'How's that story coming along Trac?' said Jordan, pausing by her desk.
'Oh, it's riveting!' she replied sarcastically. 'I can't tell you what a challenge it is to my journalistic abilities to write about a new beauty salon!' she glared at him. 'It isn't fair. Why do you keep giving me all these fluffy girlie stories to cover?'
'Well, you are a ....' He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence.
'Sexist pig!' Trac snapped, as he slopped off to his office.
'At it again you two? You're like a couple of kids?' laughed Mary, looking up from her desk. 'I reckon it's repressed sexual desire,' she added dryly.
'Me and Jordan?' Tracy grimaced. 'Forget it.'
'Oh come on,' persisted Mary. 'Can you honestly say that you've never wondered what he's like in the sack?'
'Never,' she lied, blushing slightly. Admittedly, Jordan was kind of sexy -- in a pure physical way. But he was her archenemy and that's as far as it went. Later that after noon he called her into his office.
'Your right,' he mused, 'it is about time I gave you a meatier assignment. So I'm sending you to a cottage in Virginia. I saw a program about it on the TV. Apparently there are these two ghostly figures that appear in the dead of night and...' he paused for effect, 'bonk each others brains out!'
'You're kidding!' Tracy raised her eyebrows, intrigued.
'Nope. It'll make a great story. They say the cottage has an amazing aura of sexual energy. So I've arranged for you to stay there the night and check it out. Unless you're too afraid that is.' The challenge was unmistakable.
'Just try to stop me,' she said confidently.
As soon as she entered the cottage, she was captivated by it's quaint charm. Seems pretty harmless,' she murmured into the Dictaphone. 'No spooky apparitions ravishing each other in the shadows.' Yawning, she opened a beer and settled down to watch the video Jordan had given her of the local news program he'd mentioned.
'There's definitely something in that cottage,' a girl was saying. 'As soon as my boyfriend and I went in we felt this surge of sexual tension. Then at about 1 am, something drew me downstairs. And that's when I saw them.' She went on to describe how this gorgeous bloke in britches and a shirt and a virginal beauty in a long white dress had appeared out of nowhere. She said they undressed each other, then walked naked into the garden and made love on the grass before literally vanishing in a puff of smoke.
'What happened next?' probed the interviewer.
'I woke my boyfriend,' said the girl shyly, 'and well, we had the best sex ever. It was as if we'd actually both become those two ghostly lovers. Honestly I've never known anything so erotic!'
The storm started up just as Tracy was getting ready for bed. Nervously, she went to close the window. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. She froze. Don't panic, she told herself firmly, ghosts don't knock. 'Tracy?' Huh? She knew that voice. Frowning, she opened the door. It was Jordan. 'I thought I should come and make sure you were OK.'
'Because I'm just a helpless fluffy girlie? She bristled.
'No, I meant....God, why do you always take everything the wrong way?' For a moment she thought he was going to stomp off. Then the thunder crashed and they both jumped, moving towards each other.
'You drove all the way here in this weather?' she asked genuinely surprised. Jordan nodded.
'Wouldn't fancy driving back, though,' as he patted his overnight bag. 'Look, I know you're tough and independent,' he said. 'You've made it perfectly clear. But I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you here.'
'What could happen?' She laughed. 'It seems these ghosts are far too frisky to get any actual haunting done!' She shrugged. 'Oh well, you're here now. Let's have a beer and watch the rest of that daft video.'
'Emily was the squires daughter and Seth was a farm hand,' the cottage owner was explaining. 'So, naturally, their love was completely forbidden. But every night, she slipped out to his cottage. Then one summer evening, just as they were making love on the grass, a storm started up and a bolt of lightning struck them both.'
'That is bad luck,' Tracy giggled tipsily. 'Getting barbecued in mid-romp!'
Now a parapsychologist began droning on: 'it seems some trace of the couple's passion has remained in the cottage. Couples who have stayed here have reported feelings of magical sexual intensity.'
'What rubbish,' laughed Tracy, pressing eject.
'Don't you believe any of it?' said Jordan.
Tracy met his eyes. 'Do you?'
'Well, I....' Suddenly the thunder crashed again and the lights went out.
'Oh, great,' Tracy cursed, jumping to her feet.
After some scrambling around, they finally found some candles and sat down again, facing each other over the flickering flame. 'God, why did I agree to this?' she muttered, feeling particularly flustered.
'Trac...' Jordan held a candle close to her face. 'What's up? I mean,' he smiled, 'I know we're always fighting at work, but tonight you seem....edgy.'
She stood up sharply, swaying a little from the beer. To be honest, She didn't understand the way she was feeling either. She liked to be in control, on top of things, but tonight she was starting to feel dangerously adrift. As if something was taking her over and she couldn't do a thing about it.
'Goodnight,' Tracy said firmly, snatching up a candle and flouncing out. After tossing and turning for ages, Tracy finally drifted off to sleep. Her dreams were more erotic than anything she'd ever known. She was lying in bed, wearing a long white old-fashioned nightdress. Then suddenly a tall, dark figure stood in the doorway. It was Seth.
'Emily,' he murmured urgently.
And Tracy answered 'Yes,' because who else could she be? She certainly wasn't stroppy, hard-nosed tough cookie Tracy anymore! He then pulled back the sheets and slipped into bed beside her.
She moaned with excitement as he undid her nightdress and touched her so skillfully she felt weak with desire. She writhed against his probing hands, savoring the touch of his sensitive fingers. Faint little cries escaped her lips as his tongue explored her breasts, flicking expertly over her nipples.
Then she pulled him closer, gripping him between her thighs and bracing herself against his body. Panting, he began moving rhythmically on top of her, his hard muscular torso pressed against her bare breasts.
And all the time Tracy had that same feeling.....a sense of surrendering to something that was better than any sensation she'd ever experienced. 'Oh Seth,' she gasped, shuddering.
'Emily...' he moaned, as his thrusts grew more urgent. It was then that he let her see his face...it was Jordan. Tracy woke with a start. The room was empty. Shocked, she stared into the blackness, waiting for her raging horniness to subside. But it didn't. Her throat felt dry. She put on a shirt and went downstairs for a drink. As she stood at the sink, she was suddenly aware of a figure behind her. There was no need to turn round she knew he was there.
'Seth,' Tracy breathed, her voice shaky with arousal. She wasn't scared. Just deeply turned on. Outside, the storm was still going, the odd lightening flashes briefly illuminating the dark room. If she turned round now.....
And then she was being kissed. His hands moved down her stomach, making her tremble all over, just like in the dream. And as his tongue slid into her mouth, his fingers picking up deliciously where her dream lover had left off, she realized that, crazy thought it was, she didn't care whether the figure bringing her to a wild orgasmic frenzy was Seth the ghost or Jordan her archenemy. All that mattered was that he didn't stop what he was doing.
This is just too good, thought Tracy. Too good to be real.... Half-convinced it was still just a fantasy, she closed her eyes and surrendered to the sensation of a hard male body moving against hers in the darkness, a skillful, sensitive tongue roaming hungrily over the contours of her skin.
Just a few minutes earlier she'd been having the sexiest dream of her entire life. She had become Emily the beautiful squires daughter of olden times, romping between satin sheets with the gorgeous farmhand, Seth. Oh, it had been sensational, as fantasies go. But now she wanted -- needed -- something more real. And it looked like she was about to get it.....
But who with? Seth, a spooky figment of her imagination? Or Jordan, her boss: a man she was supposed to hate, but whose presence last night had sparked off unexpectedly horny lustings? Both possibilities seemed to be equally crazy.....
She waited, breathless, as his head moved purposefully downwards and reached her breasts. Tracy's pulse raced as she felt his lips brush her nipples through the flimsy fabric of her thin white shirt. He hesitated, as if he was waiting for some erotic command from her....
'Yes,' she whispered, enjoying her power. 'Yes.' Fiercely he grasped her shirt and ripped it open, too impatient to unfasten the buttons. Eagerly her hands groped in the blackness to feel for his clothes; she wanted to return the compliment, to rip them dramatically off him. But he was already naked, his athletic body ready for action in all the right places.
They slid down onto the cold stone floor and urgently Tracy drew him close to her. Outside, the storm was building to a climax. The lightening flashed again, and she saw his face at last. It was Jordan's.
She froze suddenly jolted back to reality. Of course it was Jordan, for heaven's sake! Had she honestly believed she was shagging a ghost? Wasn't this what she'd secretly wanted all along? Even in her dream, her mystery lover had turned out to be Jordan in the end, hadn't he?
Their movements grew faster, rapidly building up to a mutual explosion of pleasure, and as they finally hit the jackpot together he cried out, 'Emily!' Then, with a sigh, he collapsed in Tracy's arms. She lay still for a long time, staring into the darkness. He had called her Emily. He must have been dreaming too! The way he had padded silently into the room and approached her without a word....he'd been sleepwalking, and he's had the same erotic Seth and Emily dream as she had had. But unlike her, he hadn't woken up at the crucial moment; he'd stayed obliviously out of it right to the very climax. Which meant as far as he was concerned he hadn't been having it away with her at all. He's been shagging Emily.
Thoughtfully Tracy remembered what the girl on the video had said....it was the most amazing sex I've ever had. Almost as if we'd actually become those two ghostly lovers from the past.....
As she lay in Jordan's arms, she was surprised by her own strange emotions. She actually felt hurt. Why on earth should she care, anyway? This was her boss, Jordan! Maybe it was better like this. Maybe he wouldn't remember any of it. Maybe he'd just wake up, guess he'd been sleepwalking, and never know what had happened. That way, normal life could carry on. Tracy and Jordan: colleagues, enemies, but not lovers....but it felt so good being wrapped around him.....
Tracy only meant to doze off for a moment. But when she opened her eyes, it was light. Cautiously, she tried to wriggle from Jordan's grasp. But as soon as she moved, he woke up and looked at her, bewildered. 'Tracy!' he rubbed his eyes, then smiled uncertainly. 'Uhhh. So it wasn't a dream.'
'I guess not.' Shyly, Tracy reached for her shirt and wrapped it around her. It seemed ridiculous to be coy after what they'd just done, but this was different. Without the sexual spirits of Seth and Emily to take them over, they were nothing to each other, Were they?
'I can't believe that happened,' said Jordan softly. 'I was having this dream and....'
'Yeah same here.' Tracy tried to sound nonchalant. 'I guess I have to take back everything I said! This place really does play tricks on people....I mean, you and I would never have done this if we weren't under supernatural influences, right?'
'Yeah, right.' He looked at her, embarrassed. 'Look, Tracy....'
'It's OK.' Tracy raised her hand to stop him. 'We needn't ever mention this again. We both know why it happened....it didn't mean anything. From Monday morning we can just go back to hating each other's guts just like before, business as usual.'
'Right, sure.' Brusquely, he got up and went upstairs. She watched him disappear, feeling oddly vulnerable. A part of her wanted to stop him, to wind the conversation back a few seconds and check that he really had been about to make the 'this-has-been-a-horribel-mistake' speech. But that was ridiculous. What did she expect? Declarations of undying love from a man she's done nothing but shout at for months?
They'd been effective by the cottage's atmosphere, that was all. It hadn't been real. But it certainly felt real....she'd known exactly what she had been doing. She had a feeling she would have still got the raging horn for Jordan without the ghostly influence of Seth and Emily.
Gloomily, Tracy put on her torn shirt and walked out onto the lawn. Last night had been so incredibly passionate, unlike anything she'd experienced before. But if he'd thought she was Emily.....it didn't count, did it? Not for him, anyway.
The grass felt cool under her bare feet. She stood still for a moment, wondering what to do next. Then she saw a figure walking up the path: a blonde girl, and she was so uncannily familiar, that Tracy felt faintly uneasy. How come she recognized her?
Drawing near the girl smiled at her. 'Hi. You must be the journalist.' Politely the girl extended her hand. 'I'm Kerry. My gran owns this place.' Suddenly Tracy knew where she had seen her before. She was the girl on the video: the one who'd described the cottage's amazing sexual energy. 'So did you write a nice juicy story?' Kerry asked, laughing. 'Promise you won't give our secret away to your readers?'
'HUH?'
'We were so grateful to your paper for going along with all this,' she went on enthusiastically. 'Bookings have doubled since Gran and I made up the Seth and Emily story. When your editor offered to do this feature on it, we couldn't believe our luck.'
Tracy stared at her, suddenly feeling dense. 'You mean it's not real?'
'Your boss didn't tell you?' Tracy's jaw dropped. Jordan had know all along, he'd set me up and got his wicked way. Well, she wasn't going to give up now, she knew he fancied her. Life in the office was certainly never going to be the same again!
