Haunting Sin (3 page)

“I don’t have a condom,” he
whispered. Devon stepped back trying to get out of my grasp, but it was my turn
to pin him against the wall. I undid the top button and he sprang free. He was
long and thick; the thought of having him inside of me made my toes curl. I
slid one hand under his shirt and held him in place, while the other hand ran
from the base of his cock to the head. I could see his
precum
bead at the top and I began to pump him in earnest, twisting and turning my
hand. A strangled cry tore from his lips. Devon began to pump his slim hips
into my hand. I raked my nails down his chest, catching his taut nipples with
my nails. My other hand raked down his body till it began to circle his
contracting balls. I clipped my mouth to his neck and bit down as he came in my
hand.

We were both spent and breathing
heavily in each other’s arms. I curled my head till it rested in the crook of his
neck. I nuzzled against him when his arms came up to wrap around me almost
tenderly. He lifted my chin up and gently kissed a path from eyelids to my
lips. His gentleness aroused my as much as his roughness. If I didn’t get in my
apartment soon, I was going to happily spend the night in my apartment
building’s hallway with a handsome, mysterious stranger.

Devon let me loll my head on his
sturdy shoulders as he fished through my purse for my apartment keys. My brain
didn’t register the clink of the door lock being opened, but it screamed in
protest when he softly stood me inside my door, leaving me with a gentle kiss.

The sound of crashing woke me from
a lusty dream. I turned over to my alarm clock, checking the time. I flopped my
head back down on the pillows, urging myself to return to my dream. I heard
another loud crash. I slowly dragged myself out of bed. Cardboard boxes were
scattered throughout my tiny apartment. Another bang drew me to the kitchenette
where I saw Angela madly tossing things into a cardboard box.

“What are you doing, it’s seven in the morning?”

“I’m tossing out all of your shit!”

“Have you finally lost your mind? Why are you throwing my
things out?”

“Oh don’t worry, I’m throwing you out with them!”

Angela was worse than I had ever seen her. She wore gloves
just to touch my things for fear of being infected with any curse. The maniacal
look in Angela’s eyes made me wonder if she really did lose her mind. I could
hear her rambling about ghosts and demons.

She took the kitchen tongs and
tossed a canister of salt into one of the boxes. I rolled my eyes while she
rampaged through the spice cabinet, until the only thing left was a lone
container of pepper. I could’ve told her that I had never used those spices to
help with the spirits, but I doubt it would’ve mattered.

I was still in disbelief when after
pushing all my boxes through the door, she then ushered me through it as well.
I was holding my pillow and staring in shock when she clicked the safety latch.

“Don’t bother trying to come in
tomorrow. I’m getting the locks changed!” I flopped down on one of my boxes and
ran my fingers through my hair. There was nothing I could do; Angela’s name was
the only one on the lease even though I paid half of everything.

“You can start leaving now! I don’t want you hanging around
and putting any hexes on my apartment.”

“By the way pepper attracts ghosts or at least your pepper
will.”

I smiled when I heard her howl of
outrage. I slid my boxes down the hallway enough that she couldn’t see them out
of the peak hole. I had nowhere to go and a pile of boxes to move with me. I
snatched my purse off of one of the boxes and hugged it in my lap. A small
piece of white paper was on the floor, tucked under my old welcoming mat. I
walked over and picked it up to examine it.

The front of the business card
would’ve been blank if not for a phone number. It had no company name or
address. I turned over the card and raised my eyebrow at what I read:

I’d like to offer you
a job with our investigation team, room and lodging included. -James

James was either more than a human
lie detector or one crafty bastard.
 
I couldn’t imagine him engineering Angela’s outburst, it was a long time
in the making. I contemplated my choices and soon realized I only had one.

I pulled out my cell phone and
dialed the number on the card.

“James Speaking.”

“This is Piper Beaumont, from the other night. I found your
card under my door mat.”

“Yes ma’am. Have you considered my offer?”

“Room and lodging included?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“When can I start?”

“You can start now. I’ll send the guys over with the truck
to collect your things. See you soon”

The call disconnected and I had a momentary feeling of
dread. My arm was definitely being pinned behind my back, but I was desperate.

The men arrived at the apartment
building in less than an hour. I opened the door with an enthusiastic hello,
which was received with a snort from Hopper. “Nice to see you too,” I said
lamely. Marcus gave me a very kind quiet greeting that I had to strain to hear.
Andrew met me with an open smile and a warm welcome.

“Are they going to be able to
handle all those boxes?” I asked incredulously. Andrew gave me an easy grin.
“Marcus, alone, can carry all your boxes. I won’t even be missed. How about I
escort you to the car?” I was a little hesitant about taking his offered arm.
Andrew leaned in close to my ear.

“Don’t worry
sweetcakes
,
I know I’m not the man you wish was here.” I had to admit that I was a bit sour
when Devon’ handsome face didn’t greet me, but I didn’t know I was so
transparent about it. Andrew winked at me. “I’m just here to keep you safe.
This really is only a two-man job, but if by some cosmic misfortune that
anything bad should happen to you, Devon would have my balls in a chokehold. To
the car
M’lady
?” I took Andrew’s arm in good humor as
he guided my to the car. I laughed when I spotted a jar of pepper on the lawn,
which obviously Angela had tossed out the window.

I was doubtful about how long it
would take to load the car. I heard Andrew start the car engine and shook my
head. I know Marcus and Hopper were huge men, but there had to be at least a
dozen boxes. I shifted in my seat and prepared to get comfortable. Andrew
looked over at me. “Don’t get too comfortable, this is only going to take a
second. Finally there they are.” I only shook my head at him, but when I turned
my head, my jaw dropped.

Hopper was in the front with half a
dozen boxes stacked on top of each other and Marcus wasn’t far behind him with
even more. It only took them about half a minute to secure the boxes to the
roof. “Took you guys long enough. What were you doing having tea?” Hopper
huffed his breath and buckled his seat; Marcus seemed to happily ignore Andrew,
I had the feeling he had a lot of practice.

I was anxious at seeing my new home.
There were too many feelings warring in my mind and most of them were related
to Devon and my new job. I ran my hand through my hair, frustrated with myself
that I had accepted a job without even really knowing what was expected of me.
James had seemed interested in my ghostly abilities, but I wasn’t being humble
when I said my experience was limited. I really couldn’t understand how I could
be more useful than their ghost guns. I chewed on my lip and hoped that I
wouldn’t need to search for a new home again.

The car drove around for what felt
like less than half an hour, but I soon found myself in an unfamiliar area. The
once picturesque neighborhood became littered with dark, crooked trees and the
occasional house soon became far and few. The car ride suddenly became steep
and the forest grew quiet and eerie. I gripped my collar tight around my neck
in fear.

Finally my trepidation seeped out
of me when I saw a house on the horizon. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was
holding and an easy smile slide onto my face. When I squinted my eyes, I could
see the beginnings of a very large house with a crooked roof. I could tell from
the far off hazy silhouette of the house that it was an antique home, probably
Victorian.

The closer the car approached the house,
the more I nodded my head in appreciation. I could see the steeples begin to
manifest. My neck began to stiffen from tilting my head back to take in the
entire house. The house didn’t seem to have an end it just kept growing. I
began to shake my head in denial; the house wasn’t quaint, it was a monstrosity
of a mansion. I ignored Andrew’s chuckle as I openly gaped at the mansion.

The Victorian mansion was a
fortress made of brick with bundles of mismatched evergreen roofs. “Home sweet
home,” Marcus said with a wonderfully cheerful grin, I could even see the side
of Hopper’s lips quirk. Both Marcus and Hopper began to unload the car while
Andrew jogged up to open the mansion door for them. Everything was happening so
fast, too fast. I hoped I didn’t make a big mistake.

Marcus and Hopper had loaded their
arms with all my boxes and were walking towards the mansion. I quickly opened
the car door refusing to be left alone in front of the intimidating house. The
muggy heat had a chill in the air that bit at my ankles. I spun around taking
in my surroundings. The space was eerie indeed. I trotted after Hopper’s
retreating figure until a jolt of energy smacked me in the face. Hopper placed
his boxes down and turned to look at me.

“Feel that?”

I shook my head; it was impossible not to feel the strong
barrier circling the mansion.

“I have to admit I was skeptical when James said to come get
you. I’ve met my fair share of frauds, but if you can feel that then you’re
okay with me.”

Hopper gave me a flash smile and held my hand to guide me
past the barrier. I was spinning from two apparent facts. Firstly, Hopper
seemed to actually be a normal human being and not some raging psychopath.
Second, and probably most important was that this mansion was very likely the most
haunted building I have ever encountered.

I finally made it through the open
door after my initial shock. “How’d she take it?” Andrew asked Hopper. “Like a
champ, she’s definitely the real deal.”

“I told you she wasn’t fake,” Marcus pleasantly chimed in.

I was astounded by the inside of
the mansion. The décor screamed haunted house. All the furniture was
upholstered in the moody colors of the Victorian era. Every place I looked I
could see intricate carvings peaking out at me. The walls were washed in deep
rich hues. I couldn’t imagine five men living here; it looked more like the
residence of a centuries old widow. I followed the men through the antique
room. Andrew held open a door for me and I was instantly blinded by the light.
I had left an ancient dreary room and stepped into a modern kitchen.

I blinked at everyone in surprise
and pointed at the other room with a dim expression on my face. All the men
started to look at each other nervously and began to fidget. They were
obviously trying to decide who was going to tell me the probably deal breaking
news. They didn’t know I had nowhere to go and I was starting to think I might
need to a slight edge over these guys. Finally Marcus stepped forward.

“All of the rest of the house is modern.”

“Then why does that room make me feel like I just jumped
through time? I saw gas lamps!”

“Right, well that’s because the owner of the house wants
that room kept in its original condition.”

“Technically she isn’t the owner anymore,” Andrew said
crossing his arms.

“Well why don’t you tell her that,” Hopper retorted.

“Okay I’m confused. What aren’t you telling me? What are you
all stepping around?”

“The owner of the house is a ghost. She,”

“Charlotte.” Hopper interrupted.

“Yes, Charlotte gets a tad touchy if we disturb her room.”

“Well you know her name. Just how present is Charlotte?”

Marcus grimaced; Andrew and Hopper began to look around the
room.

“Most of the time she makes dinner for us.”

“She makes a great roast,” Andrew said smiling, “Which just
makes my point, she loves technology. She stole my iPod by the way, but heaven
help who ever touches her room.”

“She did run off the other psychic we tried to bring in
here,” Hopper said with a grim smile. I was positive there was a lot more to
that story.

“But she was evil!” Marcus yelled trying to comfort me.

“You two will be good friends,” a
familiar voice said from behind me. James had managed to sneak up on me quite
easily since I was having waking nightmares of a demented ghost lurking through
the house. I was a little disappointed I hadn’t seen Devon. “Devon will be here
in a minute or two,” James said with a smile. I shot James a considering look,
he was definitely more than met the eye. I wondered if he could read my mind,
but he just smiled at me obviously not taking the bait.

Finally Devon walked in through the
open back door. I swear I could smell his alluring scent as soon as the door
cracked. I closed my eyes to savor his cinnamon musk.
 
I wanted this man more than I could understand. I waited and
listened when I saw his lush mouth open. I wanted all of him inside of me, but
if all I could have now were his words than that was fine. I could feel myself
grow wet just from standing in his presence. I wondered if his friends weren’t
here would he take me on the kitchen floor. We did after all have unfinished
business, very sexy unfinished business. He casually looked past me and then at
me again. He stiffly held out his hand.

“Nice to meet you again Ms.
Beaumont.” Devon was all business; this wasn’t the sexy stranger who held me in
his arms the previous night. If he wanted to play games, then I could play them
too. I shook his hand and gave him a tight smile; I could still feel a flash of
lust when I touched his hand.