5. A hot pickle #2
The Lady in Red, like her name implies, is wearing a blood-red robe. Her long, blonde hair is falling over her back in a silky waterfall, and her elegant bare foot is resting on one of the pillows on the floor by the window.
Is this how it feels for Ewan, when ghosts simply appear out of the blue in his surroundings? It must be jarring.
From the way his hand is now gripping mine, he definitely sees her, too.
“Say something,” I whisper to him.
He takes a shaky breath. “Hi...” he says quietly. Then again louder, “Hi, m’lady.”
The ghost slowly turns to face us. Her beauty is breathtaking.
Porcelain skin, red lips, and doe eyes. She was a renowned prostitute in New Town at the time of her death, loved and desired by many, until one of her jilted lovers strangled her—at least that’s what the notebook says.
Her robe is open in the front showing her impressive cleavage, and giving us a glimpse of her generous breast. Even in the dim light I can see the bruises around her slender neck.
“Ah, the ghost hunters, come to me at last,” she says in a strained voice. I wonder if it’s the effect of her strangulation. “Are you here to release me from my torment, my loves?”
Her gentle apparition is disarming after the way the Burning Crone and the Urchin came at us.
“Yes...,” Ewan says. “I’m releasing you, my lady. You are free to join the afterlife.”
The Lady in Red shudders and closes her eyes, tilting her head up. Silk bonds fall around her before disappearing. “Oh, it feel… strange. But good. Thank you.”
Can it be that simple?
We wait, but she doesn’t fade away like the others.
“My lady?” Ewan says. “You’re free to go.”
She opens her eyes, at last, and looks at us. “I thank you, boys, but I cannot leave just yet. The house needs me.”
I frown. “Needs you for what?”
She sighs deeply. “He’s breaking free.”
Ewan and I share a glance.
“Who is?” I ask.
She smiles, and her teeth suddenly look too sharp and white in the moonlit library. “Go on, my loves. Go free the others. I’ll stay for however long we can hold the frontline.”
“What is she talking about?” Ewan whispers by my side.
“Fuck if I know,” I grumble. “My lady, please kindly move out of this house.”
The Lady in Red turns away from the window, her robe dragging on the floor. Her feet are not even touching the ground.
She’s floating, I realise. Of course, she is. Fucking ghosts.
“Nice meeting you, now go play somewhere else,” she says before disappearing through a bookshelf.
I glare and follow her deeper into the library, away from the light of the windows and the sconce. Her figure glows faintly in the dark. I grab my PolterPulse and unlock the safety.
“James...” Ewan whispers urgently behind me.
I grit my teeth. “She has to go.”
She disappears around the next bookshelf and I curse. But when I turn around, I realise she’s floating behind Ewan, who’s unsuspecting.
Her smile is unnaturally wide, stretching her beautiful face. “Oh, my sweet boys, are you really chasing after me?” She laughs prettily.
Ewan is frozen in fear, eyes wild, and his breath clouds in front of him as the temperature drops rapidly in the library.
The ExorSquad handbook warns that when the most powerful ghosts appear for a long period of time, they poke a hole through the fabric between the material world and the afterlife, letting the chill of death spill over to our side.
“Didn’t they warn you not to follow spirits in the night?” Her hair is rising around her as if underwater.
Then she puts her elegant hands around Ewan’s face, her nails digging in his cheeks, and I see red. I raise my PolterPulse and shoot. The blue zap hits her in the face, and she lets out an ear-splitting scream as she lets him go.
Ewan stumbles at my feet and I keep shooting at the dark, hoping to hit the mark again.
“Don’t touch him, you bitch!” I roar.
She laughs manically around us. “Oh, you naughty, naughty boys... You asked for it.”
In the following silence, I keep my gun cocked. I don’t have a plan to deal with the Lady in Red, but fuck, I won’t let her terrorise my teammate.
The air in the library is so cold, I don’t notice the flush creeping up in my body immediately. But then I feel it... It starts with a tingle in my toes, and a shortness of breath as my chest feels stuck in a vise.
Ewan whimpers, and I look down. He’s still kneeling at my feet.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“I feel... strange...”
“Shit, I think she’s toying with our emotions, just like Shirley warned.” I try to take a step, but Ewan’s cheek comes to rest on my hip. “You okay big guy?” I repeat.
He mumbles something I can’t make out.
“What?”
“My skin... feels... too tight...” He’s breathless.
I swallow. “Me too.” I can feel the heat pooling in my groin. “We need to go... Come on, up big boy.”
Ewan tries to get to his feet, but his legs give out. He moans. “Can’t... James...”
The way he whimpers my name doesn’t help my predicament, and my cock swells rapidly. Oh fuck. This is getting dangerous. A wave of desire rises inside me, and I reel as it crashes through me. I bite my lip not to moan out loud.
Ewan has no such restraint, and he makes the sexiest noises.
“We really need to go,” I say without conviction. I feel feverish.
I put a hand on his cheek to stop him from rubbing his face on my crotch. If he gets too close, he’ll definitely feel my cock thickening. And how will I explain that I want to bend him over the couch and—
My thoughts come to abrupt halt when Ewan rubs his face on my hand instead. His lips are soft and so tantalizing. Then he does something that threatens to make me come inside my overalls: his lips brush my fingers, and I feel his tongue.
“Oh fuck... Ewan...” I warn.
“James...” he begs again.
I’m not sure what he wants me to do, but I’m pretty sure it’s the ghost’s ability affecting us, and we’ll regret it later. We should have heeded Shirley’s warning.
We’re in a pickle, I think. Understatement of the century, James. A very hot pickle.
Ewan catches my little finger between his teeth, and I groan as shivers rake my entire body. I should pull my hand away... I really should.
He sucks my finger inside his mouth, and it’s warm and wet and so fucking perfect.
“Fuck, Ewan. You’re killing me...”
He appears too far gone to stop, and I might be, too. His eyes are half-lidded, and he’s drooling as he switches to my middle finger and sucks it. He moans shamelessly, and holy shit it sounds like music to my ears. His large hands are on my overalls, hanging on for dear life.
The way he’s licking and sucking my fingers while on his knees...
“Do you have an oral fixation, big guy?” I say.
Ewan whines and intensifies his efforts. His tongue feels amazing, and I can’t stop imagining it on my cock, so much so that I can’t help but rub my other hand on my bulge.
“I’m sorry... I’m..." he moans, thrusting his hips.
I push my foot against the evident erection tenting the front of his overalls. He whines and rubs himself on my shoe while sucking my finger deeper. It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. I want to grab his hair and bury my cock between his lips.
God, he’s such a fucking snack...
Ewan jerks and gasps, eyes tightly shut.
Oh wow, is he coming?
My breath hitches as I imagine the wet and sticky mess inside his boxer briefs. I want to rip his clothes off and taste him.
This is bad... this is bad...
He sobs—fucking sobs!—and drops his head on my thigh, appearing lost in a haze of pleasure. He looks adorable and almost well-fucked.
Holy shit I want to fuck him so bad.
This is bad bad bad...
“Ewan, go,” I growl.
Something in my tone makes him flinch, and he looks up. “James... I—”
“Go, now!” I order.
He appears shocked now, as if realizing what he just did.
But I’m dangerously close to losing it, too.
We’re not ourselves right now, and the ghost is messing with us.
I don’t want to fuck him in the library.
I’m not even sure if he’s gay or bi. It would be like fucking under the influence of a drug.
No matter how good it feels right now, I’d never be able to look at myself in the mirror afterwards.
Ewan gets on his feet shakily and runs away. My hand grazes his back, and I almost catch him. If I succeeded, I might have pushed him back on his knees and plunged my cock between his soft lips.
Thankfully, he makes it out of the library.
I close my eyes, defeated and so damn horny it hurts.
A pretty laugh echoes beyond the bookshelves. “You spoilsport,” the Lady in Red says.
“Fuck you!” I roar.
My entire body is on fire.
I run.
I feel the ghost’s influence release me, but my body is still aroused. I make it to the communal showers without meeting a soul.
I lock myself in a stall, drop my ExorSquad overalls to my knees, and steady myself with a hand against the wall. My cock pulses between my fingers, heavy and needy. They’re the same fingers Ewan was sucking only minutes ago.
Oh fuck... Ewan... He was created from my fantasies. He’s fucking big and beautiful and perfect... My hand speeds up, stroking my cock maddeningly.
It takes no time for me to come all over the tiles, Ewan’s name on my lips.