Open All Night

by Sahara Kelly

  She was indeed one hell of a detective and one hell of a woman. And tonight, Lou fully intended to have both.

  Given his previous assessment of her strong and dynamic character, he was somewhat surprised to hear a muffled scream from her room. Zipping up his leather pants, he rushed to her door and knocked. “Barbara - you okay in there?”

  “Aaaargh.”

  “I’m coming in…” He pushed the door open not knowing quite what to expect and reaching for his gun. What he saw held him transfixed on the threshold.

  Acres of sleek creamy skin faced him as Barbara’s back was damn near naked from neck to ass. Long legs, tops barely covered by the flimsy black silk, went on for miles and made Lou’s tongue dry up in his mouth.

  She was twisting and struggling with catches, clips and straps and muttering the most eclectic assortment of oaths he’d heard in a long time. One arm was trying to fasten things behind her back while the other held things up in front. As she fought for control of her dress Lou got a glimpse of the tiniest black thong.

  He choked and dragged his gaze from her shapely ass to her head. And her hair. Holy fucking…he’d heard horror stories about what women did to get those curls, but this? His hand slid away from the pistol tucked into the back of his pants.

  Sheesh…wrong weapon…

  *~~*~~*

  Barbara seethed.

  The dress couldn’t have been more than two ounces of silk and yet it seemed to require an advanced class in engineering to get the damn thing into place. How the fuck many buttons and catches were there, anyway??

  Just when she got one done up, another popped free and it was the third time she lost hold of one of the tiny straps that had made her shriek with fury.

  In her fit of temper, she’d forgotten she wasn’t alone.

  His knock on the door made her jump and she should have known he’d be inside before she could do more than mutter a few more curses at designers in general and her own ineptitude when it came to wearing their fancy pieces of nothing.

  She glanced over her shoulder to see his wide-eyed gaze staring at her head. Oh fucking shit. She still had her hot rollers in. This just got worse and worse.

  “What the hell are you staring at? Haven’t you ever seen a woman in rollers before?”

  “Uhh…”

  For once, Mr. Smoothie was lacking in the witty quip department. It was a small comfort to Barbara’s frazzled nerves. She frowned at him. “Well, don’t just stand there - help me, you idiot.”

  He swallowed. She could hear the gulp from where she stood. A little tiny voice sounded inside her head. He’s a goner, Barbara. She tried to ignore the thrill that chased itself up and down her spine as she considered the implications of a drooling Lou Franconi lusting for her naked back.

  Later, you stupid little voice. We’ve got a job to do. Go take a cold shower or something.

  As if listening to the same little voice, Lou let out a hefty sigh. “What do I do?”

  “How the hell should I know? Fasten tab A into slot B and knot loop C. If I knew what to do I’d have done it already.” Exasperated, Barbara shrugged the straps over her shoulders, holding her breasts with one arm and tugging behind her with the other. “You picked out this damn contraption. It’s only fair you get to figure it out.”

  She defiantly presented him with her back and the assorted bits and pieces of straps. Obediently he reached out and began untangling things.

  And touching her.

  Oh shit. His hands were warm as they brushed over her, softly caressing where they landed and stroked under the guise of fastening the dress. “You have the most incredible skin, Detective Fremont.” His voice was quiet. “Like the softest velvet. Like cream with a hint of strawberries.”

  He did things with his hands and Barbara felt the bodice of the dress go taut, supporting her breasts. She relaxed a little, wanting him to go on.

  “And I’m thinking with all that stuff on your head I might be able to tune in a cable channel or two if we get the wiring right…”

  She sucked in a breath. “You bastard.”

  “Me?” He was all amused innocence as he moved to her side. “I fixed it, didn’t I? You’re all fastened now, sweetheart. Any service I can render to the department is my pleasure. Even doing up evening dresses.” He bowed. “And may I say…” His gaze swept over her, “…that the department is looking extraordinarily magnificent this evening.”

  She snorted. “Damn crazy dress.” Glancing in the mirror she shuddered. “Lemme get the hair done and we’ll be ready.”

  “Take your time.” He sat down on her mussed bed and pushed a pair of pantyhose out of the way with more than casual interest. “Not wearing these?” He dangled them from one hand.

  “No. Put them down.” Barbara began tugging the offending rollers rapidly out of her hair.

  “Wise decision. I’ve never liked these things myself.”

  “Can’t find a pair that fit?” She grinned through coiled strands of hair, showing lots of teeth.

  “Hah, hah.” He dropped them on the quilt. “I like the thong better.”

  Barbara, who had thrown her head forward and was running her hands through her hair, froze. “What?”

  He chuckled, a rich sexy chuckle that gave her goose bumps. “Well, when I came in, your dress was…er…hanging a bit low at the back.”

  She straightened, tossing curls back loosely to fall over her shoulders. “You picked this thing out deliberately, didn’t you?”

  Angrily she spun around to face him and grabbed her high-heeled shoes, hopping on one foot as she slipped them on.

  His jaw dropped and flapped a couple of times but no sound came out.

  “Well?” She squared her shoulders and stared at him, giving him the full benefit of her magnificent cleavage, which was currently emphasized by the knowing hand of a very skilled couturier. “I hope it was worth all this effort, Inspector.”

  A glance in her mirror told her what Lou apparently couldn’t. Yeah. It was worth it. From the front, a low dip in the fabric revealed much of the curves of her breasts, the simple black silk shining against the creamy whiteness of her skin. Two tiny straps snaked over her shoulders to meet two others that crept from beneath her arms. They were joined by two more from the low-cut back of the dress to form a sort of spider’s web effect, secured by some magical device that apparently only State Investigators could figure out.

  “Damn.” Barbara lost herself for a moment. “This is one hellaciously fine dress, knockoff or not.” She turned this way and that, for once yielding to the seductive appeal of the finest fabric and the sexiest styling. “It even feels secure. Amazing.”

  Shit. If I’d known I could look like this… She adjusted her breasts slightly to maximize the shadowed valley between them.

  A tiny moan from the bed reminded her once more that she wasn’t alone. Lou was still staring, although he’d managed to shut his mouth. His hot blue eyes were everywhere, taking in the short, short skirt, the black spiked heels - the cleavage - the hair -

  “Hey.” She snapped her fingers under his nose. “Hey. Drool boy. We’ve got an assignment, remember?”

  Chapter Six

  Lou walked beside Barbara to the entrance of the Venus Theater torn between painfully savage lust for the woman next to him and the urge to grab the nearest blanket or overcoat and wrap it around her.

  He’d damn near heard his synapses frying in his brain as he’d looked at her, all cream and black silk and curves. She was every man’s dream, every man’s fantasy - in fact she could quite accurately be described as a golden goddess in that dress.

  All his literature courses snapped into place as he’d stared…if she’d appeared on the battlements of some ancient city looking like this, he’d have dashed out and launched a thousand ships too. Rusty tales of heroes doing improbable deeds all for the sake of a woman suddenly made a whole shitload more sense.

  He wanted everybody to see who he was with, but perversely he d
idn’t want anybody - especially other men - looking at her.

  He sighed.

  “You okay?” She glanced up at him.

  “Yes.” Voice rough and throat dry, Lou clenched his teeth and mustered the remains of his wits. “There should be tickets waiting for us at the box office.” He looked at the run-down foyer. “Such as it is.”

  The “theater” smell of stale popcorn and too many bodies assaulted his nostrils, replacing Barbara’s light and floral scent.

  They moved to the small cubicle where a tired-looking man gave them nothing more than a quick nod. Lou leaned over. “Bambi and Lou…Smith. Guests of BJ Studios.” With a cursory “enjoy the show”, tickets were shoved across the grubby counter and they were inside.

  The crowd was muttering, chatting, doing all the things that people do when enclosed in a darkened cavern and forced to listen to elevator-type music. Lou let his eyes get used to the murk and felt Barbara’s hand tighten on his arm.

  “Where? You see a good vantage point?” She was echoing his thoughts. Well - some of ‘em at any rate. Hopefully she had no idea of the rest of them and how she figured in them.

  “Excuse me…”

  A redhead appeared at Lou’s elbow, clad in a very small T-shirt bearing the logo of BJ Studios. It stopped several inches before her breasts did, and her tiny shorts were cut low enough to prove that not only did she have a piercing in her navel, but that she’d had a wax job that went further than her bikini line. “Are you Lou…and Bambi?”

  Lou nodded. “Yeah.” Aware that some sharp fingernails were getting even sharper as they clutched his forearm, Lou kept his answer brief.

  “I’m representing BJ Studios. Would you follow me, please?” She flashed an acre of teeth at Lou. “I’m Tammy.”

  “How nice.” Barbara’s answer was chill enough to make icicles appear on Tammy’s belly ring.

  Lou grinned. Don’t fight, girls. Unless I can watch.

  Wisely keeping that particular sentiment to himself, Lou led Barbara along the passageway behind Tammy’s swaying ass. They left the main part of the theater and mounted a short stairway to a door where Tammy paused.

  “This is the backup projection booth. Chuck felt you’d prefer the privacy.” She giggled. “There’s a comfy chair in there.”

  “Thank Chuck for me, will you?” Lou smiled.

  “You two have fun now. Enjoy the show.” Tammy wiggled back down the stairs leaving Lou and Barbara in front of the door.

  “Well, nothing ventured…” Lou pushed it open and led Barbara inside.

  Luxurious, it wasn’t. Dingy and a bit smelly, Lou found himself inside a nightmarish cubby of sorts, equipment covered with plastic on one side and shelving on the other. Two of the three projection openings had been blocked, leaving the center one to illuminate the room and poorly at that.

  Barbara immediately moved to check it out. “Hmm.” She leaned down for a better look.

  Lou damn near swallowed his tongue as the tops of her thighs gleamed dully at him, searing his eyeballs. Sheeit. He’d had tough assignments before, but this one would rank as the most challenging of his entire life.

  “All the comforts of home, I see.” He touched the large recliner that some helpful person had positioned in front of the opening.

  “I dunno what your place is like, but this isn’t my idea of comfort - let alone home.” Barbara’s sharp retort jerked his mind back to business. Almost.

  “How’s the view?” It’s pretty damn good from where I’m standing…

  “Not bad. There’s no balcony anymore and it looks like the boxes have been taken down. The whole place is set up for movies now. We can see just about every row. And there’s a whole lotta folks here tonight, too. Looks like the promo stuff Chuck talked about did the job.”

  Lou joined Barbara at the window to get his own perspective. “Yeah.”

  They could indeed see the entire theater below them in spite of the taller wall separating the last row from the access aisle. There was a center section bracketed by two smaller side sections, each six seats across.

  “Not a full house, but quite a few fans came out for this one, didn’t they?” Barbara moved over a little, giving Lou room to do his own surveillance.

  The house lights dimmed and the large curtains swept aside to announce the beginning of the evening’s program. “See anybody we need to watch?” She continued to scan the audience.

  Lou took a hard look at the crowd. “We can probably skip the couples who are already getting into the spirit of things…” He nodded at several people glued to each other’s faces. “They’re gonna be too busy groping each other to film anything. So I’m guessing a solo would be our best bet.”

  “Yeah.” Barbara moved again, brushing her shoulder against Lou’s shirt. Her body heat seared him and once again he found his mind wandering into places it shouldn’t. Not right now, anyway.

  “Look, why don’t one of us sit and the other watch? We can take turns that way…” Lou waved at the chair. “Otherwise we’re both gonna have stiff necks after an hour or so.”

  “‘Kay. You sit.” Barbara remained firmly where she was. “I want to get a good feel for who’s sitting where and who we need to keep an eye on.”

  I’d like to get a good feel too. Lou realized that sitting behind Barbara in her present position probably wasn’t the smartest idea he’d had all night. Once again he got an intimate view of the backs of her thighs and only by sheer force did he stop himself from bending over to look up her skirt - what there was of it.

  His leather pants bit into private places that were bulging more than they should be, he had already started to sweat and wondered if he’d ever survive this whole crazy night. It was about as bad as it could possibly get.

  Then the movie started. And it got worse.

  *~~*~~*

  Barbara pushed herself to focus on the audience and ignore Lou. It was fucking hard to do since his soft shirt clung to every inch of that fabulous chest and the pants - well hell. What woman wouldn’t love to take a bite out of a firm male ass wrapped snugly in black leather?

  He even smelled good, which was a blessing since this tiny cubby sure didn’t. She glanced over the audience once more, noting the many single attendees and the few still wearing hats. It was a mixed batch of people - many young guys, probably college kids, a smattering of couples out for a hot date, the expected shuffling pervs in overcoats and one or two respectable-looking people in halfway decent clothing. Probably from the studio.

  Several single women were trolling the aisles in a less-than-subtle fashion, but Barbara ignored them. They were looking for work, not filming the movie illegally.

  Her attention homed in on a couple of loners in the side section, but before she could point them out to Lou the screen lit up and she was confronted with a nicely lit and very detailed female breast. A male mouth was inches from it, tongue extending towards the hardened nipple.

  She blinked. Seen this size and this close, it was quite a shot. The title credits rolled across the image - Strange Lust. Barbara remembered reading a book of the same name and enjoying it immensely. She wondered if it was the same story. And if it was, how the hell they were going to deal with the midgets.

  Then Lou’s hand brushed her hip and her mind veered off track with enough force to leave skid marks inside her skull. “What?”

  “Move, honey. I can’t see.”

  “You’re not supposed to be watching the movie. It’s the audience we’re here to see not…” She glanced again at the screen.

  Oh fucking shit.

  Obviously believing that the audience needed to get right into the good stuff, the screen showed a splendidly naked woman reclining on a couch with her legs spread wide, getting a healthy dose of oral sex from a nicely bronzed male partner.

  The soundtrack, if there was one, didn’t include dialogue apparently, since this had all happened within about twenty seconds of the opening credits.

  “Aha.” Lou lea
ned over and found a button on the wall which, when pushed, activated the speakers in the room.

  Moans, whimpers and gasping little cries assaulted Barbara’s ears. She cleared her throat. “Do we need to hear this?”

  A soft chuckle answered her. “Look, honey, whoever’s filming, if in fact they’re here at all, is gonna have to stay through the whole thing. We might as well enjoy ourselves. Otherwise it’s going to be a helluva long night.”

  “I’m not here to review the damn film.”

  “Neither am I. Relax for God’s sake. You’re not going to spot him within the first five minutes.”

  He was right, damn him. Barbara took a breath and straightened her spine. “Okay. But there’s a couple of guys I’ve got my eye on.”

  Lou leaned forward, which brought his face too close to her hips for comfort. “Where?”

  “Left side section, one about three rows from the back, the other maybe a dozen rows from the front.”

  He was silent for a few moments. “Got ‘em. And you’re right. That one further down is sitting awful still for somebody watching a movie like this…”

  Barbara thought about that. “Good point.”

  “Wanna switch places for a minute?”

  “Sure.”

  “Wait. I’ve got a better idea.” Firm hands grasped her hips and she found herself pulled backwards onto a pair of hard leather thighs with another hard lump between them. “Uhhh…”

  “Sshh. This way you can see one side, I can see the other, and we can both see the film.”

  Barbara engaged in a lightning-fast mental argument with herself. This wasn’t professional by anybody’s stretch of the imagination.

  But Lou sure felt good beneath her legs. He smelled good, she knew he looked good and his reactions to her in this dress were a pretty good indication that there was some seriously strange private lust going on between the two of them.

  He seemed to sense her inner quandary. “Relax.”