Seeing Is Believing (10 page)

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.

"Me, too."
She stroked his
cheek. "What about you?"

"I'm not worried about me. Watching you
come was the best Halloween treat I've ever received."

"It's not Halloween yet."

"You're right. I'll be back for a command
performance that night.
Promise."

Chapter Six

On Monday morning, Leslie's body still
tingled from the wonderful weekend. Reed had stayed at the house, determined to
"follow the rules." But that didn't stop him from making her peak several
times. The one time she'd tried to return the favor he'd pushed her hand away,
telling her it would open doors that were better left closed, for now.

On Sunday evening, as they lay watching
a movie, she turned to him, fastening her gaze on his eyes. "It's okay, you
know, that you're not staying, that you won't be back. I'm a big girl."

The look he'd given her had made her
insides quake with need. "Who says I won't be back?"

She'd laughed softly and shook her head
slowly. "It doesn't happen that way. You know how you have to see things to
believe them. Well, when it comes to men I'm the same way. I know that once you
leave, you won't be back. But I have great memories."

He'd responded by bringing her to orgasm
again, fastening his lips on her neck until she was sure he'd left a mark. "Now
you can see how much I want you," he'd whispered in her ear as she'd gently
come back down to earth, cradled in his arms. "I promise you, I'll be back."

Now, she looked into the mirror and then
pulled up the turtleneck she'd worn that day to hide his love bite. She was too
old to have a hickey. Still, it was concrete proof of his, and her, raging
hormones. But it wasn't proof he'd be back. Not by a long shot.

She fluffed her hair, then put it up
behind a bandana and headed toward the kitchen to do some baking. She paused at
the backroom as voices, belonging to Reed and Chester, drifted toward her. Her
sweet feelings about Reed turned to anger as she listened. Sure she probably
shouldn't be eavesdropping, but they shouldn't be keeping her out of the loop,
either.

Right now they were making plans to bust
Pat and Mark when they came into the store tonight to collect whatever came in
the boxes set to be delivered to the cafe that afternoon. It wasn't so much the
plan they were making that upset her. She wanted to see the two men busted.

What made her see red was their plan to
keep her "out of the way." After her fantastic weekend with Reed she thought he
trusted her more than this, more than to shut her out.

"So much for
busting them at Blade tomorrow."

Rage boiled up inside her as she thought
about them thinking they had the right to conduct their little sting operation
in her store without telling her about it first. She wasn't sure exactly what
she should do. There was a huge part of her that wanted to bust in on them
right now and slap them both. There was another part, however, that wanted to
walk in on them tonight and insert herself into the middle of things. But that
hadn't exactly worked out last time, had it?

Her butt had been sore for a day after
her doing what he told her not to. There had to be something she could do to
make sure she was here tonight. After all, this was her place of business, her
livelihood.

She decided to take the bull by the horns,
and tell them she could hear them. She pushed through the door and adopted her
best, "I'm mad and I'm not going to take any more of your crap stance," putting
her hands on her hands and standing with her legs slightly apart.

"Hello," Reed said with a grin. She
tried not to remember what those lips had tasted like, how those fingers had
skillfully brought her to orgasm again and again. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't you dare try to keep me out of
things.
"

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said, his
eyes twinkling in merriment.

"Then why are you trying to decide how
to keep me away from the store tonight?"

"I'm going to let you two
talk
, and I'll be back later." Chester left so fast Leslie
wondered if he was running some sort of race.

"Well?"

"I'm not going to be able to convince
you to stay home, am I?"

"Not by a long shot. Tell me what's
going on." His heavy sigh didn't do anything to soften her resolve. There was
no way she was leaving.

"We're not going to arrest them here,"
Reed said. "Turns out, as I said before, this is a small part of a huge
operation that the big guys have been investigating for quite some time. All
they want me to do tonight is watch. I'm going to set up a special video
camera, several of them actually, that will capture our friends taking things
from the boxes. After they've left, they'll be arrested."

He took a step closer to her and she
tried not to look into his beautiful eyes.

"When they walk out that door, my part
in the investigation is finished. I might have to give some testimony at times,
and you might too, but for the most part, I'm done."

Her stomach roiled at his words. She
wanted to be mad because he was pushing her out, but instead all she could
think about was how boring life would be without him around. He'd go back to
having fun in Dallas, and she'd stay here, in sleepy Dante's Peak, telling
people about the outlaws who used to roam the area. She'd be here missing Reed,
missing his lips, his hands,
his
touch.

"Stay home tonight, please." The genuine
concern in his voice almost made her agree to do as he asked.
Almost.

"No." She shook her head. "Try and pull
some stunt on me like you did last time and I'll raise quite a fuss, I
guarantee it."

"What if I tell you I'll spank you,
again?"

"Go ahead, see if I care. It will be
worth it." She sneered, and fought to keep the sneer from turning into a huge
grin. "You can't scare me with your caveman tactics."

"Caveman?"
He jerked his
head back in mock surprise. "Wow, that's amazing. Do you really think I'm a
caveman?"

"Yes, I do. Only a caveman would think
he had the right to spank a woman."

"Would a caveman be content to watch his
woman wiggle in passion over and over while his cock throbbed with need all
weekend?"

She smiled at him, the pitter-patter of
her heart turning into a thump-thump at his use of the words "his woman."
Then shook her head.
"Maybe not, but if think I'm staying
away tonight, you're nuts. So don't even try and stop me. I'm not leaving after
closing."

She stalked back to the front room,
hoping her posture would convince him of how serious she was. The afternoon was
busy, and as she waited on customers and chatted with
Tambi
,
she pushed tonight to the back of her mind.

When her delivery came on schedule she
signed for it, her fingers itching to tear into the boxes and see what was
inside. Reed stood nearby, standing guard.

"Open one," he said. "Pull a few
T-shirts out to make it look like you wanted to see how they were made, to make
sure the order was right. That will look realistic."

She did exactly that,
then
pushed her hands down among the soft material until she felt something hard.
Leslie looked up into his eyes and nodded and he gently pulled her hand away
before leaving a few shirts hanging over the lid and backing away.

"One more time," he said. "Please go
home."

"No. Threaten to spank me, I don't care.
But I'm not leaving."

"Fine, I will spank you. Later." He
stormed off, and Leslie could tell from the set of his shoulders that he was
angry. The idea didn't give her pleasure, but it didn't hurt her feelings,
either. This was her store, and there was no way a bust was going down without
her being there. When the cafe closed she shut the front door and locked it,
pulling down blinds like she normally did, turning on one light that would
illuminate the shelves.

When she went into the back room she
expected to find Reed setting up the cameras. She didn't see him in the main
room, though. She checked her office, the kitchen,
the
rafters and then, in desperation, she checked the alley. He was nowhere to be
seen.

Worry snaked through her as she stepped
back inside. With his plan to take video tonight, he should be here. She
stepped into the back room, wondering if she should call Chester and tell him
she couldn't find Reed.

Fear that something had happened to
him, that
Pat and Mark had shown up early and either taken
him as some sort of hostage, or worse yet, harmed him in some way, snaked
through her. She hurried to her office, in search of her cell phone. She'd just
made it to her desk when the door slammed shut behind her.

She turned, expecting to find the door
locked. Instead she found Reed, danger written all over his face.

"This is your last chance. Go home, or I
spank you, right now."

"Spank me, then.
Because
I'm not leaving."
When he advanced toward her she took a step backward.
"You wouldn't dare. They could be here at any minute."

"Bull. It's early. Last time they didn't
show up until after ten. You're just trying to get out of your spanking."

Leslie tried to sidestep him and open
the door but he grabbed her and maneuvered her until she was bent over the
desk. He slapped her ass and she yelped, frustration surging through her as he
started to spank her, harder and harder, his hand landing in almost the same
spot. The only consolation to her was the fact she was still wearing her
slacks, and he hadn't tried to take them off.

She refused to scream and yell or fight
him this time, instead holding as still as possible as he slapped her ass. She
wouldn't give him the satisfaction of fighting him back. The spanking had
barely started when his cell phone rang. Seconds later hers rang as well, and
then the store phone rang.

Reed let her go immediately, grabbing
his phone and pointing at her to answers hers. His curt, "What?" made her
laugh, but seconds later he slammed the phone shut and pulled her down under
her desk with him, pushing her in as far as she could go.

"What are you doing?"

"Hush, this is why you shouldn't be
here. That was Chester. They're turning into the alley now, and the police have
decided to bust them here, now."

"Now?"
She tried to
crawl out from under the desk, but the look on his face made her stop.

"Please stay put. Something has happened
to make the police change their plans, and if Pat and Mark know what's going
down, they're dangerous. They just want their drugs and they'll hurt anyone who
gets in their way. Please stay."

And then he grabbed her and kissed her,
his lips demanding, his tongue darting inside her mouth and claiming her. Her
heart raced as he broke the kiss, then stole another one before darting out the
door and she could hear him running up the stairs. She knew he would be turning
on the cameras, ready to catch the two crooks in the act. She wanted to follow
him, felt the need to follow him, but she knew he was right.

The best place for her right now was
where she was
at,
safely hidden away from what might
take place. Besides, she could sit here and savor the kisses he'd just given
her, the fantastic taste of him. They fueled memories of this weekend and she
wanted more.
Much more.
She prayed he'd made it up the
stairs without being seen. Muted noise filtered in from the back room: the
sound of a door opening, and footsteps. She figured it must be Pat and Mark.
She could hear muffled voices, and the rip of tape from a box. They weren't
being careful this
time, that
was for sure.