| With Friends Like These ... |
| Murphy�s eyes flickered open. Something was odd. It took a second for her to wake up enough to remember where she was � and with whom.
Harry lay beside her, one long arm wrapped over her middle, one leg half on top of hers. He had her pinned down pretty effectively. Which was bad. Her bladder wanted a visit to the bathroom. She couldn�t see a clock, but she was pretty sure it was about six in the morning. That was when she always woke up. Sometimes that internal alarm was a lifesaver, but sometimes it was a real bitch � like today when she wanted to sleep in on a day off. She rolled away from Harry, trying to extricate herself without waking him up, and looked right into Bob�s icy blue eyes. The ghost was sitting on the bed beside them with a terribly mournful expression, which he hastened to hide when Murphy looked at him. Murphy muffled her gasp at seeing Bob where she hadn�t expected anyone. �Bob! You startled me!� she whispered as she relocated Harry�s clinging arm. �So sorry, my dear,� Bob answered, trying to mask the sadness in his voice. It didn�t work; Murphy frowned. She didn�t like seeing Bob upset. But first, her bladder needed attention. She could either climb over Harry, or go through Bob. �Um, could I �?� she pointed toward the bathroom. �Oh! Of course �� Bob vanished. Completely. // How typical of a guy. He wouldn�t consider, you know, TALKING about whatever was bothering him? // But as she crept quietly toward the bathroom, she had a feeling she knew. Bob had been watching them sleep, all cuddled together. Something he longed to do, but couldn�t. When she finished in the bathroom, she glanced at Harry, still sound asleep. Last night had certainly been a good time. She smiled as she remembered. But the vision of Bob�s sad eyes lingered in her mind. She was amazed at how quickly Bob had become such a good friend. The ghost was a charmer, and more than a bit of a ladies� man, but now, his heart belonged to Harry. They had something really special, and she knew that as much as she�d enjoyed last night, it wasn�t going to happen again. Not if it made Bob look so sad. She rummaged around the room for her clothes, pulled them on and crept quietly down the stairs. She stopped at the couch to put on her shoes and finish pulling herself together. But she couldn�t just leave. Bob�s skull was sitting in its customary place on the desk. She walked over to it, reaching out to gently touch the fragile bone. �Bob?� she whispered. �You in there?� After a moment�s hesitation, he appeared before her. Upstairs he�d been wearing what had looked like silk pajamas, but now he was back in his elegant suit. He frowned when he saw her dressed. �Connie? You�re leaving?� �I saw you watching us. Saw the pain in your eyes. You can�t be with him like that, can you?� With a sigh, Bob shook his head. When he didn�t say anything, Murphy pressed on. �I thought you�d still be with him?� That at least got a reply. �Harry�s conscious mind welcomes me, but his subconscious is another matter entirely. As soon as he falls asleep, I�m forced out.� Murphy was starting to see the whole picture. �You were watching us sleep. You don�t, do you? Sleep?� Bob managed a small smile. �I see why they made you a detective.� But Murphy knew he was using humor to cover the pain. �Do you always watch him?� �Ever since he was young.� The smile became wistful. �I would give anything to be able to hold him the way he was holding you �� The sadness was creeping back in. But Murphy suddenly had an idea. �Bob? What if you possessed me?� Bob stared at her. The idea had never occurred to him. He was beginning to think maybe his curse included blocking any ideas that might help him overcome it. �You would allow me?� Murphy smiled. �Of course I would.� Her response totally floored Bob. After a long pause, he finally responded. �Connie � I don�t know what to say �� He looked at her, helplessly. �Don�t say anything, Bob. Just do it.� What was a ghost to do when she said it so matter-of-factly? Bob dissolved his presence and flowed towards her � and glanced off. He tried a couple of times, but he simply couldn�t get close. Murphy felt as well as saw the black smoke coming at her, being deflected at the last moment. It was very strange to watch. And then Bob was back, standing in front of her, a frown firmly in place. �I can�t � oh bother! Your necklace, Connie. Take it off. I�ll never get in past Harry�s defenses!� �Oh!� Her hands quickly sought out the clasp and she removed the necklace, placing it on the desk beside Bob�s skull. �OK, try again.� Bob nodded and dissolved again. This time he felt himself slipping in, but something wasn�t quite right. It was like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole; there just wasn�t enough room. He tried, but there just wasn�t anything to hang on to. After several tries, he re-materialized in front of her. �What happened? I could sort of feel you �� Bob shook his head sadly. �I�m not really sure, my dear. It may be that you simply don�t trust me as completely as Harry does. Although I don�t think so. It didn�t feel like when his subconscious kicks me out at night �Perhaps because you�re not a wizard?� Murphy frowned. �You mean because you�re a wizard, you�ve got some psychic �extra� that a normal person doesn�t? So you don�t �fit?� But don�t ghosts posses normal people all the time?� �They do, but they�re most likely the ghosts of normal people. And I think you�ve got it, Connie. To me, it felt like I just didn�t fit �� He sighed. �Ah, well � it was a lovely idea, my dear. One I do truly wish had worked.� Now Murphy felt worse than ever, for having given Bob a false hope. Seeing it die in his eyes was painful to her. And not being able to reach out and hug him wasn�t helping. �I am sorry, Bob �� Bob could see the sadness in her dark eyes, something he hated being the cause of. So he pulled himself together and put on a charade of bravery. �No, my dear, no. It�s not your fault. It was a good idea, truly. I�ll survive. I just have even more incentive to decipher the Tsukata story.� Murphy saw right through the fa�ade, but let him maintain it. �If there�s anything I can do to help, you know I will. Research, leg work, anything. You deserve each other, Bob. More than anything, I want to see you both happy.� Her sincerity went straight to Bob�s heart. �Thank you, my dear � that means a lot.� She could see she was pushing the limits of his masculine mush quotient, so she decided to lighten it up a bit. �Just promise me one thing.� �What?� �When you do become human � I get one night with the real you. Then Harry can have you �happily forever after.� She grinned and waggled her eyebrows lasciviously. Bob laughed. �You have a deal!� Murphy grinned back at him, glad that she had been able to make him laugh. A good point for her exit. She picked up the necklace, her fingers deftly managing the clasp as she put it back on and shook her hair out. Finally, her eyes returned to Bob�s. �You�ll tell Harry �?� Bob nodded. She blew him a kiss then slipped on her jacket and headed out the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For an hour and a half, Bob sat on the bed watching Harry, thinking about everything that had happened. Shortly after Connie left, it occurred to him that he had managed to screw things up for Harry. He should have had the luxury of waking up next to a warm body. Would have, if Bob hadn�t been hovering, feeling sorry for himself. God, how he longed to be able to hold Harry properly, to love him fully. Kissing Connie last night had just made him more desperate to kiss Harry. He was pretty sure Harry had never experienced loving another man before; there were pleasures he knew nothing of as yet. �Bob? Why are you dressed?� Harry�s sleepy voice interrupted his thoughts. �Eh? Oh, good morning Harry.� Bob tried to keep his emotions out of his voice. Harry rubbed his face and sat up, frowning. Something was missing � Murphy! Gods, that hadn�t been a dream, had it? No, the memories were coming clearer now. The three of them had � wow! At least he�d thought it had been good. But maybe she hadn�t? �Bob? When did she leave?� Bob �got up� and stood looking out the window, hiding his face from Harry. �Around 6:30 �� His voice was subdued. Harry glanced around at the clock � 8AM. �She ok?� The white-blond head nodded. �She�s fine, Harry. She woke up to use the bathroom.� Harry grunted. Murphy was something of a morning person. So everybody couldn�t be perfect. But still, it didn�t feel right, her just leaving like that. Just didn�t seem like *her.* �Did she say anything?� Bob just stared out the window, trying to figure out how to explain. Behind him, he could hear Harry getting out of bed, pulling on a bathrobe against the morning chill. And then Harry was right behind him. �Bob?� he asked softly, aware that something was bothering his friend. �I � it�s my fault she�s not here, Harry,� Bob said softly, so quietly that Harry almost didn�t hear it. Harry was perplexed. �What do you mean?� Bob shook his head. �When she woke up � she saw me, watching you. I was feeling sorry for myself, Harry, sorry that I couldn�t hold you like that �� Harry sighed. Now it was starting to make sense. Murphy had a thing for Bob. And knowing that her presence was making him upset, she wouldn�t stick around. And Bob would feel guilty about that. Thing was, Murphy was a girl. Stuff like this was important to women. And Bob � Bob was � Bob. He�d feel guilty about this. But Harry � Harry was a guy. While it would have been nice to wake up next to a warm body, maybe even indulge a bit of morning wood, Murphy not being there wasn�t the end of the world to him. It wasn�t like she was the one he wanted to wake up next to for the rest of his life. Now if she�d been there, but *Bob* hadn�t � �Bob, hey, listen, it�s ok. No big deal. I mean, Murphy�s a *morning* person, for cryin� out loud. You can�t change them, Bob. Trust me, it�s not worth the effort.� He tried to keep it light. It worked, at least a little. Harry couldn�t see it, but he could hear the smile tugging at the corners of Bob�s mouth. �And you have so much experience?� �Yeah, well. You remember Beth? The aerobics instructor?� That got a snort. �Emaciated child. Hardly worth your efforts. And not an active brain cell in her head �� Harry chuckled. �Not to mention no caffeine, no sugar, wouldn�t eat anything that tasted good!� Bob turned, getting into it. �But you must admit, she had a lovely ass �� �Not that we were going to get any of it!� Bob raised an eyebrow. �What�s this *we* ? At the time, you wouldn�t even let me *watch!* �Did that stop you?� Harry challenged, knowing the answer. �Well, of course not!� Bob sounded slightly wounded. Harry just shook his head, laughing. �I think I more than made up for it last night, Bob.� Bob closed his eyes, remembering. �Oh, that you did, Harry �� His voice dipped dangerously low and sexy. Harry felt himself responding. �So come here already, you self-indulgent whiner �� His eyes sparkled with lust and affection. Bob gazed into them and was lost. He flowed into Harry and felt himself wrapped in those emotions. Harry caught his hand and brought it to his lips, kissing and licking the palm, the back, and finally each finger in turn was sucked into his mouth. The ghost moaned as he imagined that warm mouth wrapped around his cock. Connie had done a fine job last night to revive his memories, but that only made him want it all with Harry even more. // Oh, God, Harry! I want to make love to you so badly � to bury myself inside you � feel your heat wrapped around me � // Bob�s words gave Harry a mental image that hit him right in the groin. He�d never thought about being with another man like that before the past few weeks. Now it turned him on something powerful. Especially hearing Bob say it like that. He wanted it as badly as Bob did. // We�ll get there, Bob. I promise you. We�ll find a way. // Harry let go of Bob�s hand to reach down and grab their cock. Somehow, while they traded off hands, that always belonged to both of them. They both groaned as he began jerking off, simply lost in the sensation of ever-building pleasure. Harry brought them right up to the edge, then somehow forced himself to let go. Bob�s strangled cry at the unexpected interruption made him laugh. �Not yet, you horny old ghost!� Harry stood up; somewhere in there, he�d fallen back down onto his bed. With his dick bouncing along in front of him, he headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. The interruption allowed him to cool down just enough to prolong things. Once under the water, Bob took over, lathering up his hands and running them all over Harry�s beloved body. After covering every other inch, they finally found their true target. It didn�t take long for it to return to its former state of readiness, throbbing almost painfully as Bob�s slippery hands worked. One long finger reached back, behind his balls, probing, reminding Harry of the earlier image. He wanted it so badly that just that one finger toying at his ass set him off. He stood there gasping for a couple of minutes, sagging against the shower wall. He could feel Bob�s satiation and contentment as well as his own. He suspected that if he looked in the mirror, he�d see an idiot�s grin on his face. Damn, that was good! He could only imagine what it would someday be like if Bob was ever able to fuck him for real � But maybe there was something in between? �Hey Bob,� he asked when he�d gotten enough air into his lungs to speak. �How about we visit that sex shop this afternoon? I�ve got to drop off Angie Vandermark�s rings, there�s one not far from her address.� Bob emerged from Harry�s body and formed beside him. His face looked like an eager puppy. He knew what Harry had been feeling, and could guess what he wanted to buy. He wondered what this advanced society had come up with on that front? �I think that�s the best idea you�ve had all week!� Harry grinned. �Better than last night?� Bob made a face at him. �That was everybody�s idea EXCEPT yours, Harry!� Harry laughed. �Oh, all right. You were right on that one.� Bob looked pensive. �I hope so � I hope Connie still thinks so �� Harry sighed. �Bob. Give it a rest. She�s fine. Murphy said herself, she knew it wasn�t about happily ever after. We�ll be fine.� �Are you sure, Harry?� Bob wasn�t letting go quite that easily. �Of course I�m sure!� But somewhere in the back of Harry�s mind, the question lingered. // Am I? // continue to Chapter 8 Send me some Feedback Back to my Dresden Home page Back to the Jade Palace Home Disclaimer: I don't own them, just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
| Chapter 7 |