A Red Leaf & Ten Orchids Ch. 06

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What's in a kiss, exactly?
7.9k words
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Part 6 of the 17 part series

Updated 10/27/2022
Created 09/22/2011
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TaLtos6
TaLtos6
1,930 Followers

**What's in a kiss?

A statement? A request? How about an acknowledgment of a deep-seated burning need? How about if it's a way of communicating that need?

Ha, you're interested now, aren't you?

This was inspired by the way that some women like to see a man on a hot day or in uh, heated circumstances. A lot of guys like to see a woman in the same circumstances too, just sayin'. So here you go, heat and sweat, hehe.

Please vote if you feel so inclined, and I love comments, too.

Thank God for stepladders and gravity. O_o

------------------

In the morning Josh was in the kitchen early. He sat at the table savoring his coffee and kidding around with Jillian. She'd already torn the knees of her older jeans and was sporting a Band-Aid on her elbow. Josh was proud of her.

Rose had breakfast going, and called to Kayla to get moving. "I can only keep this boy's face out of the bacon for so long, Kayla, and then it'll be gone. He's been on good behavior up to now, but I've got to tell you that he's a human vacuum cleaner around food, especially after he's had his run."

Kayla walked in, and sat down wishing them all a good morning. There was a moment of silence as they all stared at her.

"What?" she asked. She was wearing Joshua's shirt loose over her jeans, and her hair was tied in a French braid, the ponytail still hanging a good distance down her back.

Rose smiled "You know, I'm sure that I've seen that shirt someplace before, Joshua."

Josh, for his part, kept looking at Kayla.

He suddenly seemed to come to his senses. "What? Oh, sorry Rosie. I've never seen so much bare skin on this girl before. All of the blood in my head seems to have gone south for some reason. I mean, I can see almost her whole arms. Look!" He grinned.

Kayla's mouth fell open, and Josh got a dishtowel swat on his shoulder for his trouble. All Rosie had to say to him was "Next one's the flyswatter."

Josh said, "Yes Ma'am."

Josh told Rosie that he'd given Kayla the shirt the evening before so that she might be a bit cooler painting, though he was sure that it had never looked that good on him. Rosie replied that Kayla must have been painting afterward then, because when she'd awoken, Kayla was wearing it for a nightshirt. Kayla's mouth opened in shock and mild embarrassment again.

Before she could say anything, Josh looked grim suddenly and said, "I HATE that Penhold guy."

Kayla laughed and added, "Well I don't. You know, he's really quite versatile!"

"I've read that." said Rose

"What's a versa-tile?" asked Jillian.

"Do you run in the morning?" asked Kayla.

"Yeah," replied Josh. "it blows out the cobwebs. You know, with your hair like that, you've got a certain Tomb Raider look to you somehow."

Kayla laughed, "Well you can just keep dreaming. There are some differences. Like I'm not about to fall over because of the weight of my lips, and the character in the game's got a lot more up top than me, and she wears really tight shirts to keep the adolescent boys' little brains spinning."

"That's where I was headed with this, hopefully." Josh kidded, keeping a wary eye on Rosie's dishrag.

Josh and Kayla got right to work after breakfast. If they'd been asked beforehand, neither one would have admitted to being very enamored of painting. It was just something that needed to be done sometimes and the bunkhouse was really in need. But as they worked together, they enjoyed each other's company, and the work went quickly it seemed. As the temperature rose, they turned on the air conditioning. The thermostat was a rather crude affair, and so it was actually a bit on the cool side for a time. The cold caused Kayla's nipples to stiffen, and the effect was not lost on Josh. He noted that she had elected not to wear a bra because of the heat. He was in heaven.

After some time, the smell of the latex paint was strong enough to force Josh to turn the cooling unit off, and run just the fan to keep a flow of air moving through the screen on the door. The temperature shot up fairly quickly after this, and by the time that they had the first coat finished, they each wore a sheen of sweat. Today, however, Josh kept an unobtrusive eye on Kayla, but never said a word about his concern for her, as he made sure that she stayed hydrated.

They broke for lunch, sitting out on the porch while the first coat of paint dried. It seemed that Jilly couldn't keep her little backside off the bicycle saddle for any length of time. She was in heaven on her first very own bike pedaling around, and trying to mimic the sound of a motorcycle.

During one of the short intervals that the sunlight could actually shine on the saddle, Jillian asked Kayla what the 'motorcycles on her hat' looked like so that she would know one if she saw it. Kayla said her uncle had liked to give her rides on one when she was little, but hadn't been on one since and that she often wished that she could ride one herself, but she couldn't answer Jilly's question.

"They're just big, Jilly, the ones that I saw yesterday, and they all look so cool."

Josh said that he had one, but that he hadn't brought it with him. Jillian had always thought that motorcycles of any sort were interesting to her, if not downright awesome.

"Is yours one of these?" she asked indicating her hat. When Josh nodded, she told him that she'd have liked to have seen it.

"Well," he smiled, "I do happen to know where there's a real old one that might be of help to both of you." He winked at Rose, and asked Jillian to come and walk with him.

They set off together for the driving shed, Jillian's hand reaching up to take Joshua's. She kept looking ahead, but Joshua looked down at her, and then over his shoulder at the women. Rosie was giving him the thumbs up with a proud smile. Kayla's jaw fell open and her expression turned to a huge grin.

When they got inside the shed, Joshua told her that she had actually been almost touching the motorcycle when she had been lost the other night, as they walked up to the old patrol bike. Jillian's eyes looked like they were about to leave her head.

To Jilly, the most important thing was that it was a real motorcycle, and that it was really there. It was big and white and complicated. Two wheels, a million spokes, a windshield, saddlebags, and three headlights. That was all that mattered to her. She wondered for a moment how she had managed to walk in and out of the shed the previous morning and not seen a wondrous thing like that. The only thing missing was a spotlight shining down on it.

Her jaw dropped and stayed there.

"It's just an old police patrol bike," Josh said, "Rosie's husband Sam took really good care of her, and I do my best as well. It's about 70 years old, but it's the same kind that's on your hat. The engines were a lot smaller back then, and they were hand-shifters with a suicide clutch."

Josh almost regretted what he'd said, because it brought a volley of questions from his young friend. He had to explain what the motor did and how the motion got to the back wheel. After that he had to define what a clutch was, what the word 'suicide' meant, and how it applied to the motorcycle. He tried to just gloss over it all, but he was amazed after a moment at how Jilly was taking it all in. Then he thought of himself when he was a kid and he understood.

Then he asked the question.

"Want to sit on it, Jilly?"

Jillian couldn't even speak. She just nodded emphatically. Josh had to look away for a second so that he didn't laugh. She looked so sweet to him.

Josh lifted her up after a minute, and sat her down on the seat. She tried to reach the handlebars, but it was a long stretch. She could only get to one while leaning on the tank with the other hand. Josh told her not to worry, that she would get there eventually. He told her that he would start it, and that if she wanted to, she could ride with him out to the yard. She nodded vigorously. He explained that she didn't need to be afraid of the sound, and that it would be a little loud inside the shed, but once it was outside, it would quiet down some.

He told her that, because she was still a bit small, she would have to sit in front of him, and where to keep her hands. He also explained that the engine would heat up, and not to try to hug it with her legs, but she should hug the tank with her knees because it would help her to stay steady. He said that if it was all right with her, he would put his arm around her to hold her as well if that was ok. Jillian was fine with that.

He lifted her back off, and prepared to start the old Harley. Jillian couldn't believe that this motorcycle was older that any of them. After a bit of fiddling, Josh folded out the kick-starter, and after three kicks, the old engine lit off, settling to a clattering lope. Josh got the bike up off the side stand, and asked Jillian to come to his side, but pointed to the engine parts that would now be getting hot. Josh put the old hand shifter into first gear while he held the clutch down and lifted Jillian onto the seat in front of him.

He asked her if she was afraid at all. She yelled, "Just a little."

He smiled and said that it was ok if she was.

He asked her if she was ready, and she nodded. He explained that they would only go out of the shed, and around the yard twice, and that would be the end of her first ride, because that was all of the time that they would have before Kayla tried to kill him again. She laughed and nodded.

Josh put his arm around Jillian's little waist, and pulled her to him gently. She seemed to relax into him. He took this as an encouraging sign and offered a small prayer to the ghosts of the founders of the company that had produced the bike that he didn't drop her. He fed it some gas, and gently let out the clutch.

Kayla recognized the sound from her childhood. "Sam still had that running?" she asked Rose, who nodded.

"Sam left it to Joshua," she smiled, "he knew that his old bike would be well taken care off in Josh's hands."

A motion from the shed caught Kayla's attention. The old white patrol bike looked just as Kayla remembered it as they rolled out into the bright sunshine, but this time Sam's 'old girl' was proudly giving another generation a first taste.

Jilly had rapture written all over her face. Josh looked so serious as he concentrated on keeping Jillian safe. He managed a smile after the first turn, but looked relieved when he pulled up after the second go-round. He told her to sit still for a second.

Taking his arm from around her, he continued to hold down the clutch pedal, and shifted the bike into neutral. He put down the side stand, and held Jillian again as he eased it onto the stand. He lifted her off, and reminded her about the hot parts so that she wouldn't burn herself. She ran a few steps away, and turned around smiling from ear to ear.

Kayla was smiling thankfully, as was Rose with shining eyes. Jillian was intently inspecting every part of the bike. Josh shut off the bike. He knew what would come next, so he stood next to her, answering one question after another.

"Jilly, I just know that you're going to have a lot more questions later. If you can save them up for a little while, I'll answer every one, OK?"

Jillian nodded, and Josh walked to the porch. When he looked up, he found himself looking at Kayla.

"Josh, she could have been hurt." she said.

Rosie had a look on her face that spoke volumes, mostly the ones having to do with her having been able to predict this response.

Josh took a deep breath, held up his hand, and said,"Wait. I gave Jilly the safety talk, and told her what to stay away from. I wouldn't have done this if I weren't sure that I could. I wouldn't even have tried if it didn't have the old-fashioned pedal-operated clutch so I could hold on to her. I could not have been more careful. We rode only as far as she and I agreed to beforehand. I don't think that she was afraid, but I was.

You know, as I was leaving here after Sam's funeral last year. I came very close to being killed by car when I pulled out of here. The driver was looking for the right driveway, and was going too fast. She almost hit me, but I got out of the way. I've never forgotten the front of that car, and since it's parked right over there, I'd very happily throw myself under those wheels TWICE before I let Jilly get hurt, believe me."

He paused. "Now, you can kill me if you want to, but I've got something better in mind if you're up for a challenge. So what'll it be?"

Rose said, "Kayla, I remember you said something to me about almost hitting some jerk biker." She was smiling mischievously.

Kayla gasped, "Was that you? Oh, I – "

Jillian giggled as she walked up the steps, She held out her arms and Josh knelt on one knee while Jilly hugged him for the ride. "Josh told me you were going to try to kill him again," she laughed at Kayla.

"I still might kill him later." scowled Kayla

"Save me, Jilly." Josh said.

She kissed his cheek, and Kayla smirked. "That's really cheap, Jilly. You know I'm not going to hit him after that."

"All right, what's your challenge?" Kayla asked evilly.

"I dunno, I just had an idea. You said that you had always wanted to ride a bike. I could teach you to ride this one, but it's not a good idea for a number of reasons. Learning involves a little bit of bump and grind, and it's too tired and at over 540 pounds, it's too heavy, especially in this dirt, since it wasn't made for that. It's also a hand shifter with a suicide clutch, which compounds the difficulty. I think I know where I can get one that's easier to learn on. You can play with that, and graduate to this one when you're ready. There's more to my evil plan, but we're a bit too busy around here right now to go there. Now come on." he said as he took hold of her wrist and pulled her to her feet.

"Where are we going?" demanded Kayla.

"It's your turn." said Josh as he walked her to Sam's bike. He let go of her and folded out the kick-starter again. Once the bike was running, he slid forward on the saddle as far as he could go, and said, "Get on. This is going to hurt me more than it will you."

Kayla laughed and sat down behind Josh. "It's been a long time since I was sitting on this bike. Where are we riding to?" she asked as she figured out where the places were to put her feet, now that she was all grown up.

Josh answered, "Not far, and not fast. You ready?"

She put her hands on his hips, "I hope this is as much fun as it used to be."

He folded the side stand, and paddled the bike backward as much as their weight and the soft dirt would allow. Then he held down the clutch pedal, and put the machine into gear.

Kayla held onto Josh, and felt the machine throbbing beneath her. The throbbing became more pronounced as he fed in some gas, and they began to move. He turned gently toward the driving shed, and headed in that direction. By the time they'd turned around to head back, Kayla was smiling. Rose saw the smile, and she and Jilly waved as they went past. Josh headed slowly down the driveway toward the main road.

Kayla raised her arms up Josh's sides as she leaned forward against his back. Her left hand was over his solar plexus, and her right hand settled over his sternum. As she laid her head against his shoulder, she sighed as she felt a new warm tingle begin. She thought that she could get to like this. A lot.

Josh felt her shifting, and wondered briefly what she was up to. When she settled against him, he smiled. He'd wanted so much for her to be able to relax. The end of the driveway approached slowly, and Josh rolled off the gas to make the turnaround. He was as gentle and careful as he'd been with Jillian. This was something that he didn't want to mess up.

As they neared the porch on the way back, Kayla sat back and dropped her hands to his hips again. Josh stopped and held the machine stationary so that Kayla could dismount. Kayla got off, but noticed that Josh was studying the instrument cluster intently. She walked up and put her head near his to ask what the matter was.

"Nothing." he said tightly. "I think I ought to put the bike back in the shed. I,...uh,... please ask Rosie to find Jilly a piece of light cardboard, some scissors, and two clothes pegs for when I get back."

"Well, can't you give Jilly a ride into the shed?" asked Kayla, her forehead touching his temple slightly.

"Uh, no." Josh interrupted. "That wouldn't be a good idea right now, trust me." Josh said between his teeth. He revved the engine slightly, and continued to stare at the stationary speedometer on the tank.

"What's wrong – Ohh" she said, getting the clues, and noticing the bulge in the fabric of his jeans. Don't you move." she hissed in his ear.

Turning to Rose, she relayed his request. When Rose nodded that she understood, she asked Jillian to help her look, and they went into the house together. Kayla climbed back onto the bike, and said to a very surprised Josh. "Ok, stud-muffin, off to the stable."

Josh was speechless. As they headed for the shed, Kayla's hand wandered a little lower than it had been earlier, but not much, settling around his navel. He had enough problems already. In the shade of the shed's interior, Kayla got off as soon as they had stopped. Josh had it figured out and put it down to the different seating position and the vibration through the hard leather saddle in a different place. He shut the engine off and put the stand down. "I'm so sorry," he began. He was mortified.

Kayla laughed. "That's all right. I'm sorry that it took me so long to clue in. You sure looked uncomfortable, but I got you out of it. You're safe now."

She put one arm around his shoulder, and pulled his head toward her slightly as she gave him a light kiss there. Then she slapped him gently on the back as she walked away. "Come on back when you've got it together, we've still got another coat of paint to put on. I CAN see that you weren't lying, though." she giggled.

"What wasn't I lying about?" asked Josh, mystified.

"When you told me that you liked me." she laughed as she walked away. "Either that, or you've still got that flashlight."

Josh began to laugh. When he was alone, he groaned as he got off the bike. Another shining Joshua moment, he decided.

When Josh returned a few minutes later, Jillian showed him the things that he had asked for. He took the cardboard and cut a few squares quickly. He took one piece, grabbed the clothespins, and walked over to Jillian's bicycle. He clamped the cardboard to one of her front forks so that it touched the spokes.

"Get on, and try out your new motor." He smiled at Jillian. She hopped on, and took off, laughing as the cardboard slapped the spokes. He walked over to the bunkhouse with a huge grin.

----------------------

The second coat of paint took longer because they wanted no mistakes. Afterward, they worked on the final coat for the trim and interior doors. Kayla was standing backwards halfway up the stepladder replacing the cover of a light fixture as Josh squeezed past. She found herself having a slightly hopeful thought about Josh when her feet slipped off the edge of the step.

One of the most visceral autonomic reflexes present in every single living human is the fear of falling and Kayla reached automatically for the closest thing. Up until that instant, that 'closest thing' had been going past and he was just beginning a pleasant little momentary daydream of his own

Josh reacted instantly and caught her, and she in turn reacted instinctively to the fall by slamming his back with one arm, and pulling herself against him with the other around his neck. The result was that she hugged his head to her chest, his face pushed into her left breast.

TaLtos6
TaLtos6
1,930 Followers