She grinned up at me and nodded.

And off we went into the evening, escaping the party, avoiding sunset pictures, and making the night ours.

Bane was giggling behind me, and I loved hearing it. I wanted to hear more for the hours we had left.

“Do you want your shoes?” I asked from over my shoulder.

“No.”

She followed me barefoot across granite halls and smoothed concrete steps leading from the building down to the gardens. Torchlights and large-bulb string lights lit the evening. Cooler air met us as we left the noise and warm bodies behind us.

We slowed down as we passed the pool and found an empty set of beach chairs on a small cliff overlooking the ocean, the lagoon to the left, and the way through the golf course back to the villa to the right.

We plopped down, and Bane twisted toward me. She said with absolute delight, “Cake by the ocean! Huh? Another song, you know?”

“I’m not living under a rock.” My knee touched hers.

“Are you sure?” She took a bite of cake.

I poked her side and she flinched, but she didn’t move away. I took a bite myself, watching her watching the sunset and moving her hair over a shivering shoulder.

“Are you cold?” I asked, draping my jacket around her.

She sank into the garment so that it looked twice as big. It didn’t cover her legs. “Thanks.” Bane returned to the sunset. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yeah.”

It truly was. A golden, almost orangish sun floated down past the faraway clouds, transforming the sky with creamsicle and pink and blue. The colors darkened and fading light glistened on the water like a million tiny stars. The ocean looked serene and inviting for once, and not like a beautiful deathtrap.

Bane was still shivering, goose bumps on her legs.

“You’re still cold?”

“Eh, it’s fine,” she said.

“Do you want to go back inside?”

She scoffed and drew the opened jacket tighter around her.

“Come here.”

She stared at me as if I’d spoken a foreign language that she couldn’t wrap her head around. “Huh?”

I patted my thigh and raised an eyebrow. “I promise I won’t bite. Unless you’re into that sort of thing.”

Her shoulders deflated. “No one’s around, you know?”

“Yeah?”

“Who are you faking it for?”

Talk about a punch to the gut. “It’s not pretending. I don’t want you to die from a cold and then our coworkers blame me.”

“Sure…”

“I’m not in the mood for a funeral.”

Bane guffawed, slapping my arm. I was quick to grab her, pulling her toward me. “Or should I come over there?”

She swallowed, her gaze dropping to my mouth. We were leaning into each other now. It wasn’t a far distance to her lips. I touched her knee, the one against mine, and she heaved out a breath. Her skin was cool, riddled with goose bumps. During the day, this area was worse than a sauna, but at night, on the beach, the temperatures dropped.

“You’re cold. Come here.”

She didn’t argue this time. She stood and slipped onto my lap as I placed my empty cup on the ground. I readjusted her a little, asking, “Is that comfortable?”

“Yes. Are you comfortable?”

“I’m very comfortable.”

She bit down on a smile and relaxed against me. She was sitting on my right thigh, close to the hip, her legs in between mine, and cushioned against my shoulder and chest. I had one arm around her, keeping the jacket snug against her backside, and the other…well, there was really no place to put it except on her thigh. I moved down to her knees, covering them.

“Better?”

She nodded, watching the tips of my fingers tap against her knee. The hem of her dress was a little higher. The section of skin between my hand and her dress had goose bumps. I inched my fingers farther up, a centimeter at a time.

Bane’s head dropped against mine. She let out a soft sigh near my ear and I clenched my jaw. My fingers trailed a little higher, exploring cold sections with light grazes. Our breathing escalated. Her chest moved in and out in tempting glimpses beneath the open jacket. Her right hand went to my waist, clutching my shirt.

First, the tips of my fingers disappeared beneath the hem of her dress. Then my knuckles. Until my entire hand was beneath the fabric. Grazing turned into swirls; my fingers digging into her thigh, moving higher and higher, hitting the waistband of her panties. A finger slipped underneath, hooked, and tugged down. Just a little.

God damn, she moaned in my ear. I couldn’t take it. I turned my head, nudging her nose with mine so that my mouth could find hers. I kissed her slowly, gently. Savoring every second, every sweet sensation moving through our bodies. I parted her lips with mine, tasted her tongue with mine, inhaled her featherlight groans like they were giving me life.

Bane wanted me as badly as I wanted her.

Bane had fallen into the fantasy as much as I had.

Either our acting was too good, or there was something happening between us. The only question: Was it real, or would it dissolve the second we set foot on a plane?

Right now, none of that mattered. Even if it did, neither one of us cared. Not tonight.

I was vaguely aware of where we were. In the open, on the beach, not far from a fairly well-lit pool and in between torchlights. There was a sidewalk behind us where people wandered by. A toddler shrieked; a dog barked.

Bane startled and pulled away. I immediately withdrew my hand, returning it to her knee. In the dim glow of the torchlight flame, her face was flushed, her lips swollen. I pecked them.

She smiled and ducked against my side, whispering, “We’re not alone.”

I held on to her waist, asking, “Do you want to be?” My voice had come out gritty with need. There was no lie in it.

Bane pulled away and stood, and for a second, I expected her to tell me to cool off as she finished her cake. Her empty cup now sat inside mine as she slipped her arms into the sleeves of my jacket. She sat on the other chair and went to put on her shoes.