Searching For Treasure - By L.C. Davenport Page 0,11

her and stared out at the grounds stretching into the darkness. Though not as neatly tended as the courtyard, compared to the front of the castle the backyard seemed relatively tame.

"It's nice out here,”Jack said.

"Umm-hmm."

There was a strange tension in the air and Dana was unaccountably nervous. After a long pause, they looked at each other and burst out laughing. Dana felt the tension dissolve in an instant. Something was happening to her and it scared her, but this was still Jack. And he was still her best friend.

Jack jerked his head in the direction he had been looking a moment ago. "What do you think that is?"

Dana peered into the darkness. "It looks like an old gazebo."

"Let's go check it out." Jack reached for her hand to pull her up and Dana felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach. Her hand had been in Jack's numerous times throughout the years, in good times and bad: in dance class, at the funeral of her parents, at the hospital when Noah had his appendix removed, and the day her brother graduated from high school. So why had she never noticed how right it felt for her hand to be in his?

Jack led her through the trees and bushes to the gazebo in the distance, the moonlight showing them the way. Dana was grateful to see that the seats were clean and the floor swept. Someone had anticipated such a visit this weekend. There was something so romantic about a gazebo in the moonlight.

She tried to remember the last time she had done something spontaneous and romantic with a man. She couldn't think of any. No wonder she had been feeling nervous around Jack. She needed to get out more.

Jack sat down next to Dana. Their bodies were at least two feet apart but their hands, which were resting on the back of the seats, where only inches away.

As if hardly aware he was doing it, Jack reached out his finger and stroked it across the back of Dana's hand. It was a simple little touch, barely there, but Dana felt it shoot through her body right down to her toes. He continued to stroke hypnotically back and forth, frowning at their hands as if it was a puzzle he had to solve.

"Jack?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Slowly he turned her hand over and rubbed his thumb across her palm and then up and down the length of each finger. It was one of the most erotic sensations she had ever felt.

"It doesn't feel like nothing."

For the first time since sitting down he looked at her, his face a mystery in the shadows of the moonlight. He placed her palm against his larger one and once again began rubbing the top of her hand, this time with his thumb.

"Remember when we watched 'An American in Paris'?"

Dana was startled by the sudden change in topic. "Uh-huh."

"Remember the scene under the bridge, where Gene Kelly is with Leslie Caron and at one point he reaches out and strokes his finger across her hand?"

Dana tried to swallow past the tightness in her throat, her heart pounding in her chest. He was like a strange magician casting a spell on her and she was drowning in the magic of it. She tried to remember the last time she'd had this feeling with a man and couldn't come up with a single instance. This was new.

He tore his attention away from their hands and looked at her again. She wished she could see his face. "You know,”he said quietly, "I don't think I've ever seen anything sexier in a film."

"Jack?" It was barely a whisper.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Kiss me."

For a moment he froze as if she had shocked him. Then slowly, ever so slowly he leaned towards her until his lips were merely a breath away, pausing a moment before gently touching his lips to hers. The spark of electricity that arced between them stunned them both into immobility. Then with a groan that seemed to come from his soul, Jack pulled her to him and deepened the kiss. Dana circled both arms around his neck and held on tightly. She couldn't remember a kiss ever feeling this good.

Finally, Jack pulled away slightly, dazed and a little scared at the intensity of the feelings washing over him. "Jeepers..."

"Would you please cut the commentary, and do that again?"

"Yes ma'am."

The first kiss took them by surprise; this one was more aware, deeper, slower and equally satisfying.

This time Dana