“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.
“What are you doing?”
“Have to go past the party to get to the front.”
I smirked. “You want to head to the villa or the party?”
She looked at me all sultry and perfect. “Well, I’m not in the mood for dancing.”
“You want to head back to the villa…with me?” I clarified.
“You’d let me walk back in the dark? Alone?” She pouted and I leaned over and licked her bottom lip. She gasped.
“Breathe,” I said against her mouth.
“You make it hard to breathe,” she contested, pulling on a shoe.
“Don’t your feet hurt?”
“Yes, but I’m not going to walk all the way there barefoot.”
