Spiritual Crisis

"You've been very sad, haven't you?" I asked. "You've been upset since the woman was here. Meghan is her name." I felt Emily nodding her head on my shoulder.

"I could feel it. The whole house felt . . . sad." There was no response from Emily.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I . . . I don't know what the right thing is to do. I feel a strong connection to you. It's not just sex. But . . . you're not . . . you're not of this world anymore."

Emily nodded. I thought I could feel wet tears on my shoulder, but it was only a fleeting feeling.

"I need a human relationship. I don't want to hurt you more, and I don't want to leave you, but I think I need something that you can't give me." Emily nodded. I could definitely feel tears on her cheek. "But I also feel dishonest if I continue having sex or having such an emotional connection with you while I have a relationship with a woman. I think it's like cheating if I hide it." Another nod. Emily clung tighter to my arm.

A whisper of a plan was forming in my head. I was almost afraid to bring it up for fear of upsetting her all over again, but I took a deep breath and endeavored to explain what I wanted to do. The details of the plan took shape and Emily listened as I spoke. When I finished laying everything out, she nodded. It seemed like a far-fetched idea, but it was worth a try and might give us both what we needed. I endeavored to get some rest as the hour ticked on past midnight. Emily's unseen head rested on my shoulder until I drifted off.

The next day, after work but before I went home, I called Meghan. She didn't answer. In fact, after one ring, it went to voicemail. She must have deliberately silenced the call.

I sent her a text asking her to please speak to me because I had something important to explain. She sent me back a one-word answer:

Fine, it said.

I tried to call her number again. I heard her answer, but the greeting was not very warm.

"What is it?" she said. Her voice sounded very impatient.

"Hey, I want to explain to you what happened the other night," I replied. There was an urgency in my tone. It was perhaps a little pleading.

"How the fuck could you explain that?"

"Listen, I'm sorry," I said. "That must have been scary and weird, but I think I know what happened and I want you to understand. I really like you, Meghan. I think you like what's been happening between us, too."

There was a pause. She didn't hang up and she didn't deny her feelings. I took that as small victory and I drove on.

"I think it would be easier to explain in person. Can you meet me for a beer? Tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow is Halloween," she answered hesitantly.

"Oh, I didn't realize," I said. "Do you have plans to go out or something?"

"No," she admitted. "But I like giving out treats and watching movies on Halloween."

"How about this," I suggested. "Let's meet after work for a drink and talk. If you don't like how it goes, you can go and be home without missing the things you like. If it goes well, then maybe we can spend Halloween evening together. Your tradition sounds fun."

After a long pause, Meghan agreed to meet. The plan was in motion, but now it was up to me to explain the unexplainable tomorrow.

Meghan was already waiting at a booth in the corner of the bar when I walked in. She had an untouched beer in front of her and she was holding her arms crossed over her body. I half expected to read anger or fear on her face, but when I walked over to greet her, she stood up and threw her arms around me.

"I've missed you," she sighed.

"I missed you too," I whispered. We sat next to each other in the booth. I ordered myself a pint and we huddled over our drinks and spoke quietly.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "I can't imagine what you are feeling, but I think I can explain. I hope I can."

"I'm listening."

I told her everything, starting from when I moved into the house. She listened without asking any questions. She glared when I described sleeping with Emily. I confessed everything, and also tried to explain the confusing feelings I had felt, the intoxicating influence, and the feelings of depression.

She sighed and shook her head in disbelief. "Jesus," she said, "what do you want me to say to all of that?"

"I don't know. It's unbelievable, I know."

"It's fucking crazy, is what it is. I should run out of here." She shook her head.

"Maybe. I wish you wouldn't, but why don't you?" She looked up from her half-empty glass.

"Because . . . I . . . I know what I felt in your room. There was something . . . someone there." She shivered. "If I hadn't felt that myself, I would probably already be running."

"Exactly. You have to see. I'm not crazy. This is real." Meghan sighed and closed her eyes again. She shook her head. I thought about the blind date I had brushed off after she told me she believed in ghosts.

"I want to believe you. The alternative is that that the guy I'm falling for is delusional and possibly dangerous." My pulse raced again. She had said she was falling for me.

"I promise you that I am not dangerous. I think this experience has been making me unwell, but I'm coming to grips with it." Meghan reached over and grasped my hand.

"I don't think you're dangerous," she whispered. "But what do we do now? How do we go forward?"

"Come back to the house with me. I can show you." Meghan pulled her hand away.

"I don't know about that. What about . . . her?"

"I talked to her. I told her about you . . . about how I feel about you. I want you to meet her. Please. Trust me."

Meghan's arms were folded close to her body again, and I saw a quiver in her lips, but she nodded.

"Okay. I trust you," she said softly. Despite her words, her expression betrayed her misgivings. "I want to believe you." I reached over and wrapped Meghan in a hug. She sat passively for a moment, but then returned the embrace with a sigh.

We walked silently to my house holding hands. Coming through the front door, I felt the familiar warm feeling. I wondered if Meghan felt it too. I led her up the stairs.

I laid down on the bed and invited Meghan to lay next to me. She hesitated for a moment, but then she shrugged and slid in next to me. She put her head on my shoulder.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Um, okay, I guess," said Meghan with a shrug.

"Are you nervous?"

Meghan let out the half a breath she had not realized she had been holding. "Yeah, I guess, a little nervous." She made a strained little laugh. I rubbed a reassuring hand over her near arm, and she snuggled up against me.

"How do you know when she is here?" asked Meghan.

"She'll usually touch me arm to let me know she's there. It can be a bit surprising, even if you are expecting it."

"How do you know she will want to meet me?"

"Because I asked her."

"You did?"

"Of course. It didn't feel right not to be open with both of you anymore. I should have been more open to begin with."

"What. . . um, what did you tell her about me?"

"I told her that I really cared about you. That I didn't want to lose you. That I wanted a relationship with you."

Meghan was contemplating all that implied. She opened her mouth to respond, but then she jumped in surprise.

"What was that?" she yelped as she clutched her arm to her chest.

"It's okay," I whispered. "Nothing's going to hurt you." Meghan was breathing deeply and there was fear in her eyes again.

"Oh, God," she said very loudly, "she's here. She must be." She was squirming toward me on the bed away from where the invisible touch had come from.

"You're okay," I assured her again. "It's just like I told you. She's just letting you know she's here. Try to relax."

"I know you told me," she said, "but I didn't really believe you." She was stammering. I rolled over to put my other hand reassuringly on her body.

"It's just like I told you," I said again. "She wants to meet you. Everything is going to be fine. If you close your eyes, you might see her in your mind's eye. I do."

Meghan tentatively shut her eyes. I heard her gasp. "I see her!" she said excitedly. "I see her! She's . . . she's a beautiful woman."

"She can hear you," I said. "You can tell her yourself."

Meghan inhaled sharply. "I'm sorry," she said to Emily, "I didn't mean to be rude. You . . . you're beautiful," she said.

"Oh," said Meghan, "she kissed my cheek." Meghan opened her eyes and looked at me. "Is she always naked when you see her in your head?"

"Well, yes," I admitted. "The vision of her gets disorienting if you try to keep your eyes closed too long," I explained. "Sometimes, I just keep my eyes open. Even if I can't see Emily, I still feel her there."

"Um, okay," said Meghan, a little hesitantly. Her chest was rising and falling heavily as she struggled to remain calm. I recalled how shocked I had been at the first unseen touches of Emily's hands on my body, and I could sympathize with what she must be feeling.

"Oh, uh, wow," said Meghan. She took a sharp breath and then a little moan escaped her. "Oh, she's . . . she's touching me again." I closed my eyes. I could see that Emily was laying in the bed next to Meghan. One of her hands was on Meghan's breast massaging it over her sweater and the other was under Meghan's skirt. Meghan started to pant with excitement.

I leaned over to kiss Meghan, and I delighted in the taste of her sweet lips. As our tongues entwined, I felt Meghan moaning more audibly with pleasure. I slid a hand up her skirt and began to pull her panties down.

"Oh, God," I heard Meghan whisper as I exposed her sex to Emily's invisible hand under her skirt. Meghan's chest was heaving with labored gasps and occasional sighs as Emily continued.

Meghan turned her head to look at me in the bed. "I've never been with a woman," she said, a little uncertainly. "I . . . I'm not gay. I'm not s-sure about this." Her last stutter was accompanied by a full body shudder in response to some touch by Emily.

"Do you want her to stop?" I asked. "You don't have to do anything you don't want."

She shook her head emphatically. "No, don't stop," she implored. I realized that Meghan had directed her response as Emily, not me. She was becoming more comfortable with the idea of speaking to woman that she couldn't see.

I reached for the waistband of her wool skirt. "Is it a good time to take this off?" I suggested. The plan was working, but I needed to keep the momentum going. Meghan lifted her hips and helped me to pull her skirt and her underwear off. Then she sat up and pulled her sweater and her blouse over her head. While she was sitting upright, I reached to unclasp her bra.

"Just try to relax," I said as she laid back on the bed and spread her legs for Emily.

Meghan smiled at me suspiciously. "You planned this didn't you? Both of you?" she said, although her voice seemed lighthearted rather than genuinely accusing. She was being carried away in the moment.

"Yes," I admitted with a chuckle.

"Mm, good plan," she said as she squirmed again.

"I thought so," I said with a wicked grin. Closing my eyes, I could see that Emily now had her face buried between Meghan's creamy thighs. I opened my eyes again. Meghan's chest was heaving and her every breath was a moan or a gasp. She wriggled on the bed.

The sight of Meghan's gorgeous naked body writhing with pleasure was turning me on. My jeans felt tight over my swelling cock. I sat up and quickly peeled off my t-shirt and then laid back on the bed to slide off my pants. Meghan giggled as she watched me shed my clothes. When I laid back next to her, she was still moaning because of what Emily was doing to her, but now she was looking at my hard cock with a hungry expression.

"Oh, I've been wanting you since the night that we were interrupted," she said to me huskily. I closed my eyes to see how Emily would react to this reference to her mischief. She looked up at us both with a wicked and unrepentant grin. "Don't stop Emily," commanded Meghan, "you're making up for it now." A renewed moan told me that Emily was back at work on Meghan's pussy.

I couldn't bear to keep my hands off of Meghan. I rolled toward her to kiss her lips while both hands roamed her smooth skin. Meghan moaned again in appreciation when I started to massage her nipples. Her panting was becoming more intense under the assault of four hands and two mouths. My cock was rock-hard now. I felt an almost painful need to be touched, but I would have to wait as Emily, and I devoted our attention to Meghan.

"Oh God, this is so good," Meghan murmured. Her breaths became rapid and urgent until a full-body shudder and a sharp cry betrayed that she had reached her climax. She moaned and balled her fists in the sheets as the waves of pleasure washed over her. Coming down from her peak, she caught her breath and then laid back on the bed and stretched her whole body. I was still on my side facing her, but I felt Emily pressing against my hip. I responded to her touch by rolling onto my back in the direction she pushed me.

Emily's lips slide over the tip of my cock and her tongue flicked deliciously around the head. I grunted with satisfaction as my desperate desire to be touched was gratified, but it seemed that Emily was eager for her own needs to be fulfilled. I felt her release my cock from her soft lips and move to straddle me. I drew a sharp breath as I felt her lowering her pussy onto my cock. The slick flesh of her sex gripped me tightly as she drove herself onto me. With one little bounce, she settled down on me with the full length of my cock buried inside her.

I closed my eyes for a moment and enjoyed the sight of her balanced on my hips fully penetrated. She luxuriated for a moment at the full feeling of having me in her and then she began to rock her hips to grind herself against me and move her pussy around my cock. The feeling of her tight pussy grinding on my cock was electrifying and I was already grunting from the pleasure.

I heard a small sigh from Meghan, and I turned my head to look at her. She was lying on her side looking me with a wicked grin on her face and an excited sparkle in her eye. As I watched her, she closed her eyes briefly to watch Emily riding me. Meghan's hand was buried between her own thighs, and I could see it moving in a steady rhythm. I could hear her breaths become heavy as her arousal was building up again. Each breath was punctuated by a small moan. The scent of Meghan's fruity hair product and the aroma of her sex drifted on the air. The bed creaked with each thrust of my hips as I moved my cock in Emily while she rode me.

"Is this . . . okay?" I asked. My words were halting and came between strained breaths.

"Mm, hm," she moaned. "It's okay. This is so hot. I understand now. I understand everything." She ran a hand through her own hair. "I can feel her spirit, it's just like you said. It's . . . it's enthralling."

"I'm glad you came back with me," I panted.

"Me too," she moaned. "Just make sure you save your strength. I want you next." I felt a jolt of energy in my groin as Meghan moaned again as if to make her point.

I made no answer beyond another grunt of pleasure. Emily changed from grinding against me to lifting her body up and bouncing on my cock. I heard Meghan giggle, and she scooted closer to us on the bed. She closed her eyes for a moment to see where to direct her free hand on Emily's body. I could feel that her hand was between Emily and I with her fingers rubbing on Emily's sex around my cock.

I realized that having a human partner in bed with Emily helped solve the problem of where to focus. With my attention split between both women, I was less disoriented and less likely to find myself grasping at empty air. Alone with Emily, I had felt physically gratified and connected to her, but still longing for a human relationship. This was better.

I felt a shiver in Emily's body, and she frantically pounded herself up and down on my cock. Meghan's fingers were furiously working between us. Finally, I felt Emily drive herself down again and hold me deeply in her pussy while she came. I felt her slowly pick herself off of me and roll onto the bed on the side of my body opposite Meghan. My cock was still hard and arcing up away from my body. It throbbed with my need to come soon. I had been almost ready when Emily finished but I had not gotten there.

I knew what I really wanted with every fiber of my being. I rolled over on top of Meghan with urgency. She gasped with excitement and surprise as I balanced between her legs. My cock was poised to enter her, and she was lifting her hips off the bed in her own desperation to have me inside her.

She gulped as the tip of my cock found her lips and I pushed into her with a determined thrust. As I looked into her eyes and drove deeper inside her, I knew that sex with a spirit could never be the same as this. An emptiness in my soul was being filled as surely as I filled Meghan's sex. I lowered my head to kiss Meghan and she closed her eyes and moaned as our lips joined. I started to move my cock inside her.

I was already so close to climaxing, and I knew it would be hard to hold it back for very long. I pumped slowly in and out of Meghan. Her eyes were sparks. With every motion of my cock in her body, she gasped. I felt like she was close to coming again, but I could already feel the tension in my groin building to the point of no return.

Meghan suddenly cried out and thrashed beneath me. I could feel that Emily had slid up next to us and was reaching her hands between us to massage Meghan's breasts. I felt her other hand rubbing at Meghan's pussy around the shaft of my cock. Meghan lifted her legs to wrap them around me and take me deeper still. With Emily's help, Meghan was on the way to her second peak.

"Ugh, that feels so great," Meghan whimpered. "Harder!"

I did as she obeyed. I started to thrust harder and faster, and our bodies slapped together with a steady beat. Meghan's moans reached a crescendo and I felt her shaking as my own orgasm erupted. My whole body pulsed with the throbs of pleasure, and I grunted as I pumped my seed inside her. Meghan and I both sighed as we slowed together. I held my cock deep inside her as the fire of our mutual climax faded.

As soon as we caught our breath, I kissed her softly and we stayed in that position for a long lingering moment. Finally, I rolled off of her and she snuggled up to my shoulder. Her hand rested on my chest. I felt Emily snuggle up to my other shoulder. Her invisible hand slid across me until it found Meghan's hand and the three of us rested on the bed.

It was still surprisingly early. After a time, from the direction of the darkening window, I heard some cheerful voices down on the street.

"Ooh, it's the first trick-or-treaters!" said Meghan sitting up suddenly. "We should get ready."

"I don't really have any candy here," I said, sitting up as well. "I forgot about it."

"Well," said Meghan, "you promised I wouldn't miss Halloween if I met you for a drink."

"Um, yes, I did."

"Just because things went well doesn't mean you don't have to keep your promise. You have a car, right?" Meghan said. She was already finding her clothes. I followed her example.

"I do," I confirmed, "but we could just take a walk to the corner store and grab some bags of treats. I'm sure they have something. You can stay here."

"Two problems. One, I have tons of candy at my place I have to get rid of. Otherwise, I'll eat it all myself. Two, I don't have my costume here."

"Costume? I thought you weren't going out?"

"No. It's for handing out candy. I always wear a costume. It's fun."

"Okay, so you want to go home?"

"Yup. You're driving."

"Sure," I said with a smile and a shrug. "Do I get to stay to watch movies or am I just taking you back?"