GhostlyPersuasion (17 page)

“Yes, thank you. It’s been interesting, to say the least,”
Katie said with a smile for Seamus.

Seamus coughed. “Interesting? Not the word I would have
chosen.”

“Have you been to Ireland before?” Tug asked.

“No, actually I haven’t.”

Tug continued his line of questioning and supplied several
historic facts about Tullamore on the way to her new room.

When they arrived, Tug asked for the door key. Katie was
once again amused by the formalities they observed. She handed over the key so
he could unlock the door.

He held it open so she could precede him into the room.

She walked in and stopped in her tracks. Seamus didn’t even
notice and floated through part of her. She was so stunned by the room, she
didn’t even complain. “Oh my God. This looks like a honeymoon suite!” Katie
exclaimed.

“I believe it
has
been used for honeymooners before,”
Tug said unhelpfully.

Katie stared at the oversized four-poster bed. It was a
massive thing. Walnut or some kind of dark wood that was intricately carved
along the posts as well as the head and footboards. The linens were pale-blue
and silver. From where Katie stood near the doorway, they looked like silk.

The entire room was light and airy despite the dark, heavy
furniture.

“I dreamed of a room like this,” Katie mumbled, still
stunned by what she was seeing.

“I trust this meets with your expectations?” Tug asked.

“Uh, it’s way more than anything I could have asked for,”
Katie said as she gawked at the room. “And if the bathroom is half as nice as
the last one, I may just break down and hug Áine.”

Tug’s eyes widened in alarm. He handed the door key back to
Katie. “Here you are. If you need anything or find anything unsuitable about
your room, please ring the front desk.”

She shook herself out of her stunned trance. “I will. Thank
you, Tug.” She handed him a few bills as a tip. “I appreciate you bringing my
things up and showing me how to get here.”

“My pleasure, Miss Ward.” Tug left and closed the door behind
him.

“So.” Katie turned to Seamus. “What do you think of the new
room?”

“I think I want to see you naked, spread-eagle on the bed
and tied to these posts so I can lick every inch of your body.”

Katie’s breath caught in her throat and a flash of warmth
rushed through her body. She licked her lips.

Seamus tracked the movement of her tongue as he reached down
and adjusted his crotch.

“Come here,” he gestured with his forefinger.

She complied, readily but slowly. She felt a bit like a
kitten circling a much larger cat.

As soon as she was standing in front of him, he ran one
finger down the side of her face, her neck and her left breast. Her answering
shiver brought a smile to his lips.

He pointed to the bed. “Sit on the edge.” Once she sat, he
said, “Kick off your shoes and loosen your undergarment.”

Katie held his gaze as she toed off her shoes then reached
under her sweater to unfasten her bra.

“Push your top up so I can see those lovely breasts of
yours.” She did as he asked without saying a word. “Ah, there they are. Stiff
and pink. They’re just begging to be touched, aren’t they?”

“Yes. They want to be touched by you, Seamus.”

“Do it,” he said gruffly. “Touch them for me.”

Katie ran both her hands over her breasts. She pushed them
in from the sides then ran the tips of her fingers over her nipples. They
peaked even more.

She squirmed on the edge of the bed and bit her lower lip as
she imagined Seamus’ hands, or better yet his mouth, on them.

“God, I wish I could suck on those breasts.”

“Touch them, Seamus. Make them tingle,” she begged.

He stepped up to the bed and knelt in front of Katie. His
eyes traveled slowly over each breast. Finally he laid his hand just above her
pelvic bone. Their eyes met and he flicked his thumb downward across her jeans
just above her clit.

A whimper escaped before Katie could stop it.

With his palm down and his fingers spread out, Seamus ran
his other hand across her thigh, over her hip, across her belly then finally up
and over her breast. The chill from his touch and the tingles where they merged
sent a wave of goose bumps down her body.

He ran his thumb over her clit a couple more times, taunting
her cruelly before pushing the other hand up her ribs, palm down. Katie arched
her back, pushing her breasts farther into his ghostly palms. She wished like
hell he was solid.

“Seamus,” she moaned.

“Touch yourself, Katie.”

Katie squirmed on the bed. That wasn’t what she wanted. She
wanted Seamus. She wanted his touch. But that wasn’t going to happen.

“Only if you do it too,” she bargained.

The muscle in his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared as he
inhaled.

He let his fingers trail over her body as he stood. With a
quick tug, he opened the closure on his pants.

Katie shifted so she could peek at what he’d uncovered.

The sight of Seamus’ beefy hand wrapped around his cock made
her pussy clench in expectation. When he stroked himself, she had to fight the
urge to lick her lips. It was surprising how much she wanted to taste him.

Without taking her eyes off Seamus, she pushed her jeans and
underwear off then touched her pussy. Her clit was already sensitive and ached
for relief.

“That’s what I want to see.” Seamus slid his hand down his
cock to palm his ball sac.

Katie mimicked his movement by sliding her middle finger
through her nether lips and inside her opening. As expected, it was more than
wet.

With her finger coated, she drew the moisture up to her clit
then traced small circles around the stiff nub. She couldn’t stop her hips from
jerking in response when she touched a particularly sensitive spot.

“Tell me what you’re thinking about,” he demanded. His voice
sounded gruff.

“You.” The lazy circles she had been drawing around and over
her clit quickened.

“What am I doing in those thoughts?” His strokes became
shorter and focused on the head of his cock.

“You’re touching me.” Katie’s heartbeat sped up and her
breathing became heavier.

“Where? Where am I touching you?”

“Here.” Katie cupped a breast and rolled her nipple between
her thumb and forefinger. “And here,” she lifted her hips in blatant offering
as she increased the pressure of her strokes on her clit.

“What would I do next?”

It was hard to focus on his face when her eyes were drawn to
his hand. She wanted so badly to be the one to touch his cock.

“You would kiss me.”

“Aye. That I would,” he murmured.

Katie squirmed and tugged on the other nipple. She met his
gaze but was seeing him more in her mind’s eye than in reality.

“You would lean over me. There at the edge of the bed.” She
slipped her finger down to her opening and circled the rim. “And you would pull
me to the end so you could bury your cock inside me,” she said as she pushed
her finger inside her pussy.

“God, yes, I would,” Seamus rasped.

Katie’s lips parted and her breath came faster as she stroked
her clit with more pressure. “You fit just right. And it would feel so good as
you rocked in and out.”

She felt the familiar tension building and instinctively
tried to rush toward the sensation. “Seamus, please tell me you’re almost
there,” she panted.

“Aye. I’m with you, love.”

A few more rubs with her finger sent her flying. Starbursts
exploded behind her eyes. She was vaguely aware of Seamus’ groan of pleasure
from somewhere at the foot of the bed but she missed seeing his last few
strokes.

When she regained her ability to think, she lifted her head
to find Seamus. He was leaning against the bedpost with one hand. His head was
bowed and he seemed to be catching his breath.

“There you are,” Katie said with a grin. “I hope you didn’t
use up all of your energy.”

“Not quite. But it’s a close thing.” He straightened his
posture.

“Oh dear.” She sat up on the bed. “Please tell me before you
just fade out.” She looked at the clock on the bedside table then sighed. “We
should get back to the other room. Riona will worry.”

“You’re probably right,” he said as he rebuttoned his pants.

Katie rolled off the bed with a groan then picked up her
clothes. It only took a moment to get dressed then she headed to the bathroom
to clean up. Unfortunately there was nothing she could do about her unnaturally
pink cheeks or the stupid grin plastered on her face.

It probably wouldn’t hurt to brush a bit of powder on her
nose though. She reached for her makeup bag but couldn’t find it.

When she returned to the bedroom, Seamus asked, “Are you
ready to rejoin the others?”

“Almost. I wanted to grab my makeup bag first.” She pushed
her suitcase over and unzipped it. She rummaged through her clothes, feeling
along the edges. “Huh. I must have left it downstairs,” she muttered.

“Do you mean the pink one from the bathroom?” Seamus asked
as he leaned over her shoulder.

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“I don’t remember you taking it off the counter.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” she grumbled. “I’ll grab it
while we’re down there.”

“You don’t need any makeup anyway,” he reassured her.

“Thank you.” She smiled up at him. “I thought I’d try to
make myself look a little less ravished.”

“But you’re lovely when you’ve been ravished.”

Katie was certain she was blushing all the way down to her
toes.

Seamus, however, looked pretty smug as he floated beside
Katie on the way back to her old room. Then again, it was impressive how many
times he’d helped her come even though he didn’t have a body. It was more than
any of her previous boyfriends, that was for sure.

When they reached Katie’s old room, she had to knock to be
let in since she had returned her keys to Áine.

They heard creaking wood and a couple of raps of a hammer
before Riona opened the door.

“There you are,” Riona said as she stepped aside to let them
pass. “I was beginning to think you’d gotten lost.”

“No, we were just, uh, putting some of my things away,”
Katie mumbled, feeling her face get warm again.

Seamus failed to hide his smirk.

“Hmmm,” Riona said with a speculative gleam to her eye.
“Well, you’re just in time. Callum has all of the smaller trim pieces off and
he was just starting to remove the main board.”

“Can you tell if there’s anything behind it yet?” Katie
asked.

Riona shook her head. “He hasn’t moved out of the way so I
could look.”

“That’s okay. I’m just anxious,” Katie said.

Callum dropped his hammer and chisel into the bucket with a
loud thunk then grabbed a large pry bar. He looked at the piece of wood closely
before wedging the pry bar into a small gap. He pushed against the bar but only
got a small creak for his effort.

Katie and Riona held their breath as they watched.

Seamus’ brow was furrowed. He seemed torn between worry and
excitement.

Callum moved the pry bar a bit, trying to wedge it into the
gap a little farther. He gave another push, moved the bar a little more then
pushed again.

Each time they heard a slight creak.

Seamus stood off to the side not far from Callum. The
nervous energy rolling off him was palpable.

Katie asked softly, “Seamus, are you okay?”

He wiped one hand on his shirt and chuckled. “After more
than three hundred years you’d think I would be over this urge to physically do
something. I’d love to just rip that board off the wall.”

“That’s completely understandable,” Riona said.

Katie nodded in agreement.

Seamus floated closer to Callum and tried peeking around his
hands and tools.

Katie wished she could see how much progress Callum was
making. From where she stood, it looked as if the gap had only widened by a
fraction of an inch. Judging by the expression on Seamus’ face, it wasn’t
nearly enough.

Callum stopped and turned to the girls. “Would one of you
tell your friend here to move back? While the cold is nice after working up a
sweat, I really don’t want to have his ectoplasm or whatever he’s made of now rubbing
on me.”

Katie was surprised Callum knew he was there. Seamus’
expression implied he was just as stunned as she. Riona, however, didn’t seem
to be at all.

“Seamus, would you mind?” Riona waved him away from Callum.

“My apologies,” Seamus mumbled as he floated away.

Callum grunted then went back to work with the pry bar.
Finally his push resulted in a long creak and a groan from the wood.

“Ri, would you grab a couple of those wedges?” Callum asked
as he kept some weight against the pry bar.

Riona hurried to where Callum had pointed.

Katie and Seamus exchanged looks. “Ri?” Katie mouthed.

Seamus shrugged.

“Push those as far as you can into the gap on the top and
bottom,” Callum directed Riona.

Once she did and had stepped back, out of the way, Callum adjusted
his pry bar and pushed against it once more.

There was another satisfying groan and a creak then the
wedges fell out of place onto the floor below. With a look from Callum, Riona
picked the wedges up and pushed them into the gap again.

They repeated the motions a couple more times then Callum
switched his efforts to the top edge. He worked that loose then focused on the
bottom edge. Finally he returned to the place where he started. One more push
on the pry bar popped the piece loose enough so Callum could grab it with his
hands.

He dropped the pry bar into the bucket of tools and pulled
on a pair of leather work gloves. Using nothing but brute strength, Callum
pulled the mantelpiece away from the wall far enough to let them take a look
behind.

Katie and Riona rushed in, crowding Callum and making him
frown at them.

“Oh!” Katie exclaimed. “I think there is something in there.
Callum, is that supposed to be there?”

“I can’t tell if I can’t see, now can I?” Callum said,
deadpan.

Riona stuck her tongue out at him but moved out of his way.
Katie followed suit.

Seamus hovered nearby and appeared hesitant to look.

Callum grabbed a flashlight from his bucket of tools and
directed it behind the mantel he’d pulled loose. “Aye. There is an odd piece of
wood right behind the main mantel. And it has some kind of carving on it.” He
waved the girls back when they tried to rush in again. “Let me finish pulling
this other piece off first then we can all see.”

Seamus paced near the windows but kept one eye on what Callum
was doing. He looked so wound up, if he had a physical body, he probably could
have ripped the board off with nothing but his hands.

Finally the outer mantel was off and all three of them
rushed to look.

“How odd,” Riona said.

“Seamus?” Katie voiced her unspoken question.

There in the wall, covered in soot and dust, was a piece of
wood. It ran the length of the outer mantel but the carved knotwork was clearly
visible along the lower edge.

Seamus reached out to touch the design. When his fingers
brushed the wood, he jerked them away.

“What happened?” Katie asked, concerned he had been hurt
somehow.

“It felt like fire shooting through my finger when I touched
it,” Seamus explained.

“Did I just see someone right there?” Callum pointed to
where Seamus stood.

Riona and Katie exchanged glances.

“I don’t know. Did you?” Riona asked.

“Look. I know you two have been talking about or talking to
someone I can’t see.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not a simpleton.
I know there are things around here I cannot explain. And I know I saw
something or someone right there,” he pointed to the same spot again, “for a
just second. Now, what the hell was it?”

Riona looked to Katie. Katie looked at Seamus.

Seamus shrugged. “You can tell him if you want. It won’t
bother me.”

Katie gestured to Riona. “Go ahead. You probably know as
much as me.”