Page 48 of The Curse of Redwood
“Did you pose for him?” I asked.
“Father forbade it,” Z answered, as a sad smile crossed his face. “He didn’t want mewasting timewith such a lowly sort. That same artist went on to become highly successful. You should’ve seen my father’s face when he saw the man in the paper being praised for his skills. He was so sour. It was always quite amusing when he was made a fool. There were times when I acted out on purpose just to add chaos to his perfectly structured world.”
“Sounds like you might’ve been a rebel too,” I said, caressing his forearm. “Just like me.”
“Perhaps.” A smirk formed in the corner of his mouth as he popped the button on my jeans and unzipped them. He slid them down my legs before tossing them to the floor, along with my boxers.
I grew a bit self-conscious when he stared at my nakedness. Was he judging me? Comparing me tohim—the man I still didn’t know? He’d seen me naked before, but he’d never stared at me like he was in that moment.
“You are delectable,” he finally said, his voice raspy. “Soft, creamy skin and an endearing color to your cheeks.”
“Delectable, huh?” I said, wiggling a bit under his scrutiny. “You should totally taste me just to be sure.”
He chuckled before trailing his lips around my belly button. My stomach quivered and my pulse moved quicker, causing all my blood to rush straight to my dick. I hardened even further and inflated like a damn balloon. Isocouldn’t wait to pop.
His hair tickled my skin as he moved down my body and took my cock to the back of his throat. I watched through heavy lids as he glided his lips up and down my shaft, his blue eyes flashing to mine.
“Mm,” he said, as my dick popped from his mouth. “Delectable, indeed. Shall I taste you somewhere else?”
“Like where—oh, fuck.”
Z had lifted my ass off the mattress and licked my hole. I shuddered and fisted the blanket beneath me. He hooked my legs over his shoulders and went in for another lick, flattening his tongue against my tight pucker. I jolted when he pushed the tip of a finger inside me. It was cool at first but quickly warmed.
As he probed and stretched my ass, his mouth returned to my cock. The sensation of being cushioned in a wet mouth while also having my prostate stroked made my thighs quake. God, he’d brought me close to the edge so fast. I felt like a virgin all over again. Before I could leap off that ledge, though, he withdrew his fingers and let my cock slip from his mouth.
“You have too many clothes.” I motioned to his fully-clothed body. “Get up here so I can change that.”
“I do believe you’re a bit demanding this afternoon,” he responded, crawling onto the bed and lying beside me.
“You believe correctly, kind sir,” I answered in a phony accent before twirling my nonexistent mustache.
Another laugh rumbled in his chest, and his body flickered before holding a solid form. He regarded me with a smile in his eyes. “You are the most extraordinary man I’ve ever known. I have never laughed as I do with you.”
“Hopefully laughing isn’t all you’ll be doing in this bed.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
The smile never left his lips as I rolled on top of him and began removing his clothes. And there were aton.
Men from his time wore way too many layers; a double-breasted coat with a vest and button-up shirt beneath it, plus trousers, high socks, and some kind of fancy ankle-high dress shoe. I kissed him in between the removal of layers, not losing the lustful urgency to have him naked in the sheets as soon as possible.
I used to joke with Ben about what it’d be like to have sex with a ghost, but as Z and I groped, grinded, and kissed, I didn’t think of him as a ghost. He was just Z, and I was Carter—two men who wanted to get lost in the feel of each other for the day.
Though, if I was being honest, I wanted him for much more than a day.
I kissed down his smooth, hairless chest, finding the coolness of his skin oddly erotic. My lips tingled from the mix of cold and warm because, like the other times we touched, he grew warmer the longer our bodies made contact. I practically inhaled his intoxicating scent as I bit his muscled belly.
“You smell so good,” I murmured, before nipping at him again.
“I would give anything to be able to smell you again. All I have is the memory of your scent from All Hallow’s Eve.”
Laying my cheek on his lower abdomen, I glanced up at him. “Oh. Right. Ghosts can’t smell or taste anything.”
“Sadly, no.”
“What did I smell like?” I asked, drawing circles on his skin with my index finger.
He brushed his hand over my hair, giving me the gentlest of smiles. “Like woodsmoke on a winter morning.”
My heart skipped a beat. Everything about Z screamed that he was a seductive charmer, yet when he spoke, he was such a romantic as well. My brain had trouble processing it. No other man had ever treated me that way.
