Page 75 of Ghostly

“Can you smell the perfume?”

“Yes. How did you…”

It worked!“I haunted it. So that paper… it smells like me.” Did that sound weird? Oh, no, wasshebeing weird?

Gabriel stared at the piece of paper.

Yup, she was weird. “I’m sorry. I wanted to try it, but like you said, it doesn’t have a purpose.”

“It’s not that. It’s the damn smell.” He shut his eyes and wrinkled his nose, like he was… suffering?

“It was too much rosemary, wasn’t it? I thought that one drop was the size of two, and the recipe did say I have to be very precise—”

“It’s not the rosemary, Ida!” Gabriel turned away from her and covered his face. “I need a moment.” He moved to the window.

Ida stayed in place, biting her lip. Maybe the perfume did smell bad, and Gabriel was only trying to be nice. Maybe he hated perfume in general?Back in life, she wasn’t the biggest fan of fragrances, either, but the inability to smell at all made the heart grow fonder.

“Dammit.” Raking his hair, Gabriel turned back. “Do you even know how badly I want to kiss you?”

Her mouth froze in a half-open position.

“Oh, forget just kissing you.” He made a few steps toward her, something intense, burning, unleashing in his eyes. “I want to touch you, everywhere. Feel you. I want to lick this damn thing off you, preferably once you’ve gotten rid of some of those layers and sprayed the perfume—” He stopped, his eyes wide. “I shouldn’t have said that. I—”

“N-no, wait.” Her voice came out weak, trembling.

Gabriel paused in half-turn.

Forget her fingers shivering; it was a miracle she hadn’t dissolved yet, when her whole body was flushed with a tingling wave of anticipation.

He wanted to kiss her.

He actually, truly, wanted to kiss her!

“C-can you continue?” He couldn’t actually kiss her, but solely his words made her feel things—strange, euphoric, sparkling things—nothing she’d ever felt before.

Gabriel stood, unmoving, for a few moments, until he strolled back toward her. He circled her, moves as smooth as a panther’s, until he stopped behind her. “Which part?”

“The bit where you’d…”For god’s sake, get yourself together!“Really, any part would do.” It wasn’t as if she didn’t fall apart at merely a glance.

Especially a glance like he’d given her before—one that could set her on fire, had she been more material.

Maybe it was good she was a ghost. How could a living woman survive him?

“The back of your neck.” His voice was hushed, but silky. He raised his fingers to the spot. One passed through—perhaps accidental, perhaps he couldn’t help. But whereas otherwise, she’d have felt nothing, the slightest sensation spread like a circular wave from his touch. It lasted only a second, but left behind an electric feeling. A spark, trying to ignite her. “Right where your hair meets the skin. It looks so sensitive. I’d kiss you there, first…”

She closed her eyes, her mouth hanging open.

“And when you’d stretch your neck to the side, to offer me more, I’d lay a trail of kisses, around to your jaw, then down your throat…”

Good thing she didn’t need to breathe. She wasn’t sure what that function was at the moment.

“And all the while, I’d put my arms around you… clutch the waist first…” His arms hovered an inch away from her, showing the embrace. “And I’d travel up, and up… until I’d get to the first button…”

Ida glanced down, to the upmost button of her jacket. Of all the clothes to die in, she had to pick this one—a walking dress with long, tight sleeves, that buttoned all the way to her neck. “You know I can’t get rid of these.”

“Yes, but I have a vivid imagination.”

He’d imagined her? With less clothes on?