Dreams of Dani (2 page)

Nick knelt down to wipe up the spilled soda, and she handed him some paper towels. When he stood to throw them away, Sela stepped close to him. “I don’t think it will happen again.”

“Probably not,” he agreed, and he knew the reason it wouldn’t. He not only lived with an insatiable sex-crazed ghost, but she was a jealous, insatiable, sex-crazed ghost. His erection was literally gone with the wind, thanks to Red and her little tantrum. Sela wasn’t going to get lucky today. And if Red’s temper got any worse, Nick wasn’t sure how long his own luck would hold out.

* * * *

He thought about it in bed that night, after Red had come and gone. (He had too, literally: he had come twice and gone was any hope he had of sleeping.) He slipped into his jeans and stood at his office window, staring out at the city lights. He almost wished he smoked, so he could light one up. Thoughts swirled around in his head, and he tried to sort them out.

He didn’t write about ghosts, but the phenomenon wasn’t totally new to him. He understood that his beautiful redheaded ghost must have died here in his house, and for some reason, had unfinished business that needed taken care of before she crossed to the other side. He wondered if he could help her, and for a brief moment, he wondered if he really wanted to. He shook his head—of course he did.

The internet had been no help, but perhaps the public library would be worth a try. Nick knew they kept copies of the local newspapers there on microfiche. Perhaps if he went back far enough, he might discover something about his house and its former occupants. It would be time consuming, but at this point, he was willing to try anything.

Eight hours and five year’s worth of the
Seattle Times
later, Nick had discovered nothing except for a pretty cool article on the opening of the Science Fiction Museum next to the Space Needle. He was scanning the screen faster and faster (mentally planning a trip to the museum and maybe even to the top of the Needle) when a picture in the paper caught his eye.

He scrolled back and saw her. He was sure it was her. Hell, he’d been having sex with her for a week—he ought to recognize every inch of her. But this was just her face, next to one of a man, with the headline “Murder-Suicide Discovered in Seattle home.” Nick glanced over the first paragraph quickly: The body of local businessman Ross Lenhart was discovered early this morning when a 911 call sent police to a West Seattle home, owned by Danielle Marcomb. Lenhart, 33, was shot twice in the chest, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Marcomb, 25, died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Police indicate that Marcomb presumably shot Lenhart before turning the gun on herself. Neighbors heard…

Nick stopped reading and looked back at the picture. So Red finally had a name: Danielle Marcomb. He bet she went by Dani. He also bet that she did
not
kill Ross Lenhart. Punching the ‘copy’ button on the microfiche machine and inserting a quarter, Nick printed out the article to take with him. He hurried to his car and drove directly to the real estate office of Sela Cooper.

She was on the phone when he charged in without stopping at the receptionist’s desk. Sela looked up at him and ended her call quickly.
“Nick, hello!
What is it? You look upset.”

He slapped the photocopy on her desk and Sela scanned it. “Oh my,” she murmured.

“Don’t you have disclosure laws in this state?” he asked. “Where I come from, when someone is murdered in a house, future owners are informed of that little tidbit.”

Sela was shaking her head. “I’m so sorry! I honestly didn’t know! I would never lie to you, Nick.”

He looked at her. “Someone should have known.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “We try to get all the information we can on our listings. I’m not sure how this was omitted.” She stood up next to him and touched his arm. “Does it bother you very badly?”

He stared at her and then looked around to be sure none of the other three people in the office were listening. “It probably wouldn’t, if Danielle had left. She’s still there, Sela. I see her every night.” He couldn’t bear to elaborate.

She laughed and then stopped when she saw he wasn’t joking. “Nick, I know you write sci-fi and those strange stories, but are you expecting me to believe—”

“I’m not expecting anything, Sela. I’m just trying to piece together what I know. I have a ghost in my house—a beautiful, sexy, red-haired ghost with the same face as a woman who died there five years ago.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

He took a step closer to her. “You’re sure about that? When you left my house yesterday, did you notice how windy it was?”

“It wasn’t windy at all,” she said. “It was a beautiful day.”

Nick looked at her. “Then where did the gust of wind come from that blew open the door and spilled my drink?”

“Well…” she hesitated.

“I’ll tell you where it came from.” He lowered his voice. “I was thinking about taking you to bed yesterday. I was one second away from pulling you into my arms when my ghost—Danielle—interrupted.”

Sela swooned, and caught herself against her desk. “Oh, Nick.” Her face flushed and he knew she was thinking about his taking her to bed rather than his ghost. “I would have liked that very much.”

He gave her a regretful look. “I would have liked it too, Sela. But I have a problem, and I can’t start anything new until I resolve this situation with Danielle.”

Sela’s eyes flashed angrily. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

Nick snapped back at her “No, I fucking am not. I know enough about ghosts to understand that Danielle has some unfinished business. I’ve got figure out what it is, and then hopefully, she can cross to the other side and rest in peace.”

Sela took a step away from him and shook her head. “You’re nuts. You’ve been writing too many weird stories.”

“So I assume this means you’re not interested in helping me?”

“Fucking-A, that’s what it means,” Sela snarled at him. “I could have showed you a real good time. I don’t care if you write about that psycho bullshit, but I’m not interested in a guy who actually
believes
it. You’re a real whack-job, buddy.”

Nick smirked and started to leave. “Guess it’s a good thing you found that out now, before anything happened between us.”

She gave him a look akin to shooting darts out of her eyes as he left. He was halfway home before he remembered the article about Danielle—he left it on Sela’s desk. It didn’t really matter, he found out what he needed to know. Nick also found out how other people would react to the mention of a ghost in his house. He hadn’t even told her he was having nightly sex with Danielle and Sela freaked out at the mere mention of the word
ghost
. He wondered how she would feel about
ghost
intercourse
?
Personally, he liked
ghost
humping
, and he found himself getting defensive and feeling protective of his relationship with Danielle.

Walking into his house, Nick kept going to the bedroom and tossed his keys on the dresser. “I found out who you are,” he said loudly. “Your name is Danielle. I bet people called you Dani.” He listened, but the house was quiet. “I like the name Dani, so I’m going to call you that, okay? If you don’t like it, you’ll have to let me know.”
Silence.
He sat on his bed.

“The newspaper said you killed Ross Lenhart.” Nick’s car keys whizzed past his head and slammed against the wall before they dropped to the floor. “Ooh, struck a nerve there! I didn’t say I believed them. In fact, I don’t think you did it. I don’t know much about you, but what I sense is that you loved life, and it’s doubtful you would have killed yourself. Would you like me to help you clear your name?”

Nick watched in amazement as his car keys returned gently to the dresser top. “Okay, Dani, I’ll try. I’m not sure what I’m going to be able to do—” He trailed off as his keys stood up and began scratching a word into the wooden dresser. He walked over to look at it. Dani had scratched the word “
try
.”

“I will,” he said softly, rubbing a finger over the etching. “I promise.”

* * * *

When he went to bed that night, Nick was hoping somehow to maintain consciousness so he could communicate with Dani. He didn’t know if it was possible, but he drilled the idea into his mind, and it took a long time before he finally fell asleep. He woke to the feeling of kisses circling his navel.

He opened his eyes and saw her above him. At least he thought he opened his eyes—at this point, he couldn’t tell his dreams from reality anymore. He was happy to see Danielle, though, and had the urge to pull her into his arms and comfort her. He reached his hand out and ran his fingers through her long, silky hair. “You are so beautiful, Dani,” he murmured to her.

She looked up at him, and for the first time, Nick noticed how sad she appeared. Her eyes were red-rimmed and brimming with tears.

“Please don’t cry.” He ran a hand over her face and brushed a tear away with his thumb. “I wish you could talk to me and tell me what you want.”

Love me
.

He felt the words rather than heard them. Nick reached for her and pulled her to a sitting position on top of him. He leaned up and buried his face in the white gauzy fabric that covered her breasts. “I want to love you, Dani. You’re so beautiful. I want to make love with you.”

She released one button and her breasts spilled into his face and hands. Nick cupped her and squeezed her fullness as he pulled a rosy nipple into his mouth. “You taste so good.” He suckled her breast until the nipple was swollen and hard, and then he moved to the other side. When that nipple was puckered to a firm nub, Dani squeezed them together so he could lick them both at once. Then she pressed her hand against his head, urging him to continue, to take more of her.

Nick groaned as his erection throbbed beneath her weight. He wiggled his hips and Dani pulled back gently from him, stopping for a moment to allow their mouths to find each other. He opened his mouth and let her tongue explore every inch of him before his tongue delved forward to investigate her mouth. She tasted so sweet to him that Nick hoped the kiss would never end.

When she pulled away, he wanted to complain, until she flipped around and buried her face between his legs. She licked the length of his thighs and occasionally nipped at him. The shock of the bites was tempered by the wet gentleness of her tongue licking him all over—that is, everywhere except the spot he most wanted her mouth. His cock stood proudly like a flagpole but she ignored it, kissing and licking everything around it. She sucked his balls into her mouth and Nick moaned with pleasure.

Dani shifted and dropped her pussy to his face. He used his fingers to open her folds and find her pretty pink clit. He flicked it with his tongue and she bucked against him with pleasure. Nick smiled at her reaction and buried his face into her steamy hot box. He sucked her clit into his mouth and stretched it with gentle tugs of his teeth. He tongued her slit and when he inserted a finger, she rode him vigorously.

He had three fingers in her pussy and his tongue on her clit when he finally felt her clamp down on his cock and
suck
him energetically. “Oh my God,” Nick groaned, and felt his gush of hot cum explode in her mouth. She latched on and stayed with him through his orgasm, and then he felt shudders and her hot juices flowed, streaming over his face and fingers as they pumped into her.
“Oh yeah, Dani.”
He kissed her inner thigh and slapped her ass lightly.

When she turned around and collapsed on top of him, Nick cradled her in his arms and kissed the top of her head softly. “That was so fucking fantastic; I almost don’t want to let you go.”

She reached over and bit his nipple hard enough to draw blood.

“Hey!” he shoved her lightly. “I said almost! I promised to help you, remember?”

She looked into his eyes and he could see how miserable she was. “I promised you, Dani, and I always keep my promises.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head again.

Dani straddled him and began stroking his cock with both hands.

“I don’t think so, baby,” he murmured languidly. “You’re as hot as hell, but after what you just did, there’s no way…” he stopped. His cock was rock hard and she was sliding her pussy onto it. “Oh Christ,” he muttered. He didn’t know he had it in him, but the next thing he knew, he was gyrating his hips as Dani pummeled herself on his rod over and over again.

“Oh yeah, fuck me
, baby…ride
me hard…” He leaned up to catch one bobbing nipple between his teeth, and groaned as Dani knifed her sharp fingernails into his shoulders. “Yeah, that’s it…”

Nick was on the verge of climax when he heard a woman’s voice say, “Not again.”

His eyes darted open and he saw through Dani—
literally right through Dani
—Sela Cooper with a gun pointed directly at him.

“I won’t let you do this again!”

“Sela!”
Nick was suddenly alone on the bed, his pulsing cock pointing north proudly for everyone to see.

“Where is she?” Sela spun around, confused.

He jumped out of bed and tugged a pair of jeans up and over him. “How did you get in here?” Nick asked, confused. “And why in the hell do you have a gun?”

“I’m a realtor, remember?” she looked at him. “But I’ve always had a key.”

“What are you talking about?” Nick was still confused, but the glazed look in Sela’s eyes concerned him more at this point. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Where is she?” Sela took a step toward Nick, waving the gun.

“Who?” he hedged.

“I saw her!” Sela snapped angrily. “For the second time, I walked into this bedroom and saw her screwing my man. I thought I took care of her the first time.” She looked around and yelled, “But some people refuse to die!”

“Your man?”
Nick backed up to the closet. “Ross Lenhart…”

“Was my husband.
That little tramp seduced him—brainwashed him! I didn’t want to kill him, but he said he was leaving me for that whore! I couldn’t let him do it.”