The idea that the spirit is gone but the body remains is fascinating to me, especially if you believe the spirit will still be able to observe their remains. I come from a Catholic family and when someone dies or is near death, we come by to watch them pass and leave the body there for a couple hours or so to grieve and say goodbye (I never thought to time it). So I technically got to kiss a cold corpse and watch it be removed from the premises by paramedics. I find it as intimate to be by someone's remains even though they are "gone" rather than just be repulsed by it.

I wouldn't rape the body, just feel it and be close. It's the concept that they cannot get away from you, that they are there until you let them go that I like. I think sleeping with the body, not in a sexual way, is the most intimate thing you can do. Call me a sick sap, but I like to romance the corpse. No chance of rejection, just rotting away and being close through the whole thing. If you killed someone that you love, why leave when they are dead? You still love them. Who cares.

I wouldn't go killing people just to keep their corpses around my house for physical comfort or anything. So I keep it all as fantasy. In a sense I kind of agree with >>3525 that there is a purity in death (especially if it was young) that is attractive and worth loving.