Open All Night

by Sahara Kelly

  Lou scrolled down to the bottom of the email and found the link. He thought for a moment, then scrolled back up. He wanted to finish her letter first. And who the hell had time to read a damn book anyway? It was probably one of those soppy romances, the ones that flooded his supermarket checkout counter with covers featuring improbably muscled men clasping women who mostly had long flowing hair and a bad case of gas. Or at least that’s what their expressions looked like.

  You won’t find heat like this in a porn flick, because the heat’s in your mind. And where the mind goes, the body follows. They sure do it for me. But enough about sexy novels, I’m probably boring you. I’ll let you know if the investigation comes up with anything useful on the address survey. Thanks for keeping me in the loop. BF.

  Hmm.

  Lou sat back and considered the email. She’d told him a lot more about herself than she probably realized. He’d hung around enough psych experts to read between the lines - Barbara didn’t have much of a social life.

  Well, duh. She was a cop. None of them did. But - and here was the kicker - she had a very well-developed sensual side to her that she was releasing into the world of romance novels. And if he could get her mind turned on, then the rest of her would be hot and wet and willing.

  And wouldn’t that be a night to remember.

  Once again he scrolled to the link she’d sent him, this time clicking through to the on-line publisher. There were novels galore, most of them featuring scantily clad covers of improbable people in improbable poses.

  But the one she’d picked? A simple remote control on a rumpled sheet.

  Shrugging, he made the arrangements to buy it and within moments was the proud possessor of his first on-line erotic romance novel. He didn’t recognize the author; in fact, the whole damn scene was alien to him. But he had nothing else planned for this evening, a six-pack of beer cooled in the fridge and his laptop was fully charged. Besides, the title appealed to him.

  Why the hell not?

  Shortly thereafter, Lou curled himself into a comfortable position, popped the cap off his beer and opened the file.

  For Research Purposes Only.

  An hour later, he was sweating. Fucking shit, if this was what women were reading to turn themselves on these days, he was missing out on some serious sex. His cock was aching, he couldn’t put the damn book down and he was fundamentally astonished at some of this stuff. What the hell had happened to romance while he wasn’t looking?

  Somebody’d turned up the heat and done a damn good job of it too. The characters were realistic and engrossing, their story ringing true as he read on. After one particularly spicy phone-sex scene, he had to stop and get himself another beer.

  For the first time in God knew how long, Lou was damn close to putting his hands on himself and jerking off. A vision of Barbara doing the same thing after reading books like this one nearly tipped him over the edge and he knew he didn’t dare finish the story. Not if he wanted to look himself in the eye without embarrassment in the morning.

  His head was full of Barbara and sex and crazy stuff like how he could make her eyes roll back in her head as her legs clamped behind his back and he thrust himself into her with a force to rival any hero in a novel.

  Damn her. She’d gotten under his skin in a big way with her acerbic attitude, her sharp wits and that wonderful body that she totally ignored. He wanted to remind her what it was for. He wanted to play with her like the dude in the novel, push her past her limits, make her come until she screamed for mercy - and for him.

  Disgusted with himself, Lou hit the shower. Cold streams of water didn’t do much to ease his brain but at least they took the ache out of his cock. He was damned if he was gonna jack off like some horny kid just because he’d read some romance crap. He was a cop. An experienced one, with a marriage and plenty of women notched on the sexual résumé which comprised his past.

  Porn didn’t get him this hard, so it followed that books certainly couldn’t, right? It was her. Barbara. It was all her fault.

  His cock jerked as her name crossed his mind. Shit. He wasn’t gonna get a lick of sleep with a stiffy.

  He might not be able to banish her from his brain but he could ease the tensions riddling his body. With a sigh, Lou reached for the soap and lathered his hand. He let that damn face of hers swim into his vision and grasped himself, beginning the strokes that would give him a measure of relief.

  Her mouth, soft and warm, sucking him. Her eyes as she stared at his cock. Her, on her knees in front of him doing wonderful things to him.

  Fuck. Within moments he spurted come into the stream of water, wishing it was Barbara Fremont instead. Her body, her mouth, her face, her breasts - any part of her would be just fine.

  It had been a long time since Lou had gotten all hot and bothered like this. A real long time. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not and was uncomfortable with the notion that at his age just the thought of a woman could send him reaching for his dick like a raw recruit.

  This is my weapon - this is my gun. This is for business - this is for fun.

  He grinned tiredly, remembering the catchphrase he’d heard many years ago in training camp. Slumping and limp, he let the water cascade over his shoulders. He was gonna take his gun to Detective Barbara Fremont. And shoot her so damned full of his personal high-caliber live ammunition she wouldn’t be able to walk for a week.

  Exactly how he was going to accomplish that mission wasn’t clear, since although she seemed to be ready to flirt, he had no idea how far she’d take it. He guessed it was up to him to find out.

  The thought made him smile as he finally fell asleep.

  Chapter Four

  “Package for you, Detective.”

  Barbara nodded her thanks as an officer passed her a thick manila envelope. It bore the return address of the State Office of Criminal Investigations and she knew immediately who it was from.

  The man who was plaguing her dreams with astounding intensity.

  The last few days had been spent exchanging increasingly heated emails, chuckling at his wicked sense of humor and finally recommending some more of her favorite eBooks by her favorite author.

  Apparently Lou had developed a taste for erotic romance.

  He had also upped the temperature on his personal comments, making her sweat a helluva lot more than the weather, which had turned sultry. She turned the envelope over in her hand curiously as she dropped stuff onto her desk. It was heavy, with something hard-edged inside.

  Probably more reports or information on the case, maybe. She slit it open and peeked into the end.

  Sheeiit. Amongst the paperwork and copies of files there were two small, thin packages, which Barbara immediately recognized as DVDs. And there was no way in hell she was going to remove them in the squad room.

  Casually sitting down and busying herself, her fingers itched to take a look at what he’d sent. She riffled through papers, opened and closed file folders and logged in to her desktop computer to check her email.

  All the while, the package sat inconspicuously next to her elbow and her coffee.

  Finally, she could stand it no more. With a surreptitious glance around to make sure nobody was within peeking distance, she eased two fingers inside the envelope and pulled out the DVDs a little way.

  And immediately dropped them right back in again.

  They were porn DVDs. She’d seen the graphic image of a naked blonde on her knees in front of a guy and promptly started to blush. These were not anything she was about to tip out onto her desk. That bastard.

  Barbara carefully removed the paperwork and shoved the envelope and its scorching cargo into her desk drawer. Thoughtfully, she locked it. Couldn’t be too careful with case-related material.

  Her brain snorted at her. Riiiight.

  There was a handwritten note on top of the printed papers. Promised I’d send these along. They’re hot. I enjoyed them, particularly the one with the blonde. But I think I’d enjoy the r
eal thing a helluva lot more…

  Barbara’s jaw locked as she fought the urge to privately agree.

  “Whatcha got there, Barb?”

  She looked up into the grinning face of Detective Matheson. “Evidence, Frank.”

  “Ahhh. Still doing the porno research?” His eyebrows waggled. “You need any help, you let me know, okay?”

  She sighed. “Go away. I don’t need any help.”

  “She sure doesn’t.”

  I know that voice.

  “Hey Inspector. Good to see you.” Frank nodded to the man standing behind her chair. “Well, like I said, you guys need an expert in this stuff - feel free to shout.” He grinned, unabashedly staring at the two of them.

  “Frank. Go away.” Barbara’s tone was icy.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Still chuckling, Frank strolled off, leaving Barbara uncomfortably aware of Lou. And the heat from his body that was burning a hole in her spine.

  “Mornin’, Detective.”

  She swung around in her chair and found herself, once again, face-to-crotch with his fly.

  I simply have to stop staring him in the cock.

  Dragging her eyes upwards, she fought for some measure of professionalism. “Good morning, Inspector Franconi. What brings you over here so early?”

  And stop fucking smiling at me like that. Involuntarily, Barbara crossed her legs against the tingle that went straight from the curve of his lips to her pussy. She couldn’t miss the sparks that lit his blue eyes and turned them wicked.

  “You do, Barbara.” He stepped to her side and rested his butt next to her. His really nice tight butt.

  Oh maaaaan.

  “I’ll take that to mean our case.” She yanked her mental panties back up and grabbed for the paperwork. “Has there been a break I missed?”

  Lou shook his head. “Nope. But Chuck sent a memo out yesterday - the premiere’s all set. Did you get a copy?”

  “Probably.” She riffled through papers, completely ignoring the fresh male scent that curled up into her nose, settled down and proceeded to play hell with her concentration. “Aha.” She grabbed a sheet. “Here it is.”

  Quickly she scanned it. “Good. It’s like he told us. The Venus theater, tonight - wow, that’s fast work.” She pursed her lips. “No point in waiting, I guess.” The rest of the memo dealt with the promo work the studio was providing.

  Lou tapped the paper with an idle finger. “They’ve put out the word pretty much every place we suggested, along with their normal PR locales. Local colleges got flyers, subscribers to assorted sites got emails, fan club lists and so on.” He chuckled. “I doubt there are too many people in this town who don’t know that Strange Lust is going to debut tonight.”

  “Helluva title…” Barbara finished reading the memo. “Starring Lacynda Luse?” She looked quizzically at Lou. “You’re kidding, right? Lay Cinda Loose?” Deliberately emphasizing the syllables, she gulped. “Who the hell comes up with this stuff?”

  “Don’t knock it. She’s a number one attraction.” Lou’s face was innocent. “As is her costar, Seymour Dickie.”

  “The fact that you can say that without laughing makes me seriously wonder about you.” She shook her head.

  “Good to hear. I like the thought of you wondering about me. Wonder about me anytime. Wander over me if you want…”

  *~~*~~*

  And just like that the air started to crackle between them, stiffening Lou’s cock and sending his balls scurrying to do their own preflight checklist. Tense and tingling, Lou gulped. And it wasn’t even lunchtime yet. He watched her hands as she put the paper down, noting with some satisfaction the slight tremor his words produced.

  Gotcha. She might be all business on the outside, but he had a strong suspicion that she wasn’t as impervious to him as she’d like him to believe when they were face to face. Her emails had told him she was amenable to some light erotic humor, but that was an impersonal mode of communication. Looking into her eyes was something else again.

  But first things first. “So. We’re gonna hit tonight’s show together and hopefully bust a perp. Sound good to you?”

  “Uh yeah. Sure.” She pushed her chair away from him, placing some distance between their bodies. “I’ll meet you there.”

  “Oh, not so fast, Detective. I’ve got one slight problem.”

  “Only one? You surprise me.” She shot a fierce look at him.

  He grinned. “I don’t have any place to stay.”

  “Then find one.” She snapped back the answer within milliseconds. “Plenty of motels around.”

  “Ah good, you’re both here.” The chief appeared next to the desk, shocking the hell out of Lou who’d been so damn fixated on Barbara he’d ignored the rest of the room.

  “You’ve been briefed, Barbara?”

  “Yes, sir. Got the paperwork about the premiere right here.” She pointed at her desk. “Inspector Franconi is about to find a motel for himself and then we’ll be all set for tonight.”

  The chief frowned. “Good lord, Barbara. Can’t he stay at your place? It’s only for a couple of nights. There isn’t that much damn money in petty cash these days and we’re paying for this.”

  She opened her mouth to argue, but the chief cut off her complaints. “Look, he’s paying for his own gas, using his own car and his presence here means a lot to the inter-agency bigwigs. Not to mention the guys who fund our budget. The least we can do is cover his expenses while he’s on this case with us.”

  “Okay, sure. I’ll book him a room on my credit card. No problem.” Her chin went up.

  The chief’s eyebrows went even further up. “I happen to know you’re renting Alice’s old place. And I also happen to know how big it is.”

  “Alice? Who’s Alice?” Lou felt a show of interest on his part was appropriate.

  “Our ex-secretary. Vulture of a woman. Terrified the crap out of me when I was on active duty. She had about a dozen cats, several stray relatives who sounded just like them and they all managed to live comfortably in that apartment.” He turned his steely gaze on Barbara. “You are adults and colleagues in this investigation. Act like it.”

  With that, he strode off.

  Barbara muttered something that sounded like “…interfering old busybody…”

  Pasting his most angelic expression across his features, Lou looked at her. “It certainly would be a help, you know. Sharing information - ideas - about the case…”

  “Yeah. Right.” She snorted. “Look, with any luck this whole thing will be wrapped up and finished tonight. You can be on your way home right afterwards.”

  Sure, baby. With your screams of satisfaction ringing in my ears. Lou knew damn well that if he ever got that far he sure as shit wasn’t gonna hop out of her bed and head off down the highway. He planned on being far too exhausted to move, let alone drive.

  He kept his thoughts tucked away. “I’m sure you’re right. So really all I need is a place to shower and change. I can leave my stuff there and pick it up on the way out. I really would appreciate it, Barbara. Motels are so - impersonal, not to mention insecure.”

  She lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “You get nervous in motels?”

  “Yep. Don’t you?”

  “No.”

  “Been to many lately, have you?”

  “No.” She sighed. “Okay. End of shift you come home with me, we’ll get pimped up and do the theater assignment. Then you can go home. Deal?”

  “Of course.” He stood. No way in hell, babe. “Now perhaps we should run over procedures for tonight. Are we going to have any backup?”

  Barbara blinked as he deftly brought the conversation back into official channels and Lou suppressed a grin. She’d been right there with him in the sexual heat, her pulse throbbing every bit as much as his. There’d been a slow burn going on in back of those hazel eyes, no matter how much she’d tried to conceal it.

  He could scent her body, warm and womanly with a fragrance unique to Barbara. She was w
ell built - besides the obvious - all curves and strength within a silken covering of skin that looked like cream. He’d never gone much for blondes, but her hair was a natural sheen of glimmering sunshine, darker strands blending with lighter ones and haloing her face as they escaped her pulled-back braid and framed her cheeks.

  She might pull the wool over the station’s eyes, but he wasn’t having any of it. Barbara Fremont was one extremely sensual woman buttoned into a life that was squelching those urges. He planned to do some liberating.

  She pushed back from her desk and walked over to a large bank of files, looking for something. He watched her ass sway in those snug jeans and wondered if he’d survive the liberation.

  *~~*~~*

  It was one of the longest days Barbara could remember and it pissed her off since she knew she was in for an even longer night ahead.

  Lou was a distraction she could ill afford when she had an assignment hovering over her since she liked to be focused and alert - something she was finding frickin’ difficult with him around.

  Finally, she called it quits. “Look, we’ve got a long night, how about we head out now, grab some downtime and then hit the premiere?”

  Lou nodded. “Good plan.” He glanced over at his backpack in the corner. “I brought clothes. You need to pick some up from supplies?”

  Barbara swallowed. She really hated having to go rummage through the station’s small selection of undercover wear, but knew there was nothing in her own personal closet that would come close to giving her the “look” she needed. The idea of slipping back into “Bambi-mode” was icky to the max anyway, and those clothes had long since been cleaned and returned to stock.

  “Yeah. I guess.”

  “Come on then. Let’s go shopping.” Lou turned for the door.

  “Hey. I can do that on my own, you know.”

  “I’m sure you can.” He grabbed his bag. “But I think tonight calls for something a little more sophisticated, don’t you? I don’t want to have to spend half the night explaining to people that I’m not your pimp and you’re not available.”