Reed fought panic and struggled to sit upright as the woman—the ghost who'd possessed him—hissed her rage and lunged at Sara. “Fuck—"
Light exploded in the room, forming an impenetrable barrier a few feet in front of Sara's outstretched hands. The ghost slammed into it and rebounded, flying back toward—and then through—the wall.
Sara teetered dangerously. “Holy shit."
He managed to catch her before she hit the floor. “Will she be back?” he demanded, glancing at Celestina. “How strong is she?"
"Strong. She feeds on fear. And the stronger she is...” Celestina's voice trailed off and she held out her hands. “Do you have any idea how many years it's been since I had the power to manifest?"
"Lots?” Sara's voice sounded high and giddy, which was not unexpected considering how much power she must have channeled through herself to banish the ghost.
"Shh.” Reed stroked her forehead. “Then we won't be afraid, right, Sara?"
She giggled. She actually giggled. “I banished a ghost. I-I took your power instead of just reading it.” Her expression turned to a frown in a heartbeat. “Do you still have it?"
He stifled a hysterical laugh of his own. “Yeah, Sara. I still have it.” He tucked her face into his neck and looked over her head. “If fear strengthens her..."
Sara's breath skittered over his skin. “She doesn't like sex. Can we sex her to death?"
That wasn't going to happen, not with his injuries and their situation and two ghosts watching. “Sorry, but no. I could manage some making out, though."
She jerked back so fast she almost tumbled out of his arms. “I was kidding. That won't work—that—” Huge brown eyes blinked at him, and Sara tilted her head to the side. “You know, the McCrantz and Timbolin paper did theorize that sexual energy was among the most potent sources of magical power, but it proved to be almost impossible to test under any sort of realistic circumstances, especially considering the fact that observing the test added an additional layer of illicit thrill that—"
Reed silenced her with a kiss, ignoring the painful pounding in his head. After a few moments of Sara's mouth under his, he didn't feel it anyway. He drove his fingers into her hair and tilted her head back, nipping at her lower lip. “Go away, Celestina."
Sara moaned in protest and caught his lips again. Her tongue snuck out, traced along his lips and then swept past them, searching for his. Her kiss was clumsy with need, a need echoed in the tiny, choked little noises she made as he slid his hand under her shirt.
"Going,” Celestina squeaked.
When he raised his head again, they were alone. He glanced down at Sara and smirked. “How long do you think it'll take to generate enough sexual energy to piss off our crabby, knife-wielding ghost?"
"You talk too damn much,” she muttered, shifting in his lap until she was straddling his legs. Her hands ghosted over his bare shoulders and caressed their way down his arms. “And not in a sexy, dirty way, either."
"Says the woman whose idea of pillow talk is recapping an academic paper.” He bit her collarbone.
She responded with a breathless moan as her head arched back. “I read a whole series of papers on sexual rites in magic. And on the roles of dominance and submission in shapeshifters."
"Kinky.” He licked her neck and nibbled her earlobe. “Not at all driven to such research by a crush on our Dean, right?"
Her h*ps shifted until she was rubbing down against him, a stark reminder that he was na**d beneath the quilt tossed across his lap. Sara moaned again and dragged his head back, revealing eyes glazed with arousal. “I already told you who I want to bend over my desk for, and it isn't the Dean."
He wiggled his h*ps under hers. “How charged up do you want to get, baby?"
"I'm feeling pretty charged.” Her tongue swept out, licked her kiss-swollen bottom lip as she let her gaze trail languidly down his body. “I've never done it like that, you know. From behind. Thinking about you behind me like ... God it's hot."
Reed's laugh turned into a moan. “There's a crazy ghost somewhere around here."
Sara lifted her hands, and the air between them sparked with magic as she gathered power again. The look on her face was unspeakable wonder and sheer delight, intoxicating in its purity. “It's magic,” she whispered in a voice full of awe. “We're magic. Give me more, God ... I want more..."
He pressed his palms to hers and twined their fingers together. The glow illuminated her face, and he smiled. “Kiss me, Sara."
Her lips found his, brushed against them and then retreated. “Reed...” She kissed him again, a little firmer, and the magic between them spiraled dizzily upwards. She moaned and licked his lower lip. “Reed."
"I know.” He kissed her again, his tongue curling over hers. “I know."
He'd never felt anything like it. She was inside his aura, warm and sensual, but with the sharp little edges that made her Sara. Her power, usually a tiny trickle, swept through both of them in a flood of magic, wrapping them tighter together with every soft moan or shift of their hips.
He finally pulled his mouth from hers. “Can you hang on to it?” He had no idea how such things were supposed to work.
"I'm full...” Her eyelids drooped as she tilted her head back. She tugged on his hands, pressed them to her br**sts with a soft sigh. “So full of magic, but so empty.... I wish you were inside me."
He bit her neck to muffle a helpless groan. “Talk to me when we get out of this mess, baby. We'll stay in bed for a solid week, if you want."
Sara rose to her feet in a move that seemed far more graceful than usual. She was flushed and gorgeous, her prim, proper shirt unbuttoned just enough to show the curves of her br**sts. She looked strong, confident ... sexual, and in a way he'd never seen her before.
He followed her, his legs unsteady, and clutched the quilt as he looked around. “Uh ... where are my pants?"
She barely seemed to hear him. Her eyes drifted shut and she turned slowly, and the room seemed to turn with her as power spiraled inward. Then she stopped, facing the front of the house, and the glow around her magnified.
She smiled. “Found you."
Then she was gone.
He cursed and dove over the bed, finally finding his pants crumpled beside it. If she faced the ghost alone ... “Sara, wait!"
Celestina appeared in the doorway and stepped inside. The door slammed shut behind her. “She says we have to wait here."
Reed yanked up his pants and shook his head. “Uh-uh. Fuck that. Out of my way."
Disdain filled Celestina's expression. “You can barely stand. You are wobbling in an alarming fashion as it is. Do you want to take the chance that you'll hinder her?"
She was right and he knew it. Dammit. “Look, I can't just leave her out there with ... Who is that, anyway?"
"Katherine Smithson,” Celestina replied in a stiff tone. It didn't hide the fear in her eyes. “She thinks sex is perverted and those who enjoy it are sinners. I enjoyed it with her husband a time or two, and for that she murdered me."
"Terrific,” he groaned. “Not only is she nuts, but she has a damn good reason for hating you."
"Really?” Celestina lifted an eyebrow. “My husband left me alone for months at a time. His wife barred him from her bedroom. Did we really deserve to die, just because we cared little for the idea of loneliness?"
Reed gritted his teeth. “I didn't say anything about you deserving to die. But righteous anger is a little easier to focus than general batshit crazy, so I need to get out there."
A crash sounded downstairs, metal clattering against stone, and Celestina sighed and stepped aside. “I wish you all the luck in the world. Your lover is a little frightening right now, and I have no intention of disobeying her."
"Duly noted,” he said, tugging at the doorknob. “Fuck! Does this lock from the outside?"
"No.” Celestina frowned and reached toward the door. Dark sparks erupted when her fingers touched it, and she recoiled with a cry of pain.
He let his head fall against the door with a stifled shout of anger. “Sara..."
He couldn't get to her. He'd just have to hope the power he'd given her was enough.
Chapter Five
Sara felt alive.
Alive was a silly word, hardly adequate description for the power and life that flowed through her, but the limited vocabulary of the English language lacked words to describe most of the feelings that flooded her as she stalked through Villa Montera in search of her prey.
Alive. Powerful—oh, she felt that, too. Powerful in ways she'd never dreamt of, and not all of them magical. The most potent power of all was the one that she had spent so much of her life without, the power of a mature, sexual woman.
Not that she'd ever been prudish when it came to sex, not really. But her mother had raised her with such radically open ideas about sex and sexuality that the only way to carry on an effective teenage rebellion had been near chastity—and maybe a bit of shame.
Now shame was gone. Sara didn't bother to button her shirt or straighten her hair as she followed that dark, angry thread of magic through the foyer and into the formal dining room. Reed challenged her, mentally and physically. He made her feel good, made her body feel alive.
The ghost could just drown in jealousy or disapproval until she choked on it. The sooner the better.
"Not again,” she groaned, beating the hilt of her knife against the table. “Why will humans never go away?"
"Because this is our world, not yours.” Sara stepped through the open doorway and felt her lips curl into a smile. She had power now, real power, power to do something good. To banish evil and save herself, save Reed...
Some tiny part of her that was anything but altruistic rejoiced for an entirely different reason. My father won't be able to ignore me after this. I can rub his nose in how wrong he was, how he shouldn't have left us ... how he shouldn't have left me.