Her Ghostly Dom

Eight

Reginald

He lay awake next to his beautiful Katherine as she rested peacefully on his chest. He loved having her this close to him, where he could hold her tight and inhale her delicious scent.

He kissed her forehead and caressed his thumb over her arm, tracing small circles. He wished they could stay like this forever, but he knew better than to let himself hope for such things. He had his dreams dashed and heartbroken enough times to know how this story would end.

She lifted her head and looked at him before glancing at the time. He hated to see the sadness in her eyes. She knew as well as he did with each passing moment their fated bliss was quickly slipping away.

"Why didn't you wake me?" she asked.

The day was gone, and night had fallen again. After all, Father Time was relentless in his siege.

"You needed your rest, my love."

She kissed him sweetly.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her. "Can I fix you something to eat?"

She smiled. "Do ghosts cook?"

He returned her lovely smile with one of his own. She always asked him that same question. "I'm sure I could figure something out."

"Alright then."

He climbed out of bed and retrieved a robe for her to put on before slipping on one of his own. Then they headed hand in hand to the kitchen. He put on a pot of tea and fixed a plate of fried eggs and toast for them to enjoy.

As they sat down to eat, he decided he needed her closer and pulled her onto his lap.

"Reggie, what are you doing?" she giggled.

"I need you near me, Katherine."

With her this close, he wrapped an arm around her and placed a gentle kiss on the contour of her neck.

"You are too much," she said, but she stayed where she was, her softness and warmth flush against him, just as he liked her.

He lifted the fork to her mouth, and she took a delicate bite.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Certainly," he said as he continued to feed her.

"Why did you seem freaked out when I told you my safe word was violin?"

An overwhelming sadness filled him, but he did his best to keep a smile on his face. He kissed her neck and offered her another bite of food.

He took a deep breath and explained, "It happened the second year we were together. I made the mistake of getting ahead of myself. I was so excited to see you after a year of being apart. I didn't even realize you hadn't remembered me and all we shared. I thought you were playing a game when you pretended we were meeting for the first time, so I played along. After we... played our game and were resting in each other's arms, and you found out I was a ghost...."

She gasped. "Oh, no."

"Yes," he nodded. "Your safe word was 'violin' that year, too. I can still hear the screams as you kept yelling violin in my face, telling me to get away from you, calling me all sorts of names I undoubtedly deserved. The following year, I hesitated in searching for you. I figured you were better off forgetting my existence."

"What happened?"

"It was selfish of me, but I couldn't let the day pass and not at least try to see you again. I revealed my true nature before we were intimate. You reacted better at that. I told myself if it ever happened again, if I had ever caused you such distress, I would never bother you again."