“Where are we going, Brooks?” I whisper.
“You’ll see,” he replies, his shoulders squared away from me.
Just as I’m about to make a break for it, turn and run back to the party, the ground levels out before us. Brooks stops dead in his tracks, and I crash right into his rock solid body. I look around wildly, but there’s nothing around us except low hills and dusty terrain.
“What...uh...” I stammer. “Why did we stop?”
“You’re such a city chick,” he laughs, stepping up behind me. His manner softens just slightly as he eases up against my body. Brooks places a hand dangerously low on my hip, and raises my chin with the other.
“Look up,” he whispers roughly.
My blue eyes go wide as I lift them to the heavens. Above us hang a million blazing pinpricks of light. The stars careen overhead in a sprawling, incomprehensible array. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life. I let my bag fall heavily from my shoulder, and it lands with a thump in the dust beside me.
“Bet you don’t have skies like this in New York,” Brooks grins.
“No...” I breathe, impressed that he remembered the hometown of my alias.
“What did I tell you,” he goes on, his voice riding low in his chest, “I can show you all kinds of things, Red.”
I let my head fall back against his firm chest as he brushes my hair to the side. He trails his fingertips along the bare curve of my neck, across my collarbone, down toward my breasts—
“Brooks,” I say breathlessly, spinning around to face him.
“Just let go,” he urges, grabbing me at the waist. His fingers nearly circle my slender torso as I rest my hands on the hard panes of his chest. “You want me. I want you. We’re out here, all alone...”
“I know,” I say, shaking my head. “I just—”
“What?” he rasps, his green eyes gleaming in the moonlight. “What’s stopping you?”
I slip my quaking hands beneath his cut, my palms skimming along every defined muscle. My fingers close around his metal flask, cool against my skin. I unscrew the top and knock back a long swallow of courage. The fiery gulp sets the landscape around me spinning. In the entire world, Brooks is the only solid thing. The only thing that matters.
“I just really needed that,” I laugh nervously.
“You missed a drop there,” Brooks growls, his eyes dropping to my mouth, “let me get it for you...”
In one swift motion, Brooks catches my lips in his. The kiss sets every cell of my body spinning out of control. I dissolve into him, my body softening in his strong, sure arms. I catch his powerful, scruffy jaw in my quaking hands as our mouths open together. His tongue glides against my own, and the taste of him—whiskey, smoke, richness and warmth—bewitches me completely. I wrap my arms around his broad shoulders as he slides his hands over the rise of my ass.
He tugs me against him, and a moan builds in my throat. I can feel his cock, rock hard against me. My hips grind against him as my sex throbs with want. I can feel myself growing wetter by the second. Brooks’ tongue fills my mouth as his kisses become more urgent. I can only imagine what it’s like to be filled by him everywhere.
Maybe I’m about to find out.
“Goddammit Red,” he says, kissing along the tender skin of my throat, “I can taste how badly you want me. I can practically smell it.”
“I’m gonna need another shot if you keep talking like that,” I laugh, plucking up his flask once again.
I slip out from under his arms, giggling like a teenager. His crooked smile widens as I dash across the dusty ground, egging him on. He sets off after me, a patient cat toying with his mouse before pouncing. I bring the flask thirstily to my lips. The stars are already blurring above me, but I’m too overwhelmed by the moment to care. I can feel myself letting go, loosening the iron grip of composure and anxiety that’s kept me unhappy all these years.
“Slow down, babe,” Brooks calls, “or I’m gonna have to carry you back.”
“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” I grin, spinning around to face him. “You’d just love to throw me over your shoulder and carry me back to your cave.”
“Of course I would,” he says. “Do you have any idea what you do to me? Just look at you. I’d be fucking crazy not to make you mine.”
“Is that what you’re going to do?” I ask, struggling to focus on Brooks as the world around me spins madly on. He catches up to where I stand, steadying me. “Are you going to make me yours, Brooks?”
“Don’t you get it, Red?” he says, running his hands through my hair. “I already have.”
He lowers his lips to mine once more, running his hands down my sides. Any pretense of restraint I had goes flying away into the brilliant night sky. Screw decorum. Screw modesty. Screw the rules. Sure, I just met the guy yesterday. And sure, he doesn’t even know my real name. I’ll have to sort this all out at some point. But that can wait for tomorrow. Right now, all I care about is the gorgeous, incomparable man in front of me.
“I don’t usually do things like this...” I murmur, giving my full weight to Brooks’ strong, cut arms.
“I can tell,” he grins. “I bet you’ve never met a guy like me, have you?”
“Hell no,” I laugh, letting my head fall tipsily against his shoulder.
“If it makes you feel any better, Red,” he says, brushing the hair out of my face, “I’ve never met a girl like you, either.”
“Don’t usually go for redheads?” I grin.
“Oh, I go for redheads every chance I get,” he laughs, running those perfect hands all over my body, “But a smart, feisty, ballsy redhead who always looks like she’s keeping a secret? Not so much.”
“I’m not keeping a secret,” I insist, trying to keep the alarm from my voice. How could he have guessed a thing like that?
“Everyone’s got a secret,” he says, cocking an eyebrow, “And the people who deny that have the biggest secrets of all. I should know.”
“I...That’s not...” I stammer, fighting for coherence and losing to the whiskey pulsing through my veins.
“Looks like you’re going to need a ride after all,” Brooks grins, his green eyes sparkling with mischief. Suddenly the sky flips upside down, and I feel my feet fly away from the ground.