I catch a glimpse of hazel eyes glittering down like priceless gems before his mouth seals to mine.
I’m drowning in contact. His body pressed up against every inch of my back. One hand a collar around my neck, the other a teasing peek at what’s coming.
Raising my hands to link behind his neck and curl into his hair, I offer myself to him. Let him eat my mouth and feast on his in return. Let him hold me up when I feel like falling.
Someone stumbles against me, breaking our contact, and in that brief second sanity makes a searing return.
What the hell am I doing?
I tear myself out of his grip, refusing to meet his gaze. “I’ll…uh…be back. I need to go to the ladies’ room.”
He lets me go; expression neutral.
The bathroom is a tiny rectangle divided by a partitioned toilet and an area for a dubious-looking pedestal sink. I pee, thighs burning as I hover over the seat, and then flush and pull my pants up, half-zipping as I head to the sink to wash my hands.
I catch sight of myself in the mirror as I soap and rinse, hesitating over the ceramic bowl.
Who is this woman, all flushed and pink and almost pretty?
My eyes glitter with the alcohol and something else…anticipation, maybe. I’m not a first date kind of girl…not even a second or third date kind of girl…but there’s something about Shiloh that calls to me. Makes me think about breaking my own arbitrary rules.
Shaking my hands free of water, I twist the faucet handles and turn to pull a paper towel from the wall dispenser.
That’s when the door opens and the lights simultaneously turn off, and the bathroom is plunged into a Stygian darkness.
Forgetting the paper towel, I hold myself still, unbreathing, and allow the black to settle over me. Air wafts over the bare skin of my arms, raising gooseflesh, and I shiver.
I’mnot alone.
“Hello?” I say, proud when my voice doesn’t shake. “If you’re going for creep factor, mission accomplished. You can turn the light back on now.”
A low chuckle sounds, and then silence falls. Outside the room, I hear the muffled sound of music and people. The darkness seems to magnify it and my aloneness.
“Asshole,” I mutter and move to where I know the door is. I walk into a body, instead, a tall one, obviously male, and built.
Definitely not a female.
I step back hastily, the sound of my shoe scuffing against the tiled floor echoing in the small room.
“Shiloh?”
There’s no answer. Anger flares, along with irritation. I lift my hands and place them in the vicinity of the man’s chest and shove. “All right, asshole. Move the fuck on.”
Hands come up and curl around my own on his chest, pulling and pressing them deeper into the skin beneath what feels like a T-shirt. I dig my fingernails into him, drawn by some subversive lure I don’t want to examine too closely.
Because it’s Shiloh, I tell myself.That’s why.
I sink my fingers into his chest and letmyself feel. Heat. Strength. Power.
Control.
From the moment I touched him, though, I knew—I was no longer in control…probably never was.
Shaking my head, I try one more time to gather a shred of mastery over myself. I step back, and the man follows, backing me into the sink. “Why are you here, little ghost?”
“Little ghost?”
My brow creases with a frown. His voice is so low it’s hard to tell…but…is this Shiloh? I shake my head and the idea that it’s not him…not Shiloh…away. He watched me walk in here. I let out an uneasy laugh.
