Page 36 of Baking With A Ghost

He shifts against me, his hand over my heart. "You need to remember, at least for a while, that I've not been with anyone for over one hundred years. Ronald was his name, and we were intimate a few times, but not like this. We always had to hide, so it was quick and usually in places that weren't conducive for romance." He turns my face to his. "I died shortly after I met Ronald, so there's lots I never experienced. And so much has changed since then. But don't be afraid to be with me because I'm a little new at this. I've wanted it for so long. To share my whole self with someone." He kisses me softly. "I knew I was meant to be with you, it's why I waited for so long and never moved to the afterlife like I was supposed to. I'm here for you."

"Simon…" I bring my lips to his with a gentle kiss. "You have no idea how honoured I am to have you here. I suppose I was waiting for you, too."

I wince as the drying cum smashed between us pulls at some belly hair when he moves.

"Let’s get this cleaned up, then you can rest more and we'll talk again."

He laughs and looks between us. "I suppose this is a lesson for what will happen if you don't come for another one hundred years. It's enough cum to glue a puzzle together, and then some."

Laughing, I pull him up with me and march us to the shower.

"You won't have to worry about waiting that long again as long as I'm around."

Laughing,Iflickoffthe TV as Simon cranes his head back to look up at me. We've had a shower, and a late supper and have been lounging on the couch watching bits of sitcoms and movies. Simon asked me to show him things I was familiar with and liked to watch. He wanted to get to know me, but I wanted to know him more, and the only way to do that was to ask direct questions, some I was hesitant about.

"So it's a group of friends who hang out drinking coffee and never doing any actual work? It just follows their lives?"

His brow scrunches and it's adorable.

"Yep, that's it. You see their friendships and quirks and they usually have some kind of life moment they bring to light. Like having a baby, or a boss who is inappropriate and how do you react to it. Stuff like that. I find it funny, and the boys are cute. So I watched."

"I suppose I'm too removed from a lot of it to find it funny, but I do agree on the cute boys."

He flips over between my legs and rests his head on my chest. "Not as cute as you, though." His hand slides up and down my chest, intimate and comfortable. The casual way we've fit together the last 24 hours is still something I find truly incredible.

"Can I ask you about your life? Will you talk about it?"

My fingers play with the ends of his thick brown hair and he leans into my hand.

"Yes, I can talk about it. What do you want to know?"

"I read about your family, how did you meet Ronald?"

His hands still, only for a second, before continuing his caresses.

"We had a barn raising. Do you know what that is? Every capable man is called to a farmer’s property on a given day to help. The barn could be built in a day, with the whole community helping." He pauses, shifting to slide up closer to my face. "We really connected while we were working. Being young we took our shirts off in the heat and he moved closer the more we talked. I wasn't sure at the time, but I had thought he was flirting, I was just scared to act first."

I move my hand to his back, small circles of comfort as his voice wavers.

"When the older men took a break, we stayed behind and I chanced a longer glance at his face. When I did, I saw the look. He had been flirting and me staying behind was the sign he needed. I was comfortable with him, you see. I allowed his flirting to continue and gave it back, daring to touch his back at one point."

"It must have been hard to keep it quiet with all the other men there. Were you scared of being found out?"

"Terrified, I knew my father wouldn’t accept it, but Ronald was the first one who seemed to feel the same things I did. I wanted to take a risk and find out how it could feel to be with someone I truly wanted, not fake kissing the girls my parents kept picking out for me."

"Did they do that a lot?"

He sighs. "Too much. They wanted me to have children for the mill business and to carry on the name. It was a constant parade of skirts. I'm sure the town thought I was a womanizer, I had so many dates."

"You must have felt horrible. I'm sorry."

"It wasn't nice, but it did help me confirm I wasn't attracted to women. Ronald was all I thought about. It was several weeks after the barn raising that I saw him again. His family owned a farm outside of town and he'd come in for the weekend for a farmers market and meeting. We chatted and I straight up asked if he'd like to have a drink with me."

Simon inhales several times before continuing. "He said he'd love to and we agreed to meet at the only pub in town. After we had a beer he asked if I wanted to take a walk and we did and… "

His lithe body trembles and I hold him closer.

"You don't have to tell me the story, Si. If it's too hard, don't finish."

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