Kiss And Dwell (40 page)

Moving her hands to her hair, she pushed her fingers through its length while
she thrust her breasts forward and tilted her head back, all the while relishing
the feel of him, long and hard within her. Up and down, in and out. She moved a
hand to one breast and pinched her nipple, rolling it between her thumb and
finger while Ryan watched. The pain of it brought back the tantalizing pain of
his raindrop simulation, and she envisioned him again, biting and kissing and
sucking her everywhere.

Monique had wanted to keep this slow, but she couldn
’
t. He felt so good, and she
wanted to feel him pulsing within her, wanted to hear him yell through his
release. She leaned forward, let her hair fall around her face like a curtain
and braced her hands on his broad chest, then she moved her hips at a hard,
frantic pace, enjoying the friction, relishing in the fact that, for now, he was
inside her, filling her completely.

For now, they were one.

Her release hit her hard, and she screamed through the intensity, while Ryan
’
s
hands clenched around her hips and drove her down his length one last time, hard
and fierce and forceful. Then his fingers squeezed, and he set his climax free.

Monique collapsed on top of him, closed her eyes and smiled against his chest
while he stroked his hands up and down her spine.
“
Ryan.
”

He kissed the top of her head.
“
Yeah?
”

“
I love you.
”

His entire body went rigid beneath her, his hands stopped moving.

Monique opened her eyes, and to her amazement, his aura had strengthened. Then
she realized that throughout their lovemaking, it had been barely visible at
all, merely a faint light surrounding him as she touched him, pleased him, loved
him. But now, it glowed brilliantly, almost painfully.

“
Ryan?
”
she asked, leaning back to see his face.

He shifted, rolled her on her side and brushed a luminescent finger down her
cheek as he spoke.

“
It wasn
’
t Celeste,
”
he said, while the thunder outside intensified, and the
rain beat harder against her window.
“
Though I don
’
t think you really believed
it was. Surely you knew, surely you felt it, didn
’
t you, Monique?
”

She swallowed, and nodded. God help her, this was what she wanted, so why did it
hurt so much?

“
Not Celeste or anyone else, ever. They were right when they didn
’
t let me
cross, Monique. I
’
d never learned to love before.
”
He swallowed thickly.
“
But I
have now, and you were right. The last thing I
’
ll remember this time…is you. I
love you, Monique, with every bit of my soul, I do.
”

“
Oh, Ryan,
”
she whispered, leaning toward him to feel him against her one more
time.

But her face only met the cool satin of her pillow, and as the storm died
outside her window, the dawn of painful reality left a hollow space in her soul.

“It’s Monday,”
Nan said. Wearing a bright-yellow sundress with a red scarf tied
around her waist and matching sandals, she was the picture of summer, dazzling
and radiant.

Monique, on the other hand, had opted for black. Black earrings, black necklace,
black dress, black sandals. Black world. Everything seemed very dark, very
empty, very…bleak. Without Ryan.

When she received no response to her statement, Nan continued,
“
You don
’
t work
on Monday.
”

“
I do today,
”
Monique said, finding the only black coffee mug in the house and
filling it with coffee—black. She sat at the table and ran her palms down the
side of the cup while she contemplated entering the real world again, her
regular routine, without Ryan on this side. Truthfully, the only thing she had
to do at the shop was Inez
’
s hair, since they scheduled their own treatments on
Mondays, when Monique
’
s customers and Inez
’
s customers knew the shop was closed
.

However, Monique planned to stay at the salon even after she finished with Inez
.

She wanted to be alone, wanted to think, wanted to wallow in her misery.

She wanted Ryan.

“
Tristan got an assignment last night,
”
Nan said, apparently trying to make
another attempt at conversation.

Even though Monique really didn
’
t want to talk, she was curious about Tristan
’
s
latest ghost. Ghosts were the family
’
s destiny, after all.
“
During the night?
”

she asked.

“
Yeah. I got up to get some juice and found him leaving the sitting room. This
one is a little girl who was in that
LaPlace
apartment complex that burned last
week. Tristan actually helped put out that fire and said that two people died
.

Evidently, the man crossed over okay, but this little girl needs to tell her
grandmother goodbye. Tristan is planning to visit the woman today to help her
cross.
”

“
That
’
s nice,
”
Monique said, then sipped another bitter gulp of coffee. No sugar
today. She wasn
’
t in the mood for anything sweet.

“
And Gage said he
’
s started hearing someone crying. He says it
’
s still very
faint, but he should get an assignment soon.
”

“
That
’
s nice,
”
Monique repeated.

Nan topped off her cup of coffee then moved to sit across from Monique at the
table.
“
I wish I didn
’
t have to go to the school today,
”
she said.
“
I think you
could use some company, but we
’
ve got that teacher in-service day before classes
start next week, and I can
’
t miss it.
”
She frowned, sipping her coffee.
“
This is
going to sound strange, coming from me, but I
’
m sorry he crossed. If he had
stayed, though, he would have been caught in the middle forever. You did the
right thing, convincing him to go.
”

“
It wasn
’
t convincing him to cross that was the problem,
”
Monique said.
“
It was
teaching him to love. And I did. Except he didn
’
t fall in love with Celeste.
”

Her throat tightened, but she forced the words through.
“
He fell in love with
me.
”

“
Oh, honey, I
’
m sorry,
”
Nan said, as the kitchen doors swung open and
Dax
,
dressed in a dark suit and royal-blue tie, entered the kitchen.

“
Back to business as usual,
”
he said glumly, opening the cabinets in search of
breakfast. He withdrew a box of instant oatmeal, ripped two packages open and
dumped them in an oversized bowl. Then he added water, put it in the microwave
and turned to look at them.
“
Guess you can
’
t keep the dream going forever, huh?
”

He sounded as miserable as Monique felt.

“
Talking about the beach?
”
Nan asked.

“
Yeah,
”
he said, withdrawing the bowl from the microwave. Then he mumbled,
“
That, too.
”

Monique sipped her bitter coffee and eyed her younger brother, obviously as
disheartened about Celeste
’
s crossing as she was about Ryan
’
s.
“
You okay?
”
she
asked.

“
I will be,
”
he said, and flashed her a sweet smile.
“
Going to miss them though
.

Celeste and Chloe.
”

Nan looked from Monique to
Dax
.
“
You know, I bet the two of you will get a break
from ghosts for a while. Surely Grandma knows that you
’
ve both had a couple of
tough weeks.
”
She took her mug to the sink and poured the remainder of her
coffee down the drain.

“
Why don
’
t you go away for a few days?
”
she continued.
“
Both of you. The roof is
ready for inspection, and
Dax
, you
’
ve got more vacation time, don
’
t you?
Monique, you can ask some of the Metairie stylists if they can take your
appointments this week, right? I mean, I feel like you both deserve a break, and
I
’
m betting Grandma Adeline will give you one. This will probably be the best
time for both of you to go somewhere, maybe take a trip to Biloxi and hit the
casinos for a few days. Or go to Grand Isle and relax. Forget about ghosts for a
while.
”

Forget about ghosts? Forget about Ryan? Not in this lifetime. And from the look
on
Dax
’
s
face, Monique guessed he was thinking the same thing about Celeste. But
she knew Nan was only trying to help, and she didn
’
t want to hurt her by telling
her how ludicrous her idea was.

“
I
’
ve got too much scheduled this week to take off,
”
she said.
“
And it
’
s too
late to call the girls from Metairie. I
’
m sure their books are filled with
customers there.
”
She noted Nan
’
s frown and added,
“
But it was a nice thought.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Dax
said.
“
I had to add all of last week
’
s appointments to this week
’
s
schedule, so there
’
s no way I can take a trip now.
”
He ate a few spoonfuls of
oatmeal, but then stood and took the unfinished bowl to the sink.
“
Besides, I
’
m
wanting to stay busy this week.
”

Monique gave him a reassuring smile. He was right; staying busy would help them
get through the emotional aftermath of Celeste and Ryan crossing over. And if
she was going to get busy, she planned to start right now.
“
Speaking of work,
I
’
ve got to get to the shop. Hope your in-service day goes well,
”
she told Nan.

“
Thanks,
”
Nan said, scooping up her planning books and her purse from the
counter. She took one step, then stopped when her cell phone started beeping out
“
Jolie
Blon
.
”
Dropping the purse and books to the counter, she fished it out,
then answered,
“
Hello.
”

Monique watched as Nanette
’
s eyes widened.
“
Yes, we
’
re ready. I can be here this
afternoon. No problem. Okay. Thank you for calling.
”
She disconnected.

“
What?
”
Dax
asked.

“
The Historical Society is sending over a man to inspect the roof this
afternoon.
”
She looked from one of them to the other.
“
We did do a good job,
didn
’
t we?
”

“
A damn good job,
”
Dax
said.
“
You want me to come back and be with you when they
show? I can move my schedule around again.
”

“
No. Basically, I don
’
t have to do anything, but let them look at our
handiwork.
”
She had an odd expression of part-excitement, part-trepidation.

“
It
’
ll pass inspection,
”
Monique said.
“
It has to.
”