Your Ghost

Chapter 22:

Ransom throws a foil packet on my chest. "Put it on me." he orders with a raspy voice, sitting up.
I sit up and unwrap the packet. "Your girlfriend is on it." I tease, but that was a mistake.
"Girlfriend? Is this you confirming that you are my girlfriend? Hang on; I remember when your dad visited that you said you are not my girlfriend, so I stopped calling you that. I did however, tell Callie you are..." he trails off and then his eyes expand, "Hang on! Were you eavesdropping on the conversation I had with Callie?"
Shit! Shit! Shit!
I should have waited for him to call me his girlfriend again.
I just had to say that word out loud!
You idiot!
I shut my eyes. My cheeks are crimson red.
"Evelyn...look at me." he instructs, but his voice is not harsh.
I don't open my eyes.
Suddenly, I hear Ransom burst into laughter.
What?
"What is so funny?" I open my eyes this time.
"I didn't think that you would eavesdrop on a conversation I had. You are always 'miss squeaky clean'. You don't eavesdrop." Ransom guffaws.
I pout like a child and cross my arms. "I was about to walk in, but then I thought why don't I wait and see what you would do if you were alone with Callie." I emphasize on 'you' and 'alone'.
Ransom seems taken aback.
"Don't look at me like that! It's making me uncomfortable." I hug my knees into my chest. I suddenly feel vulnerable, like I need to cover myself.
Ransom's laughter subsides quickly. "You...Do you honestly think that I would be intimate with Callie in that study?" Ransom looks astonished.
I frown at him. "If history proves anything, it is that you will stick your tongue down her throat and maybe even sleep with her." My voice is a little harsh.
I look away from him. Looking into his eyes is intimidating me.
"Evelyn..." Ransom's voice is closer than before.
"Look at me." I feel his thumb on my chin and he tilts my head so I am looking at him, but I shut my eyes.
"Open your eyes. I want to see those blue eyes. Blue eyes that match my own." Ransom's voice is compelling and I cannot help but comply.
I look directly into his eyes.
"I want you to remember something," he inhales. "I may have kissed Callie, but I have not slept with her. I did phone her last week, but I put the phone down after she answered. Something didn't feel right. I phoned her because...well it doesn't matter anymore. I didn't want to be with her because I wanted to be with you and only you, and right now..." Ransom leans in by my ear, "I want to bury myself in you." Ransom nips my ear.
My whole body shivers.
My body responds to Ransom by him just touching me!
I know I should speak to Ransom about Callie. I know I should. I know why he phoned her, and he didn't even have to tell me why he phoned her – well he didn't technically tell me.
I just cannot bring myself to speaking to Ransom about the relationship he has with Callie. After all, he did tell her to get out the study when she tattletaled on me, which means he didn't want anything to do with her – this time.
I should also just leave this new unknown room, but my body doesn't want to move.
I am giving into Ransom's ways – and I know that is bad!
Fuck it!
I decide to not speak about Callie during this time. I too want Ransom and looking at him right now with his body towering mine and watching him lick his lips, those luscious lips...hmmm!
He is so intoxicating and he is all mine!
I push my thoughts of Callie aside and focus solely on Ransom.
I stretch my legs out so Ransom can get closer to me without my knees being in the way. I lay back down on the bed.
Ransom gives me a smug smile and then I feel his lips brush my neck and I tilt my head, exposing my neck for him to explore. I feel a sharp pain and I wince. Ransom is biting me.
He's going to give me a hickey!
He knows I do not like hickeys! The last few hickeys' he has given me are still healing.
I have two options: I could stop Ransom or let him carry on.
I feel his teeth on my neck.
Shit!
I go for the latter option, but I will regret it.
I put my hand on his head and I push him closer. Ransom moans against my skin and I feel his teeth sink into my skin. I moan aloud. It hurts but yet, it feels strangely welcoming. Ransom then kisses me. His lips are soft...so soft. He then proceeds to kiss my neck until his lips reach down to my chest. His lips find their way to one of my breasts and he teases it.
"Ransom!" I cry.
Words cannot describe how good this feels.
"Yes! Say my name! No one can hear us in here." Ransom moves onto my other breast and begins his sweet torture.
My hands interlace in his hair and I pull.
"Fuck!" Ransom moans and nips my nipple.
"Ow!" My body jerks.
"Then don't pull my hair." he inhales sharply.
"Sorry." I close my eyes.
"Try not to move." Ransom instructs.
He starts to kiss from my chest to my stomach, but I am not sure if what I feel next is my imagination. I feel Ransom's teeth all over my body. My mind is so foggy at this point because all I want to do right now is be more intimate with Ransom.
I feel Ransom's lips covering my own. I open my eyes just to make sure I am not imagining this.
Phew!
Ransom sits up and hands me the foil packet. "Put it on." he strokes his manhood, which makes me lick my lips.
I tear open the packet and I try to be as quick as I can.
"Easy Evelyn!" Ransom inhales. "Otherwise you are going to do something you'll regret. Be careful putting it on." he cautions.
Once I am done, I toss the foil packet away and I lean back down so Ransom can lower himself down. His manhood poking at my entrance. He's teasing me!
"Ransom! Stop it!" I groan, looking in his eyes.
Ransom's eyes seem...different. His eyes are not the beautiful blue color I adore. The blue in his eyes seem hooded. I get the feeling my Ransom is gone.
"Oh my sweet Evelyn! Is this frustrating?" he taunts.
I narrow my eyes. "Stop teasing me."
"Ooh...I will stop, but remember, you came by yourself. I told you that was a big mistake. Now..." Ransom positions himself. "...I want show you what will happen if you do that again."
I exhale a sharp breath.
"I want to fuck you too until you will be sore tomorrow."
Something is definitely off. This doesn't sound like the Ransom I once loved. This is the Ransom that I did not love.
No!
I inhale and Ransom slams into me and I scream. The feeling I have is a mix of pleasure and...agony? Agony?
Ransom holds my hands over my head, making sure he has pinned me to the bed, and I feel his nails dig into my skin.
He thrusts into me harder and I cannot shake the feeling that he wants to actually hurt me.
"Ransom...you're...you're...not so..." There is urgency in my voice. I am breathless and I cannot find the right words. I need to think straight.
"You are so tight." he says through gritted teeth.
I look into his eyes to see if I can find my Ransom, just to see if he is still there, but to no avail. This is the possessive Ransom I fell out of love for.
Ransom is thrusting so hard that the bed is shaking, and I want him to stop. I don't like this side of Ransom. Where did my Ransom go? He was here earlier!
"RANSOM!" I scream, but not in pleasure.
"Scream as much as you want." his voice is different. Too different.
"No! You're...you are hurting me!" I cry out in agony.
Just then, I feel tension building up inside me.
Thank goodness! I am close.
Ransom doesn't stop, but I can feel his legs shake. He is close too.
"Ah!" I arch my back as I reach my climax.
Ransom mouth forms an O and he reaches his climax too. I feel heat surge inside me.
Ransom pulls out of me too fast and I wince. Shit! It really hurts.
"I told you..." Ransom says breathlessly, "...that was a big mistake."
I do not respond. I focus on my breathing. I inhale and exhale slowly to catch my breath until eventually I can speak normally. "You...you are such an asshole!" I curse.
I want to leave this room right now, but I need to get my strength back because I feel too weak to get up. I know I gave in and I let Ransom take control, but I did not expect him to do this to me. I thought he was going to be gentle.
"Maybe next time...don't pleasure yourself without me." he scolds, still trying to regain his breathing.
"Are you fucking serious?" I try to sit up, but my body won't move. "I told you that you were hurting me, and you didn't stop."
Ransom does not say a word. All I hear is his breathing.
"Why didn't you stop?" I can feel my voice cracking. I bite down on my lip to refrain from speaking.
Ransom does not talk.
I hold back from shouting at him. If I do, my voice is going to break and I will cry.
I need to leave. I can't be in this room with Ransom. Heck! I cannot be in the same room as Ransom right now.
I clamber off the bed with all the strength I have and I wobble toward the door.
"Evelyn..." Ransom's finally speaks and his tone has suddenly changed to concern, and worry.
"What?" I manage keep my voice neutral.
I turn around and Ransom is not even looking at me. He is still lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling.
I swallow hard and fight back my tears which are forming on the corners of my eyes.
"Fine." I swallow again. "If you won't answer me, then I am leaving this room."
I open the door and look at Ransom again in hopes that he will at least acknowledge the fact that I am walking out this room.
Ransom is still looking at the ceiling and he does not utter a word.
"Goodbye Ransom." I try to say as firm as I can. "You really hurt me. I thought our relationship was getting better, but clearly, it has not. You are still the asshole I broke up with. So you can sulk in this room all you want, I don't want to be in here. I don't even want to be alone with you."
I slam the door and make my way back to the study. There is not much light as I make my way back to the study. My vision is blurry and I nearly trip over an object of some sort.
I blink to try and adjust my eyesight to see if nobody is in the study. I wouldn't want anyone to scream at the sight of me with no clothes on. I find my dress and put it on. I place Ransom's clothes on the couch, but I should throw them out the window. I should.
I exit the study and I make a pit stop to the bathroom to blow my nose before I return to the event.
Something changed in Ransom in that room...I should have stopped Ransom when I saw that look in his eyes. I knew something was off.
Why didn't I stop him?
***
"Evelyn darling! There you are!" I hear Harlan's warm voice.
I plaster a smile on my face and walk - more like limp - toward him.
"Are you alright child?" Harlan's expression changes when he gets closer to me.
"I am okay." I lie.
"What happened to you?"
"I tripped." I lie again.
"You look quite out of it. Are you sure nothing bad happened?" Harlan moves my hair away from my face.
"I just need to lie down." The light in the room is too bright for my eyes. I strain my eyes to look at Harlan.
"Marta!" Harlan beckons.
Just then I fall forward.
"Yes. Oh my word Evelyn!" Marta catches me.
"Take her to the spare bedroom." Harlan tells Marta.
"I'm okay." I say out loud more to myself.
"I will talk to you later Evelyn. You need to rest." Harlan looks to Marta, who drapes one of my arms over her shoulder.
"Come on. We just need to get up those stairs." Marta says breathlessly.
Am I that heavy?
Marta gulps.
She attempts to take me up the stairs, but I stumble and fall back down.
"Evelyn!" Marta shrieks.
"Got you!" Someone catches me just before I hit the ground.
I am not sure who it is, but I can hear the voice is deep.
Ransom?
I close my eyes and everything goes black.
***
I open my eyes and rub them to adjust to see where I am. I look around; I am in the bedroom I usually stayed in. The lights are dimmed enough so my eyes don't burn with the brightness. Who put me in this room? Was it Ransom?
I sit up and I wince. My body is starting to hurt and my head is spinning. I try to stand up and surprisingly, I can stand my ground, but when I walk, my legs wobble. I limp to the bathroom so I can see how bad I look because I know I don't look the same as I did when I arrived to this house.
I manage to remove my dress and what I see in my reflection is appalling.
I see hickeys on my chest, on my stomach, on my thighs and on my neck.
That's why I felt Ransom's teeth on my body. My mind was so dazed that I didn't try to stop him.
I knew I would regret it!
I am literally covered in bruises. It looks as if I was bitten multiple times by a vampire.
My hair is starting to look like a bird's nest, my face is so pale - with smudged makeup - that I could actually be a vampire, and there are nail marks on my hands.
Ransom really hurt me. He physically hurt me!
I feel the lump in my throat but I refuse to cry over this. I can't!
I straighten my hair to try and distract myself from crying. I literally look for every knot that is in my hair.
I hear a knock on the door.
I instantly shout "Go away!"
I know it is Ransom. I don't want to see him.
I grab my dress to put it back on and I try to fix my makeup, which fails. I wet a cloth and wipe my face.
There's another knock on the door.
"I said go away!" I yell.
Then I hear a knock for the 3rd time.
Are you serious?
I walk to the door and open it.
"Ransom I swear I am going to – oh!" I raise my brows and wrinkle my forehead.
"I'm sorry. I was really worried about you."
It's Jake.
He doesn't look directly at me, and he sounds nervous. Very nervous.
"Sorry." I mutter and smile at him.
"I – I went t – to go get you a glass of water." he stutters, holding up a glass of water with his shaking hand.
"Why don't you come in?" I move so that he can come inside.
Jake looks around first and then he walks inside.
He sits on the couch – which is uncomfortable. I need to ask Harlan to replace that couch.
Jake hands me the glass and sits rather uncomfortably back on the couch. He places his fingers over his mouth.
I take a sip of the water. It is ice cold, but it helps soothe my throat.
"Thank you." I smile at him and he directs his eyes to another direction away from me.
He clasps his hands together and then he rubs the back of his neck.
Why is he so nervous?
"Jake is every -"
"I am so sorry for nearly kissing you!" Jake shouts, startling me.
My mouth drops open but I quickly close it. "It's okay." My voice is calm.
"No it isn't."
"Yes it is. Nothing happened anyway, and besides, I did back away."
"That doesn't make what I did okay. Harlan specifically brought me here because he wanted you and me to meet. I am so sorry that I came onto you like that." Jake covers his face with his hands.
"Jake." I walk toward the couch and place my hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. Really and truly. Nothing happened." I sit down next to him.
Jake looks at me and sniffs. "Sorry."
I chuckle. "Stop apologizing. It is okay."
"Sorry." he repeats.
We both laugh. Jake's laughter is more nervous and he bite's his lip.
Jake's eyes focus on my neck and I know he spots a hickey.
I quickly cover my neck with my hands.
Jake looks down and pulls his eyebrows together.
"Jake –"
"I need to go." he stands up and walks toward the door.
"Did I do something?" I ask, creasing my eyebrows.
I stand up and walk toward Jake.
"N-No. You did-did nothing wrong. It's just..." Jake turns away from me.
"I am not mad at you, if that is what you are worried about." I place my hand on his back.
"I have to go. I will speak to you in the next few days so we can discuss your book." Jake opens the door.
"Jake wait –"
I stop mid-sentence when Jake leaves abruptly.
Why is he nervous around me? I pulled away when he tried to kiss me.
Was it because he saw my breast? Or that he saw a hickey on my neck?
I close the door and lock it, just in case Ransom decides he wants to come into this room.
I lie back down on the bed and close my eyes. I try to focus my mind on the book I am writing, and I try to think about the different scenes I have written in my book.
***
I awake and hear a click, like someone is unlocking a door.
The moon is shining right on the bed.
I turn over so I am facing the darkness.
I hear voices in the room, but I cannot make out who is in the room.
Suddenly, I am being picked up and carried away. My body is aching. I can feel my muscles are sore. If I could, I would wriggle to get out of the person's arms.
"Is she alright?" It's Harlan.
"She just needs to rest." I recognize that voice.
It's Ransom!
"I will speak to you tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Harlan."
I keep my eyes closed because I really don't have the energy to talk to Ransom.
Ransom puts me into his car and on the way back to his house, I do not speak nor do I open my eyes. All I want to do is sleep and honestly, I don't even care that Ransom is inches away from me.
I wish he hadn't taken me home with him. If he really cared about me, he would have left me at Harlan's house.

Once inside the house, I hear Sheila whine.
"Hang on girl." Ransom whispers. His voice is calm, collective.
I make sure that my eyes remain shut.
He carries me upstairs into the bedroom and he places me ever so gently onto the bed.
Why couldn't he put me on the couch?
Well I know why he wants to. He wants me to sleep next to him, but I don't want to.
I am just too tired to get off the bed and tell Ransom that I don't want to be sleeping next to him.
I feel Ransom's hands on me, and that is when I open my eyes. I don't want Ransoms hands on me.
Ransom has turned around to grab clothing out the cupboard. I see that he has one of his t-shirts in his hands.
I shut my eyes and pretend that I am sleeping.
I feel Ransom removing my dress and then I hear Ransom gasp in what sounds like horror. Is he shocked at the marks and bruises he left on me? I hope so!
"Shit!" I hear him quietly say.
I feel Ransom is putting clothing on me and once he is done, he slides me onto my side of the bed.
"I am so sorry I hurt you." I feel Ransom's finger brush my jaw line. "I really didn't mean to hurt you like this. I hope you can forgive me. You are still the only woman I want to be with. Sleep well my Sweet Star." I feel his lips on my forehead.
Is my Ransom back? If he is, then how long will he be around?
I turn over and force myself to sleep, while fighting back the tears that has just formed.