Faye's Spirit (4 page)

The Lady was playful. Jai liked that.

“If we have to wait for the ghost to flit through again,” Garth said, “we might as well get comfortable and enjoy the company.”

Garth really had invested himself. Jai accepted he had some serious competition here.

“I appreciate that.” She dabbed the corner of her pretty mouth with her napkin.

“There’s definitely a paranormal presence in the house.” She gestured with her napkin then ran a finger around the top of her wine glass. “But it’s best to let it make itself known to me when it feels like it.”

“And they always show themselves to you, it’s intriguing.” Jai was fascinated with her talent. Anything unique drew him like a glittery thing called to a magpie. He was all about edgy and new experiences.

She sipped her wine then nodded as she put the glass down. “Oh, there was this one occasion. The ghost didn’t reveal itself to me for two days. I think that the client, a mature lady, had begun to think I was only there for her wonderful post-world war Britain childhood stories and her lemon drizzle cake.” She paused. “It was good cake though, and eventually her resident spirit made an appearance.”

Jai was willing to bet the lady she spoke of had enjoyed Faye’s company. He certainly enjoyed it and Garth obviously did too. The good food and the wine had mellowed the mood, but the sensual indulgences heightened the sexual tension, just as Jai knew they would.

Faye had harnessed his curiosity as soon as he saw her on the doorstep. Although she had a Bohemian sense of style she seemed very grounded and practical, which was a curious mix. Most of all, her responsive nature beckoned to him. The woman had an obvious sensual appreciation of everything around her, and he was dying to know what was going on in her www.total-e-bound.com

FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

23

thoughts. She kept looking at both of them as if running some inner commentary, and he would have paid highly to know what she was thinking.

Her lower lip was full, and it made Jai want to kiss and suck her mouth, to enjoy the wine on her lips. He wondered what she would look like naked. His gaze drifted over her torso and he hardened, because he could picture her sitting astride him. He had the feeling she would look elegantly elfin even while shagging.

She seemed to sense his thoughts had wandered into the arena of sexuality, because she stirred her fork above her plate and looked his way with heavy lidded eyes. Did her psychic powers run to reading minds, or was she just attuned to the erotic suggestion between them? It wasn’t something he’d considered. This was one sexy lady.

It was time to edge things forward.

“I’m curious. You thought we were partners in a relationship. Did you really think we were gay?”

“Yes, I’m curious about that as well,” Garth said, “do we really look like a gay couple to you?”

Faye’s mouth twitched at one corner. “Actually, I didn’t think you were gay. More like bisexual.” She lifted her glass and sipped from it again, eyeing them over the edge as she did so.

Jai knew an aroused woman when he saw one, and she was enjoying this. “Go on.”

She shrugged, and her eyelids lowered as she focused on her glass in the table. Still the smile hovered around her mouth.

“Tell us why you thought that,” Jai encouraged. “More to the point, tell us why that interested you so much.”

Her eyelids flashed up and she stared across at him, her lips parted as she addressed the undertone in his questioning.

She was about to spill. He was sure he was on the right path and he had this hunch about what was going on in her mind.

“You’re a forthright woman,” he added. “You told Garth here he hadn’t done his research on this place.” Jai nodded his head in Garth’s direction.

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FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

24

She chuckled softly, and he noticed her breathing pattern had altered, because her chest rose and fell rapidly. The rise of her breasts beneath her silky dress caught his attention.

In her cleavage, the skin shone in the light from the overhead spots.

“Oh, it’s just because I know someone who is involved with two men.” She looked across at them for their response.

Jai’s interest was already piqued, and now it was growing.

“What, you mean they have someone on the side?” Garth asked.

Sometimes his old friend could be slow on the pickup. Jai blamed that on Garth’s strict upbringing. It left him bewilderingly innocent of the kinky goings on in the world. He fiddled with his wine glass, wanting to edge it on, but knowing Garth needed to grow into this comfortably if it was going to move forward at all. “My guess is Faye means her friend has two men at the same time, am I correct?”

Her pupils had dilated. She nodded.

“Tell us more, I’m fascinated.” The fact she was interested in it and had deliberately mentioned it turned him on. He enjoyed women who were open about their needs and desires when it came to bedroom matters. Of course Garth might not be able to handle it this time either, if she actually said it aloud, but that was a risk he was going to have to take to find out more juicy details.

She took a deep breath, but then faltered and seemed to freeze before she spoke. She glanced left, past them, into the darkness of the hallway beyond the kitchen.

That’s when Jai felt it, exactly what he’d felt on several occasions before. The atmosphere changed, tightened somehow, as if an external force shot tension through the air.

He felt a presence at his back and the smell of that cheap perfume. Their resident ghost was somewhere in the vicinity.

Faye looked back at them. “Keep talking to me,” she said beneath her breath. “Don’t stop.”

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FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

25

Chapter Three

Right when the conversation ended up getting interesting, Faye sensed the spirit who occupied the house emerging from its history and materialising in the present moment. The two men seemed unaware at first, but the tell-tale signs that she always got hit her before anyone else realised the spirit was there. The atmosphere became alive with psychic information that ran along her nerve endings and drew her attention away from the delicious scenario opening up with her two hosts. She felt unwilling to lose the impetus of the moment and she was torn, but when a ghost present she was unable to do anything but engage with it.

“Keep talking to me,” she whispered as suggestively as she could, and winked at them.

“I figure I’m right,” Jai said, who latched on to her message. “Two men at once, that’s what Faye means. Three in a bed.”

“Okay, I get it,” Garth replied.

Three in a bed, with these two. Faye’s pulse tripped at the idea of it. What with that and the psychic activity in the room, she felt positively wired—lit up like a Christmas tree.

Peering into the gloomy corridor she saw the ghost materialising. Jai was right, it was a woman. At first Faye saw her as a haze of light, then as a figure outlined in a halo of luminosity in the darkness. As she moved closer to the area where they were gathered, Faye again urged the men to keep speaking while she concentrated on the paranormal occupant of the house.

The first thing she noticed was the woman’s style of dress. Because it was a Victorian house Faye had expected someone from a more distant historic era. Instead the woman wore fashion straight out of the 1960s. A fuchsia coloured mini dress that was edged at the hemline and neckline with black. Her hair was piled high on her head with a corkscrew teased down on either side, framing her face. The most striking thing about her, however, was the way she was focused on the two men.

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FAYE’S SPIRIT

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26

“It depends on the line up.” Garth’s voice reached Faye.

Jai managed to catch her eye. “That probably goes without saying. We’ll have to ask Faye more about her friend.”

“I’d love to chat about it later.” She smiled.

While the two men had a rather staged conversation about threesomes, Faye watched.

The men’s presence here attracted the spirit by the looks of it, and she moved towards them with anticipation, craning her neck as if to get a better look. There was a fondness in her eyes, and as she passed Garth, she moved her fingers around his shoulders, not quite touching him, but the desire to do so was there. Then she moved closer to Jai and studied him from one side.

For Faye it was blatantly obvious how interested the ghost was in the two men.

Despite everything that happened at once, Faye found that amusing. She could hardly blame the woman, after all. Perhaps the presence of the two attractive men also accounted for why it took the ghost a few moments to notice the third person in the room. When she did, she glanced quickly at Faye, pursed her lips as if annoyed, and returned her attention to Jai. Then she paused and looked again, and her eyes rounded. She gripped her hand against her chest as if in fright.

Oh yes, now you see it, don’t you
. Faye nodded her head in the direction of the ghost, holding the ethereal spirit’s gaze.

The ghost, however, was so startled that her lips moved in a silent curse and she completely evaporated from view a moment later.

“Damn.” Faye sat back in her chair. The ghost had quickly developed a case of annoyance or shyness when she realised she was being watched. It was often the way. The spirits she encountered were initially startled that she could see them and communicate with them.

Faye felt an echo of the frustration and shock the ghost had felt. Such was her psychic link with the spirits she encountered. Meanwhile, the men were attempting to carry on their stilted conversation about threesomes, which hooked her just as badly.

“Two women?” Jai shook his head. “It doesn’t have to be. It depends on the chemistry and the set up, more than anything.”

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FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

27

“I agree.” Faye interjected. “She’s gone now.” She rose to her feet. “You were right, it’s a woman, from the sixties if I’m not mistaken, and she’s fascinated by what’s going on here.”

“Aren’t we all,” Jai commented in a low, suggestive tone.

Faye arched an eyebrow. “I meant she’s fascinated by the new residents, not the talk of threesomes.”

“Shame,” he murmured, watching her from under heavy lids.

Boy, was that a sexy glance. “You’re so bad,” she shot back.

What with the adrenaline rush she got from interacting with the ghost, and the three-way arousal simmering in the atmosphere, she felt electrified by the adventure. She stepped across the kitchen, heading for the corridor where the ghost had disappeared.

As she passed, Jai reached out and grasped her hand, drawing her to a halt. “It’s not just the ghost you’re interested in, is it?”

Faye’s arousal flared. She felt light-headed from the rush of energy all around her, both paranormal and physical. Thrown by his directness, she struggled for a response. “Well, I am here to sort out your ghost problem.” Both men watched her avidly.
You can do better
than that
, she told herself. Be brave. “Although I’m just as intrigued by other things here too.”

With that she pulled her hand free and headed into the darkness of the corridor, following the path the ghost had taken.

Two chairs scraped against the kitchen floor behind her and both men were quickly on her heels.

Faye’s self-awareness level ticked higher still. This had turned out to be more interesting than any other commission she’d had. She took a deep, steadying breath then reached up and ran her hands along the wooden banisters on the staircase in the hallway, trying to sense if the spirit lingered, and if so, where.

“What are you doing?” Garth asked.

“Just checking to see if she’s hiding out here, observing. It’s sometimes quite a surprise for a spirit when they realise that I can see them.” Did the ghost have a bolthole, a favourite place to hide? “Did you say you felt her mostly on the ground floor?” She glanced over her shoulder only to find both men inches from her back.

“Yes,” Garth replied, and Jai nodded.

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FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

28

That might be the case but the ghost was gone, well and truly vanished into the ether—for the time being at least, shocked by her own visibility to a live person. Meanwhile, two much more immediate entities demanded her attention.

Faye turned towards the two men and rested her back against the wooden banisters.

Both of them were close at hand, and they were looking at her the way they had been when the discussion about threesomes had been launched minutes before. As her eyes grew accustomed to the gloom in the hallway she noticed how intense they both looked, exchanging the occasional glance as if silently conferring. Was it her imagination or was that what they were doing? Was their bond of friendship strong enough? She wished she had her sister Holly’s knack for gauging people’s motives. Holly was much more gifted in that department than she or Monica.

Jai leaned closer to her. “Do you think she’ll come back, now that she knows you can see her?”

“I’d say we give it a few hours. Once she gets used to the idea she’ll either find it appealing or she’ll get angry, depending on her character.”

Jai gave her a slow, seductive smile and looked at her in a way that made her body heat with arousal, almost as if he had touched her.

“A few hours, huh.” He stepped closer, wrapped his hand around the wooden strut at her side, then stroked her hair through his fingers with his free hand, following the line of her bob down to where it curved beneath her chin. Garth, meanwhile, had a brooding look about him that said more than words. The man wanted to touch her the way his partner had.

Faye grew dizzy with the sheer erotic potential. Both men had their attention locked on her, as if they’d barely been distracted from the sexy banter by her wispy encounter with a being from the past, and appeared to be waiting to resume their intimate conversation about threesomes. Had they done this before, she wondered. Had she fallen into the ideal situation to live out that fantasy that had rolled through her mind and body for the last year?