He could move. He did, slowly, testing his arms and legs. He swiped a hand across his mouth, convinced his fingertips would come away coated in her honey, but there was nothing. He sat. Turned on the bedside lamp.
Whatever had just happened meant the spirit haunting this apartment was way more powerful than he’d thought.
Chapter 2
Mel had killed the rabbit.
Not as in a pregnancy scare, thank God, though she supposed to have a scare she’d have needed to have some actual sex within the past few months. Not in an Elmer Fudd at the Opera opera sort of way, either. Nope, she’d simply worn it out.
Now it was just a useless piece of battery-operated rubber, and she mourned the loss more than she had her last relationship.
Time for a new one. Mel had bought her original rabbit from a mail-order catalog what felt like a million years ago. It had seen her through four boyfriends and countless nights of single pleasure. The internet now made buying such toys so much easier and less embarrassing… except, of course, when the mailman delivered your package to the new downstairs neighbor instead of climbing his lazy ass up a couple of flights of stairs to leave it at her your door.
“Hi. I’m Jon, from 1-B.” He held aloft the package, discreetly wrapped but with the name of the company emblazoned all over it as bold as anything. “They left this at my door, but it’s really yours. I mean, if you’re Melissa Benjamin.”
She should be embarrassed only if he knew that Garden of Eden was a sex toy company, Mel told herself as she held out her hands. “Oh. Thanks. I am. But you can call me Mel.”
Their fingers brushed as he passed it to her. The zing was a total cliché, but she felt it anyway. All through her. He felt it too, because he jumped a little, eyes going wide. There was even a spark.
An actual spark.
“Ouch,” Mel said with a laugh. “Sorry about that. Static.”
“Yeah.” Jon looked at his hand, wiggling the fingers, then back at her. “That’s all it was.”
It seemed kind of a strange thing to say, but she was so taken by those gorgeous hazel eyes, that hesitantly quirking smile with a hint of straight white teeth, the broad shoulders and lean waist… She was staring. Gape-mouthed, no less. Like a freak.
“Um… you’re new,” she managed to say. “To the building. You moved into Mr. Henry’s place, right?”
Jon nodded and put the hand that had been shocked on her door frame. He leaned a little, one long leg cocked. “Yeah. Just moved in yesterday.”
“It’s a great building.” God. Those legs. He was so tall. She’d have to stand on her tiptoes to reach his mouth with hers… Mel gave herself a shake and found a smile. “You’ll like it here.”
“I like it already.” His smile warmed her, even though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Those eyes.
Damn it, there she went again, mooning like some horny schoolgirl with a crush. The package rattled as she tucked it closer to her. Was it possible to be addicted to a sex toy? Was she going through withdrawal? It had been only a week or so. Even for a woman who viewed orgasms as much a part of her daily routine as taking her vitamins and brushing her teeth, that hadn’t been long enough to turn her into some kind of sex-starved lunatic… had it?
“You should come inside.” The words popped out of her without warning, but Mel was already backing up and stepping aside to let him in.
Jon looked surprised. A second later, wariness flickered across his face, gone so fast she couldn’t be sure that was what she’d seen. His smile got a little bigger, and he moved past her into the living room, turning as he did so he could face her.
“Would you like something to drink?” Her package rattled again. Her hands were shaking a little, the way they did when she forgot to eat lunch. Except she hadn’t forgotten. She hardly ever forgot. She wasn’t even hungry, unless it was for a good old-fashioned rogering… Mel let out a squeak.
Jon tilted his head a little, looking her over. “You okay? You look a little flushed.”
“Oh. Hot in here.” She fanned her face. “I should open the windows.”
“The weather. It’s changing.”
It was a stupid, stilted conversation. They stared at each other. Mel made sure her mouth was closed this time, because the way she was feeling she wouldn’t be surprised if she drooled.
“A drink,” she said suddenly when a long minute had slipped past while they gazed at each other like long-lost lovers. “I have water, juice, cola. A beer. Could I get you a beer? Shot of whiskey? I think I have some tequila…”
God. He’d think she was a lush. Mel clamped her lips closed against the torrent of words, but more came out.
“Iced tea,” she blurted. “I brewed it yesterday. It’s good. Sweet. With lemon.”
“That sounds great.” Jon sounded relieved.
“Great!” Mel backed up toward the dining room, the kitchen just beyond. “Come with me. I’ll get it.”
She turned her back, the package still clutched in her hands, and swallowed hard. The scent of lilac suddenly seemed overpowering and didn’t help this weird lightheadedness threatening to trip her up. In the tiny galley kitchen she put the package on the counter and pulled the jug of iced tea from the fridge. Then two glasses from the cupboard. She filled them both and handed one to Jon, then gulped her own. The sweet, cold liquid helped, but only a little.
He only sipped at his. “Have you lived here long?”
“A couple years.” The sweetness now seemed cloying. Mel licked her lips.
His gaze went to her mouth. It brightened. When her tongue swiped again, his lips parted.
“Do you like it here?”
“I love it,” she heard herself say in a low and throaty voice that sounded nothing like her own.
Jon backed up a step, but there wasn’t really anyplace to go. His hip nudged the kitchen cart holding her toaster oven and knife set hard enough to make the knives clatter in their holder. The tea sloshed in his glass.
“How much?” His voice was hoarse too.
Mel took a step forward. “So much. I love it so, so much…”
The scent of lilac filled her head, making the world spin. From far away she heard the music box jangle, just a note or two. She could’ve sworn Jon heard it too, because his head went up like a deer scenting a coyote. Mel shook her head, blinking away the faint haze.
What was she going to do? Mount him right here on the kitchen floor within minutes of meeting him? Mel shook her head harder. The smell of lilac faded.
Jon gulped back the entire contents of the glass, then handed it to her without a word. She looked at it. Then him. It seemed as if there should be words, but she couldn’t think of any. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d lost her wits around a guy this way. Maybe she never had. It was more than embarrassing—it was mortifying.
But when the package she’d put on the counter somehow fell off and hit the floor, opening and spilling out the brand-new seven-inch purple vibrator with flickering “bunny ear” clitoris-stimulating action, Mel discovered there were worse things than being unable to think of something to say.
The woman on her knees in front of him had