Provoking the Spirit (2 page)

Remy wasn’t ready for her to leave so soon. She was just beginning to whet his curiosity. “How did you get into ghost hunting?”

“I had an interesting experience while I was at LSU.”

He raised one eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”

“Not really.” She combed through her hair once and placed her hand in her lap. “But it sparked my interest, and I did some research. I learned there was a whole science to this, and then I met Eric. We pooled our money together and started our own ghost hunting service.”

“So you and Eric are partners, huh?” He suddenly felt something like a thin bladed knife pressed at the base of his spine. Why was he jealous of this guy?

She pursed her lips together again as she stared at him, as if she was trying to figure him out. “Business partners,” she replied at last. “Eric’s married with three kids.”

He relaxed and moved closer to her. He wasn’t used to a woman pushing him away. “Are you seeing anyone at the moment?”

She grinned and leaned forward. The faint scent of satsumas tickled his nose. “I don’t see why that’s any of your business.”

“Ah, come on, Ainsley. I’ve known you since you were eight. You’re like another sister to me.” She retreated from him, and he regretted those words as soon as he saw it. That may have been the truth before tonight, but his thoughts about her were anything but brotherly now.

“Since you’re so concerned, Big Brother Remy, I’m actually in between boyfriends at the moment. Tax season was too much for the last one to handle.”

“Do you turn into some sort of monster every April?”

She laughed so hard, she snorted. But her shoulders relaxed. “Nah, he was just too clingy and got upset when I told him I just wanted to sleep after working an eighteen hour day.”

He could understand the other guy’s reaction, though. If he was dating her, he would be upset if she preferred to sleep when he wanted to do more. He would want to feel her naked body next to his. His fingers brushed against her bare arm. “It sounds like you could do better than him,” he said in a low voice.

Her eyes widened for a moment before her face settled into a calm mask of composure. Perhaps she liked him more than she let on.

“Of course I can.” She pushed off the couch. “I’m going to check on the guys and see if they’re ready to go.”

The sting of rejection still lingered after she was gone. She presented a challenge, and he wanted her more than ever.

***

Ainsley pounded up the stairs loud enough for Tyrone to poke his head out of the bedroom. Her blood boiled. How dare he try and hit on her when she was trying to be professional? And what was worse, she almost gave into him. This was Remy, after all. He was gorgeous, charming, rich, successful. How could any woman in her right mind resist him?

Except that she knew him too well. He went through women like Kleenex.

She went straight to her partners. “Y’all ready to skat?”

Eric yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, I’m beat.”

“And I have to be at my mama’s house in the morning to cut her grass,” Tyrone added.

“Well, I’m awake and don’t have to do anything tomorrow other than go over the footage from tonight. Why don’t you two go, and I’ll pack up everything?”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, Eric. I’ll bring the equipment by tomorrow.”

Eric stood and stretched. He whispered low enough that only she could hear him. “You ain’t fooling me. Have fun with our host.” In a louder voice, he added, “Alright, I’m heading home. You coming, Tyrone?”

“Right behind you.”

Ainsley knelt down and started pulling up the painter’s tape over the cords.

“Your partners tore out of here like the devil himself was chasing them.” Remy voice’s warmed her like a lover’s caress. “Did something happen?”

“I sent them home.”

“You have to take down all these cameras by yourself?”

“It’s easier to take down than set up.” She handed him a wad of tape. “Make yourself useful and throw this away.”

He stared at it and shook his head before he went downstairs. She wasn’t going to fall for his charms. He’d strung her along in the past. He would flirt, but nothing serious ever came of it. He probably just wanted to see her swoon to boost his ego. Well, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“Ainsley, come down here.”

She sighed and took her time going down to the kitchen. When she got there, her jaw dropped. Every cabinet and drawer hung open. Her gut tightened in anger. “Is this some kind of trick?”

“No, I swear to God, it was like this when I got down here.”

She crossed the room to the small video camera and pulled out the view screen. She couldn’t wait to catch him trying to fake a haunting.

The kitchen blurred on the screen, and she watched Remy enter the kitchen. The cabinets and drawers were already open. She frowned and hit rewind. Going further back, she reached a point where everything was closed. Then she hit play. “Come take a look.”

He peered over her shoulder at the screen. Dear God, he smelled good, like spice and leather mixed with something that was entirely male. But this was not the time to act like a lovesick teenager.

“Holy shit,” he said as they watched his kitchen disrupted by an unseen hand.

“I think we have evidence that you have something here.”

“A ghost?”

“Yeah, I guess you could call it that.” She hit rewind and watched the film again. The doors and drawers flew open as if a gust of wind had blown through the kitchen. It happened much faster than any human could move. This was probably the best evidence she had gathered so far, something she could actually show people instead of telling them she “felt” something. “Awesome,” she said under her breath.

“What time did this happen?”

“The clock says about ten minutes ago.”

“When we were chatting in the front parlor?”

“Yeah, that would be about right.”

“Hmm.” He rubbed his chin. “Interesting.”

“As fast as everything was moving, I wonder why we didn’t hear anything.”

“Maybe we were too distracted.” His fingers brushed against her arms again, and the purr in his voice sent a shiver down her spine. “I know something else was occupying my mind at the moment.”

His breath warmed the nape of her neck and paralyzed her. How close was he standing behind her? She needed to pull herself together before she dropped her equipment on the tile floor. “If you thought with your head instead of your dick, maybe you wouldn’t have been so distracted.”

“You didn’t hear the noise either.” His breath grazed her ear, sending all rushing from her head to the place between her legs.
Damn him!
“When did you get so prickly?” His lips pressed against her neck and blazed a trail up toward her ear. Her knees threatened to give out from under her. “Maybe you should learn to relax.”

Relax wouldn’t be the right word for it. The camera wobbled in her hands.

“Careful,” he murmured as he grabbed it. “Who’s distracted now?”

A loud crash came from the parlor and pulled her away from his seduction.

“Jesus Christ.” He ran out of the kitchen.

She pressed record and followed him. The lamp from the sofa table lay on the ground, with the remaining shards of the light bulb sprinkled across the hardwood floor. She zoomed in on it. “Just the lamp?”

“Thankfully, although this ghost has a habit of breaking the most expensive antiques in the room.”

“Seems it decided to play after everyone left.”

“Maybe.” He ran his fingers though his dark hair. “Let me get a broom and clean this up.”

She hit stop and set the camera down on the table. There was something more to this, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. Remy said the activity was highest when he had women over. The lamp fell right after he had kissed her neck. She already had evidence, but perhaps it was time to piss off the ghost and get some more. All in the name of science, of course. She would willingly allow Remy to seduce her if it meant capturing more proof of paranormal activity.

When he came back in, she sashayed over to him. “I have an idea.”

Chapter Three

Remy wasn’t sure what happened while he was in the kitchen, but when he came back, an entirely different Ainsley greeted him. She sauntered towards him, swaying her hips while a feline grin spread upon her full mouth. How could he have ignored her all these years?

He had a pretty good idea what she was thinking based on the way she was acting. The blood rushed to his cock, and he wondered what changed her mind. “What’s your plan?”

He prayed her answer involved them heading upstairs. It had been over a year since he’d gotten laid, and she was turning him on more than any other woman he had ever met. He needed to taste her lips, her skin.

“You mentioned the activity picks up when you have a woman over. Why don’t we provoke the spirit so we can get you some answers?”

He leaned the broom against the sofa table, and she pressed her body against his. It took every ounce of willpower not to throw her over his shoulder and carry her up to his bed. The only thing that restrained him was the memory of what happened to the last woman he had taken up there. “Provoke the ghost or provoke me?”

She pouted. “I’m not easily scared. And if I get some more evidence…” She stroked his cheek and tilted her head to the side.

She gave him an invitation he couldn’t refuse. He lowered his head. Her soft lips yielded to his, and the taste of her cherry lip balm filled his senses as he plunged his tongue into her mouth. She moaned softly and then started kissing him back. Her tongue danced circles around his, teasing him, coaxing him deeper into the kiss.

When she finally pushed him away, he needed to adjust his shorts. His pulse pounded through his body. “Where did you learn to kiss like that?”

“I’m almost thirty, Remy. I’m not completely inexperienced.”

He was dying to find out what else she could do with her tongue. “How is this supposed to provoke the ghost?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he braced his hands on her hips to keep her from rubbing against his erection and driving him over the edge. “I’m betting you have a jealous female here, and I’m willing to get to the bottom of it.”

“Whatever it takes?” This was definitely getting interesting.

She nodded. “No strings attached.”

It kept getting better and better. The prospect of hot sex and no commitments afterwards excited him. What could be better than that?

But as she reclined on the couch and beckoned him to her, his heart did a flip-flop. This was Ainsley. He couldn’t use her for sex, no matter how willing she was. “I’m not completely comfortable with this.”

“Why?”

He sat on the edge of the cushion on the opposite side. Talk about role reversal. Now he was feeling like the prickly one. “Because it’s you.”

A wrinkle puckered between her brows. “And what is that supposed to mean? You seemed pretty interested in me a few minutes ago. Did you suddenly develop a conscience?”

That felt like a slap in the face. “You’re not the type of girl I usually bring home with me.”

“I’m too boring, right?” She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“No, but I got carried away back in the kitchen, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You think you could hurt me any more than I’ve already been hurt in the past?” She twirled her hair around her finger. “I’m still trying to figure out what the downside is to this.”

His desire resurged. It was getting more difficult to resist her, and his cock grew harder from the thought of her lying underneath him. But he was more worried about what would happen after tonight. This wasn’t some bimbo he could fuck and forget. He would continue to run into her as long as she remained friends with his sister.

She crawled towards him and rubbed her hand along his thigh. “Remy, Remy, why are you being so difficult?” Her fingers brushed the bulge in his crotch, and sweat slicked his palms. “It’s obvious you want me.”

He grabbed her hand to put a hold on her torment, and she gasped. “Ains, what are you doing?”

Her smoky eyes clouded, and she leaned forward to nibble on his ear. “Something I’ve always wanted to do.”

“Is this little Ainsley talking, or my jealous ghost?” He held her chin and stared at her wet lips.

“Ainsley’s grown up now,” she said in a husky voice that made his breath catch. “And she finally has the courage to go after the quarterback.”

Her fingers fumbled for the zipper on his shorts, and the sounded of it being lowered filled the silence. Her hand reached into his boxers and caressed his balls. He moaned, savoring her touch. She watched his reaction with a smile on her face.

His resolved crumbled, and he kissed her again. His tongue explored her mouth while her hand continued to stroke him. Dear God, she felt so good.

She broke away, and he liked that she sounded slightly breathless. “Do you want me to stop?”

He didn’t trust his voice, so he shook his head. He wanted this to go further.

“Good.” She bit her lip, and her grey eyes danced with mischief. She slid off the couch and knelt in front of him. The waistband of his boxers ended up around his ankles under her guidance. Then she lowered her face.

He moaned again when her lips surrounded his head. He hadn’t expected a blow job, especially from her. Maybe he had misjudged her all these years.

Her tongue flickered over the tip of his cock, and he pushed her head lower so she could take all of it into her hot mouth. She began to bob up and down along his shaft like a piston, slowly increasing her speed while her tongue danced around the base. Her cheeks sucked in, and he found himself on the verge of climax within a few minutes.

His balls tightened, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back much longer. He wanted this to last as long as possible. She must have sensed how close he was because she slowed her movements. He wound his fingers in her soft hair, urging her to continue. “Don’t stop.”

She laughed low in her throat and continued to tease him with her tongue, licking the length of his cock in long strokes. Then she took all of him in again, and her sucking became more forceful.