Slave: The Ghost of Cambria - Book Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Kristen didn't partake much in what little conversation Tony offered during their ride to the gym for that night's shower. If there were indeed no rodents in the house, she felt certain what was agitating Penelope was Valon's presence. Having woken from another shared dream, Kristen presumed the ghost was close by--her dog must've sensed him.

"The exterminator might be right. The noise bothering Penny might be something else entirely," Tony offered on their ride back to Kristen's house. "Temperature changes in the plumbing could cause that noise. Maybe the water heater is arbitrarily seeping into the system even when the taps are closed. I'll talk to our new guy about it when he comes by tomorrow."

"Hopefully, it's something simple like that," she responded.

Kristen had avoided all mention of their kiss that afternoon. She had been so startled when the door slammed, confident Valon had been in the room with them. At first, she hesitated at Tony's advances, but Kristen then gave into them. Her motivation was more than just his sweet kisses. Part of Kristen wanted to know--she wanted one more bit of proof that the ghost was with her. Kristen had called Valon's name aloud, and when Tony appeared instead of the spirit, she allowed the young man to have his way with her. It was a childish taunt, Kristen's allowing Tony to grab hold of her body at that moment, and the ferocity of the door slam cured her of any petulance she still fancied.

But in all her Machiavellian calculations, Kristen was again confronted by her intense attraction to Tony. Feeling his hands hold her was another reminder of the intensity of his effect on her. It was no small feat to stop herself from inviting the young man inside as he pulled up the truck up to the curb in front of her house.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Tony without catching her deep gaze at his handsome face.

He was so ridiculously beautiful, she thought. Kristen was taken by the notion of asking him to take her to his workshop and van. Indeed, this felt like more than simple lust - Kristen needed him, the smell and taste of him. Her eyes wandered over his arms and hands that gripped the steering wheel. Oh, to have them touch her, even if only for just a little while.

After a thought of Penelope, Kristen reached to gather her bag and pulled on the door handle to let herself out.

"Thanks, Tony," said Kristen gratefully. "I'll see you tomorrow."

***

Valon loved Margaret. There was no doubt in his mind.

He had loved Pamela, as well, but the ghost felt their connection had been very different. It wasn't that his red-haired lover of more than twelve years had been less intimate with Valon than Margaret was now. Even having spent most of that time in the form of another man, a veneer of Pamela's dead husband, Valon had felt every morsel of their passion, allowing the woman to share her every emotion with him. The difference was that Pamela didn't love Valon in the end, she loved Bobby Hill. And even when the ghost adopted the woman's fantasies, speaking in the man's voice, answering questions just how her husband would have, Pamela was only capable of loving his memory. When Valon tried to explain, to show her that he was someone else, Hill rejected him almost completely. Yes, she would allow him to pleasure her, but nevertheless, she rejected the young stranger with steel-blue eyes--denied him in her heart. And in the end, she walked away from Valon; left the ghost's presence as if he was something unholy; an addiction from which she must sever all ties or be consumed by.

It had almost destroyed him, the pain of her rejection and the absence of her voice in the house.

When he found Margaret asleep in his bed that first night, he probed her mind to find the lover of her dreams, desperate to reincarnate the affection he'd been without. The ghost had led Margaret to her memories without the slightest effort. It was as if they were anxiously waiting to comfort them both. The tall and masculine Chris Jackson, with his devilish good looks and charm. Adopting his guise was a pleasure for the ghost, if only to experience that wild desire Margaret looked upon him with.