The Ghost: an Erotic Holiday Romance Read online

  “What does it feel like for you to touch me?” he asked trailing the skin up and down her ribs to feel the delicate bones curved beneath.

  She crumpled her brow and tilted her head to the side, considering. “I guess it feels like a mirror. You are warm when I am warm. You taste like tea when I do.”

  He swallowed and trailed a few kisses down the column of her neck leaving a little nibble at her collarbone. “Do you enjoy it when I touch you?”

  She arched into him and lifted her chin so he had better access to the sensitive flesh there. “Yes,” she breathed against his ear.

  Just like that his semi-erection went rigid. “Tell me,” he whispered against the damp skin under his lips.

  “I love the way you touch me.” As she spoke each word against his ear a spark shot through him making him harder with each syllable.

  Her own reaction to his erection was equally inspiring as she went further by nibbling on his earlobe. She’d found that part of him that ignited everything else. Each breath, nibble, and lick of his earlobe aroused him further until he was more than ready to take her as hard and fast as she wanted.

  “Are you ready now?” she said as she deliberately blew across the damp skin on his ear.

  He didn’t answer only lifted her by the waist, stood his hard cock up and helped her lower on top of it. She wiggled on the way down and he had to grip her tighter to help her balance. She laughed as she seated on him. “Are you alright?” she asked.

  He nodded before nibbling on her bottom lip. “Perfect.”

  “You know…you haven’t been mean to me for hours.”

  “Well, you have been keeping me busy. I’ll be mean to you later.”

  Her eyes took on a wicked gleam. “What if I want you to be mean to me now?”

  He blinked and then the words sunk in and he matched her gaze with his own. “I can be as mean as you want me to be.”

  “Surprise me.”

  He lifted her off him easily and flipped her onto her hands and knees. He caught a glimpse of her stunned face. He supposed she didn’t expect him to move so quickly. He palmed her round ass in his hands and took a moment to enjoy the view. She looked like an erotic photo with her ass up in the air and her pussy presented and wet. She was so beautiful it struck him every time he looked at her. As he traced the curve of her hip with his hand she grew impatient and pressed her ass back into him.

  He swatted her with a satisfying smack. A heavy silence hung in the room as he waited for her reaction. Her skin bloomed pink from his hand and she shook in his grip.

  Suddenly needing a little reassurance, he asked, “are you okay?”

  She gave him a breathy yes and he knew that was what she wanted all along. She wanted him to mark her with his palms and give her a little bit of pain. He wondered how much pain she really wanted.

  He launched his hand back and smacked her harder than he had before and the bloom was instant this time. Her flesh raising pink and warm. Her body went tight as a bow string and he smacked her again. She groaned out loud this time and he reveled in the sound. “Do you like that?”

  Her answer came out barely above a whisper. “Yes.”

  “Louder.”

  “Yes. I like it.”

  “Mmm…good.” He rubbed her ass for a moment soothing the welts already beginning to form there. But before she got too comfortable he swatted her again. This time even harder.

  She jerked forward and then collapsed her upper body onto the floor. “Please, fuck me now.”

  Her words shot straight to his cock and he didn’t need to be told twice. He moved closer and kneeled so he could enter her from behind. She was so wet for him she practically dripped.

  He sighed at the feel of her coating him, gripping him.

  Then he used her leverage and his to set a brutal pace. He’d learned what she liked and he was more than happy to please her.

  “Like that?” he asked pumping into her hard enough that their bodies made a smacking noise as they met.

  She didn’t answer but he caught her snaking her hand up underneath herself to rub her clit. Her fingers touched his balls gently with each pass.

  He wasn’t going to last long. As she began to push back into him he felt the beginnings of her orgasm. It sparked with his and it took seconds for the force of it to pound through him. He let himself go, thrusting into her over and over with brutal intensity until the maelstrom passed and he could think again. He slowed down as she lay against the carpet, sated and spent. He carefully withdrew from her. The skin of her knees had to be raw from the carpet. He helped her turn over and stretch her legs from being in such an awkward position. She dragged him down and curled up in the crook of her arm. When she began to shake he realized the window was still open. He wished he could close it for her, and cover her with a blanket. The warmth of his spectral body was all he could offer and she didn’t say a word about it not being enough.

  “Why couldn’t I have known you when you were alive,” she asked against his chest.

  “To be honest you wouldn’t have wanted to know me when I was alive. I was never a good person. I don’t think I am a good person now. I’m dead. I ruined your Christmas and I’ve been nothing but a nuisance to you since I got here.”

  She chuckled. “No, you were a dick at first but now I kind of like you. Especially after that last round. I don’t think I’ve ever had it so good. A lot of men want to play and they worry they will hurt me not realizing that I want to be hurt and that I want the pain. It gets annoying trying to find a man willing to give me what I want but who is not also a complete tool on the outside of it.”

  “Bad news, I am a complete tool on the outside.”

  “Would you have noticed me before?” She angled her head to look up at him.

  He shook his head. “I would have noticed you. Probably thought about the ways I could have tried to get into your pants but when it came down to the work I wouldn’t have tried.”

  She laughed. “At least you’re honest.”

  “I haven’t always been. I’ve lied to women. I’ve made them feel bad and treated them poorly. You are the last woman I’ll probably ever touch and I regret how I treated them now. I regret I didn’t savor them while I had them in my arms.

  She smiled. He felt her mouth curl up as she pressed her face against him. “I am sorry your dead."

  He kissed the top of her head and sighed. “Me too.

  5

  Bridget woke with a start and a chill. She got up to close the window and noticed the pinkish hue in the distance heralding the rising sun. She stretched her stiff muscles and for a moment wondered why everything hurt. It came back to her in a flood. The welts on her ass from Reece’s hands, the rug burn on her knees from the force of his thrusts, and the scrapes on her chest from collapsing on the floor after the most powerful orgasm of her life.

  She looked around but didn’t see him any where. “Reece?”

  She walked into the bedroom and looked there: nothing.

  Fear gripped her and she worried she'd missed her chance to tell him what last night meant to her. The early hours of Christmas were always nice and relaxing but having him to greet the holiday would be a memory she’d cherish for the rest of her life.

  She sat on the sofa and pulled the blanket across her shoulders. A tear escaped the corner of her eye and she hung her head. Something caught her eye on the floor. In the carpet were marks from the weave being brushed this way and that. She tilted her head and read the words. I think I came to you because we might have been soul mates one day. I don’t know if there is anything beyond but if there is I will never forget you. He signed it, R

  She wondered how he managed that and then thought it was better if she didn’t know. Before she messed it up she grabbed her phone and snapped a photo. It would be nice to at least have this little reminder of him.

  Bridget spent the day wrapped in warm blankets with tea in her hand. She glared at her small tree every time she passed it think
ing of Reece. When thoughts of him entered her mind she tried to shake off the following sadness and regret. There was no regret for how they spent their time just that she didn’t get to say goodbye.

  ***

  On December 26th Bridget climbed from her bed and started the tea pot. Her paper hit the front door of her apartment and she braced herself for what she would read. The headlines were normal but on a page two a huge spread read: “Billionaire Mogul Found in Coma on Christmas Day.”

  She scanned the article and then ran for her clothes. If Reece wasn’t dead maybe she could help him come out of that coma. Why had she assumed he was dead? No. She only assumed because he told her he died. Maybe he didn’t remember it all and made the assumption too. She jammed her feet into a pair of boots, grabbed her keys, and called her car service as she rode the elevator to the lobby. She had to wait on the cold corner for 15 minutes until the car showed up and her driver, Ed, gave her a strange look when she rattled off the address of the uptown hospital.

  “Just drive.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  She sprinted to the registration desk and asked after Reece. It took longer than she wanted for the nurse to point her toward the VIP wing of the hospital. When she approached the second desk the nurse gave her more of a hulking guard vibe than a medical professional. Her tone even seemed sharp. “Can I help you?”

  The nurse eyed Bridget’s leggings and boots before returning her stare.

  “Yes, I’m here to see Reece Phipps.”

  “Are you family?”

  She cleared her throat. There had been enough occurrences of this situation on TV that she knew the answer to that one. “Yes, I’m his sister.”

  The nurse narrowed her eyes and Bridget prayed the woman didn’t know Reece had some sort of Asian heritage to question it. While the woman pursed her lips and gave her the stare down Bridget maintained constant eye contact. She waited and finally after the show down of the century the woman buzzed her back with the room number. She found it easily and entered. The VIP rooms of the hospital were almost as large as her apartment. And she did not live in a shoe box. She approached him and she realized he looked exactly as she remembered in his arms. Part of her wanted to reach out and touch him but the other part, the rational one, held her back. There wasn’t a single second of real life they spent together. Yes, her skin still bore the marks of his hands but he was still virtually a stranger and she feared maybe they had discarded inhibition because of the circumstances.

  His eye lids fluttered but he didn’t wake up. She stepped up to him and caught of whiff of old spice. Her favorite cologne on a man. A classic scent. His hair held the remnants of gel in it giving it a crunchy appearance and his eyes had purple bags. Like this he looked so human and fragile. She took his hand in her own and prayed. Something she’d never been good at. When she opened her eyes his were still closed and she decided to settle in because she wasn’t leaving.

  Flower bouquets came and went as well as nurses and doctors. A few even spoke to her but most ignored her, pretending she didn’t exist. After she grabbed a hot cup of coffee and sat down the beeper been to chime and she jumped up sloshing coffee down the front of her and onto the floor in a brown puddle.

  She set the cup down and rushed to the bedside taking Reece’s hand in her own. For second she stopped breathing as blinkers went off and the world slowed around them. It was like they stood in the middle of a quiet bubble and the world swirled beyond at a faster pace. She squeezed his fingers in her own and then against all the odds he opened his eyes and met her gaze.

  Her heart skipped a beat and then the world caught up.

  AUTHOR NOTE

  C an I Ask A Favor?

  If you enjoyed this book, found it useful or otherwise then I’d really appreciate it if you would post a short review on Amazon. I do read all the reviews personally so that I can continually write what people are wanting.

  Thanks for your support!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Monica Corwin is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author. She is an outspoken writer attempting to make romance accessible to everyone, no matter their preferences. As a Northern Ohioian, Monica enjoys snow drifts, three seasons of weather, and a dislike of Michigan football. Monica owns more books about King Arthur than should be strictly necessary. Also typewriters...lots and lots of typewriters.

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  ALSO BY MONICA CORWIN

  The Soul Program Series

  THE FIRST REAPER

  SOULLESS

  SINLESS: COMING IN 2017

  SELFLESS: COMING IN 2017

  The Revelations Series

  ON A RED HORSE

  ON A WHITE HORSE

  ON A BLACK HORSE

  ON A PALE HORSE: COMING IN 2017

  The Avalon Prophecy Series

  KING TAKES QUEEN

  KNIGHT TAKES QUEEN: COMING IN 2017

  KNAVE TAKES QUEEN: COMING IN 2018

  The Doomsday Series

  MIDNIGHT’S BALANCE

  THE HUSH OF THE NIGHT: COMING IN 2018

  THE DECLINE OF THE DAY: COMING IN 2017

  The Count of Monte Cristo: The Wild and Wanton Edition

  This is an erotic variation of the unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo

  THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO VOL 1

  THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO VOL 2

  THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO VOL 3

  THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO VOL 4

  THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO VOL 5

  Stand Alone Books

  IN MY BLOOD

  Short Stories

  THE MIDNIGHT MASQUERADE

  LADY KNIGHT

  ON A NIGHT’S EDGE

  MILE HIGH MENAGE

  MY TWO LOVERS

  A LITTLE TASTE

  MISTRESS IN TRAINING

  Novellas

  KISS AND TELL

  HOW TO CLAIM A SUBMISSIVE IN 12 HOURS

  THE GHOST

  HOW TO TRAIN YOUR WEREWOLF

  KISS THE BRIDE

  Boxed Set Collections

  DARK LEGENDS

  DARK HUMANITY

  NOT JUST VOODOO

  UNDER THE MASK

  REBELS & RUNES

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Author Note

  About the Author

  Also by Monica Corwin