Spirited 1 (22 page)

For a moment she let him guide the kiss, then she thrust her tongue into his mouth and fought for dominance. He moaned, kicking up the kiss. He wrapped one hand around her ponytail and held her still as he ravaged her mouth.

And she surrendered to the sensation before she tried to seize control again. She had no intention of letting him dominate her, but his kiss made her knees weak. She wanted to stroke him but the wineglasses in her hands kept her from doing it.

Break the kiss and put the glasses down or keep going?

Seth effectively decided for her when he slid his hand from behind her head to between her breasts. He plucked at one of her nipples through her clothing. Electric pulses ricocheted from her breasts to between her thighs. Her knees went from weak to complete jelly.

She threw her arms around his shoulders, hugging him closer as she drove her tongue into his mouth. Her tongue slid over and under his as their breath mingled. He grunted as he tightened an arm around her waist while his free hand continued the exquisite torture of first her right nipple, then her left.

He started to back up, tugging her along with him. She followed until the wineglasses in her hand clinked against each other between Seth and the door he now rested against.

She needed to put the glasses down before she ended up smashing them against the wood. Glass splinters in Seth’s back would definitely kill the mood.

Without breaking the kiss, she ambled backward, away from the door. Moaning when he ran his tongue over her upper lip, she released his shoulders and spread her arms. Blindly, she stretched her arms behind her, searching for the table.

It had to be somewhere close. She waved at empty air as she tried to continue the kiss and put the glasses down at the same time.

“Jules, what are you doing?” Seth panted the words as he trailed his lips to her cheek. Even as he asked the question he kept up the torture on her breasts. Oh my!

Is it possible to orgasm from nipple play alone?

“The ta—ah, ooh! Um . . . need . . . the . . . table,” she panted.

Seth yanked back, releasing her completely. Jules stumbled, but before she fell, Seth caught her by the elbows. As if seeing the wineglasses in her hands for the first time, he stared at them.

His dark eyes blazed, even as he glanced from the glasses to the table, then to her face.

“For the glasses?” he asked, but then must have answered his own question, because he plucked the stemware from her hands and quickly set them down.

Pulling her flush against him, Seth clapped one hand to her backside and wrapped the other around her head. The kiss he delivered now made a mockery of the passion in the last one.

As he kissed her, he lifted her off her feet. Walking the few paces back to the door, he spun them both around. Hard wood pressed against her back while warm, muscled male pressed against her front.

He kneaded her backside as he plundered her mouth.

And Jules wanted more. Opening herself to him, she looped one leg over his hip. His hands glided up and down her back. He traced the skin exposed between the hem of her sweater and the top of her jeans.

Dang! He had no such skin exposure. She settled for tangling her fingers in the thick, curly black hair at the nape of his neck and reveled in the silken feel.

Seth trailed his mouth down her chin to her neck and then up to nibble on her earlobe. His hands slid beneath her shirt, touching her bare waist, and she shivered.

Needing more of his drugging kiss, she grabbed his head with both hands and brought his face to hers. He smiled against her lips as, once again, he captured her mouth.

His warm, sinful fingers traced a path from the middle of her back to her belly. She needed his touch on her breasts. Already oversensitized by his ministrations, they ached for naked contact. Without thinking, she wrapped her fingers around his right wrist and shoved his hand up her sweater.

Seth hissed in pleasure then yanked away the lace bra covering her. His touch had her nearly crying out but he covered her mouth with his again. His tongue swept in and out at a driving speed as he started to grind his lower body against hers.

All the time, he rolled and lightly pinched her nipple between his fingers. He pulled and tugged until it was a hard point pressing against his palm, then lightly grazed his hand across it.

“Seth.” Jules gasped and arched her back, thrusting against his palm. Desire pooled low in her belly. A rush of moisture at the apex of her thighs made her slick with need. He slipped his other hand beneath her sweater to give her other breast some much-needed attention.

She rubbed the back of her calf against his firm backside, pulling him tighter against her. She was so wound up, she was little more than a huge throbbing mass of aching need and desire.

She whimpered and he softened his touch, only making her crazier.

“Shhh . . . ,” he said. “Don’t fight it. Just feel, Jules.”

“Believe me,” she replied. “All I can do right now is feel.”

“Good.” He made a sound that was a cross between a groan and a chuckle, then he grasped her thigh with his left hand and ground his hugely aroused body against hers.

The act ignited a fire that burned through her. Her body aching for release, she rubbed herself against him more. Just a little bit longer and she’d be flying. A small moan escaped her lips, answered by one from him.

His fingers trailed to the waistband of her jeans. Her belly quivered; heck, her whole body shook. She bowed her back and sucked in her tummy, giving him plenty of room to reach down into her jeans. The act had been instinctual, and the moment she’d realized she’d done it, she tried to straighten.

“Stay,” he said, pressing his knuckles against her navel and stroking her skin with the backs of his fingers. “I’ve got you, precious.”

His thumb and forefinger toyed with the button on her fly.

An icy wind whipped through the room. The curtains covering the living room flapped, revealing an open window. The glasses on the table behind them toppled. Glass splintered in different directions.

Then the room went dark. Literally. The lights flickered, and when they came back on, it was as if someone had dumped an invisible bucket of ice water on them both.

“Whoa!” Seth said as he glanced around the space. He cast her a confused stare, then set her away from him.

Jules sighed and had no choice but to uncoil her legs from his hips. Standing where he’d left her, she watched Seth cross the room.

He stuck his head outside, searching for whoever opened the window. He needn’t have bothered. It’s not like he could have seen the source anyway.

The ghost did it. Jules was certain. And she had a thing or two to say to that interfering little menace when she saw her again.

“I don’t see anyone,” Seth said, searching the kitchen. He closed the window, locked it, then turned to face Jules with his hands on his hips. “Keep your windows locked. There’ve been some break-ins recently.”

“But you left yours open?” Jules countered, trying to lighten the mood.

Seth raised a single brow. “And look how well it turned out for the last person to climb through it.”

“Wonderfully, from my point of view,” Jules couldn’t resist replying.

“True.” Seth chuckled, then frowned again and crossed his arms over his chest. “Still, you’re not me. Keep your windows locked. You’re going to be alone tomorrow, with Ernie and April gone. I don’t want to have to worry about you.”

Then it happened. The ghost materialized. Sort of. She appeared in the windowpane behind Seth, at the same moment the room temperature dropped.

“Brrr . . .” Seth shuddered and glanced around, then took several long strides toward Jules. “There’s a pretty big draft coming from the window. Tomorrow you need to call the super to seal it.”

“Yes, sir!” Jules gave a mock salute.

“Ha, ha.” He rubbed his arms with his hands. “Please,
precious
, call the super tomorrow.”

“Okay, I’ll call as soon as I return from the airport.”

The ghost’s aura glowed a brighter shade of yellow than Jules had ever seen it. It was as if she was closer to finding peace or crossing over. The girl glanced from Seth to Jules, her lips moving the entire time.

Jules squinted, trying to read the specter’s lips, but she couldn’t make out her words.

I don’t understand.
Jules projected her thoughts quickly, then glanced to Seth, who once again seemed occupied with finding the source of the draft.

The ghost’s aura darkened to a murky brownish-yellow and further to dark, thunderous gray. The color change seemed to suck the remaining warmth from the room.

Jules’s skin crawled. Clamping her jaw, she focused all her energy on sending a single thought to the angry spirit.

Please don’t scream at me, I swear I’m trying.

To her surprise, the ghost’s aura lightened again. Not as bright as before, she appeared bathed in a hazy yellowish-brown glow. A tremulous smile quivered at the edges of her lips.

“Well, you have an early morning,” Seth said, suddenly. He turned and crossed the room to where Jules stood by the door. “I had a wonderful time tonight.”

“Me too,” Jules said, unsure what to do or say next.

Seth solved her confusion by leaning down and pressing a kiss to her cheek. “How about dinner tomorrow night?”

Certain the delight showed in her face, Jules nodded. “That would be great.”

Seth smiled wide. “Pick you up at seven.” He gave her one last kiss. Not as sinful as the others, but it left her breathless just the same. “Good night.”

He opened the door and strode through it. She watched until he crossed the hall and went into his apartment before closing her door.

Pressing her back against the wall, she tried to come up with a reason why dating Seth was a bad thing. Okay, so he was a cop. But at that moment, it didn’t seem as terrible to her as it had before. A giddiness bubbled up inside her, then the room went cold again.

Jules glanced over to the window, now covered by the curtains. A faded image of the ghost hovered just inside the room. She mouthed a single word before she faded away.

“Seth.”

CHAPTER 11

S
ETH HAD BARELY
stepped into the station when all hell broke loose. And it came in the form of a middle-aged woman in an expensively tailored red suit. She stood at the front desk, yelling at the young officer on duty.

“Someone had better help me,
right now
, young man. Or I swear to
God
, I will see to it that every one of you is fired! Now get your captain on the phone and tell him Iris Masters will speak to him now, or the next call I’ll make is to the mayor!”

She slapped something down on the desk, but Seth couldn’t see it from his position. The young officer gaped at the woman, then over her shoulder at Seth.

As the highest-ranking officer in the building at the unearthly hour of six thirty in the morning, Seth intervened. “Excuse me, may I help you?”

The woman spun on him. Her short silver hair framed a pretty face. Her light gray eyes narrowed on him. “Are you the captain?”

“No, ma’am. My name is Detective English.” He extended his hand in greeting. “The captain isn’t in yet. Perhaps I might assist you.”

The woman’s features crumpled and her eyes turned glassy as she fought her tears. “My daughter, Aimee-Lynn, is missing and I’m tired of being told to wait to report it.”

She held up a picture of a beautiful young woman who bore a resemblance to the victim found in the Dumpster on Saturday. Seth took the photo from Iris Masters. He gestured down the hallway to the interrogation room. “Come with me.”

 • • • 

B
ANG, BANG, BANG!

Jules bolted upright in her bed. Someone was pounding on her front door. Thank God, she’d already driven Big Jim and April to the airport. The racket would have woken them up.

Bang, bang, bang!

She glanced at the clock; it was half past eight. Grumbling, she yanked on a pair of sleep pants and straightened her tank top as she half walked, half hopped down the hall, tugging on her slippers.

When the banging started a third time, she yelled, “Coming! Keep your knickers on!”

Still overtired, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, not paying attention to the boxes littering the apartment until she stubbed her toe. With a yelp of pain, she kept moving forward but glanced backward in time to slam her knee into the corner of the coffee table.

“Owww! Shoot!” she hissed under her breath.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

“Jeez, what’s the emergency?” she snapped.

The front door flew open under its own steam but there was no one on the other side. Jules took an automatic step back. Somehow the corridor beyond the door seemed to move closer to her.

Empty and eerily silent, late morning light filtered into the hallway like a spotlight from the large round window overlooking the top of the stairs. Dust motes floated in the rays of sunshine and the world seemed totally at peace.