Lydia had never really thought of Beetlejuice as anything more than a ghost. In fact, she had always just assumed he was of the same calibre as the Midlands. Though obviously with several hundreds of years worth of practice. Sure he was the self-confessed Ghost with the Most and yes he had proved that he possessed a considerable amount of power, time after time. But, Lydia had just assumed all his bragging, twisted tales and the odd, sporadic juicing every now and then. Just added up to his self-enforced reputation, as being the baddest cat in the afterlife.
Somehow she never really considered him to be on the same level as a person of flesh and blood. In that she never really considered him to be a solid entity. Being a ghost she naturally assumed that he couldn't take on a fully corporeal form. She knew, second hand from Adam and Barbara, that physically touching a human was a very different ball game to simply interacting with a static item.
Objects were easy, even the most inexperienced ghost would find it simple to animate said matter to suit their will. The Deetz's now infamous dinner party was one shining example of this particular rule in full force. The shrimp cocktails, the chairs and other furniture had taken on a life of their own. But, anything more than that and things took a more complex turn.
People were different, they were intricate and fragile. Just touching them in a way that they would physically feel. That was a refined skill all of its own. Usually, a person who was neither strange nor unusual would feel the touch of a ghost as being just a cold spot, or perhaps a particularly chilling breeze. Your garden variety human would generally be quick to blame this phenomenon on a draft or an open window.
It would take a ghost of certain expertise, to touch a living person and have it register with their senses just the same as if it had been done by another living, breathing, human. It was an art form in a way and it was a very difficult thing to achieve. Which, is why relations between the living and the dead were always at an all-time low. As far as the average living joe was concerned there was still no proof of life after death and quite honestly; that was the way most members of the afterlife would like to keep it.
Physical contact and as a natural extension, possession. It differed widely from person to person. The vapid, self-absorbed, sick, stressed and depressed; were often the easiest for a newbie to manage. Even so, manipulations of living subjects; even those lasting just a few minutes would be enough to drain an inexperienced ghost for a few months.
Lydia presumed from the few things she had picked up from the handbook. Along with what she gleaned from her conversations with the Maitlands, that this rule also applied to Beetlejuice. She had seen him easily drifting through the floors and walls, just like any other ghost could. She was well aware that he could possess people. She still remembered how he had summoned her across the room, with just a flourish of his wrist; all those years ago. It was almost as if he had reached a point of complete corporeality. Even though the guidebook said that it was impossible for the dead to achieve.
He shouldn't be able to touch her like this. Which, is why Lydia was both surprised and at the same time delighted when Beetlejuice deepened their kiss. Greedily devouring all the heat and contact he could take from her. She knew she should be shocked by his brazen contact. At the very least she should be seriously questioning how and why he could touch her like this and make it seem so damn effortless. After all, it went against everything she had read in the guidebook. Yet, it just felt so damned natural. All thoughts of investigating her previous line of inquiry had been quickly rendered moot, as she melted against his lips. Her mind was instead a den of hushed, fervent whispers that lazily drifted inside a pleasant haze of lust. Each voice suggested something more that she wanted from the ghost. More contact with his satisfyingly cool flesh, more of the slight nibble against her lip and most of all she wanted tongue. That last was more of a demand and it was something she was excited about. There had been the odd occasion where she had noticed Beetlejuice's forked tongue. It was serpentine and it looked as if it was prehensile in nature. However, that could also be one of his tricks. It would certainly be an easy way to freak someone out. Simply grab an insect with your tongue like you were any run-of-the-mill salamander enjoying an on-the-go snack. So she was eager to find out if the tongue in particular was real, or if it was a work of fiction and just another toy from his never-ending bag of tricks.
Beetlejuice nipped Lydia's bottom lip, finally catching it between his teeth. He had noted that she seemed to enjoy biting it and just generally worrying her lip. It was coy and yet incredibly sultry. It always seemed to say to him "Don't you want a taste?" It was teasing and now he was determined to tease her right back. He nipped her lip ever so slightly, putting just enough pressure against her lip that he knew she would grant him entry.
Lydia couldn't help but let out a small, approving moan against his lips. It was low, breathless and it just teased at how much she was enjoying the unusual situation.
Being ever the opportunist Beetlejuice took full advantage of Lydia in the only way he knew how. His skilled, forked tongue, slithered over hers. His senses were crazed, full of everything Lydia. Yet still, he wanted more and he would take all he could of her as he pillaged her mouth. She was even better than he had ever imagined. her flavour was similar to dark chocolate, sugared cherries there was a slight hint of coffee that he thoroughly enjoyed too. Yet it was her most unusual, delectable and fragile warmth that intrigued him the most. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It seeped under his skin and began to warm his core ever so slightly. It tingled its way teasingly across his senses and all he could do was demand more.
Lydia was something different, something special. He had known that the moment he had first laid eyes on her. It had been pretty obvious, even back then. But, this notion was cemented firmly in his mind as he stole another voracious kiss from her willing lips. She tasted incredible, untamed and wild. Like a spark of electricity furiously waiting for the storm to finish brewing, so it could unleash its full fury upon the world. She possessed the crackling intensity the air took on seconds before lightning struck and he couldn't wait to see that happen. No doubt it would be fucking glorious to watch.
He took in a deep lung full of air. It was the first time he had done so in many years, without the acrid burn of a cigarette immediately filling his already-deadened senses. He thoroughly enjoyed the delicate scent that greeted him. It was the scent of vanilla that hit him first. Before notes of warmed honey and caramel danced off her skin. There was a slightly musky smell to her, that enticed him even more as it reminded him of yellowing old books that had been lost and then rediscovered. Their pages stained from wear and bleached in places by sunlight. The scent that brought it all together was a faint undertone of smoke. It was like soft, dainty tendrils leading to the beautiful heat of the flames that burnt from her core. He pulled her in closer, mouth working against hers, fighting for more of the electric crackle from her ever-enticing flesh.
Lydia had lost herself in the kiss and she was surprised by the taste of his lips against hers. She had expected to find the sour notes of putrefaction and rot. But, instead, she was greeted with the nicotine bite of cigarette smoke. There were dregs of red wine and an earthy sweetness that reminded her of wild blackberries with a hint of minty toothpaste that lingered in the background. There was an aged something or other that lingered slightly on the tongue. It again had earthy undertones and there was a mysterious something, that she couldn't quite place. The only way she could describe it was like a green tang. It tasted of miscellaneous plant life, but thankfully it didn't taste like licking the drum of a lawnmower. Instead, it has a subtle musty flavour that she couldn't quite place. Considering the state his mouth had been in, before the bath and the thorough brush of his teeth. Lydia highly suspected that what she was tasting was some kind of moss. Yet it wasn't unpleasant and Lydia found herself enjoying the new taste and the alien sensation of his cold, forked tongue slithering against hers.
Yet as he held her close his tongue danced a seductive tango with hers. She found what little thoughts that broke their way through the lustful fog were consumed with all the different and delightful things to her with his forked tongue. Lydia found herself blushing at that particular line of thought. The blush was so strong that a deep scarlet bloomed across the very tips of her ears.
Almost as if he had heard her thoughts Beetlejuice's satisfying tongue retracted and he broke their kiss. Lydia couldn't help but let out a moan of disappointment at the sudden loss of contact and the delightful coolness of his skin. As she let out her protest her breath hung in the air between them. It looked like the entertaining puffs of steam on a winter's morning; before it melted into nothingness.
Beetlejuice chuckled darkly. He loved the sound that left Lydia's lips and he was hungry to evoke more irresistible noises from her. His arms wrapped their way around her waist. His fingertips just grazed the skin of her back as they had begun to make their way under her top. Normally Lydia would have been quick to slap his hands away but she hardly had time to notice as she was immediately distracted. The skin of her neck tingled as she felt lips begin to make their way down her neck. She couldn't help but shudder in pleasure and let out a low moan of ecstasy, as he pressed gentle, chaste kisses against her sensitive skin. Lydia relaxed into his arms feeling more content than she had ever been in her entire life.
A tiny part of her knew that she shouldn't let him of all people do this to her. It shouted that the mere thought of him kissing her neck like this should have appalled her, but it didn't. Something gave way inside her and she couldn't deny that everything he was doing felt so amazingly right. It was as if she had been waiting all her life for this moment. It was like she had spent years just treading water, trying not to get pulled under by the current. But inevitably it did and she did her best to hold her breath. All the while praying, that she could hang on long enough to resurface. She had been drowning for so long, that she hadn't even realised she was suffocating. But his lips gave her the oxygen she so desperately needed with his uncharacteristically tender kiss.
Beetlejuice continued to caress Lydia's neck, upping the sensation by sucking on her skin a little with every sordid kiss. He enjoyed the bruised flush that bloomed magnificently upon her pale flesh, as soon as his lips broke away from their latching point. He loved how warm and willing her body was. The flush of her skin was so intriguingly human and he couldn't help but wonder what else her flesh was capable of. His hands reached further up the back of Lydia's top but as soon as his fingers reached a little bit above her waistline she jumped as if he had given her a powerful electric shock.
Lydia's mind was hazy with lust. She wanted nothing more than to lose herself in the thick fog that had enveloped her brain. She wanted to linger in their kiss, taking every second and stretching it so that it would never end. She wanted to revel in his every touch and taste more of his uncharacteristically soft lips. She wanted to feel much more of the prickling burn his stubble left on the delicate skin on her throat as he left more brazen loved bites marking bruised milestones along her flesh. On the whole, she wanted to turn things up to eleven and really get the party started between the pair. The bite marks on her skin retained a delightful cold snap that seemed to emanate from Beej's ghostly form.
Lydia had to admit the chill from his lips was both thrilling and spectacular, it sent shivers of pleasure up and down her spine. She found herself already planning ahead to when his kisses would inevitably reach the valley of her cleavage. She decided she would be more than happy to let his hands wander there. As she was more than a little eager to explore his body in return. There was still so much she didn't know about him and she felt as if she could explore his skin, even just a little bit of it. She would somehow get a better grasp on who the ghost really was.
Her thoughts on more teasing exploration were quickly cut off and Lydia found herself frozen to the spot. As soon as she felt his frigid fingertips move even further up her top so that he could lightly caress her spine she was jolted back to reality. The moment he touched a certain spot she was filled with a burning pain almost as if she had just received a lash from a particularly cruel whip. It cut through the lustful fog like a hot knife through butter. Her gut feeling was to feel sick and afraid. She inhaled sharply as panic gripped her mind. "Don't let him touch you again" a voice in her head screamed and she had no choice but to obey. Her whole body changed in the blink of an eye. Going from its previous relaxed and blissful state to a rigid, anxious mess. Almost as if Rigor mortis had taken hold of her lithe form. Her posture changed too, going from a rag-doll-like, relaxed slump. To become more like that of an action figure fitted with an internal wire aperture for a spine.
Out of all the different places of her body, why did he have to touch her There? It was a jumble of fused, fucked up nerves and over-stretched skin. It still hurt and burned even with the lightest of touches. After so many years she was used to the pain and how it cut into her with every breath. It was a constant, sour reminder that she could never forget no matter how much she wanted to. Sometimes if she knew contact with that particular piece of skin was coming then she could try to brace herself for it. The bite of pain and the emotional fallout that always came along with it was still strong but it made it an iota easier. This time though she didn't see it coming and there was something about the man's natural temperature that made this slash of pain cut her even deeper than usual.
She wished that Beetlejuice had just moved his hands away from the area and just carried on kissing her neck; until the pain dissipated on its own. But, out of all the places of her body for his fingers to wonder. It was just her luck, that his hands had homed in on that particular pressure point. As soon as he had done so it was instantly sobering to her thoughts of desire. With that simple slip, it was like her head had been forcefully plunged back into the darkest part of the ocean. She was treading water once more. But, now she had tasted freedom, being back in the water made it seem so much darker and all-encompassing. The smouldering fire that had shone so brightly behind her eyes had been well and truly smothered. Instead, it was replaced by a look of fear and shame as she flinched instinctively away from his hand.
Beetlejuice was more than confused about what had just transpired. One minute Lydia was burning with need and lust for him. Her kisses and the little noises of pleasure drove him crazy. She had melted beneath him the moment their lips met. But, what he loved the most was the little kisses he had placed on her neck. They hovered teasingly just above her pulse point. He could easily hear how her heartbeat sped up with every teasing move. He was enjoying the chase. Especially as he could feel her skin shiver beneath his slightest touch. But the reaction hadn't been a one-way venture. He couldn't even pretend that it hadn't affected him. As she had filled him with a delicious warmth, that was uniquely hers. She was intoxicating, her whole body seemed to hum with such a brilliant energy he couldn't help but be enamoured with it. Especially when she had been giving him all the right signals.
But, then she applied the brakes out of nowhere. He couldn't think what he could have possibly done wrong to end their exhilarating session. The contrast to just a moment or two before was quite jarring.
The instant she rejected his touch he felt a very palpable sense of loss. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her again, to taste her cherry lips and feel the heat of her skin searing into his. Lydia was positively intoxicating and he couldn't help but crave more from her. But, her body language was clear. She had frozen in place becoming like a deer, trapped in the blinding beam of headlights. Unable to move or break out of their incandescent glow. In fact, she didn't just look scared, she looked positively terrified and his heart sank at the sight.
"Babes?" Beej asked softly, his voice calmer and more gentle than his normal guttural rumble. Concern laced his words as he went to reach out to touch her again. His hands were still around her waist and one lingered on the hem of her shirt, eager to continue exploring her delightfully warm flesh. But when Lydia flinched away from his touch he found himself lost in confusion and concern.
The rejection was obvious. He didn't need to be a mind reader to know what she was thinking. Not when her body language screamed Don't touch me so loudly it was practically deafening. So, reluctantly he complied and slipped his red-tipped hands firmly into the depths of his jacket pockets. The pair had been so close, skin touching skin and a sexual, static heat that had been spectacular. But now, the space between them might as well have been a chiasm.
"I'm fine, I'm fine just… just don't" she stuttered, inching away from his inquisitive touch. Inside she knew she should be over this by now. She should be ready to allow someone to touch her there. Yet it made her feel much more vulnerable than she was prepared to be with the ghost at the moment. She was ashamed of herself she was ashamed of her body. But, more than anything she was ashamed that the god damned patch of skin still held such power over her. She refused to look Beej in the eye, as she pulled her top back down. In the process, she lightly smacked his hands away from her skin.
Beetlejuice opened his mouth to press her further. Why was she so freaked out all of a sudden? He felt as if his head was going to start spinning if he didn't get any answers. Though his words died in his throat before he had a chance to say them as they were interrupted by the loud chimes of the doorbell.
Both living and dead jumped at the sudden shrill noise that echoed hollowly through the silent house. Like a storm in a teacup, the tension between them melted away and Lydia took this opportunity to escape. Though her back was still against the wall and she was boxed in, so she slid sideways, away from the ghost and his wandering hands until she was free to walk normally.