Read Online Chaste Kiss by Jo Barrett - Free Book Online

before him. As impossible as it seemed, his breeches had grown uncomfortably tight. Yearnings not experienced since he lived laid siege to his being.
    Isabel frowned. “Don't go yet. I've gotten so much rest I'm sure I won't be able to fall asleep for hours."
    He found it difficult to resist her pleas, but had to remove himself before he was lost forever. The need to touch her soft skin, to taste her sweet lips was far too great. Damn the old hag for leaving him his manly yearnings. No doubt, ‘twas what she intended.
    "Even a ghost wearies, mistress,” he said. “I have expended too much energy this e'en and must rest. Until the morrow.” He bowed and vanished.
    "Good night, William."
    Isabel felt like her date had just left her unceremoniously on the doorstep. Not all that unusual, it happened rather frequently before Chad. She shook her head at her choice of words.
    She'd referred to William as her date. Not good. Not good at all. He was a ghost, for pity's sake, not her lover. But her mind and body continued debating their different points of view. It was more than enough to give her a headache.
    Groaning, she walked into the bathroom and got ready for bed. Did ghosts really get tired? Perhaps he was just tired of being with her. Maybe he was bored like all her other dates.
    After performing her nightly routine, Isabel crawled beneath the sheets and put all her efforts into having an uneventful sleep. She didn't think she could handle any more dreams about William. She had to think of him as a friend and nothing more. Maybe she should've left their relationship alone.
    No, that wouldn't have worked. Eventually he'd have realized she was a grown woman and not a little girl lying in his bed.
    His bed . “Great, just the kind of thoughts you don't need,” she muttered, clamping her eyes closed.
    * * * *
    The next day dawned bright and sunny, pulling Isabel outside. She slowly walked the formal gardens, remembering her evening with William. She hadn't felt his presence when she woke up and started to get a little worried. If he'd hurt himself somehow because of her, she'd never forgive herself.
    Trying to push aside her anxious thoughts, she pictured her uncle and Constance at breakfast. She nearly laughed out loud at how they sneaked glances at one another, neither catching the other in the act. It wouldn't be much longer before they got together.
    Isabel sat on the stone bench in the garden and leaned back on her hands. Closing her eyes, she tilted her face to the sun and soaked up its warmth while inhaling the sweet fragrance of spring, all the while praying that her spectral friend was all right.
    "You look verily rested."
    She let out a heavy breath, at the sound of William's deep voice. Lifting her lids, she smiled broadly at the sight of him in his solid form. “I feel rested. And you?"
    "I am well. I ask that you accept my humble apologies for leaving you so abruptly last e'en."
    "That's okay. I understand. I didn't know ghosts could get tired. I guess I figured your energy, or whatever, was infinite."
    "Nay, not infinite. Would you care to walk with me, mistress?"
    "I'd love to,” she said, relieved he wanted to still spend time with her.
    It occurred to Isabel he had yet to call her little one or poppet since he appeared at the foot of her bed the night before. Their relationship had definitely changed. She only hoped it was for the better.
    "Hey, wait a minute.” She stopped abruptly on the path. “I thought you couldn't go far from the chamber bed, that the manor was your limit."
    "This is the farthest I have ever ventured. I saw you from the window and decided to test my boundaries. This is the first time I have been outside in years."
    "Well, let's not take too many chances. We'll stick to this level of the garden. I wouldn't want you tossed into oblivion all of a sudden."
    "Agreed. But the bed will warn me if I begin to venture too far."
    Silently, they strolled through the gardens, concealing