Page 3 of Edged By the Apparition (Halloween Temptation #12)

“Babe, you have the prettiest eyes.”

Blaise ran his hand down my arm, his fingertips like the gentle drops of a summer shower. I couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re just saying that because I made you come twice in the last hour,” I said. “But thank you.”

He stuck out his bottom lip and let out a playful whine. Pouting made his face even more angelic. “I always think you have pretty eyes. I’m just more likely to say it after an orgasm.”

I moved my face closer to his and brushed my lips against his ridiculous pout, then rested my head against his neck. I always fit so perfectly there. Blaise’s scent of citrus body wash and sweat was one of my favorite smells.

“I love you,” I whispered, wrapping my arm around his waist as he tossed a leg over mine.

“I don’t think I’ve loved you enough for the night.” His hands found my soft cock and gave it a gentle squeeze, bringing it back to life.

“I don’t need to come.” I gave his neck a tiny lick, savoring the mild saltiness. “Having you come inside me was hot enough for—”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” Blaise growled, then rolled me over, trapping me beneath him.

“Hey!” I was denser and more muscular than him, but being underneath him was too delightful. I didn’t want him to move, despite my protestations. I wanted to stay there forever.

“I’m going to bring you to the brink over and over until you can’t think anymore.” Blaise was whispering into my ear, his breath tickling my ear canal and making me squirm.

I struggled a little against him. The feeling of restraint made me go from half-hard to full mast, and I moaned.

“See, now you’re all mine. No one can touch you like I do, baby. I might be dead, but I’m yours.”

Every ounce of lust drained out of me with those words, and I froze.

“What do you mean?”

Blaise smiled, compassion shining in his face, although there was a hint of viciousness in his eyes. “I’m dead, but I’m still your boyfriend. Your body belongs to me.”

My eyes snapped open as I let out a yelp of fear and recognition, sitting straight up in bed.

He was gone. He’d never even been there. It had been a dream. The bedroom was empty, other than me, and the morning light streamed in through the windows, casting shadows of the tree branches outside onto the hardwood floor.

I sighed. It was silly, but part of me would be happy to have Blaise back even if he were a ghost. I worried losing him had left a permanent hole in my heart.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and glanced at the clock. 7:45 am. Time to get up. I had a lot to do today if I wanted to leave tomorrow morning and not look back. Once Halloween was over, this part of my life would be as well.

“Everything’s in here?” I asked my sister. In the background, I could hear Olivia singing at the top of her lungs, interspersed with her yelling gibberish magic spells.

“Honey, I’m on the phone. Can you put the wand down for a bit and get yourself a snack?

” Jen sighed as she brought her attention back to me.

“Sorry, she’s had the Glinda costume on since she got out of bed this morning.

She wouldn’t wear anything else. She’s having the time of her life, but I’m already exhausted, and we’re not trick-or-treating for another six hours. ”

I chuckled, imagining the light in my niece’s eyes as she danced around. “She must look adorable.”

“Her cuteness is part of the problem. She can get away with anything.”

I surveyed the room in front of me. It had been our guest bedroom. Now the bed was gone, and in its place stood a collection of cardboard boxes, as well as some art pieces leaning up against one wall.

“This is all of it?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “Anything that I thought might have sentimental value is there. And anything I thought might be worth money.”

“Thank you for doing this.” I tried not to think too hard about how much energy it must have taken to go through this entire house. Blaise and I had accumulated a good amount of stuff in the years we’d spent there.

“I didn’t mind, Tommy. You were in no state to deal with it. I’m sorry I can’t be there today.”

A wave of gratitude flowed through me. The rest of my family was complicated at best, but my sister had always been there for me.

“Have you been…okay? At the house?” The worry in Jen’s voice stirred up a swell of guilt in my gut. She’d been the one person I had leaned on, and that must have taken a toll. I owed her a lot.

“Other than dreaming of him? It’s been fine. Not easy, but fine.”

“You had a nightmare?” she asked with quiet concern.

“Not exactly a nightmare. Not until the end.” My face warmed as I remembered the dream. “It was more…”

There was a beat of silence before my sister reacted with a disgusted sound. “You had a sex dream about your dead boyfriend? Ew.”

“Shut up.” A smile sprang up on my face at her reaction. “He was just as hot dead as he had been alive. And unfortunately, we didn’t quite get to it before I woke up, although we were about to—”

“Okay, that’s all I need to hear, thanks. It sounds like Olivia is trying to cast a levitation spell on the dog. I’m going to make sure I don’t end up with a traumatized husky. Happy Halloween.”

After she hung up, I did some unpacking math.

There were about fifteen full cardboard boxes that I at least had to check and sort.

Jen had offered to store anything I wanted to keep in her basement, which was a godsend.

Nothing else would fit in my apartment unless I got rid of my roommate, which was tempting… but no. I couldn’t afford it.

Might as well get to it. I unfolded the top of the nearest box and peeked inside.

Photographs. A box full of actual physical photographs.

I’d forgotten about them. Blaise’s mother had never transitioned to digital.

She loved using a real camera and getting the film developed at the pharmacy around the corner from where she lived.

Everywhere she went, she took photos. You couldn’t escape her snapping shutter.

I picked up the first picture, and a warmth spread in my chest. It was Blaise and me at the beach.

We’d been together three years at that point, and Blaise’s mom had decided we should go on a weekend trip to celebrate her divorcing Blaise’s dad.

I wore a boring pair of navy blue swim shorts, but he had on tight neon green trunks. He filled them out well.

The weather had been perfect that day, and behind us were the beach and an expanse of crystal-blue water. I was laughing. I barely remembered what that was like. I hadn’t laughed since his death. Not a real, full-bodied laugh.

I breathed in the stale air of the empty house, wishing desperately that Blaise was still here, that I could talk to him.

Well, I could talk to him, even if he couldn’t answer. “Is this what you’d want? For the last time I really laughed to be when you were alive?”

“Of course not, baby…”

I spun around in surprise. The whisper was soft, but it was clear. Distinct enough that I couldn’t dismiss it. Someone had spoken. It was not my imagination.

“I…what’s going on?” My hands trembling, I let the photograph fall back into the open box. “Is someone there?”

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

It was almost as if the voice came in on the breeze. Or it was the breeze itself. But there was no mistaking the words. Or the eager tone.

“Who…what are you?” Every muscle in my body tensed, and I trained my eyes on the surrounding room, waiting for some sign of movement.

I knew who it sounded like, who that deep and slightly raspy voice belonged to, but I couldn’t bring myself to acknowledge it.

I’d been so alone for the last five years. It couldn’t be.

“It’s Blaise. Why did you wait so long to come back?”

My throat was so dry, and the root of my tongue flexed painfully. I couldn’t speak. How was this possible? My eyes welled up, and a single tear trailed down my cheek.

“Baby, I’m so sorry.”

At the words, I lost any composure I had and collapsed down onto the floor, tears streaming down my face. I wasn’t able to catch my breath. This couldn’t be happening.

Something pressed against my back, like a hand comforting me, but there was nothing there. There was nothing there.

“How…how did this happen?” I pushed my fists into the solid floor, trying my damndest to ground myself, to get control.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s normal, or if other people move on to somewhere else when their bodies die. All I know is that I’ve been here, in this house.”

A breeze tickled the back of my neck, like the lightest of feathers. “You’ve been waiting for me?”

There were several seconds of silence before Blaise responded. “Of course. Always.”

With that, I was weeping once more. I’d left him here alone for five years. All because I was afraid, because I couldn’t face the loss.

“It’s okay, Tommy.”

“No!” I lifted myself up from the floor. My whole body was shaking now, but I needed to stand and be accountable for what I’d done. “I abandoned you. If I had been strong, I wouldn’t have left you alone.”

“Baby…” An invisible hand caressed my cheek, wiping away my tears. “You had no way of knowing. I was sure you’d make it back eventually.”

“I almost didn’t,” I forced out. My guilt was stuck in my throat, and for a moment I thought I might pass out. This was too much.

The fact that ghosts were real? The fact that my boyfriend was a spirit? The shock of that was nothing compared to the devastating knowledge that I’d left. He’d been trapped in this empty house by himself.

“But you did, baby. You’re here now. We’re together. Don’t waste the time we have with sadness.”

Invisible fingers threaded themselves through my own and squeezed. Another unseen hand gently pressed against my chest. The sensation grounded me and calmed me. This was my Blaise.

This was my Blaise.