Rescue Me(5)

"You like dancing?"

Meredith smiled, warming up at the turn in the conversation. People rarely asked her about the thing she loved most in the world. "It's my passion," she said, unsure why she was revealing this to a virtual stranger. "But it's been a long time since I've had the chance."

If he wondered why he didn't ask. "Maybe we should remedy that with someone who knows what he's doing?" His eyes were intense, sucking her in again. She didn't stand a chance of resisting.

Acting braver than she felt, she drained her drink, the thought that she better take it easy registering somewhere in the back of her brain. Surely one more couldn't hurt. "Why not?"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto the dance floor. She admired the view from behind as she followed him. He was strong. His shoulders were broad and his muscles rippled effortlessly as he moved as lithely as a tiger. He gripped her hand tighter as they squeezed through the crowd.

Finding a spot in the midst of the swaying bodies, he pulled her around and they were face to face, pressed together in the tight quarters. She brought her hands up to put a barrier between them or they would have been entirely too close. She tried to ignore the flutter in her stomach as her fingers grazed his stomach. The rock hard abs she found there were no surprise.

Then she was moving to the music, letting it fill her body and soul, and her hesitations dissipated. She fell into the old familiar zone where she was one with the music and nothing else mattered except the dance. She closed her eyes and moved her hips to the beat, enjoying the feeling of letting go. When she opened them again, she found Cole staring at her, something simmering just beneath the surface. She smiled at him, more relaxed than she'd been all night. He lifted one corner of his mouth in response, then took her arms and spun her around so he was behind her.

Meredith laughed and fell into an easy rhythm with him. He was good. Thank God. It was rare for her to find a dance partner that could keep up with her and she loved it.

Lifting her arms above her head she moved closer to him, still holding his hands. He slowly trailed his fingertips down her bare arms, sending a delicious chill through her and causing gooseflesh to follow in its wake. His hands continued down her sides to her hips and he gripped her tightly. She let her arms drop back, her fingers lightly grazing his neck.

The music changed and slowed, and Cole pulled her even more tightly against him and bent his head to her ear again. "You're amazing," he breathed.

Meredith leaned back against his chest and let out a low laugh. "You haven't seen anything yet."

Spinning in his arms, she ran her hands up his chest and pressed her hips into his. His hands clenched where they rested on her and she let her head fall back, reveling in the feel of forgetting everything else but the moment. Her eyes snapped open when she felt his warm breath again, his lips dangerously close to her neck. Trailing a knuckle from her jaw all the way down to her shoulder and back up, his eyes bore into hers. When he brushed a thumb over her lips, her tongue darted out to wet them in response.

Whoa.

What started out as flirting and dancing had just taken on an entirely different tone. Time to walk away. She tried to remember it was just a fun night out, but dancing had a way of making her let go of any rational thoughts. She felt light and heady and didn't want to stop. Against her better judgment, she couldn't make herself walk away from this man.

So instead she wound her arms around his neck again and let him pull her tighter against him.

***





Damn.

This woman was going to be the death of him. Cole barely resisted crushing his mouth down over hers. The way her body moved was like some primal mating ritual. She was made for sex, and he had no doubt it would be mind-blowing.

He knew he shouldn't let this continue. He was going against everything he'd vowed not to do, but he couldn't seem to make himself stop. When she ground her hips against his again, he knew there was no disguising what she was doing to him. She lifted sultry eyes to his and he groaned.

"You're making me want to do much more than dance with you, baby," he murmured so only she could hear. Her eyes widened slightly and Cole was shocked to realize she didn't see how unbelievably sexy she was. She wasn't like the women that typically threw themselves at him.

It made him want her even more.

Which was exactly why he should stop. Put some distance between them. Instead, he found himself asking, "You want to go outside?"

He could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she debated whether or not it was a good idea. When she nodded, instead of feeling his usual triumph at getting a woman to leave with him, he just felt relieved. He was half afraid she was going to run in the other direction.

Crushing her to his side, he guided her through the open beach entrance and out onto the sand.

***





Meredith couldn't believe she was following this guy outside. She didn't even know him. She must be crazy. But that was what she wanted, right? To be a little wild and crazy on vacation. To stop being so uptight and live her life while she was still young.

Stop over-thinking!

She always seemed to do that these days. What happened to the carefree girl who went wherever the wind blew her? Obligation.

Well, she could leave that behind. For one night anyway. The prospect of a night with this man had her smiling. She'd had a few drinks, so she wasn't sure how much that was influencing her, but since she'd determined to stop thinking so much she pushed the question aside.