The Midnight Tour

He chucked. “Did I say that? Never mind. Screw the alarm.”

At the door, Warren slipped a key into the lock. Dana stood behind him. “I feel like a lookout for a heist,” she said.

“Anybody coming?”

In both directions, the sidewalks looked deserted. A few cars were parked along the curbs. A van that had already passed them was heading away, its tail lights glowing red.

“Coast is clear,” Dana reported.

“Ever been in jail?” Warren asked, and opened the door.

“No.”

Pausing at the threshold, he smiled back at her. “Always a first time.”

“Warren!”

Laughing, he hurried into the darkness.

Dana stepped inside, shut the door, and waited. Compared to the outside chill, the museum felt comfortable. And it smelled wonderful, air rich with pleasant scents from the candles and soaps in the gift area.

The neon CLOSED sign in the window gave everything nearby an eerie blue glow. It cast a dim shine along the top of the glass counter beside Dana, but it left most of the museum in darkness.

Off in the darkness, she heard footsteps.

“Got it,” Warren said.

“So we won’t be going to jail?”

“Hope not”

Dana made out a vague shape coming toward her. “That better be you,” she said.

The shape stopped in front of her and reached out. She felt a warm hand drift against the side of her face. “Maybe we should get away from the windows,” Warren said. “Might be a slight bit embarrassing if we got caught in here.”

“Maybe we’d better not be in here.”

“We aren’t breaking any laws. I have a key.” He took Dana by the hand and began leading her into the darkness. “I also have Janice’s permission to come and go whenever I want.”

“Do you really?”

“Yeah. Far as she’s concerned, I can do no wrong.”

“Do you think she’d approve of this?”

“Oh, yes. When she finds out...”

“You’re not going to tell her?”

'Well...”

“You can’t tell her we snuck in here in the middle of the night.”

“If you don’t want me to, I won’t.”

“I’d rather you didn’t. Do you tell her everything?”

“Pretty much.”

'Wonderful.”

“I can’t wait to tell her about you. She’s been...a tittle worried about me. Since the incident, you know? She’s been afraid I might...sort of cut myself off.”

They stopped walking.

They seemed to be somewhere near the back of the museum’s main room, near a corner. Looking toward the front, Dana glimpsed a few small mists of blue glow. Most of her view was blocked by tall shelving, shrouded by darkness. From where she stood, no windows were in sight.

She turned toward Warren, but could barely see him.

“So anyway,” he said, 'Janice’ll be awfully glad to find out that I’ve...uh...found someone I really care about.”

“You really care about me?” Dana whispered.

“More than... yeah. I sure do.”

“More than what?” she asked, her heart pounding faster.

“More than anyone. Ever.”

She wrapped her arms around him.

Sprawled on top of Warren, breathless and sweaty, Dana pushed herself up to a sitting position.

He stayed in her.

Raising both hands toward her face, she pressed a button to light the numbers of her wristwatch.

11:47

“What’s the bad news?” Warren asked.

“Quarter till twelve.”

He groaned.

“I’d better get dressed.”

He took hold of her thighs. “No, wait.”

“I promised Tuck.”

“I know. But...five more minutes?”

Smiling in the darkness, Dana hunkered down over him. She placed her hands on the carpet and eased from side to side. Her breasts swung, nipples brushing across Warrens chest. She felt him move inside her. Felt him grow.

'You want me to miss the tour, don’t you?” she asked.

“You don’t have to miss it. Five or ten more minutes...”

He pushed up slightly, sliding himself deeper.

Dana moaned 'You don’t make it easy.”

'Sorry.”

'Sure.”

'You’d better get going,” Warren said.

“Yeah. I’d better.”

She sank down on him, mashing herself against him, sucking his tongue into her mouth. His tongue slurped out as she pushed herself up. Gasping for air, she guided his hands to her breasts, then clutched him by the shoulders. “I think I can spare a minute or two,” she said.

By 11:55, they were both dressed and standing just inside the museum’s front door.

Dana gave Warren a quick hug and kiss. “I’ve got to run,” she said. “Maybe you’d better stay here, make sure we didn’t lose anything in the dark.”

“You didn’t lose your pistol, did you?”

She had felt the weight of the .380 in her pocket as she’d pulled up her shorts, had felt it bump against her thigh with each step she took on her way to the door. She could feel it now like a hand trying to tug down her shorts. “Still there, all right.”

“I hope you don’t need it.”

“If I do, should I save the last bullet for myself?”

'Don’t even joke about that.”

'I’ve gotta go.”

“I’ll come along.”

She shook her head. “No, really. You should stay here and clean the place up. We don’t want to leave a mess behind.”

'You’re probably right.”

“See you tomorrow?”

Warren nodded.