Sweeter than Wine

By Margaret L. Carter

A phantom lover might be just what Marie needs. After a year and a half of widowhood, she’s ready to move on with her life. She’s also looking for ways to increase the profits of her struggling bed-and-breakfast.

Gordon MacBain, the lusty ghost of a Revolutionary War smuggler turned gentleman landowner, atones for his youthful transgressions by lavishing erotic pleasure on women who sleep in the room he haunts. But his interlude of passion with Marie surpasses all others, leaving them both yearning for more…

One problem — Gordon is trapped with his wife’s ghost in the room where she killed him.

• Language: Unknown
• Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
• Release date: Jul 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781509252152

Margaret L. Carter

Reading DRACULA at the age of twelve ignited Margaret L. Carter’s interest in a wide range of speculative fiction and inspired her to become a writer. Vampires, however, have always remained close to her heart. Her work on vampirism in literature includes four books and numerous articles. She holds a PhD in English from the University of California (Irvine), and her dissertation contained a chapter on DRACULA. In fiction, she has written horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance, as well as sword-and-sorcery fantasy in collaboration with her husband, a retired naval officer. Recent publications include AGAINST THE DARK DEVOURER (Lovecraftian dark paranormal romance) and spring-themed light contemporary fantasy BUNNY HUNT. Her short stories have appeared in various anthologies, including the “Darkover” and “Sword and Sorceress” series. She and her husband live in Maryland and have four children, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a St. Bernard, and two cats. Please visit Carter’s Crypt: http://www.margaretlcarter.com

Book preview

A masculine chuckle sounded in Marie's ear. At the same instant, a gust of wind ruffled her shoulder-length hair and blew her denim skirt up to her waist.

The knife in her hand slipped and nicked her left index finger. Blood dripped on the brick hearth at her feet. With a muttered curse, she sucked the wound. She’d either picked up a stray sound from outside or started hearing imaginary voices. And where had the wind come from? The half-open window let in the mild air of a late afternoon in September, but no breeze stirred the lightweight, ruffled curtains.

Shaking her head, she set aside the knife and fruit, then took the wineglass from the mantel in both hands. The cut on her finger smeared a drop of blood on the rim. Before she could raise the glass to her lips, something pinched her bottom.

With a yelp, she spun around. Nobody there. At the same instant, the goblet slipped from her hand.

Instead of hitting the floor, it hung suspended in midair.

Okay, no reason to freak out. This is a dream. I must have lain down and dozed off. She glanced at the canopied bed, half expecting to see herself asleep on top of the quilt.

She scented a vagrant aroma of pipe tobacco. Nay, Mistress, you are awake. The rich bass voice, tinged with humor, vibrated under her breastbone. The glass tilted, and the ruby wine began to drain into nothingness.

Sweeter than Wine

by

Margaret L. Carter

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Sweeter than Wine

COPYRIGHT © 2023 by Margaret L. Carter

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [e-mail]

Cover Art by Jennifer Greeff

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

PO Box 708

Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History

First Edition, 2023

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-5215-2

Previously Published by Ellora’s Cave

Published in the United States of America

Chapter One

A man of about forty with blue eyes, devilish brows, and a narrow moustache stared down from the portrait above the bedroom fireplace. He had wavy, dark hair growing almost to his collar and wore a ruffled shirt and forest-green waistcoat. So that’s Gordon MacBain, Marie Tate said. I’ve been wondering what he looked like. The piercing gaze of the painted eyes stirred a flutter just below her rib cage.

Yes, that’s our ghost. Mrs. Bertelli, owner of the bed-and-breakfast, gestured at the portrait. With a neatly trimmed cap of silver hair, she looked about ten years older than Marie’s own fifty-one. I hope you don’t mind sharing your room with a restless spirit.

Marie laughed. She hadn’t shared a bedroom with any man in the year and a half since her husband’s death. Might as well start with a phantom. Not at all. I came here especially to find out more about him. She owned MacBain’s original house in Colonial Williamsburg, also operated as a B&B. He’d rented it out when he’d moved to this one at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He reminds me more of a pirate than a respectable merchant.

Well, he did make most of his fortune as a smuggler during the Revolution.

Marie nodded. "And then