Reckless(42)

“I’ve just put you under my spell with my cooking. It’s been my evil plan all along.” She blinks up with playfulness tilting her lips, and I’m overwhelmed by how right this feels.

For some reason, I want to remember every detail of this moment.

How she glows in the moonlight.

How the chirp of crickets swells in the meadow around us.

How the scent of cedar and wet earth permeates the air.

And, for the first time in years, how alive I feel.

With her wild hair going every which way, her sleepy, dreamy eyes staring up at me through those thick lashes, and her skirt barely clinging to the tops of her thighs, I’m inclined to agree—this woman is wielding some powerful magic.

Clearing my throat, I lean in closer. “Whatever it is, I think I’m addicted.”

She hums in the back of her throat. “I like the sound of that.”

Our eyes meet. “Do you do this often? Hypnotize men with your spells?”

It’s her turn to laugh. The soft, sultry sound hits me square in my chest. “I haven’t had great luck in the relationship department, so my spells might need some work.”

Her confession surprises me. Tori is a drop-dead beautiful woman. Feisty as all get-out and playful as sin. I’m not sure why men aren’t falling at her feet, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to change her luck.

And maybe mine too.

She toys with the button on my shirt. “Have you wooed many women in the back of this truck?”

“Can’t say that I have. If anything, I’m pretty rusty when it comes to all this. Been outta the dating scene for a long time.”

“I thought country boys were all about seducing women with their big trucks and Southern charm.”

I drag my finger along the hollow of her throat, loving the way her breath picks up. “You looking to test out my stick shift?”

Her sexy laugh draws me closer. “If you think you can handle my speed.”

I’m pretty sure we’re not talking about my Ford.

When my lips graze hers, I tell her the truth. “I’d love to find out.”





23





Tori





Above us, ten thousand stars shine bright in the night sky. Parked in the pasture, with my arms full of this man as we make out in the bed of his truck, I’m a bundle of contradictions.

Burning hot but shivering.

Terrified but trusting.

Overwhelmed but wanting.

The stubble on his square jaw tickles my skin, and I lean into the kiss, needing to feel everything he can give me.

I don’t care that the rigid steel beneath me bites through the quilt and into my back. I don’t care that this thing between us could go wrong in a hundred different ways. I don’t care that I could fall way too hard for him.

I’m so tired of protecting myself. I want one night, one night where I can feel him and touch him and let myself go and not be fearful of getting hurt.

The breeze cuts through my poor excuse for an outfit, but Ethan’s warm body hovering so near heats my skin even though he’s leaning over me, bracing himself a respectable distance away. Keeping himself from tumbling into me.

But his hot kisses make me desperate for more.

“Come closer,” I mumble against his lips. He pauses, looking down at me with so much desire in his eyes, I could incinerate right here. “I’m not buzzed anymore, and I need you to come closer. Right now.”

A smirk breaks out on his face. “Demanding little thing, aren’t you?”

I let myself take him in. His disheveled hair that I’ve thoroughly finger-fucked. His five-o’clock shadow that scratches against my palm. Those perfectly sculpted lips, wet from my kisses.

“I’m demanding when I know what I want, and at this moment, more than anything, it’s you.” The relief I feel from saying those words is immediate.

I never used to be someone who held back, either with what I thought or felt, but the last year has messed with my head. Right now, though, in this dark field, wrapped in Ethan’s arms, I feel safe.

And I have to take a chance.

Just one.

Leaning up, I graze his lips with mine. “I want you. So much.”

He brushes his nose against mine. “Want you too, sweetness.”

Emotion swells in my body, making me hope for things I probably shouldn’t wish for.

One night, I remind myself. Take a chance tonight. Don’t think about tomorrow.

Slowly, I pull back. Those blue eyes darken as he watches my hands work the buttons on my bustier that run from between my breasts all the way down to my waist.

When I’m done, I return my hands to my sides and wait.

An eternity passes as his eyes travel down me, lingering where my top barely clings to the crests of my curves, and back up again. His deep voice breaks the silence with a raspy whisper. “You’re just about the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen with your clothes on. Not sure how you’re gonna rock my world if I take this top off you.”

A white-hot spark surges between us when I stare into his eyes.

“Maybe we should find out.” I wonder if he can hear my heart beating against my ribs. “Touch me, Ethan.”

He holds my stare as his rough palm wraps around my shoulder and slides down one strap of my top.