Part 6 (1/2)

I nuzzled under his arm. He smelled good, musk-manly and something spicy, like cinnamon. It felt good to be held. His fingers stroked my hair.

Oops. Suddenly I was all turned on. His presence, his smell, the rock-hard smoothness of his muscles had me thinking about kissing and grunting and sweating. Problem? He was being all brotherly comforting, and it would be wildly inappropriate to grab a handful of his silky black hair and plunge lips-first into a bruiser of a kiss.

What to do now? How could I transform this moment of sympathy into hot, sweaty s.e.x? I pushed myself closer under his arm, wiggled a bit, then felt foolish for even thinking about jumping Sebastian under these circ.u.mstances. I took in a deep breath and tried to be satisfied with the moment.

Nope. Too hot and bothered.

I straightened out of his embrace. ”It's late, isn't it,” I said glancing around the room for a clock. ”I should probably call a taxi if I'm going to get home at a decent hour.”

”I'm afraid all the decent hours have already pa.s.sed,” Sebastian said. ”It's quarter of midnight. Anyway, the guest room is already made up. You can stay here tonight.”

I liked the sound of his proposition minus the guest bedroom part. Ah, well, I supposed he was being gentlemanly about it all and not presuming.

”Yeah,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment. ”That would be fine.”

The room Sebastian showed me smelled of dust and lavender. Lace valances, white curtains, calico comforter, and doilies all seemed perfectly preserved from someone else's life. Somehow, I couldn't picture Sebastian collecting a wooden darning egg and displaying it so artfully next to a bra.s.s-bottomed kerosene lamp.

”Whose room was this?” I asked. ”Vivian,” he said, glancing at the window as if looking for something.

When he didn't volunteer any more information, I prompted, ”Vivian?”

”The former lady of the house,” he said. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, ”But it's perfectly safe now.”

Safe? That sounded very bad. I got the sense that I didn't want to know the answer, but I asked anyway. ”She died in this room, didn't she?”

He nodded. ”Kept the house off the market for years. Apparently, the whole murder-suicide thing was very spectacular.”

”I'll bet,” I said. ”So, which one was Benjamin? The murder or the suicide?”

”Suicide.”

I should have figured. ”And you kept the room the same?”

”Not me. Benjamin.” Picking up an embroidered sachet of potpourri from the end table beside the bed, he tossed it on the bed. ”That'll drive him spare.”

”Let me see...” I said, working this story out in my head, ”Every time you try to change this room, Benjamin fixes it?”

”The good thing is that his obsession makes him an excellent housekeeper. Sometimes I can get him to clean other parts of house by putting her things around.”

”This is supposed to make me feel better?” I looked at the bed with its deceptively homey pile of throw pillows. ”No way. I'm sleeping on the couch.”

Sebastian tried to insist that Benjamin wouldn't try to ax-murder me in my sleep, but I was able to convince him that there was no chance of me closing my eyes for one minute if I stayed in Vivian's room.

After helping Sebastian gather some pillows and blankets from the hall linen closet, I made myself a comfortable nest on the couch downstairs.

The rain continued to fall softly on the window. ”Are you sure you'd prefer to sleep here?” Sebastian asked for the seventh time since I had backed hastily out of Vivian's room. ”It's only that Benjamin will probably rattle around all night, and... well, I'd prefer to have you closer.”

Closer? I liked the sound of that, but I wasn't sure how he meant it. ”Oh?”

I could have sworn I saw the hint of a blush color his cheek. ”Yes, well, in case of... emergency.”

Were we talking hormonal emergency or something else? I a.s.sumed he meant if the Order somehow followed me here or if the ghost tried to kill me. ”Do you honestly think Benjamin is that dangerous?

Maybe I shouldn't stay here at all tonight.”

”Oh, no. It's safe. Really,” he said quickly. Sebastian put another log on the fire, replaced the screen, and stood up. ”Benjamin can't come inside unless I allow it. He can stay outside tonight.”

I glanced at the rain-spattered windows and thought about an angry ghost shuffling around outside.

”Aw,” I said. I felt weirdly guilty for putting an evil spirit out in the cold. ”This is.h.i.+s house. I mean-”

Sebastian put up a finger up to shush me. ”This ismy house. And you aremy guest for the evening.

Benjamin doesn't mind the cold. Weather doesn't bother him. Besides, if he doesn't like it here, there are places he can go.”

Like h.e.l.l? I wondered, but I didn't really want to start a discussion about the transmigration of souls with a dead guy, so I fluffed my pillow and said, ”Okay.”

”Well, good night, then,” Sebastian said.

”Good night,” I said, waiting for him to head upstairs before settling down.

Instead, he stood there, staring at me. I knew that look. He wanted me. But he'd decided to play the gentleman, and now he was stuck in the role. I suppose I should have said something inviting, but I couldn't think of anything other than ”Hey, so, you wanna... ?” And while that might be effective, it could also completely turn Sebastian off.

Besides, part of me really wantedhim to be the one to make the first move.

”Right, then,” he said finally. ”I'm off.”

”Yeah,” I said, adjusting the blankets, wondering if I could stroke them seductively enough for him to get the idea that it would be more than okay to stay.

”Eh,” he said, and marched determinedly up the stairs.

With a defeated sigh, I pulled the covers over my head and tried to sleep.

It's never easy to sleep in a strange place. Add to that a restless ghost and some serious s.e.xual frustration, and it was nearly impossible. I spent a lot of the night listening to the mantel clock ticking softly, wondering if I should creep upstairs and quietly slip into Sebastian's bed. If nothing else, being snuggled up to him would be warmer. More importantly, I'd be spared the image of Benjamin's pale face pressed against the gla.s.s window and the occasional rattle as he tried the doork.n.o.b. The wind sounded very frustrated as it moaned through the gables.

Man, this house was freaky. I hoped Sebastian got it cheap.

Which made me think of the Vatican agent who claimed to be his real estate agent. I didn't think I'd impressed upon Sebastian the seriousness of his situation. He seemed pretty blase about having a Witch hunter after him. Of course, the man had a murderous ghost for a roommate.

As though on cue, Benjamin rapped his knuckles on the window again, making me twitch. I'd be a nervous wreck if I lived here. It made me wonder if Sebastian had many lovers stay over. I mean, how did you explain the ghost roomie to a mundane? Or did they usually have some kind of signal system on the nights Sebastian wanted to bring someone back to his place? Benjamin didn't seem very tolerant ofwomen in general. I had no idea what happened with Vivian, but it didn't seem good that she'd died in bed.

Benjamin tried the doork.n.o.b again, and I put the pillow over my head. Maybe sleeping in the dead woman's room was better than this.

Honestly, I'd rather be sleeping with Sebastian.

I wished I'd been more forward. It's not like I'd never been the aggressor in a relations.h.i.+p before, but, other than my previous vampire, I tended to bag the weaker members of the herd. The sick, slow ones.