The Pond

In the bright moonlight, Kid became acutely aware of the barely covered legs on either side of his and the soft pliant form pressed up against his back. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of her pale white stockings and the garters holding the silky garments on her legs. Lou kept her arms tightly wrapped around his chest, as he picked up speed. As they moved closer to the moonlit pond, Lou could feel the sultry breeze pushing the hem of her gown further up her thighs. She swore she saw Kid catch a glimpse of her bare skin moments before prompting him to urge Katy to go faster.

Within minutes, the shadowy pond came into view. Kid slowed Katy to a trot until they reached the grove of cottonwood trees on the banks of the small pond. Sliding off his beloved paint mare's back, he quickly tied her reins to a branch before returning to Lou's side. From his place next to the mare, Kid placed his palm on Lou's exposed skin above her stockings. Placing a kiss above the ribbon, he reached his hands up to her waist and helped her glide down directly into his arms. "Ready for a swim?" he purred seductively in her ear.

"I'm ready to be out of this corset," Lou declared rather loudly with a squirm.

"So am I," he whispered back as his lips found their way to her bare shoulder. Kissing his way along the neckline of her gown, he brushed his fingers along the swell of her breasts as they strained against their satin prison. Oh how he wanted to release them and feel their softness against his palms! Remembering the placement of her gloves, Kid reached between the soft mounds and retrieved the hidden objects bringing him one step closer to the treasures he sought to claim. As he pulled the long white gloves from the crevice in her corset, Lou watched the moonlight reflect off the shiny fabric and caught the devilish gleam staring back at her from his blue eyes. Never taking his eyes off the woman before him, Kid carelessly flung the gloves over his shoulder. Lou reached deft fingers to his throat to undo the tiny buttons there. Taking a step back, Kid reached over his head and pulled the linen shirt from his torso, adding it to the discarded gloves. Feeling cooler already, he kicked off his shoes and reached for Lou.

"Better?" she asked him, allowing her eyes to peruse the broad chest less than a breath away from her. Her hand seemed to have a will of its own as it reached up to caress the sprinkling of hair there. Kid's face dipped down to watch her hand in its ministrations before turning his eyes back to her luminous brown eyes. Gazing intently into her eyes, he stilled her hand with his own, bringing it to his lips to bestow a kiss upon her knuckles. Turning her hand in his, his lips pressed another kiss to her palm before moving on to the delicate skin on the inside of her wrist. He could feel her pulse thrumming under the softness of his lips.

The soft kisses being placed along her arm were making Lou's knees weak. Her insides felt like they were turning to jelly as Kid proceeded to kiss every inch of her exposed skin in the hazy moonlight. Despite the muggy air, her skin pebbled with the sensation of his kisses. Her cheeks flushed and shivers ran down her spine as he nipped the curve of her neck. His hands glided over the fabric of her gown, occasionally reaching her neck as he paused to finger the soft curls at her hairline. Pulling him closer, Lou wrapped her slender arms around his waist, allowing her hands to roam over the expanse of his broad back. "Kid, help me out of this dress," she panted. "I can't breathe!" She pushed herself away from him and turned her back to him so he could release her from the confining garment.

Only happy to oblige, Kid began unbuttoning the tiny pearls that ran down her back, pressing soft kisses along the curve of her exposed neck with each one he unfastened. Upon reaching the bottom, he guided the silky sleeves off her shoulders allowing the garment to pool at her feet. Finally free of her gown, Lou looked over her shoulder to Kid so he could unlace the fine corset that was constricting her breathing. Very slowly, she could feel her bindings loosening as the laces were removed. Once the strings were out, Lou peeled the corset from her sore ribs and breasts and added it to the pile of discarded clothing on the banks of the pond. She watched as Kid hurried to Katy on the other side of the cottonwood to remove the quilt from her back. As he came back around, he was struck by the beauty before him. Clad only in her shift, stockings, and shoes, in the moonlight, Lou seemed to be glowing. The soft light illuminated each of her curves through the sheer shift barely covering her skin. Kneeling down beside her, he spread the quilt out over the pond's shore before extending a hand up to her in invitation. Taking his outstretched hand, Lou pushed him onto the ground and settled herself on his lap, her shift sliding slightly higher up her thighs in the process. He reached over to remove her slippers before allowing his hand to stroke the stockings covering her legs. As his hand moved higher, Lou looped an arm around Kid's neck and brought his face closer to her own. Her lids dipped lower as her mouth found his, her tongue running along the length of his lower lip demanding entrance. Slanting his head to the side, he plundered her mouth, thrusting his tongue against her own. Sliding his hands under the hem of her shift, he loosened first one and then the other ribbon garter holding her stockings up before reaching further under her shift. Kid pulled his head away from Lou's soft mouth as his palm encountered the bare skin of her hip and bottom. Kneading the round mound beneath his hand, Kid met her mirthful eyes with his own shocked ones. "You were dressed like this all night?" he whispered, incredulously.

"Mmm-hmmm," Lou softly murmured. "If you remember, I warned you about this before we got to the ball," she added saucily. Feeling his hand investigating her soft skin beneath her shift, she asked, "I take it you approve?"

"What do you think?" he mumbled, kissing the curve of her shoulder again. Finding his way up to her ear, he gently sucked the lobe into his mouth eliciting a throaty moan.

"So I guess I should keep this for after we're married," she breathed as she felt his tongue flick her lobe.

Moving his mouth along the dangerously low neckline of her shift, Kid peppered her porcelain skin with kisses while pulling the neckline lower still. "Mmmmm," was the only reply as the sultry air met her breasts before Kid closed his mouth around a pink nipple. As he sucked and teased her with his tongue, Lou felt his other hand stroke the sensitive skin along the inside of her thigh. She felt a gnawing hunger in her lower abdomen in anticipation as her body filled with need. As he moved his attention to her other breast, his fingers dipped into the damp curls at her core. Tentative at first, he grew bolder in his exploration of her womanly folds. His fingers found her cleft slick with her desire as he sought the tiny nub at the top and began to rub small circles over it.

As Kid teased her with his hand, Lou felt herself falling more apart under his attention. Her skin tingled in excitement as her core trembled in anticipation. She wanted more and he was more than willing to oblige. "Kid," she whispered breathlessly as he dipped first one finger then two into her core. "Please," she begged, tugging at the waistband of his pants. Lifting herself up, Lou moved one leg so she could now straddle his lap. Reaching between them, she found the buttons that would release his manhood. Her hand soon found what she sought as his member sprung free.

As she wrapped her small hand around his engorged shaft, Kid warned, "Lou, wait." At her frustrated grunt, he slipped a finger inside her, distracting her from her quest. He stroked his fingers in and then out of her sheath as Lou threw her head back in pleasure. Kid rolled her engorged nub between his fingers one last time before he moved her hips over his and drove himself up and inside her. She felt a pleasant shudder engulf her as he filled her core.

Pausing to allow her a moment to adjust to his intrusion, Kid reached his hands beneath her diaphanous shift along her bare back, pulling her closer to him. Her breasts clung to his chest as she took his face in her hands and kissed him deeply. Very slowly, she felt him start to withdraw from her. Lou clenched her inner muscles in protest as he slid himself out of her before thrusting back in. With each thrust, she ground her hips into his, taking him deeper into her soul.

As she tightened her muscles around his shaft, Kid felt himself moving closer to his release. Rolling her over onto the quilt, he pressed himself deeper inside her, feeling her envelope him to the hilt. Propping himself up on one elbow, he thrust inside her again, stroking his hand along the outside of her thigh from her knee to her hip. As he withdrew again, Kid's fingers found her engorged nub and began massaging it with each thrust.

Closing her eyes in ecstasy, Lou felt her core begin to tighten around the welcome intrusion. "Kid," she moaned as he brought her to even greater heights. Hearing the need in her voice, he quickened his pace trying to bring her over the edge before he was forced to withdraw from her. With one more thrust, Lou threw her head back in ecstasy as her muscles spasmed around him in release. Completely forgetting his earlier promise to himself to not finish within her welcoming body, Kid continued moving inside her, his seed exploded within her as if she was drawing it from him. Pulling her closer to him, Kid plunged inside her one final time before he stilled his movements.

They lay breathlessly entwined in each other's arms, a layer of slick sweat between their spent bodies. Kid continued to press soft kisses along Lou's smooth neck before kissing her fully on the mouth. Moving to roll off her, Kid felt his progress stopped as Lou tightened her arms around him. "Not yet, Kid. Stay with me," she pleaded.

Kid propped himself up on his elbows, stroking her hair off her brow with his fingers. "You're so beautiful, Lou. I love you so much," he endeared, looking deep into her chocolate orbs.

"I love you, too, Kid. With all my heart, I'm yours forever," Lou softly declared.

"Forever sounds good," Kid agreed, kissing her forehead. He could feel himself softening inside her but was hesitant to leave her arms just yet. Lou slid her still stockinged feet down Kid's legs before resting them on the ground on either side of him. "Are you sure you're ready for forever?" he asked tentatively, still slightly afraid of her answer, despite their earlier conversations where she told him she was.

Locking her brown eyes onto his blue gaze, Lou replied, "Yeah." Satisfied with her answer, he leaned down to kiss her one last time before pushing himself off of her. Rolling to her side, he gathered her into his arms and noticed the state of her remaining clothing. Still clad in her stockings with her shift pooling around her waist, Lou had never looked more desirable nor so well loved. Lou rolled over to press her back against his chest on the old quilt, snuggling closer to his warmth. A chill had crept over her body in the last few minutes despite the heat of the night air. She was missing his nearness and the flush that crept over her body as he loved her was ebbing in the afterglow. Her body gave off an involuntary shiver leading Kid to pull her closer, bringing his arm around to gently rub her shoulder.

"Kid?" Lou asked tentatively, hearing his soft breath near her ear.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think it's like this for everyone?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"When we're together like this, I feel like there's no one else around. Like the rest of the world doesn't exist."

"I feel the same way. I don't want this to ever change. I want you with me forever. Just you. No one else," Kid replied.

Lou eyed him curiously over her shoulder, a wry smile spreading over her features, before commenting, "You know, if we keep doing this, it might not be just us for very long."

"And you think I would mind that? You have to know I want all of that with you," he whispered softly, pressing his forehead against her hair. "I guess we haven't exactly been too careful since Fort Kearney, have we. Not like we used to, anyway."

Lou shook her head, closed her eyes and snuggled closer to the man next to her. "Honestly, I don't think I care if it happens. In fact, I think I would actually welcome it. I can't think of anyone else I would want to spend the rest of my life with," she confessed. Turning over, she pressed her lips to his one more time before announcing, "I thought we were going swimming tonight, Kid?"

Before he could react, she jumped off the quilt, letting her shift slide to the ground. Lou stood over Kid's now semi-prone body, placed her stockinged foot on his chest and asked, "Wanna take them off for me?" Sitting up completely, Kid slid his hands up the sides of her leg, gently grasped the edge of the silk stocking and drew the gossamer garment down her shapely leg. Once the first one lay in his lap, he was presented with her second leg. Placing a kiss at the top of her stocking, Kid gently peeled it from her leg. As soon as she was free, Lou ran to the water's edge and jumped in. Realizing he was being left behind, Kid quickly removed his remaining clothes and followed in her path.

Once in the pond, Kid swam around in search of Lou. She had moved through the water when she heard him moving around on shore, allowing herself the luxury of seeing him before he found her. Quietly treading water on the opposite side of the pond, she watched as his naked body disappeared under the water. His head briefly appeared above the water's surface as he looked around to determine his location before it dipped below again and disappeared from her view. Lou continued to tread water when she felt something brush past her leg. Nearly jumping out of her skin at the fleeting contact, Lou screamed when she felt two hands grab her waist. Her thoughts of escape were thwarted by a laughing Kid who quickly pulled her against him and kissed her.

"You scared me!" Lou scolded.

"You were trying to hide from me," Kid scolded back, his voice laced with an edge of humor.

"Now why would I do that?" she asked, slipping out of his grasp and swimming away. She looked over the pond's surface, searching for his head without success.

"You got me," he said, appearing behind her this time. Relaxing back into his embrace, Lou allowed the water to lap over her shoulders, cooling them both in the hot night air. Kid held her tightly against him as they floated through the water.

"Do we have to go back tonight?" Lou asked softly.

"Well, we should. You know the boys are probably imagining all sorts of things to explain our absence tonight."

"They're worse than those ladies in town. Bunch of meddling gossips," Lou muttered.

"Probably," he agreed with her. "But you have a run tomorrow afternoon, don't you?"

"No, Teaspoon switched the schedule. You do. Tomorrow morning, if I remember correctly. You have to go to Liberty Farm, so you should be back later that night. Unless the pouch isn't there."

"That shouldn't be too bad. You know I don't like being away from you overnight," he added. He knew she already knew this but he was trying to not worry too much when either of them were gone. Since he met her more than a year ago, he had to admit she was pretty good about taking care of herself.

"I know. I don't like it when you're on longer runs either. I worry too, you know. Plus, I just plain miss you," Lou admitted. Having been so used to relying on only herself, it meant a lot for her to place her trust in someone else. She was glad Kid hadn't run for the hills when she told him everything that had happened to her before joining the express. Instead, he stuck around and showed her that some men could be depended on.

"Maybe we need to do something about that," he slyly suggested.

"Like what?"

"Well," he said, swimming away from her before she decided to follow in his wake, "what could we do that would help us to worry less and see more of each other?"

Lou thought about that for a minute before saying, "Well, we already live together, so it couldn't be that." After swimming under the shelter of a large willow tree, she reappeared in the center of the pond and added coyly, "Besides, I could never live with a man I wasn't married to." She registered the look of disbelief on Kid's face before she dove under the surface of the water and headed in the direction of their makeshift camp. Kid quickly started swimming after her, trying to catch up to find out exactly what she meant with that comment. He was almost at the water's edge, when he saw her naked body emerge from the pond, the moonlight highlighting all her feminine curves.

Sitting down on the quilt, Lou reached up and began pulling hairpins from her soggy coiffure. The moonlight was shining brightly through the branches of the tree under which she was positioned until a long shadow appeared at her feet. Feeling water dripping over her, Lou looked up to see Kid standing over her. Finally freeing the last pin, she shook her hair, gently massaging her scalp in the process.

"What are you saying, Lou?" Kid asked, slightly out of breath from his frantic swim across the pond in search of his girl. Lou gave a noncommittal shrug, but her mouth quirked up in a small smile. She was going to make him work for this, just a bit, and she was going to enjoy this. Truth be told, he would probably enjoy this as well. Sitting down on the quilt next to her, Kid tried to look unconcerned, but was failing miserably. Staring directly at her, he tried again, "Lou, what did you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said. I could never live with a man I wasn't married to."

"But you live in the bunkhouse with all the rest of the boys, and you're not married to them," he tried.

"Of course not, Kid. That's like living with a bunch of brothers. I don't love them, well not that way anyway. Plus, Teaspoon and Rachel are there to keep everyone in line, sort of."

"So you're saying that it's alright to live with a whole bunch of men but not just one?"

"Not unless he's my husband."

Without warning, Kid snatched Lou onto his lap and began running his fingers gently up and down her ribs. He knew she was ticklish and he had had enough of this strange conversation. As she squirmed within his grasp he asked her again, "But what if he was your husband?" his voice growing serious.

Lou was failing miserably at trying to ignore the itching that was quickly covering her skin from his fingertips. She tried swatting his hands away, but he was much quicker and stronger than she was. As giggles erupted from her lips, she felt herself flipped onto her back, his lean male form pressing her into the ground. Trapping her hands above her head with his hand, Kid moved his face directly in front of her own. His free hand continued to trail lightly along the side of her body. Boring his blue eyes into her brown ones, he demanded, "Well?"

Letting out a giggle as he hit the ticklish spot on her ribs, Lou replied, "Oh, Kid. I think you know what I mean."

Relaxing his grip on her wrists, he lowered his lips to within a whisper of her own. "I think I do," he uttered before his lips came crashing down upon hers. Running his tongue along the seam of her mouth, she freely admitted him, swirling her tongue with his. Hands roamed over the planes of her body as she responded to his touch. Frantic with need, she held his body close to hers as she moved her knees to either side of his hips. Feeling his growing arousal near her most intimate place, she moved her hips until she felt him at her entrance. Kid pulled back for a fraction of a second, his eyes questioning her for permission. At her barely perceptible nod, he surged forward, filling her womanly core. Their movements stilled for a moment, Kid brushed his hand along her jaw, tenderly whispering, "I love you."

He watched a single tear escape her chocolate eyes before she murmured, "I love you too, Kid. Take me home." Slowly, he began to move inside of her, holding her closely to him, fearing she might disappear into thin air if he let her go.

As he moved within her, Lou felt her core tightening around him, building the pressure she felt within. Digging her heels into the backs of his thighs, her arms pulling him closer to her until every inch of her skin was touching his, she drew him deeper inside her, urging him to continue his movement. Slowly, softly, she felt her release coming closer with each thrust. As he buried himself inside her one last time, Lou felt her body explode with sensation as she fell over the edge, rhythmically contracting around him.

Her body clenching around him was his undoing. Plunging onward, Kid carried both of them home on a wave of ecstasy, expelling his seed deep within her. The force of his pleasure left him shaking above her. Pressing a soft kiss on her lips, he rolled to her side, pulling her along with him. Nestling her into the crook of his arm, Kid kissed her forehead again as he sighed. Lou curled into his side, feeling his hot seed pooling from her core, her leg carelessly thrown over his legs, while her hand deftly moved across his chest, softly fingering the smattering of hair there. She felt his hand gently trailing along her back, occasionally pulling her closer in the process.

"I hope you know this is not why I brought you here tonight," he admitted. He wanted to make sure she didn't think he just wanted to attack her whenever they were alone.

"I know," Lou replied, watching her fingers tracing the line of hair that extended down from his navel. "If you remember, it was my suggestion."

"Yeah."

"I didn't want tonight to end. All too soon we'll be back to reality. I'll go back to being Lou McCloud, pony express rider instead of Louise McCloud, ball guest with her pretty dress."

They lay there in silence for a while, each contemplating everything they learned about the other tonight. Lou felt certain of Kid's desire to whisk her away as his bride and live happily ever after, just like the fairy tales her mother used to read to her when she was a little girl. She knew he was just waiting to be sure she was ready to receive his proposal this time. He didn't want to make the same mistakes he did the last two times he had asked her to marry him. Time apart over the last few months helped him understand what she needed from him. She wanted him to love her for who she was not who he thought she should be, and she thought to herself, I think he's finally there.

Kid on the other hand, thought about her flirtatious behavior at the ball and afterwards, as well as her sometimes cryptic statements about the future. Given the intimacy they now shared, they were in such a different place emotionally than they were months ago when he tried to hold her to him. He knew he loved her as he would love no other woman for as long as he lived. And as long as he didn't try to control her, and treated her as his equal, she could be his. She talked about forever tonight once again, and as far as he was concerned, forever started back in Fort Kearney. But if he learned anything over the course of their tumultuous relationship, he learned to be patient and let her take the lead in their relationship.

Lost in his thoughts, Kid felt Lou's body relax and her breathing become slower and more even. Peering down at her face he noticed that her eyes were closed and she had fallen asleep. Carefully, he reached over her and pulled the edge of the quilt over, covering their nakedness. With a sigh, he allowed sleep to overtake him.