The Darkest Corner (Gravediggers #1)(62)

Henry would have a cow if he could see her now. She held on a little tighter just because she could.

She didn't know how long they rode. Once they got on the road and picked up speed, the temperature dropped drastically and she was more grateful than ever that she'd changed clothes. He drove up and down the streets of Last Stop and around the outskirts of town. He finally turned the bike onto a narrow, graveled road and then walked it up to a metal gate that said "No Trespassing" and had a keypad. He typed in a code and they waited as the gate swung inward. Then he revved the engine once and they took off down the graveled lane, dust flying behind them.

She recognized the area they were in, though she hardly ever came out this direction. It was nothing but fields with tall amber wheatgrass that blew in the wind and a small lake that had been used as a fishing tank when she was a kid. It was an area that had once been used for carnivals when they passed through town, but that had been a long time ago. She hadn't realized Eve had purchased the land along with the funeral home. 

He took them all the way down, between the tall grasses and toward a bank of trees that hovered over the lake. Her ears rang as he cut the engine, and she wasn't quite sure what to do next.

"You might be a little stiff," he said over his shoulder. "Can you get off?"

She held onto his shoulders and swung a leg over, keeping her hand on him to maintain her balance. And then she pulled her helmet off and took a deep breath.

"Holy cow," she said. "That was intense."

"What do you think? You going to get your own in the big city?"

"The jury is still out. We might have to do more riding first." Her hair was damp at the temples from the helmet, and her arms and neck were pink from the sun. She hadn't thought about that part.

"Whose property is this?" she asked.

"Eve purchased it when she bought the funeral home." He took off his helmet, and a couple of strands hung loose, and the look in his eyes was so intense it almost took her breath away. "There's no one here but us."

The late afternoon sun gleamed off the water and filtered through the trees, and the tall wheatgrass blew softly. The smell of mud and ozone was heavy-the lake water had been stirred up by all the rain, and it was murky. There was a small breeze, but the air was humid and the dark clouds in the distance showed there'd be more rain to come.

He dismounted the bike and took her helmet, hooking it to the back of the bike with his. And then he came toward her and heat spread like wildfire low in her body. She'd always had such great self-control. She could compartmentalize her needs and be satisfied without ever feeling . . . enough . . . sexually.

But Deacon made her a liar. She would never be able to compartmentalize again. She knew what need was now. What it was to want something so desperately that the body physically ached for it.

"I've got some things to tell you," he said. "Do you want me to tell you before or after I kiss you?"

"After," she said without hesitation. "Long after."

He pulled her to him, and his mouth was suddenly on hers. Hot and wet, and there was a desperation he hadn't let slip through when he'd kissed her before. She clung to him, her body molding to his, and her fingers tangled in his hair. She kissed him recklessly, as if she were dying and he was the elixir of life.

Light danced across her closed eyelids, and everything around her faded away in a whoosh as the blood drummed in her ears. Every sound was distant-the leaves as they rustled in the wind, the water as it lapped against the land, and the low rumble of thunder growling in warning in the distance.

He tasted of something dark and dangerous. Something she hadn't known she'd wanted until she'd sampled the power of it. She'd never been so aroused in her entire life. Not with just the touch of lips. Her nipples rubbed against his chest, hard and aching for more.

She'd never thought of her breasts as an erogenous zone. She always thought them too small to feel pleasure. But now they felt full and heavy, and each time her sensitive nipples scraped across his chest she could feel the echoing sensation between her thighs.

His erection pressed against her stomach, hot and hard, but it wasn't where she wanted it. She wrapped her leg around his waist and his hands cupped her ass, lifting her so the hard length of him notched exactly where she needed it to.

He spun her and she went dizzy at the sensation, her pulse pounding and her body throbbing. She barely noticed when he sat her on the cushioned seat of the motorcycle. But the second he tried to pull away, her eyes snapped open, wild with lust.

"Lean back on the seat," he ordered. "And grab onto the handlebars."