by Kimber Davis
The county had torn down the buildings in the worst shape. But, there was one long set of buildings still standing, even though they had all seen better days. Windows were boarded up, and large signs warned that the town was abandoned, and in disrepair. Visitors were told to stay outside the buildings, or to enter at their own risk.
Leslie had often wondered exactly why no one had bought the old buildings from the county, then tore down everything but the old saloon. Then they could build a hotel, and a general store and gas station to accommodate the many tourists who visits just to see where the old outlaws had roamed.
"Somebody could make a killing off this place," Reed said, parking the truck near the old saloon. "It would take work, and lots of cash, but it could be a gold mine."
"There weren't any gold mines around here, that I know of. Those were in Colorado, or Arizona," Leslie said, fighting a grin even though it was dark and he couldn't see it anyway.
"Very funny, Miss Smarty Pants." He turned to her and shook his head in mock disgust. "Shall we eat then explore, or the other way around?"
"You want to move around out here, in the dark?"
"Yeah. What's wrong, are you chicken?"
She sat up straighter, then huffed out a laugh. "No, I'm not chicken. But I've been here millions of times. There's nothing here to see except rotten buildings."
"And maybe the ghost of a gunslinger, or two." He studied her intently, then wiggled his eyebrows. "Bawk, bawk, bawk."
"No more chicken noises." Leslie reached for the door handle. "And if you fall down and go boom, I'm not kissing your boo-boo."
She opened the door, and in the illuminated light of the cab she saw the amusement in his eyes. "If you want to talk about kissing, we can stay in here. I like kissing."
"Let's go, buster." She exited the cab and shut the door soundly behind her, hoping he hadn't seen the smile that had lit up her face. Whatever happened tonight, she was sure she wasn't going to leave this ghost town without being kissed, and kissed very soundly.
She barely heard him as he came up next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close.
"Scared?"
"Doubtful." She pushed against his chest just for show, then relaxed a little, letting the warmth of his body seep into hers. "Did you bring a flashlight?"
He held up his hand and after a loud click, a bright beam appeared. "Heavy-duty."
"I love a man who comes prepared."
"Really? Cause I have a condom, too. Several of them as a matter of fact. Bought them this afternoon at the drug store."
"Not that type of prepared. I don't know you well enough for that." She huffed out another laugh. "And you're quite sure of yourself aren't you, bringing several of them along."
"I am indeed," he said, leaning closer. His breath warmed her cheek and made her nipples tighten. "Ask away, I'm willing to answer any question you put before me."
"Very well, why did you spank me?"
"You know the answer to that one. Next." He stepped in front of her, turning off the flashlight and setting it on the cab. Then he put his hands on her hips and pressed against her.
She could feel his obvious arousal pressing against her stomach and her insides clenched. "Don't. Please."
He pulled back a little, keeping his hands tight on her hips. "Do you really hate me for spanking you?"
"Yes. No. I mean, no I don't hate you. But you shouldn't have spanked me." She grinned at him, and, in the soft moonlight, could just make out the return grin he gave her. "I don't want to like you, because of the spankings. But I do like."
When he leaned over to kiss her she put her hands on his chest, pushing him back. "That doesn't change the fact that I live here, and you live in Dallas, and long distance relationships do not work. If I allowed myself to give in to temptation, I'd only end up getting hurt in the end."
"It doesn't have to be that way." He caressed her cheek, his touch light. "There's a definite attraction between the two of us."
"Yes, I agree. But I'm not ready to have sex with you. Not yet."
"Okay." He continued to stroke her cheek. "I know the ground rules now. Can I at least kiss you, and have you kiss me back?"
Another thrill shot through her and she nodded. "Yes."
Reed cupped her head between his hands, his thumbs stroking her lips gently before he leaned over and claimed her lips. The kiss was gentle and sweet. He pressed several small kisses around her lips, licking the corners of her mouth before wrapping her in his arms and claiming her lips in a demanding kiss.
This time, when he pressed his tongue against her lips she opened them, welcoming him inside, flicking her tongue against his as his hands caressed her back and sides. She clasped his shirt as they kissed, coming up for air several times before diving back together.
Leslie felt fireworks explode inside her, setting off little tinges of electricity that shot through her body, making her hard nipples tingle and her wet core shudder with need. If they didn't stop now she would go against her word and allow herself to be taken in the back of his pickup truck, something she'd never done before.
As if knowing exactly what she was thinking he released her slowly, keeping his hands on her shoulder in a gentle, possessive move that made her heart quake.
"I want you," she said, her voice almost a whisper. "But..."
"I know. I won't push it again until we get to your house."
They both laughed, and he stepped back. "Give me the grand tour."
Leslie's laughter increased. "I hate to tell you this, but this is it. This is the whole shebang, except for a metal building located not far from here. That's where they have parties sometimes, like the one they're having on Halloween."
"Where is it?" He suddenly turned all business, and Leslie let go of his shirt.
"Do you think that's where the guys will make the sale?"
Once again an unreadable look passed over his face. Leslie wondered if it was the darkness this time, that in the moonlight she just couldn't read him that well. But then she realized she'd read him just fine earlier. She put her hands on her hips and swallowed hard.
"What aren't you telling me?"
"Not a thing." He took a step closer and she ducked under his arm, coming up behind him. He turned and tried to grab her and she stepped out of his reach again.
"Baloney. You're up to something, and it's something you don't want me to know about. I can tell by the look on your face. What gives?"
"You're adorable when you get riled, you know that? Your eyes flash and your cheeks get a little redder."
Leslie shook her head. "You can't tell that in the dark. If you can't trust me enough to tell me what's going on, I'm not sure we have any chance of a relationship, long distance or not."
She could tell she'd hit a cord. He stayed right where he was, but even in the moonlight she could tell he was frowning. "A professional relationship and a personal relationship have nothing in common. It's always best to keep them separate, and you know it as well as I do."
His words made sense, but that didn't mean she liked it. She shook her head, then turned and walked toward the far end of the long bank of old buildings.
"Come on, the gathering hall is down here. They've already started setting it up for the party, setting out tables and chairs. They didn't want to put up streamers or set out pumpkins in case bored kids came down and helped themselves."
"Not a bad idea." He caught up to her and clasped her hand firmly in his, her hand feeling very much at home in his grasp. "Don't be angry with me."
"Why not?" She slowed her pace but didn't turn her gaze on him. "Think about it from my perspective, if you will. Two guys I know, and thought of as friendly acquaintances, use my store to receive their drug shipments. A man shows up out of the blue, a private investigator no less, and tells me about it and sure enough he's right. Then he wants to stick around, to see what else appears. Now, as the case is about to draw to a close, he wants to shut me out."
"What time? Where exactly? And how did you come by this information?" When he didn't answer she skidded to a stop and turned to him. "Let me guess, that's classified information and if you told me, you'd have to kill me."
"You have to trust me."
"Why, because it's for my own good?" She knew she sounded whiny but she didn't care. This whole situation was really pissing her off.
"Exactly."
"And here I was just starting to like you."
His laugh made her body tingle, again. "Bull, you've liked me for a while now. You just didn't want to admit it."
She pulled her hand from his and continued to the building hoping she didn't trip over a rock, glad that it was October, and most snakes would already be deep in their holes, trying to stay warm.
When she reached the building she pulled a set of keys from her pocket, glad when he held the flashlight up so she could see to put the key in the lock. She pushed the door open and stepped inside the cold building.
"There's a generator for the lights, but it's out back and I'd rather not turn them on. Suffice it to say the building is large enough to accommodate a party, and we've had quite a few of them out here. We make sure to have vans ready to transport people back to town, in case they've had a little too much to drink."
"Good plan."
She didn't answer him, and when he stepped up and put his hands on her waist, pulling her back into his chest she didn't fight him, or try to push him away.
"Please don't be mad at me. There's only so much I can tell you about things that have to do with the law enforcement part of it. Truthfully, I don't think they're telling me everything. Honestly."
She nodded, then turned to him. He put the flashlight under his chin flashed it on and off, the glow illuminating his face.
"Boo."
"Told you there were no ghosts."
"You're right, no ghosts. What you do have on your hands is a hungry private investigator. And if I can't have the main thing I'm hungry for, which is you, I'll settle for the fried chicken that's in the truck."
"Do you want to eat here, or do you want to go back into town?"
"Here. It's a little romantic, don't you think?"
"As long as we're not out in the cold then yeah, I think so."
Once they were back in the truck, Leslie unpacked the basket Nancy had fixed for them. There was fried chicken, cole slaw and biscuits. There was also a few wedges of pumpkin pie, which came from Leslie's own shop.
"She's feeding me my own food," she said with a laugh. "I bet she got a kick out of it."
They stated to eat their chicken, a comfortable silence broken only by chewing and swallowing. Finally, when she'd polished off a chicken breast and a thigh, Leslie put the bones into the bag Nancy had provided just for that purpose and sighed.
"I'm too full for pie. I don't know about you."
Reed's heavy sigh let her know he felt the same way. "We'll let it sit for a little while, then dig in for the sweet stuff. Unless..." He leaned toward her and made kissy noises.
"You want to kiss me, chicken breath and all?"
"I've got it too, remember?" He leaned closer and she gave him a soft peck on the lips, pulling back when he tried to deepen the kiss.
"I remember the rules," he said softly. "Just a little kissing, maybe some petting?"
"Shush."
"Okay, I can get the hint." He leaned back into his chair.
"No! Out there, look." She pointed to the corner of the old buildings, right in front of the party hut. A soft light glowed that hadn't been there before.
"Kids?" He leaned closer to the windshield and she did the same thing.
"We would have heard a car, you know it as well as I do. There's nobody out here but me and you."
"They could have gotten here before us, parked out back instead of out front. Maybe they were out there making out when we walked by and they were scared stiff we would catch them."
"Maybe." She squinted her eyes closer together, as if that might make her see something better. "Or maybe I was wrong. Maybe there is a ghost out here, and that's the light from it."
"Right." He drew the word out, and Leslie could hear the derision in his voice. "Hate to break it to you, sweetie, but I don't believe in ghosts."
The light started to move, creeping just a little ways away from the building before darting back. Both of them stared, not saying a word. Finally, Reed cleared his throat.
"Kids. They just saw the truck and ran back to the building."
"Well, if it's not ghosts, maybe it's aliens. We're not far from Roswell, you know."
"It's kids." He took the keys from the ignition and opened the door, grabbing his flashlight. "I'm going to investigate. Are you going with me, or are you staying here?"
"I'm going with you." She jumped down, shutting the door quietly behind her, almost laughing out loud when she realized Reed had done the same thing.
The met at the front of the truck and he grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. They moved as one, their feet in perfect step as they walked toward the newest building in town, were the light still shone, it's stillness almost creepy.
"Reed."
"Shush." He flicked the flashlight at the light, which disappeared quickly between the buildings. Reed dropped her hand and took off at a run.
Stay here!"
"No!" She took off after him, praying neither of them would trip. When he got to the corner of the building he disappeared, and when she got to the spot he'd been, he was gone. She could see the distant glow of his flashlight from behind the building, and she hurried to him, clasping his arm.
"Look." His voice was soft, and full of disbelief. She looked to where he pointed, where the light was now bouncing around in a copse of trees.
"Kids?"
"Too fast," he replied. "Whatever it was darted across that field like it was on fire. It bounded into the trees, and now it's darting back and forth, as if it's running from one thing to another."
"You don't think...?"
"No, I told you, I don't believe in ghosts," he said. "But that was weird, I'll give you that much."
*****
"I'm telling you, it was a ghost." Leslie set the picnic basket on her table. Tomorrow she would clean it up, wash out the containers and return everything to Nancy, thank her for the wonderful food. She turned to look at Reed, who now sat at the kitchen table, his legs stretched out before him.
"It was kids. They saw us coming, and they took off for the trees."
"You're the one who said it was too fast to be kids. Now you're changing your mind? Remember we didn't hear any car engines, any motorcycles, anything else they could have made a getaway on. Just admit that it was something you can't explain."
"I don't believe in things that can't be explained." He was fiddling with a napkin holder that was on the table, turning it round and round in his fingers, his eyes trained on it. Leslie could tell the dancing light bothered him, and that despite his words, he knew it was something supernatural, something that couldn't be explained away so easily.
She crossed the room and sat down on his lap, wrapping one arm around his neck. "Admit it, there's a chance it could be something you can't explain, something that not a lot of people see in their lifetime."
"Sorry, but I find that hard to believe." He gently worked his hand inside her sweater, stroking his fingers across the small of her back. Leslie shivered in delight, her nipples peaking under his touch. "Maybe it was something scientific."
"Like what?" She moaned softly as a finger snaked up her spine.
"I don't know, I'm not a scientist."
"Really?" She looked down at him. "What are you?"
"A man who likes concrete proof of things."
Leslie sucked in a huge breath of air as his free hand moved under the front of her blouse, his deft fingers clicking the back hook of her bra as he ge
ntly pulled on the front, releasing her breasts into his hands.
"Don't worry, I remember the rules. But I still want to make you come, watch your face, hold you close as you wiggle in pleasure." He'd captured a hard nipple as he spoke, rolling it around in his fingers, teasing it until, much to Leslie's amazement it grew harder, tingling with need.
"You're just trying to change the conversation because you know I'm right."
For an answer he stood quickly, then turned and laid her across the table. Her feet were still on the floor. When he lifted her shirt to reveal her breasts, then lowered his lips to capture a nipple she sighed, wrapping her fingers into his hair and pulling him close.
One of his hands worked the fastenings of her jeans as he suckled her, nibbling on her nipple as she wiggled under him.
When his hand dropped inside her waistband, dipping under her panties and cupping her mons she groaned, lifting up into his touch.
"Bedroom," she whispered as his fingers dipped inside her.
"No," he said softly. "I'd be too tempted there, and I intend to follow the rules. Having you half-clothed on the kitchen table works fine for me. You just relax and enjoy the ride."
Leslie closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of his hands in her wetness, stroking her folds, teasing her little bud just enough to send sensations of pure pleasure through her, but not enough to send her over the edge.
He fondled her gently, taking her up and down until her hips started moving quickly, seeking to keep her most sensitive area in contract with his wandering hands. When that happened he clasped her clit between two fingers and gently squeeze, moving it back and forth.
Leslie's hips shot off the table as her orgasm overtook her. It rolled through her body, sinking into her pours and making her feel as if she were soaring through the heavens above.
When it finally lessened she opened her eyes to find him gazing down at her, his fingers still probing her with gentle intensity.
"I like that," he said, his voice deep with need.