“Taz seemed really nice,” I whispered, surrounded by his heat and strength and the realization that there was absolutely nobody who knew where I was right now. Okay. Painter might’ve been onto something—going out into the dark with Taz had been stupid, because I knew Taz even less than I knew Painter, and I had a feeling that hanging in the dark with my prison pen pal wasn’t going to end well. Suddenly his hand caught my ass, lifting me up and slamming me back against the wall. My arms clutched his shoulders and my legs wrapped around his waist.

Holy. Shit.

Bad idea or not, I don’t think I’d ever been more turned on in my life. How many times had I dreamed about something like this? Painter’s mouth dropped down to my ear, catching it in his teeth just tight enough to hurt. I felt the hardness between his legs grinding into me as need exploded through my body. He smelled so good . . . My hips twisted, desperate for more. Painter groaned.

“Fuck me,” he muttered, almost to himself. “You realize what I could do to you out here? Christ, Mel. There’s nobody to hear if you scream. I can strip you down and fuck your brains out whether you want me to or not.”

I couldn’t breathe for a minute—he could strip me down and fuck my brains out. Something clenched, deep inside. (My vagina. It was my vagina doing the clenching.)

“What if I don’t want to scream?”

He groaned again, pulling his head back to look at me. Then he licked his lips and I wanted to kiss him so bad I thought it might kill me.

So fucking do it already.

I didn’t give myself a chance to think it through—I just grabbed his head and smashed my mouth into his. He froze for an instant and then I felt his hand twist tight in my hair, tilting my head to the side as he took control of the kiss.

Now’s the part where I tell you that a choir of angels descended from the heavens, while unicorns frolicked and I spontaneously orgasmed against the wall of the Armory courtyard. That’s how it always reads in books, but what can I say? There weren’t any unicorns. Pretty damned sure I heard the angels singing, though, and I was definitely working my way toward an orgasm. Painter’s hips were grinding into mine and my nipples were hard as rocks, his chest crushing me as his tongue took over my world.

Then he shifted, his dick finding exactly the right spot. I wanted him inside me so bad, but this was amazing, too, because I felt every muscle in my body twisting tight. My fingers spasmed in his hair and my hips bucked and then his hand squeezed my ass hard and I fell over the edge.

Damn. DAMN.

Not sure, but I think I caught a glimpse of a unicorn. Could’ve just been the alcohol. Slowly I came back to myself. Painter was still kissing me, softer now although I knew he hadn’t come. Nope, that cock of his was still hard and ready for more. Then he pulled back and lowered me to the ground, breathing heavily. I swayed as I reached down between us, finding the denim-covered bulge between his legs and squeezing it.

“No,” he said, teeth gritted. “We need to get you home.”

His body didn’t agree, though, because his hips were pushing back against my hand, begging for more. I squeezed again, running my hand firmly up and down his considerable length, wondering what he’d taste like.

I decided to find out and dropped to my knees.

That seemed to set him off, because he grabbed my arms, jerking me up and shoving me away in one rough motion. I stumbled back and tripped over a tree root, weaving for an instant before falling on my ass into a clump of grass.

“You ever hear the phrase ‘No means no’?” he snarled, looking down at me with something as close to fear as I’d ever seen on his face. “Pretty sure I read that on a poster somewhere. I don’t want you like this, Mel.”

The fall hadn’t been enough to knock the wind out of me, but that one sentence sure as hell did. Shit. I’d attacked him and gotten off on it. He didn’t want me to do it and I’d done it anyway. There was a name for people who pull shit like that.

That wasn’t a protest you felt grinding against you, girl. That was a cock and it wanted inside in a bad way.

No. That didn’t matter, because whatever his body might say, his brain wasn’t on board. I’d been dropping down to give him a blow job and he didn’t even want it.

Fucking pathetic.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, feeling like I might throw up. God, why did I drink so much? It turned me into an idiot. Painter reached down, offering me his hand.

“C’mon, let’s go,” he said, his voice still strained. “Didn’t mean to knock you down. Christ, what a cluster.”

“S’okay,” I mumbled, wondering if I could just slink off somewhere. Sit and wallow in my own pathetic juices for a while before calling London and begging for a ride home. “I’m really sorry I kissed you.”

“I gotta get you out of here. Jesus. You need to stay the fuck away from me, Mel. I can’t handle this shit. Next time just come at me with a gun—it’ll be fuckin’ easier for both of us.”

•   •   •

What followed was an exercise in humiliation, blended with ghastly, drunken spins and topped off with utter exhilaration. Why? Because he decided to give me a ride home on his motorcycle. I’d forgotten how big and intimidating his black and gold Harley was. I mean, I’d seen it parked on the street last weekend during the move and knew it wasn’t some little dirt bike . . . but it still seemed bigger up close—somehow more real. Scary.

Sexy.

Why did it have to be sexy?

Painter threw his leg over the bike and sat down, gesturing for me to join him. I climbed up, sliding down into his butt as I tried to tuck my skirt in somehow. He caught my hands, wrapping them tight around his waist. Holy hell.

I spread my hands out, feeling the hard flex of his stomach muscles under his shirt as I rested my head against his back. His Reapers colors were flush against my face, and I smelled the leather of his vest.

How was it possible to be so embarrassed and turned on at the same time?

Then Painter gunned the Harley to life between my legs, and let me just state this for the record—anyone who tries to tell you that a motorcycle isn’t a phallic machine has obviously never been on one. Before the kiss, I’d have given anything to ride with him on his bike. Unfortunately tonight had fallen to shit and back—all I wanted was to crawl into my bed and pull the covers over my head.

If I got very, very lucky, maybe this whole thing would turn out to be a crazy nightmare.

The ride passed in a blur. One second we were pulling out of the Armory and the next we’d stopped in front of my house. I was off the bike and headed up the walk in an instant, praying that Jessica had left a Fudgsicle for me because I needed one. Purely medicinal.

“Mel,” he called from behind me.

“Thanks for the ride,” I answered, refusing to look at him or slow down.

“Mel!” he said, raising his voice in command. Reluctantly I stopped and turned to look back at him, almost falling on my ass again. I didn’t like being drunk, I decided. Nothing was working right and it’d stopped being fun.

“What?”

“You need to text London and Kit,” he said, his voice almost kind. “Let them know you’re okay. Tell them I brought you home.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling sheepish because it hadn’t even occurred to me. (Definitely no more getting super drunk—I just wasn’t very good at it.) I pulled out my phone and saw several missed texts. Crap. The first was from London, about forty-five minutes ago.

LONDON: Have fun but be careful, Mel. Taz is cute . . . he’s also a player.

Then fifteen minutes later.

LONDON: I didn’t see where you went—you okay?

And finally . . .

LONDON: I’m worried about you, Mel. Please text and let me know you’re all right.