The Haunting Season (21 page)

“But won’t that keep you up?” Bryan asked. “I mean, that stuff has caffeine in it, right?”

Jess laughed. “Yeah, it does, but that’s all that’s here. I’ll have to ask Mrs. Hirsch if we can get some other kinds.” She added the teabag to the cup.

“Do you want sugar or milk with your tea?” Bryan asked, heading to the refrigerator.

Jess raised an eyebrow.

“My mom,” he explained. “She’s a tea drinker. She usually puts milk and sugar in hers. I guess it’s a thing.”

“Sure,” Jess replied with a smile.

Bryan sat the milk on the counter while Jess retrieved the sugar bowl.

“So, I guess three of us have insomnia tonight,” Jess said, as she stirred in the sugar. She didn’t want to mention the real reason she’d been restless the past couple of nights—Gage.

Bryan laughed. “I think
all
of us have insomnia. Gage is wide awake, too. He just wasn’t hungry.” Bryan grinned. “Say, maybe you should check in on him.”

Jess nearly spilled her tea. “What?”

His smile grew wider. “You heard me.”

She looked over her shoulder, half expecting someone to be standing close enough to hear them, but mostly to hide the fact she felt a blush coming on. “
Bryan!
”

He stuffed the bag of chips back into the pantry. “Oh, don’t give me that Bryan crap. Come on.” He headed out of the kitchen, stopping only when he realized she wasn’t right behind him.

“Would you prefer I go get him?” Bryan asked, still grinning. “Because, I’m sure he’d love to see you. You could just…sit on the sofa and talk.”

Jess was about to say that might be a safer idea, but Bryan was already back in the kitchen. He took the cup from her hand and dumped the tea into the sink.

“Hey! What’d you do that for?” Jess asked.

He rinsed the cup out, quickly dried it with the dishtowel and placed it back into the cabinet.

“Bryan!” But by now, his attitude was infectious and she couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s clean enough,” he said, taking her by the wrist and pulling her from the kitchen. Jess would like to have thought she offered some resistance, but realized that was laughable at best. She let him lead her through the Great Room and up the stairs to the second floor landing.

Jess waited while he scoped the hallway, but even she could tell Mrs. Hirsch wasn’t around. Whenever the housekeeper was checking out a locked room, she always left the door open while she was in there. The lighting in the hall wasn’t great, but Jess didn’t notice any open doors. Mrs. Hirsch was probably on the third floor, or in the music room.

Or in the basement with Dr. Brandt.

Bryan walked back to her. “Coast is clear. I can go get him, and we can all go back downstairs,” he whispered. “Or, you can stop in and say hello by yourself. Your call. Whatever you’re comfortable doing.”

Jess let the thoughts of how heated things were getting with Gage fill her head. She recalled how perfect his lips felt on hers, how warm his hands were, how she’d run her hands under his shirt.

She was still thinking of these things when she realized Bryan was going into his room. Damn! She’d missed her chance to be alone with Gage. She padded down the hall after Bryan.

“Gage,” Bryan called out quietly as he opened the door. “You have a visitor.” Bryan turned and smiled when Jess walked up beside him.

“For God’s sake, put each other out of misery,” Bryan whispered in her ear.

Gage rolled off the bed wearing nothing except a fairly thin and loose pair of well-worn and equally faded gray sweat shorts. Add to that the sight of him shirtless, and she didn’t think she’d ever catch her breath again.

He looked puzzled at first, but then that grin, the one that melted her into a puddle, spread across his face and Jess didn’t care that she was staring at him in full appreciation.

Gage’s eyes met hers, then he glanced at Bryan.

Beside her, Bryan laughed softly. “I’m just going to go get a snack,” he said. “Another one. I’ll be back in… half an hour?”

Gage’s attention turned to Jess once more. Everywhere his gaze fell, she felt as though her skin had become electric. He stepped into the doorway, standing so close she had to lift her head to look at him. Her eyes lingered on his mouth and everything else but her need for him faded away.

Gage’s eyes held hers. “Better take your time, Bro.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

How many times and how many ways had he pictured this playing out? A hundred? More? He loved how Jess’s hair hung loose to just below her shoulders, the way the lighting in the hallway gave her a warm, seductive glow. He loved how long her legs looked and the way her denim shorts rested low on her hips, baring a little midriff. Her ivory shirt draped just right over her breasts, and Gage couldn’t help but notice her nipples beneath the fabric. She wasn’t wearing a bra. The sight was enough to drive him out of his mind. But nothing sent him over the edge like the way Jess was looking at him.

Undress me
, her eyes, not to mention two very attentive body parts, said.
Like the way I want to undress you.
Now.

And if that didn’t get him moving in
all
the right directions, nothing ever would. He closed in, pushing her against the wall with the length of his body, making sure she had no doubt of the effect she had on him. His mouth found hers and she greedily kissed him back, a soft groan escaping her mouth as her hands traveled across his abs and back. He reached down to cup her perfect ass in his hands, pulling her even more tightly to him.

Jess responded by pressing her breasts against him.

The girl was torture. And yet, he wanted to be sure, wanted
her
to be sure. Normally, he wouldn’t have cared, but Jess… Jess was different.

He kissed her ear, her neck. “Are you...”

Jess grinned up at him, then she wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her legs gracefully around his waist, positioning herself against the front of his shorts.

“Shut up,” she said breathlessly. She kissed him harder, more intently, biting lightly at his bottom lip.

God, how he needed her. The feel of her against him was enough to make him want to groan out loud. He turned and carried her back into his room. Jess untangled herself from him, setting her feet down on the floor. Gage closed the door behind them as Jess tugged forcefully at the band of his shorts, pulling him to her once more.

She leaned into the wall as Gage pressed himself against her, harder than ever this time, kissing her and letting his hands travel down her shirt, reaching underneath it and up to her breasts. He took them in is hands, his thumbs brushing her hardened nipples.

Jess pushed him away, and he was about to complain until she tugged her shirt over her head, tossing it to the floor. He grinned, taking in the sight of her. She came to him again, running her hands through his hair, down his shoulders and arms, then slowly over his chest and abs before traveling further south. His heart thudded hard as first her lips and then her wet, warm tongue brushed his chest. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes as a low growl escaped him. Damn, the girl was on fire, and Gage was more than enjoying the heat.

He fumbled with the button on Jess’s shorts, and finally managed to unzip them. She helped him slide them over her hips and then stepped out of them, wearing nothing but pink cotton panties.

Gage walked her backward to the bed, his eyes holding hers as he pushed her onto it, then eased himself on top of her. Jess wrapped her long legs around him once more and arched her hips.

“I’ve been waiting for this, Jess.”

Jess smiled at the low rasp of his voice as he said her name. She wanted to spin him up, tease him as much as he’d teased her, not just now, but over the past week and even before, when thoughts of him had begun to invade her dreams.

His mouth was warm, delicious and kissably soft while the feel of his body against hers sent waves of heated desire through her midsection…and lower. The heat of his breath against her neck, the touch of his hands as he explored her body, was almost too much.

Jess had been daydreaming of this, but never had she expected it to feel as good as it did at this very moment. And oh, God, if she thought Gage could do wonders with his hands, his mouth and tongue were even better. She reached down to his shorts, sliding them over his hips, taking in the sight of him. Was there
anything
about him that wasn’t sexy as hell? Suddenly, she didn’t want to tease anymore, didn’t want him teasing her, either. Yet, that’s what he did as he tossed his shorts from the bed and positioned himself between her legs, pressing hard against her panties as he went back to kissing her. She struggled against him, thinking that he was going to make her beg. He kissed her throat, her chest, her stomach as he slid off her underwear.

Omigod! He’s amazing!

“Gage...”

He looked at her and he was wearing that damned cocky grin of his. Then her breath caught as his eyes held hers and the grin faded from his face.

In that moment, nothing else mattered. Not the house, the ghosts, the experiment. Just his groan of pleasure as he entered her for the first time.

Telling Bryan they’d needed more time had been a good move. Jess couldn’t help but stare into Gage’s eyes, hoping this night would never end. After their first frenzied rush, Gage had made sure to take things more slowly the second time, his touches soft and tender, fueling her need for him and sending chills along her skin at the same time. Nothing could have been sweeter, more passionate.

And oh! What moves the boy had.

He paused, pushing up off her a little. His eyes were closed and jaw set as he attempted to adjust his breathing. The feel of him inside her and the small beads of sweat on his skin only ignited her further. She wrapped her hands around his hips, urging him on until they were both over the edge in ecstasy.

He kissed the tip of her nose before rolling off her. He might not be long-term boyfriend material, but Gage was a god in his own right, and certainly in Jess’s mind.

After a few minutes, he tucked an arm under her and stared into her eyes. “So, we live about an hour and a half away from each other. That’s not so bad.” That devastating grin that turned her inside out spread slowly over his face again. “That is, if you ever
needed
anything.”

Jess laughed and gave him a playful shove. Gage not only knew the right moves, he knew the right words. That was a dangerous combination. Too dangerous, actually. She’d dated his type before. The after burn had turned her off from dating for a while. Still, her hand rested against his chest, wishing that there might be a time when all this was done and she
could
make such a call.

“Careful,” he said, still grinning, gorgeous hazel eyes flashing. “Bryan’s due back any minute.”

“You’re incorrigible,” Jess said, grinning back. She ran a finger along his abs. The house wasn’t the only thing around here that was addictive. “Yeah, I’d like us to stay in touch.”

“You know it’s inevitable.”

Jess laughed. “What’s inevitable?”

“Me,” he said simply. “I’m going to win your heart yet.”

“Uh-huh, right.” There was no way she was going to let him know that, in part, he already had.

He kissed her softly. When they broke apart, he brushed back a strand of her hair. There was tenderness in his eyes at first, and Jess thought she just might get lost in them. But Gage being Gage, that grin crept back and tenderness was replaced with mischief. And
that
she could always get lost in.

“We still have a couple of weeks.” He kissed a trail down her neck to her breasts.

Oh yeah
, Jess thought. This experiment had just gotten a lot better.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Jess crept back into her room just before one o’clock. She’d expected Mrs. Hirsch to be standing outside Gage’s room, or at the very least, to catch her on her way back to her own, but she must have been elsewhere. It was odd not to have run into her, but Jess wasn’t complaining.

Allison was still awake, still reading her book.

“If we go to sleep now, we can still get a couple hours,” Jess said as she exchanged her shirt and shorts for a sleep shirt.

Allison looked at the clock and yawned. “Yeah, I suppose. Did you run into Mrs. Hirsch?”

“Never saw her. Found Bryan in the kitchen, though.” She didn’t mention the part about Gage.

Allison frowned. “That’s weird she didn’t run into you guys. She’s been by here a few times. I can hear the floorboards creak in the hallway. For a while, she was up and down it so much I thought she was looking for you in one of the rooms again. I almost checked.”

Jess crawled into bed and fluffed her pillow. “Nope. She never found me.” Before Allison could ask
why
Mrs. Hirsch hadn’t found her, Jess turned out the light and rolled over. “Sleep quickly,” she said.

“Maybe it wasn’t her, then.”

“What?”

“Maybe it was one of
them
.”

Jess turned back over. “Them? You mean the girls?”

“No, it was only one set of footsteps and too heavy for a couple of girls.” Allison adjusted her own pillow. “Anyway, they’re gone now. See you in a couple of hours.”

Great. Even when Allison wasn’t really trying to creep her out, she was creeping her out. Jess looked at the dresser where a large bath towel covered the mirror.

Don’t think about it. Gage’s mirror was covered, too.

Jess lay on her side, listening to the sound of crickets and bullfrogs, which were in full chorus, and trying not to think about any of the other sounds that might be one of the resident ghosts. Or Riley. What if he found a way out of the mirrors like Allison said?

What if he hadn’t needed them all along?

Stop thinking about it. You’ll never get any sleep.

But exhaustion and thoughts of Gage won out and Jess drifted into perfect, dreamless sleep.

Until she felt a cold hand on her arm. She jerked, wondering if it was three o’clock already and Allison was shaking her awake. Sensing someone standing beside the bed, she bolted upright. The twins. They’d startled her so badly she couldn’t even scream. God she
hated
when ghosts snuck up on her. They were like cats, mostly quiet and stealthy.