Drake

 

 

I run into a problem as soon as I slip inside the hospital. Someone has set up some kind of video shoot in some of the rooms—including the one that the diamonds are in. On top of that, some stupid-looking kid is hiding on the second floor directly below the room I want.

 

After nearly walking in on him, I'm stuck making my way up to the fourth floor room directly above the mental health section. There, I can listen in on the videographer—a perky-sounding girl—in peace. I quickly discover that I really have stumbled upon a film shoot of sorts.

 

I've stumbled upon a ghost hunter!

 

After a few hours of listening, I learn that her disgruntled little lout of an ex-boyfriend is the kid I ran into downstairs, and he’s trying to wreck her show for revenge. When she finally catches him and goes downstairs to confront him, I think that my chance has finally come to retrieve the jewels. The problem is the stupid boy lets himself get chased out in under a minute, and she comes back upstairs before I can retrieve my treasure.

 

Her strangled gasp of shock startles me. I look up to see a pair of enormous green eyes staring at me from behind the hard glare of a tactical flashlight. I can’t make out much of her while squinting against that penetrating light. I can only see her outline...which even under the circumstances catches my eye right away.

 

I have a split second to decide what to do: run for it and leave her wondering why I was in the room looking like I was going to search it from top to bottom, or try to charm her into forgetting that I shouldn’t be here. One more glance at those bottomless green eyes and I make my choice, holding up a hand. “Whoa!”

 

She stops dead, blinking in surprise. I reach up and remove the helmet, giving her the most disarming smile I can manage as I show my face. “Sorry! I was scouting the building and I saw a light.”

 

Three very telling things happen at once: her gaze sweeps over my face and then down over the rest of me; her guard relaxes halfway; and she rolls her eyes. “Oh holy crap, I thought you were Slender Man’s beefcake cousin or something. Who are you and what are you doing on my set?”

 

She lowers the light enough that I can see past it...and now it’s my turn to eat her up with my eyes in return. She is a cute, hot, curvy girl with a sweet face. Her lustrous auburn braid has me imagining what it would feel like in my fist, and that voluptuous body makes me want to hug her tight and fuck her at the same time.

 

“Your...set? Wow. Uh, sorry. Look, I’m Drake, and I was just scouting the building site for some of my urban-explorer buddies when I saw your lights and then heard voices. I didn’t mean to startle you, I swear.” I hold my empty hands out and keep my voice calm and reassuring.

 

She lets out a sigh. “Yeah, okay. Well, I’m Amanda, and I’m doing a ghost hunting segment here for my channel. Christ, take your helmet off next time, seriously. My heart almost stopped.”

 

She moves into the light of the work lamp and turns off her flashlight. “Urbex? I sometimes run into people who are into that while doing my shows.” She’s considering me. Her eyes skim over the contours of my body under the leather, more subtly than a man would, but bolder than expected.

 

I look at her and remember that I haven’t touched a woman in six long, ugly months. It’s like a wave of heat from an oven washing over me. My skin tingles and my cock starts pushing insistently against the leather.

 

What about seducing her? The delicious idea dances through my mind.

 

I’m pretty confident that I can get her into bed if I can gain her trust. Even in a dusty, creepy old place like this, I still have game for days. And fucking her til she falls into an exhausted sleep, then grabbing the pouch and circling back to her sounds like a much nicer way of spending the night than out on the road.

 

I lick my dry lips. “Yeah, I wanted to make sure the place was safe and a good venue before we come through with thousand dollar Go Pros and stuff.”

 

Shop talk. Something relatable. I have to get her trust as fast as possible, or she’s going to get real uncooperative—and I wouldn’t blame her.

 

The suspicion is slowly leaving her expression. “Well, I admit, this place would be great for an urban exploration series. We might even be able to cooperate a little if things work out.” She moves a little closer to me. “So what’s with the motorcycle helmet?”

 

“Well, I have a motorcycle helmet handy since I rode my bike over. It’s cheaper and easier to wear it in when scouting than to take it off and replace it with gear that does the same thing.” I give her a little ironic wink, and she actually laughs a bit.

 

“That’s fair enough, though in the dark it makes you look like an unusually hot Creepypasta villain.” She’s smiling at me again, and it warms more than my cock. She’s smart, creative, has one hell of an interesting hobby, and she’s that perfect mix of cute and hot that really disarms me.

 

I lift an eyebrow. “Unusually hot?”

 

Even in the dim light I can see her cheeks color as she glances away. “Well...yeah. Anyway, I just wasn’t expecting anyone else here tonight.” Then her expression goes speculative as she eyes me up. “Does the owner know you’re here?”

 

I let my gaze shift a little in mock awkwardness. “Uh...well...no. I don’t usually bother at the scouting stage.” At her disapproving look, I give her my most disarmingly sheepish one. Anything to make myself seem a little less like a big, threatening guy in a lot of leather who just accidentally scared her socks off. “Besides, I’m not sure who to talk to.”

 

The corner of her mouth tugs up. “I’ve got the owner’s contact information. You need to check in with him before you schedule any explorations here. Folks in Atlanta get pretty territorial about trespassing.”

 

“Crap. That bad, huh? I didn’t know.” I should find a way of stashing things locally that doesn’t involve trespassing onto any place with security. I look around, making sure to keep my eyes off the patch of floor where I hid the diamonds under loose tiles and a broken floorboard.

 

“Yeah. Also, if you don’t know this place, it is really easy to get lost. We had some urban explorer guys in here before us. One of them got lost in here for over a day.” She nods as she keeps eye contact, while I stare at her in genuine shock. “I’m quite serious.”

 

“Wait, what? Did the guy get drunk or something? How did he get lost for a whole day?” That actually surprises me, although chatting this woman up and calming her down is more important than what we’re talking about.

 

She is calming down, by cautious degrees. While I might be lying to her, her instinct to trust me isn’t wrong; I’m not here to harm her, and I won’t unless I absolutely have to. I might trick her or distract her a little, but only as much as it takes to get my hands on the jewels without her noticing.

 

“No, actually.” She smiles a little. “This place has stood for over a century, and has changed ownership almost a dozen times—with new additions and renovations made with almost every owner. Five stories, three sub basements, and many wings that don’t quite match up. It’s not quite the Winchester mystery house, but in some ways it’s even easier to get lost in here.”

 

“Wow. Damn. So going down in there alone is probably a bad idea.” I scratch the back of my neck, standing with one hip slightly lower than the other, very aware of her eyes on me. She seems to like what she’s seeing. Good. It will make things easier. “That kinda puts a monkey wrench in my night’s plans.”

 

She hesitates...and then that luminous smile lights her face again and she offers, “If you need a guide, I know this building like the back of my hand. I’ve gotten lost in it too many times not to.”

 

“Yeah?” That’s fairly impressive, though right now I’m more excited by the opportunity to get closer to her. Seducing her is just a means to an end—but what a delightful means. “That would be awesome. I know there’s no reliable floor plan available.”

 

“Nope. First time I came in here, my idiot ex and I got lost for half the damn night. Six hours. It was ridiculous. I’m just glad I found the way out.” Her smile flickers a moment.

 

“Me too. So,” I let my smile and tone get a touch flirty. “What’s a guy gotta do to get a guided tour of this place?”

 

“It’s simple,” she proposes. “You help me film the rest of my special, and I’ll show you some of the really weird stuff this building has going for it.”

 

“You know what, I’m fine with that. One condition, though.” My eyelids lower slightly and I let my smile go a bit flirty again.

 

“What’s that?” she asks, her voice a touch softer and her eyes intrigued.

 

“After we’re done, you let me take you for a drink.” My real desire, besides the diamonds, is to get straight to relieving this growing ache in my loins, but I’m still feeling her out. Seeing how into it she is.

 

But then she smiles, and I know I’ve got her hooked.