Sierra clicked on her phone and ordered the Uber.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you decide to come sit with me?”
The answer sprung to her lips without hesitation. “Instinct.”
Satisfaction flickered over his face. Slowly, he nodded. “Yes.”
It was time to go. Every second spent this close to him wore down the last of her barriers. Sierra couldn’t get greedy. Being with him for these hours was special. He reminded her there was something else for her other than the marriage that had slowly eroded her own identity.
“Goodbye,” she said.
His eyes sparked with regret. “Goodbye.”
He bent down to brush a kiss to her cheek, but she tilted her head upwards at the same time.
Their lips slid together in a whisper light touch.
Her entire being jolted at the contact. Her muscles clenched in a desperate effort to take a step back, but her senses were already demanding more, automatically leaning in. A growl vibrated in her ear. Hard hands gripped her hips as he did it again, pressing another barely-there kiss against her trembling mouth.
He pulled back an inch. Sierra held her breath. Heat burned between them. His glittering green-gold gaze crashed into hers.
And then they were kissing, a wild, hungry tangling of tongues as they pressed together in an effort for more. Sierra’s head spun at the taste of him—stinging whiskey and spice that made her spin. She opened her mouth to the silky, demanding thrusts of his tongue and let herself go under.
He broke away. Jaw tight, he grit out the words she barely registered. “Cancel the Uber.”
Sierra managed a jerky nod.
Then followed him to his room.
He ushered her inside without a word. The room was dark and neither of them reached for the light.
Other than her first year at college, Sierra didn’t have much experience with one-night stands. To her, they were drunken, fumbling events that were more for release than connection. Events that were barely remembered in the morning after separation. But with this man?
Sierra wouldn’t forget a moment.
The fact scared her enough to speak up. “This can only be for tonight.”
He looked at her, then slowly nodded. “Okay. One night.”
“No names.”
A smile touched his lips. He closed the distance between them. “No names.” He reached out his hand. “Shake on it?”
She smiled back and took his hand and then he was holding her and it was all over.
Over and over, through the hours of the night, they faded into one another; bodies slick with sweat, sheets tangled, the smell of sex lingering in the air. As dawn threatened, they finally collapsed into sleep.
The last words that drifted in her hazy memory were his ragged whisper against her ear.
“I don’t think I can ever let you go. And I don’t even know your name.”
Then there was nothing.
Sierra woke up.
