Page 41 of The Brave and the Reckless (Bravetown #1)

THE HAUNTED MINES

The gold mines around Bravetown have made many people their fortunes, but legend has it the mines demand payment in return. Every once in a while, miners disappear and only their screams remain within the deep tunnels. Are you brave enough to seek the treasure and the truth within the caves?

N OAH

With each passing day, it became harder to stay away from Esra, even if we might get spotted.

I found myself wishing for more shows, just to have more of those heavenly seven minutes with her when we were out of everyone’s sight.

I went to game night and dinner with the rest of the cast, things I usually sat out in favor of working on the ranch or with the horses, just to spend a bit more time with her under the safe cover of a group outing.

I even proposed that we film more videos with Lucas. Maybe I could sneak in a fanfiction in which Ace and Annie kissed. Just for the cameras, of course.

“Come with me.” I grabbed Esra’s wrist when she walked out of the saloon on Monday night. Sanny had specifically asked me to stay away from tonight’s dinner, give him and Esra some time to talk. He thought my presence would only provoke another fight.

I’d waited outside the saloon in the shadows like a goddamn stalker, watched Sanny leave fifteen minutes ago and stuck around for his little sister.

“What are you doing here?” Esra’s head whipped around but the only other person outside the saloon was an older guy smoking and scrolling his phone.

“I want to show you something. Come on.” I laced my fingers through hers and tugged her toward the park gates.

“I’m not hooking up with you in the park at night.

I don’t need one of the security guards catching us.

I’ve met them. I know them. Deacon’s wife makes sure to keep some Reese’s Minis back for me if they’re low on stock at Bart’s Mart.

I could never go back if he caught me giving you head behind the popcorn cart. ”

“God, you’re cute.” I shot a quick look around to make sure it was safe before I leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Everyone knows everyone here. There’s very few secrets in this town, and people still show their faces in public.”

“I’m serious,” she huffed but let herself be pulled through the gates. They clicked open without issue, thanks to our badges.

“I won’t ask you to give me head behind the popcorn cart,” I promised.

“Noah…” She squeezed my hand and blinked up at me, shadows circling beneath her eyes. “Sinan caught wind that Renee wants to replace me, and he’s not a fan of the videos and me putting my face out there like that. I’ve just sat through a very exhausting dinner. Can this wait until tomorrow?”

“I’m sorry.” I didn’t say more because we never talked about her brother, but I cupped her face in my hands and turned us, so anyone outside the gates would only see the silhouette of my shoulders from afar.

Her lids fluttered shut and she leaned into my touch.

I knew that if I could only kiss her, touch her, I could make her feel better in seconds, but we were still out in the open.

“The thing I want to show you only happens once a year, but it might cheer you up.”

“Oh?” Her interest was piqued enough for her to look up again.

“Come on.”

We only walked a bit further into the park when the noise started giving it away.

Esra’s face snapped up. Her eyes narrowed on the dark roller coaster.

The tracks were barely illuminated by a few security lights, but the train still rattled as it plunged downwards.

She spotted the children’s carousel next, twirling round and round, the horses moving up and down, but no doodling music and no lights giving it its usual charm.

“It’s an insurance thing. Once a year, all rides are run for twenty-four hours straight to keep track of any technical issues that might not pop up otherwise,” I explained.

“When I was a kid, someone told me that we had to open the park for ghosts one night of the year to prevent it getting haunted the other 364 days.”

“That’s cute,” Esra laughed.

“It scared the crap out of me. I circled that day on my calendar and stayed far, far away from the park. ”

“Why? Look at them.” She pointed at the roller coaster. “All the little ghosts are having the best time ever.”

“Little ghosts? Maybe they’re big and murderous.”

“No.” She shook her head decisively and turned me by the arm toward the carousel.

“I think that’s a sweet thought. I had a friend at the hospital when I was little.

Juliet. She died of some genetic thing. I didn’t really get it back then.

She was always there when I was, so I always had someone to play with.

And then she was just gone, but people checked in and out of the hospital all the time, so it didn’t really register with me.

That said, if people stick around as ghosts, I think it would be nice for the little ones to get free rein here for a night. ”

She smiled and the sincerity in her eyes needled its way right to my heart.

“Well, now I feel bad. I was going to say we can ride any attraction you want tonight, but I don’t want to take a seat away from a ghost child.”

Esra seemed to genuinely ponder for a moment. That either made her the most unhinged or the most considerate person I’d ever met. Jury was still out. Both seemed to work for me though.

“Haunted Mines,” she said, “because if I was a ghost on my day off, I wouldn’t want to deal with any inaccurate depictions of ghost hauntings.”

“Of course. That’s the only logical solution.”

She slapped the back of her hand against my chest. “Don’t make fun of me and my ghost children. I just want them to be happy.”

“I want your ghost children to be happy, too,” I said and caught her wrist to kiss her knuckles.

I kept her hand against my chest as we made our way over to the Haunted Mines, reveling in the bit of casual physical contact.

One of the security guards walked past us, and I just greeted him and told him we’d have to check on the horses.

He didn’t seem to care that the stables were at the opposite end of the park.

The entrance to the Haunted Mines was shaped like a skull carved from stone, and we had to walk through the gaping mouth to get to the carriages.

Unlike the roller coaster’s train, this ride had individual carts, each shaped like an egg.

The bottom part looked like a hollow boulder with a bench inside, while the top half was made from metal grating.

The cage kept guests from reaching out to touch stuff, but it also allowed staff members to jump out of the shadows and rattle the cart a little.

That was the most thrill you got on this ride.

There were no drops or loopings. The carts only went in one direction and swiveled left and right.

Without anyone attending the controls, we had to sprint for a cart, get in and latch the door within seconds.

We made it by the skin of our teeth. My heart pulsed in the back of my throat.

Raw nerves told me that we’d been too close to jamming the ride.

Meanwhile, Esra collapsed on top of me on the bench, half-sprawled out, laughing.

“We did it. That was so close,” she wheezed, brushing a tear from the corner of her eye. Her laughter reverberated through my chest, easing some of the tension there.

“Yeah,” I breathed, “so close.”

“You okay?” She pushed herself up but not off me. She slid deeper into my lap, back resting against my chest, and kissed the side of my face .

“I just realized how irresponsible this is.” We could fuck up the whole insurance thing. I was pretty sure it wasn’t cheap to run the whole park at night without the ticket sales to offset the running cost. If we fucked that up somehow, it would definitely be grounds for firing.

I usually wasn’t this reckless, but I’d wanted to spend the evening with her. Alone. Having fun. Somehow, the possible consequences hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“Too late to back out now,” Esra whispered as the cart rounded the first corner and we were greeted by a sinister voice relaying the history of the mines.

She settled in and pulled my arms around her waist in lieu of a belt.

Getting to hold her like that immediately eradicated all worries about the potential fallout of this date.

The Haunted Mines were a very child-friendly attraction, but Esra’s stomach still trembled under my hands as her eyes drank in the story.

I watched her face light up in shades of red and purple through the ride, mouth slightly ajar.

I tightened my hold on her when she jumped at the mechatronic spider monster that shot out from one of the caves.

“Was this your first time?” I asked as we rattled toward the exit.

“Nope. I think I’ve been two or three times. I love it. I keep finding new little details that I missed before.”

“You still jumped at the spider.”

“Because spiders are scary, even when you know they’re there. Duh.”

Her weight lifted off me. Rather than dashing for the exit, however, Esra slid back into my lap, facing me this time. Her knees hugged my thighs on either side and her fingers grazed into the back of my shirt .

“Hi.” She leaned her forehead against mine. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too, princess.”

It was a ridiculous thing to say. I saw her every day for hours on end. But I missed holding her and touching her the way I had at the ranch. I’d gotten a taste of more when she’d fallen apart for me in the rain. How was I supposed to come back from that?

Our cart rolled past the exit and back into the dark tunnel, granting me at least a few more minutes alone with her.

“Would you rather kiss a ghost while a girl watches, or kiss a girl while a ghost watches?”

“Since we’ve already established the ghosts aren’t murderous, I’ll kiss the girl. Let the ghosts watch for all I care.”

“You’d kiss a murderous ghost?” She laughed and her sweet breath tickled my lips.

“Survival instinct. I figure it wouldn’t kiss and kill me.”

“Of course. Only logical.”

Nails biting into the skin of my neck, Esra pulled me to her for a kiss.

It was gentle at first. Lips and noses brushed soft and slow.

I let my hands roam down her sides and into the hem of her top.

The second my fingertips connected with her skin, a switch flipped.

All sweetness dissipated from her mouth.

We’d both been starving for each other and the kiss turned from hungry to ravenous in seconds.

When she leaned back to catch a breath, her lips were red and swollen. God, the things I wanted to do to those lips. I’d have to get another night with her, just so I could kiss and bite and fuck those lips .

My jeans strained against the pressure building in my groin. I knew Esra felt it too, because her eyes dropped, and she shifted her weight slightly. She ground herself against me, the friction of fabrics almost painful on my hardening dick.

“Fuck,” I hissed.

“Remember how you said we could go on any attraction?”

“Yeah,” I replied warily. The exit was only a corner away, but I didn’t want to leave yet.

“Your thighs are the real main attraction, you know?”

“My thighs?” I asked, running my hands up hers, which seemed far more interesting than mine as I pushed her little skater skirt up to her hips. She wore a pair of thin lacy panties underneath that just begged to be ripped off.

“Yeah, I get the whole riding-the-cowboy thing now.” She shrugged, not taking her eyes off me as we entered and passed the exit hall. “It’s those juicy thighs you get from sitting in the saddle. Your lap was made for me to sit on.”

“I don’t object to the sitting, but there has to be a better word than juicy.”

“No, they’re juicy.” She wiggled her brows and leaned in to kiss me. Her tongue flicked against my lips just before pulling back again with a sassy grin. “Thick and juicy.”

“I’m going to shut you up now, silly woman.

” I took her by the back of the neck and pulled her to me for a kiss that left no room for sass.

She squealed and braced her hands against my shoulders.

She pushed back just enough to whisper “juicy” one last time before her mouth was back on mine and her body shuddered against me .

The Haunted Mines officially became my new favorite ride when I tied Esra’s wrists to the cage’s roof with my belt and denied her release until she was flushed and breathless and unable to get the word juicy past her lips.