for my life. Yet what I wanted was the raven-haired goddess writhing beneath me right now as our lips bruised each other.
I’d been right—Sloane was all flashing teeth and long, sultry kisses, her body equal parts lush and dangerous, softly voluptuous and ridged with strength. She was a goddamn bombshell, and for some reason, she was as drawn to me as I was to her. My fingers teased along the curve of her round ass, gripping her hip beneath her tantalizingly short dress. My lips moved back to her neck, needing to taste her skin. I breathed in the scent of her hair, wrapped the strands of it around my other hand, pinned her down so I could more easily savor her.
Although ravish was a more accurate description of what I was doing to her right now. I licked her collarbone, tongued the swell of her breasts, pushing up from her dress. Took the side of her neck between my teeth, bit her like a fucking vampire. She responded by gripping my cock and giving it a delicious drag of her fingers.
“Sloane.” Was that my voice—ragged and rough? She crashed her mouth against mine again, palmed my cock, whimpered with pleasure as I growled and lost my mind.
She bit my bottom lip, tugged it. I sat up, brought her with me, my hands moving up her spine to grip big fistfuls of her untamed hair. She held my face, kept our mouths an inch apart. Her gorgeous legs were straddling my waist. I could feel the heat of her pussy through my pants, knew she’d feel so sweet, taste so sweet.
Actually, sweet wasn’t the word. Intoxicating. I was drunk out of my goddamn mind on Sloane, who was staring at me with absolute vulnerability. How was that possible? But there she was—open for me, still an ancient, warrior goddess but a humble one, a seeking one.
My heart noticed. Responded. God, no, my subconscious yelled. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She wasn’t supposed to be staring at me like this, emotions out of control and messy and needing me. I didn’t do need. I didn’t do yearning.
So why couldn’t I stop staring at her like we were lovers reuniting after years apart?
“Abe?” she whispered. “What just happened to us?” Her thumb traced my lip. I kissed it. She dipped her head back down, kissed me, lingering, breathing me in. My hands moved over her body, tugging her closer, fisting in her hair again.
What just happened to us? The fuck if I knew. I only knew a desire so compelling I didn’t care if we were wrapped around each other in the middle of a fucking bar, in the middle of a fucking case, waiting for Eudora to—
In the middle of a bar, in the middle of a case.
My body froze, my hands froze, my eyes flew open—and Sloane sensed my shift in focus.
“Shit, we can’t be—”
“Oh my god.” Our server screeched to a halt by our table, so surprised by what she saw that she dropped her tray of drinks. In a second, glasses were tumbling to the ground, glass shattering, the hostess exclaiming.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Sloane said quickly, launching off my lap and dropping to the floor. She grabbed the woman’s hand.
“We’ll clean this up. It’s our fault,” she said.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t, um, I mean, we can’t have you—” She flushed, visibly shaken. I felt like an ass. I made a mental note to leave the largest tip possible for her before we left tonight. A tip and a written apology.
“We’re so sorry,” I said, placing the tray back in her hand as Sloane scooped up ice. “It’s our fault. Things got out of hand. It won’t happen again.”
“It’s a romantic place,” the server said. “You’re certainly not the first couple or, rather, group of people I’ve caught snogging each other’s brains out.”
Sloane and I both sputtered a little, shook our heads. Avoided eye contact completely.
“Can I bring you replacements for your drinks?” she asked.
“Please,” Sloane and I said in unison. Although I still wouldn’t be touching a drop of it. Everything about this situation and my instincts had already been compromised by that kiss.
As if sensing my thoughts, Sloane stared up at me from her position on the ground, holding tumblers and napkins. Her lips were parted, chest still heaving slightly. The server scurried away, and I reached out, squeezed Sloane’s shoulder. She covered my hand with hers, and we both took one, long, steadying breath