A Little Spooky (Small Town Lovers #7)

Luna 6

“Okay, so from what we can figure out from her diary, Carrie Ann isn’t a Stoker. She’s a Darling, and we only have one Darling in town, Henrietta Cruz. Her maiden name happens to be Darling,” I told Vince as we sat together in front of my laptop in my tiny apartment on Moon Street, the main street that ran down the center of Cricket. I’d taken over the lease from Connie Manners X about a year or so ago and thought I’d get sick of the place because it was so damn small. Instead, I loved it. It was centrally located, and I could walk to all my favorite restaurants and my favorite pie shop, Sweetie Pies. Then there was my favorite bar, Last Call, only a few steps away.

I didn’t think I’d ever move.

“How do you know that so fast?” Vince asked as he sipped the hot herbal tea I’d made for us. He was more of a coffee drinker, but all this research called for something to keep us calm, like peppermint and chamomile tea, which I stockpiled.

“It’s part of what I do for a living. It’s my job as a researcher. Of course, AI will probably replace me, but for now, I can still help almost anyone find what they’re looking for. I’m better than a detective and much faster than looking things up yourself.”

Vince knew I’d worked for a research company, Boyd Research, out of San Francisco, but when they laid me off during the pandemic, I started my own company, Luna R & D. I worked mostly for authors now, helping them with their books, or with marketers trying to find better ways to market a product. I made more money on my own than I ever did working for someone else. I just didn’t know how much longer I could do this with AI learning everything so fast. In the next couple of years, a person could have access to anything simply by asking the right questions.

“I always knew what you did for a living, but I never really saw it in action before. You found her maiden name in less time than it takes me to find a Vegan restaurant in a new city, and I’m good at sorting out restaurants.”

“That’s because I’ve been doing this for a while. Like since I was eighteen, when I wanted to know more about our town. Oh, and look, Henrietta was born in Sweet Whiskey, where her parents and grandparents lived. Her grandparents are Sven and Chantel. They came from Sweden at the turn of the century. Sven was a gold miner for a time, then he opened a store and sold mining equipment. Smart man.”

“What did you say the woman’s name was?” Vince asked, and my heart fluttered in my chest.

“Fucking Chantel Darling… the woman Carrie Ann thought was her real mother. Holy shit! We found her! This is amazing!”

“No, we didn’t find anyone. I’m merely here for mental support. You found her.” He rubbed my back like he always did when we sat next to each other, but this time, it felt more intimate. More sexy. Like this back rubbing might turn into something much more.

I tried to ignore his touch and focused on the mission. “I wonder if I can find any information on Chantel’s children?”

“Yeah, like was one abducted?” His back rubbing shifted to the back of my neck. Oh yeah, way more sexy.

I turned to him, smiling now, while still doing my best to ignore his touch. “Wow, Sherlock, who knew when we started down this road of de-ghosting your B&B, we’d be solving a crime?”

“Not to mention stacking more crimes on my family name.” He sounded as if he might be making light of it, but I knew he and his family wouldn’t like any more shit piled on the name Stoker. They already had a poisonous couple in their history. We were about to add kidnapping to their already sinister past.

“There is that.” I turned to him. “Are you sure you want to go public with this information? It could cause your family all sorts of problems. You could even lose Stoker House in the process.”

“I don’t think anything can be worse than murder, but maybe I’m wrong about that. The house never really belonged to Carrie Ann’s parents, anyway. The paperwork I have for it says it belonged to my double-great grandfather, and he rented it to Carrie Ann’s horrible parents or rather captors. I can’t wait to hear her real first name. I have a feeling once we know it, everything will change for her and me.”

“I hope so. And what about the smell of roses? Is that Carrie Ann or some other ghost? Then there’s that malevolent laugh we all heard last night. Who owns that? It can’t be Carrie Ann. The voice was too deep. Maybe Carmen, her abductor? Or even her horrible father. I couldn’t tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman, could you?”

Even talking about that laugh gave me chills, or were my chills caused by Vince, who now brushed my ears with his fingers.

“That was creepy as fuck,” Vince said. “I didn’t like it. Gave me a fucking panic attack. Made me want to burn the whole place down and plow over it. Like that voice belonged to pure evil.”

I turned to him and saw that his eyes had turned red and had watered. My heart broke for him on so many levels. He’d been working so hard to get the place restored, and now, not only did we have one ghost, but we had two, maybe three. And this latest one tried to burn me last night with the exploding fireplace.

Pure evil.

“Hey,” I said, running my hand down the back of his head after he’d stopped rubbing my neck. “It’s okay. We’re going to fix all of this. I promise.”

“Thanks,” he said, but I could tell he didn’t believe it, so… I kissed him.

He pulled away after a beat and said, “Luna, I’m vulnerable right now. You are too. This could lead to…”

“Sex?” I asked, grinning.

“Yeah. Are you sure you want that? I mean, Freddie told Bram and me what’s been going on between you two.”

“Did he tell you all the dirty details?”

He smirked and blushed like a teen boy. “I’m sure he left a few of the more intimate things out, but he did mention how receptive you were to him this morning in the kitchen.”

“When he fingered me?”

He suddenly brightened. “How you talk.”

“It’s no different than anything else I’ve ever said. I’ve always been candid about sex with you guys.”

I didn’t think anything about talking to them about sex. We’d discussed everything, including anal sex, which I happened to like on certain occasions, and they knew it. Not like I craved it or anything, but it could be hot when the time was ripe for it.

“Probably a little too candid. I’ve had my share of filthy fantasies about you after some of your more candid talks.”

“Oh yeah? Give me an example.”

I knew where this was going, and I secretly welcomed it.

“All right, when we were talking about eating pussy, and you gave details on how you like the guy to flick your clit with his tongue first.”

This time I blushed. “I never said that.”

“Oh yes, you did,” he told me as he took my hand and guided me off the chair, into my bedroom. “You also said that you like when the guy spreads your pussy lips open and watches as he finger fucks you for a while.”

“I’m blushing,” I told him, and I could not only feel the blush, but I knew I was getting soaked.

Once we got to the bedroom, neither of us hesitated in helping each other to get undressed, quickly, of course. Vince had one of those bodies women drooled over, all hard muscle with arms that could carry her for miles. Then there was his ass, high and round, and a cock that stood straight up, like it was more than ready to rock my world.

“You said you might even like it better if there were two guys taking turns eating you, while a third guy watched.”

“I never said that… at least I never said it out loud.”

I was no longer blushing... I’d transitioned into hot as hell.

“So, does it mean you want that?” he asked, appearing to only want to please me.

We were both naked now, taking in the delicious scenery.

“I’ve imagined it, but… okay… yes.”

I had a feeling my relationship with my best friends was in for some permanent adjustments. I could barely believe how bold I’d become. Was it me, or was there something about our encounters with Carrie Ann causing all this raw honesty?

I didn’t know, but either way, I loved it.

“Tell you what, you let me ravage your body this time, and I’ll see if I can make all your dreams come true with the guys.”

I nodded and couldn’t help the soft moans that escaped from deep within my throat while he cupped my breasts and ran kisses down my neck. I ran my hands over his amazing chest, feeling all the ripped muscles one by one.

He was positively beautiful.

I always knew his chest was magnificent. I’d seen him without a shirt many times, but this was totally different. This was pure, raw sex.

“You’d do that for me,” I asked, fluttering my eyes like a demure damsel in distress.

“Babe, I’d do more than that for you. Just like I’m going to eat your pussy right now. So, please get down on that bed and spread your legs for me so I can fulfill one of your dreams.”

“Anything you say, big guy.” I slid my fist around his cock for a moment, just to get a sense of his size. He let out a soft moan.

“Not now, babe. As much as I would like it, this is your time.”

I dutifully removed my hand, but damn, he felt rock hard.

Vince was big. Not bigger than Freddie, but close… real close.

I slowly lay back on my bed and spread my legs as wide as I could, then I rubbed myself and spread open my pussy lips for him.

“Is this better?” I asked.

“Better than what?” He smirked. It told me he couldn’t wait to jump right into the action. “Let me dip my cock in first, just to get this thing started.”

“Whatever you want,” I told him, meaning every word.

He gently entered me, while he spread his legs and knelt between mine. He held my hips up to meet his. His face showed how good I made him feel as he plunged deeper and deeper.

“Fuck, I’ve dreamt about this day, but I never, ever thought it would feel this good.”

“It feels right,” I told him as I played with my nipples and rubbed my full breasts. His black eyes danced back and forth on my body, like he didn’t want to miss anything.

“You’re so fucking hot.”

I knew how this might go. If he kept fucking me like that, I would come, or he would come before he put that adorable mouth of his between my legs. Now, I wanted that even more.

“Okay. Okay,” he suddenly said. “If I keep this up, I’ll never get to taste you, and that would be a shame. That’s the reason we started all of this in the first place.”

“Then get to it, Vince,” I said. “I want your tongue on my clit and inside me.”

He’d told me how he loved it when a woman used his name during sex. It made him feel powerful, like he had control of their world, even though he knew the woman had all the control. Nevertheless, he liked the illusion.

“Do you even know what a turn on you are?” His eyes were lazy with lust.

I grinned and nodded. “Oh yeah, baby, I do!”

He slid out of me and immediately ran his fingers between my legs. “You’re fucking soaked.”

Then he used his hands to spread me wide and check me out before he went down on me and sucked my clit between his teeth. Sunlight flooded the room, so there was no shyness to be had.

The sensation of Vince’s mouth between my legs sent a shockwave through me, and I tried to scoot away from him, but he locked both arms around my upped thighs and pulled me in tighter to his eager mouth. I heard him licking and sucking and felt his mouth burning into my sensitive flesh.

He was rough.

He was gentle.

He was fucking mind blowing.

And when he pressed my clit down with his tongue, then flicked it a few times, I knew I was close to a spectacular orgasm.

But he stopped.

Breathless, I asked, “Vince, what are you doing? Why’d you stop?”

“I don’t want you to come yet. I want to play with you a little longer. Let’s do a little edging first.”

“But—” I began as he talked over me, then slapped my pussy. Not hard but enough so that the sting of it caused my skin to burn. “What’s that for?”

“That’s so you know I’m not ready to stop yet, and you’re being bad… dirty bad.”

Then he used his fingers this time, spreading me open using three fingers, then two, then back to three. I could easily come if he kept this up for any length of time.

“Did I tell you how beautiful you are?” he said, as I once again came close. Once again, he stopped and gently blew on me this time.

“Holy shit! I don’t know how much longer I can take this. You have to let me come.”

He merely smiled and waited. I reached down to finish myself off, but he grabbed my wrist and pinned my arm down. “Nope. That’s not going to happen. I’ll be the one to make you come. You have to trust me.”

I stared at him for a moment, then relented.

When he started it again, he first licked my pussy almost dry. His tongue flat, as if he were a cat licking up milk. Then he started all over again, first sucking in my clit until it almost hurt, but then letting it go at just the right moment, not allowing me to come.

After a while, he drilled me first with his tongue, then with his fingers while he also sucked on my clit. This time, when I wanted to dive off the mountain, when I wanted to fly up to the stars and swing around the moon, he let me, guiding me through it, like this was my first orgasm… which in many ways, it was.

“That’s it. Just let go. Scream. Yell. Call me names but allow yourself to wallow in the moment. Take it in. Enjoy it.”

I came so hard and so deep, I swear I saw those stars and that moon as bright as ever behind my closed eyelids. He never let up until my last sigh. Until my hips stopped shaking and my teeth stopped rattling in my head. Until my toes uncurled, and my body floated down to the bed again.

I lay there breathless, as he gently ran his fingers over my entire body, exploring it, loving it while he waited for me to gather myself so he could fuck me.

And this time, when he thrust his big-ass cock inside me, I moaned so loud and said his name over and over again, until he exploded inside me so hard and with such force, I swore I felt his cum wash over my entire body, like some delicious balm that cleansed me of all my insignificant stresses. All that was left was pure love… a love I’d only ever felt for one other man before… Freddie. A love that had no beginning and no ending.

When I finally fell asleep in his arms, I thought how lucky I was to have this beautiful man and my other two best friends in my life. I knew that from now on, our lives would never be the same.