“Nothing,” she says and I start to sway her back and forth to the beat of the music. She’s right, this isn’t a song for dancing, but I don’t care. Her fingers grip my shoulder and I inhale her perfume. It’s spicy and sweet. Like her. I wish her hair were down.

People are probably staring at us, but I don’t care. All I care about in this particular moment is the beautiful woman in my arms and how easy it is to get her to do what I want her to do. To lead her. She’s pliable, soft. But something tells me beneath all that, there’s something sharp and unyielding. Like a blade sheathed in silk. We sway together and I try not to think about how close her hips are and how much I would love to fuck her while listening to this song.

Her heart pounds against my chest. A frenetic drum that seems to spur my own into faster action. She sighs softly and melts even more into me. For just a moment, all I see is her, all I feel is her, everything is her.

And then the song ends and she’s smiling and I notice that she has four barely-there freckles on her nose.

“Thank you. That was wonderful.” She’s pulling herself from my arms and it takes a moment for me to let her go. I shake my head to clear it and smile back at her. We sit down again and our meals arrive.

I wait until she cuts a tiny piece of the duck with her knife and spears it on her fork.

“You scared?” I ask as she studies it.

“I’m not scared of anything,” she says before putting the fork in her mouth and then drawing it out slowly. She chews for a moment and then nods.

“It’s delicous.” I pick up my napkin and spread it on my lap before I start to eat.

“You’re a good dancer,” she says, taking a sip of her wine. I stare at the red residue of her lipstick on the glass for a second.

“That wasn’t exactly dancing. You should see me with enough floor space and a good song for waltzing,” I say, giving her another smile. It’s difficult sometimes, maintaining the balance of smiling too little or too much. Too little and you seem cold, too much and you don’t seem genuine.

“That’s something I’d definitely like to see,” she says.

“Maybe you will.”

We don’t touch again until I take her hand to lead her out of the restaurant. She leans toward me the slightest bit.

“Thank you so much for bringing me here. That was nice.” Her fingers grip my arm a little too tight. I fold her shawl over her shoulders and she looks up at me. Those green eyes can be a bit unnerving when you’re staring right into them. I have a very specific plan, but I decide to deviate from it.

“Would you like to go for a walk?” I ask and her lips turn up slowly.

“Do you read minds, Quinn Brand?”

“Only redheads,” I say as we leave the restaurant and start walking down the street. “Going to be okay in those shoes?”

She stops and sticks one of her feet out in front, as if she’s studying it.

“These old things? Psh, I could run a marathon in these.” I bet she could. We resume walking and she tugs me closer.

“Are you cold?” I ask.

“No,” she says.

Interesting. I’m going to take her lead and see what she’ll let me get away with. If we had it my way, I would have pulled her into the nearest dark alley, pulled up her dress and fucked her hard against the dirty stone of the building.

But I’m not sure if Saige is that kind of girl and I don’t want to ruin something that hasn’t even started. It’s easier to stay in her good graces than get myself out and then back in.

Tendrils of her hair swirl in the breeze and I want to capture one with my fingers.

“What are you thinking about?” she asks. The silence between us has been easy instead of awkward. I like that.

“You.” I say the first thing that comes to mind.

She turns her head and looks at me from under her black-slicked lashes.

“Yeah? What about me?”

I’m not going to tell her what I’m really thinking, of course, but I almost consider it, just to see what she’d say.

“About how pretty your hair is. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a color quite like that.” She tucks a strand behind the ear that doesn’t have the white flower on it.

“Well, I can’t exactly take credit for it. I had nothing to do with it.” I chuckle a little and we reach an intersection.

“Where to?” I ask.

“Left,” she says, pointing, so we wait until the way is clear and cross.

“What are your plans for the rest of the night?” she asks.

“I’m not sure. I’m only thinking about right now.”

“Smooth, Quinn Brand.”

“Thank you.” She stops walking and I nearly trip, which is unlike me. This woman has put me off-balance more than once this evening already.

“But I don’t want to know the answer you think I want to hear. I don’t want to hear a line you’ve fed to other women. I want to know what you want to happen. Just tell me.” She turns to face me and her hands grip my lapels. She’s almost close enough to kiss, but I’m not going to. She doesn’t want to know what I’d like to do with her, but I’m going to tell her anyway. Just to see what happens.

“I’ve been thinking that I’d like to pull you into an alley. Any alley. Run my hands over your skin, rip the pins out of your hair, yank up your dress and fuck you until your back is bleeding from being rubbed up against the wall behind you. And then I’d want to take you somewhere with a bed so I can fuck you some more. Satisfied?”

Her mouth is slightly open, but her eyes aren’t filled with shock at all. They’re filled with fire and if I stare into them too long, she’s going to consume me. She blinks and I try to pull back, but she’s still holding onto me.

“Why don’t you? Are you scared?” She’s taunting me and I’m starting to get pissed off.

“Are you asking me to fuck you? I will. Don’t think for a second that I won’t.”

She lets go of me and takes a step back.

“Then fuck me.”

Nine

I really wish she would stop surprising me. I’m getting tired of it.

“That’s what you want?” I say and I can’t stop the rush that goes through my body as I think about doing that very thing. I’ve been hard for her since the moment we first made eye contact. And she’s been teasing me all night.

“Yes. That’s what I want,” she says, and that’s all I need to hear. With one quick look in either direction, I yank her into me and shove her down the nearest alley. The buildings are angled so barely any light from the street comes through. I’d like to see her, but it doesn’t matter right now.

“I’m not going to be gentle,” I say right before I push her up against the wall. She gasps. Half in pain and half in… desire. A single shard of orange light from the streetlight catches her face and shows me her eyes. Perfect.

I allow myself one moment of looking at her glittering eyes before I claim her mouth with mine. She tastes like vanilla and cinnamon and heat and need.

I don’t often lose control, but I feel myself pushing so hard against her, she’s gasping, her breaths coming out in little jerks. But she doesn’t push me away, not even when I plunge my tongue into her mouth to claim her even further. She just hooks her leg around me and digs her fingers into my scalp, urging me to give her more.

My lips slide against hers, lubricated by her lipstick. Our noses collide, making my eyes water, but I don’t let go of her, don’t stop.

Before I can think, my hands are moving down her body, scrabbling at the edge of her dress, yanking her underwear out of the way because I don’t have the patience to take them off her. I doubt I could stop at this point, even if she asked me to. Her hands fumble with my pants and the moment she touches my cock my brain explodes and I jerk away from the kiss. I hear her moan and my eyes snap open to find her looking at me with one eyebrow raised.