Free Body Temperature and Rising - Book One of the Lakeland Heatwave Trilogy by K. D. Grace Page A

the bed like he was the fucking king of the universe. ‘I apologise for all of those offensive behaviours. I can certainly see how they would not be tolerated in polite society. Though I cannot take credit for the chill, I am sorry you had to endure it. As for the fucking you, however,’ he held her gaze. ‘I cannot apologise for something I did not instigate, but neither am I sorry that fucking you did take place. Are you?’
    ‘Well I … I mean. I … No, but I might not –’
    ‘You might not have fucked me if you had known I was a ghost? Yes I am aware of that.’ He leaned forward so close that she could feel his warm breath, very disconcerting coming from a ghost. ‘However you were not intended to see me at all. I was sent to guide you down off High Spy without being seen.’
    She blinked. ‘You can do that?’
    ‘I could have, yes, but you saw me.’
    ‘Of course I saw you. Even in the fog, I saw you! You were right there in plain view.’ Christ, her voice was starting to sound hysterical again and the burning dance and tingle in her pelvic girdle felt like it would burst into flame. Involuntarily, she clutched at her stomach. 
    ‘I can assure you, my dear Marie, I was in plain view to no one but you, a fact of which I was unaware until it was too late.’ His eyes followed her hand. ‘You must relax into the feel of my presence.’
    ‘What?’
    He nodded to her stomach. ‘You are a rider. The sensation you are experiencing low in your abdomen will always alert you to the presence of spirits, whether in the flesh or not. It is nothing to be feared.’
    ‘A rider? What the hell is a rider? And who was that man in the mirror? Another horny ghost? A friend of yours?’
    ‘No friend of mine, Marie, I assure you, nor is he yours.’ He reached for her hand but she jerked it away. ‘I am deeply saddened by any behaviour on my part that was untoward, but now that you have seen me again, and after recent events,’ he nodded toward the mirror, which still contained the swipe mark of his large hand, ‘I must ask that you please accompany me back to Elemental Cottage. There, all shall be explained to you and you will be …’
    ‘What? I’ll be what?’
    ‘In good company. And now that my state of existence has been made known to you, I sincerely hope not to be offensive to you again.’ He stood and straightened his dark jacket. ‘I will wait in the parlour for you to dress – that is if you will condescend to go with me.’
    ‘Damn right, I’ll go with you. I want an explanation, and I bloody well expect to get one.’ Plus she was scared shitless. But if there was one thing she’d learned in her old life, it was how to bluff.
    As he left the room, he turned and offered her a wry smile. ‘We will have to take your vehicle, Marie, as I have no mode of transport.’ His lips curled into a delicious bow that she would have liked to have kissed off his face in spite of the fact that she was angry at him. ‘After all, I am a ghost and seldom find myself in need of transport.’

    Tim woke with a raging, nearly painful, hard-on. He groaned and fumbled with the sticky towel that half tented his erection beneath the duvet. The night’s wank fest with Lisette came back to him in a rush of guilt. Stupid really. There was nothing to feel guilty about. It didn’t happen often, and what did the taunting and the egging on of someone long-dead have to do with him, anyway? He never asked for any of this. None of it was his fault. He shuddered as he gripped his cock, and his whole body tensed with the weight of arousal way too heavy for someone who had just come so hard such a short time ago. He opened one eye and squinted around the darkened room. Lisette was nowhere to be found and neither were any of the usuals who were likely to be hanging about his room after dark hoping to catch him masturbating. Bunch of voyeuristic bastards, he thought. Still it was strange that no one was there. 
    The thought was