A solitary pumpkin, of good size, was tucked into a corner next to the wall. The pumpkin looked as fresh as the day it had been picked, though it was late summer now, well beyond when pumpkins would have survived the winter, and much too soon before they would be ready this season. I had learned from the farmers in Sleepy Hollow that pumpkins would not be ready to harvest until early October, but this one looked to be as perfect as any I had ever seen. I knelt next to it, examining it with my lantern light. At the very top, around the stem, was a thin line, as if made by a large cutting knife. My heart gave a leap in my chest as I reached for the stem and carefully lifted it off. It was quite heavy, and I set it aside and peered in.
The inside was hollow, though the pumpkin smell was fresh as though it had only been carved out. And nestled inside of it, as if it was natural for pumpkins to grow their own, was a skull. An old one, larger than a child. And when I shifted it carefully to examine it, I could see that its front right tooth was twisted slightly in the same way that Reiter’s revealed when he smiled. This had to be his skull. I could almost see the outline of the kind face of the man I knew upon it, with dark hair, mahogany eyes, and thin lips.
My heart gave another joyful leap, and then I quickly picked up the pumpkin lid and replaced it. My fingers itched to take it now, to carry it straight back to Reiter and reunite him with that which was once his, but I could not betray my presence here. Once the pumpkin appeared to be whole again, I rose and swiftly made my way out of the room, closing the door once more to the chamber of horrors. I clambered back up the ladder into the main root cellar, where I still seemed to be unobserved. I replaced the wooden trap door and then moved the baskets back into position on top of it until I was satisfied my visit would be unnoticed. I peeked out of the cellar to find the sun starting to set and cast long shadows over the world, stretching the Van Tassel manor toward the woods, as if it were reaching, searching out the Horseman. Ducking low, I made my way into the cover of trees to my appointed meeting spot with Reiter.
When we had returned to the hallowed ground once more, I told him about the room with all of the skulls and how to access it. His dark eyes almost danced in delight before he became very stern. “I do not want you to leave the safety of the churchyard again until we go after her.”
I nodded in agreement. My task had been completed, I knew where to find Reiter’s skull. “I promise I will not," I said, lifting his head up to seal the promise with a kiss upon his lips. He folded me into his arms from behind as I held his head close to mine.
In the months following our first intimacy together, we had done the same a few times, though only when I would initiate a time of kissing and petting. I had not yet been fully bare in front of him, and Reiter always wore his shirt and waistcoat with its black covering over the stump of his neck. I never pushed him to reveal more than he wanted to, and he was respectful of all of my limits and concerns, even if it meant one or neither of us did not satisfy ourselves when we came to further passions. Just the touch of his hands on me was enough, to press close in the darkness and know he was there.
Tonight, his kiss met mine with a strange, new ferocity that I tried to meet in my own awkward way. I grasped his cheeks to kiss him firmly as his body pressed behind me, and I could already feel his cock straining in his trousers against my back. “Are you so eager?” I asked with a small grin at him.
He looked a little sheepish. “You do not even know the things that you do to me, Ichabod.”
That brought a blush to my gaunt cheeks. “You have showed me.”
“I have showed you some,” he agreed, and his hands slid eagerly down my front to grasp me through my breeches while suddenly grinding up against me from behind. “I want to show you more. I want to worship your body and watch you come undone. Hearing your pleasure is my greatest delight.”
I was sure I was as pink as a virgin milkmaid at the words, ducking my head a little. “Is it?” I asked breathily before our lips met again in a searing kiss, my fingers tangling in his long, dark hair.
When we finally pulled away again, my heart racing under my ribs, his body ground against my back once more. “Would you like to learn more of the ways I can pleasure you?” he purred. His voice held an invitation, a plea, that made my skin heat and my blood tingle in my veins.
I swallowed hard, feeling his back plaster to me, and despite the layers of fabric between us, I could feel the desire radiating from him such as I had never felt from him before. A shiver went through me to the marrow of my bones. Until meeting Reiter, I had never experienced lust for anyone. I had even wondered for a time if I was not meant to, for while I could appreciate a pleasing form of either a man or a woman, I had never felt the desire to sate myself between spread legs or an open mouth. But here, with Reiter’s warmth behind me, the weight of his head heavy in my hands, I wanted it. I felt wanton desire flare inside of me, a yearning beginning to throb between my legs. “Show me.” My voice was no more than a whisper, but it was all the permission he needed.
Reiter’s hands slid down my front, fingers working deftly at the buttons of my waistcoat, and then my shirt. His fingers splayed over my chest, stroking with his fingertips, and I marveled that a spirit that could ride through the forest the way he did could be so gentle. He slid my shirt off my shoulders, baring my chest to the air that suddenly seemed much warmer than it had been. I flushed with the urge to wrap my arms around myself, but I was distracted by the sudden brush of his lips against my palm where both rested in my lap. That made me jump, and he made an appreciative sound as he kissed over the heel of my hand, and then over the pads of my fingers. He drew one of my fingers into his mouth and began to suck lightly on it. I moaned, my other hand brushing a few strands of his dark hair away from his jaw, watching the way his lips and cheeks moved over my finger, his tongue teasing and tickling.
Behind me, Reiter’s hands traced over my back, fingertips brushing the outline of each of my ribs, making me writhe. His fingers lit me up like a bonfire on my skin. Just that touch alone was so incredible, I felt like a might forget how to breathe. One hand slid around in front to grasp one of my nipples, rolling it firmly between his finger and thumb, while the other snaked down to undo my trousers. I leaned back against him, my hand that was not occupied by his tongue sliding up to wrap around his bicep and hold him tightly. His arms were so strong beneath his clothing.
He fished my cock out of my trousers and stroked it languidly several times, making me shudder in pleasure. He moaned a laugh around my finger. “Easy, little virgin. I want to explore you.”
“Yes,” I whispered. He shifted me around so he could pull off my stockings and trousers, each one falling away like a shed skin, until I leaned back against his chest and realized that I was now completely naked. For the first time in my adult life, I was utterly bare in front of someone other than myself. I flushed and started to pull my legs up, but Reiter’s strong hands slid down my bare hips to push my knees apart.
“I want to see you,” he said. His head still rested on the floor in front of me, and I felt a moment of panic as I realized that spreading my legs now would expose everything to him at a most intimate level.
“You do not have to be ashamed,” he said soothingly, one of his hands running down my chest and back up, like stroking the belly of an agitated dog. “It is just me.”
I licked my lips, then nodded, shifting back against his torso for more support before I slowly spread my legs and sank down just a bit. His head rested just past my spread knees. His hands slid down my ribs, then up to tweak one of my nipples, making me jump. My cock was standing at full attention now, and I clenched my fingers into the legs of his trousers to keep from trying to cover myself. I saw his eyes drift over me, the length of my cock, over my balls, and even lower. I started to squirm, until his hand slid down and began to stroke me. I gasped, my legs instinctively spreading wider for his touch, and he grinned. “Yes, sweet one. Let me see all of you.” His hand moved on me, pausing at the crown of my shaft to brush his thumb up the underside, and I tensed, moaning at the pleasure. “Mm. You look so tight, my little virgin.”
I blushed red from head to toe, and he chuckled. “Do you want to experience me inside of you?”
I swallowed hard, fingers giving a slight yank at his trousers where I held them. “I… What part of you?”
Reiter laughed, so much that his body that still held me also shook with laughter. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh with him or to feel utterly embarrassed at my naïveté. But he slid his free hand up to grip my chin lightly from behind. “Why don’t we start with fingers and see how you feel?”
His words made my face burn, but my cock gave an eager little twitch. “Yes,” I said.
“Then on your knees, sweet one,” he purred as his hands gently lifted me away from him, and he rose to his feet.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Just getting something to prepare you,” Reiter said. “If you are on your hands and knees, I can talk to you while I do it.”
I hesitantly shifted so I was on all fours, feeling slightly mortified at how exposed I was, and more than a little glad that this church was not disturbed. “Like this?”
“Mm, lower your arms a little,” he said. I bent my elbows to bring my face closer to the floor. His head leaned in and stole a firm kiss from my mouth. “Perfect.”
I sputtered with laughter at that, jerking upward again. “You are a tease!”
