeks since he’d kissed her like this but Belle had forgotten how good it felt. She’d forgotten how much she loved Jack’s kisses. She’d forgotten how lost she could get, forgetting to be meek and mild, becoming the Belle she wanted to be.
Therefore, she kissed him back.
He growled in her mouth.
His growl shot straight between her legs and those legs became restless.
Jack rolled to the side, his mouth never disengaging, his kisses long and sweet, his hand drifted down her belly, over her hip then, against her mouth he demanded in a deep, hoarse voice that sent shivers through her, “Open your legs for me, poppet.”
Belle didn’t hesitate. Her legs parted for him and as his tongue danced with hers, his fingers trailed down the insides of her thighs then up, along the edges of her panties then down again, feather-soft on her sensitive skin.
She wrapped her arms around him, mindlessly sliding her fingers along the muscled skin of his back, his sides, his waist, anywhere she could reach.
Somewhere from far away, she heard Jack murmur, “Further, Belle.”
“What?” she breathed, confused, her mind disengaged, her entire being centred on her thighs, his fingers and all the beauty she was feeling.
“Spread your legs further, love,” Jack whispered and she felt another rush of heat and wetness between those legs and, because of that, she did as he demanded and felt her reward, his smile against her lips. “That’s it, poppet,
open
for me.” At his encouragement, she spread her legs even wider.