other direction as Billings led a stumbling DiCrescenzo toward the men’s room. He wove around the people blocking his way, pushing the door open and stepping out into the cool night air. He looked left and right but didn’t immediately spot the woman. But then he saw a flash of golden hair and realized she was ducking into a black SUV down the block. He walked toward it, unsure now. He had no read on this situation, was completely out of his element, truth be told.
“Are you coming?” the woman called from the open back door of the vehicle. She’d ordered an Uber. That must have been what she was typing into her phone at the bar. That had only been a minute after they’d started chatting, though. When had she decided to ask him to leave with her? Reed hesitated for only a moment before jogging toward the car. He climbed inside and closed the door as the car pulled away from the curb.
“What’s your address?” she asked.
Reed hesitated but then gave the address of his apartment in downtown Cincinnati, an historic building that had been turned into condos, only five minutes away. The woman leaned forward, addressing the driver. “Can you take us to that address?”
The driver nodded, repeating the address, and typing it into his GPS. She sat back, scooting next to Reed and leaning toward him. There was a brief second where their eyes met in the dim light of the vehicle and he swore he saw uncertainty move over her features. But before he could be sure it wasn’t just a trick of the light, she was pressing her lips to his and his mind went blank. He opened to her. It wasn’t even a choice—almost instinct—as if he’d been built to innately respond to her, and she slid her tongue between his lips. She kissed him almost tentatively at first, and then with growing hunger as he met her tongue with his own, the kiss going deeper, spiraling dizzily.
“Are you drunk?” she asked breathily against his mouth when they came up for air.
Am I? Fuck, he felt drunk. Only, no. It was like being drunk, only without the bleariness. “No,” he said, and he had the odd sense that it wasn’t the answer she was hoping for.
The Uber came to a stop and when he glanced up, he saw they were in front of his building. She opened the door, and he followed her out of the car, nodding thanks at the obviously embarrassed driver on his way out. “Have fun,” the young guy said, smirking as Reed closed the door.
Reed took the woman’s hand as he led her toward his building, keying in his code and leading her to the open elevator. The door slid closed behind them and she took a step toward him, pressing her body against his as he stumbled backward against the wall. He smiled against her mouth. “Whoa,” he said, his words stolen by the warm press of her full lips. God, she tasted so good. Like warmth and wine, and some feminine sweetness he couldn’t describe any better than that. Blood pulsed in his groin. He wanted to slow down and speed up, and he really wanted to understand this woman and know what she was thinking.
That’s stupid, Davies. Just enjoy this for whatever it might be.
But that wasn’t him. He’d never gone home with a stranger from a bar. She ran her hand over his crotch, cupped him as she continued to lap at his tongue with hers, and he groaned from the pure pleasure of the moment. The intensity. The white-hot lust throbbing through his veins. And why? Why couldn’t this be him? Just for tonight. Just with her. He wanted a taste of her beautiful body. He wanted to see her, touch her. This perfect stranger who he desired so strongly, he ached.
The elevator dinged, and they both startled, laughing as their mouths broke free, stumbling from the car. He reached in his pocket for his key, inserting it easily—thank God—into the keyhole and pushing open the door. She flipped the switch on the wall, flooding the hallway with light. He closed the door and their mouths met again, hands roaming, bodies pressing. Glorious.
It had all happened so fast, he wondered distantly if he might be dreaming. He felt out of his body, out of his mind, and he grasped for control, to bring himself up from the depths of the place she’d led