Eva

“What happens in Tijuana stays in Tijuana,” teased Amanda with a cheeky look on her face. She winked, handing the bouncer her passport. I was a little shocked that this shady Tijuana club was actually checking IDs, but I passed mine over, following her lead.

Sweaty bodies pulsed around me and I was pulled through the crowd as Amanda slipped through people ahead of me. A cold, damp, and hairy arm bumped into me, and I assumed it was a man’s. The seedy club was the type of place Amanda and I expected to get a drink spilled on us. Which is why we’d planned ahead and bought inexpensive—but still hot—outfits for the occasion. Mine was a red, tight fitted body-con number I found rummaging in a sale bin. The stunner was Amanda’s black, scoop neck, high-waisted skirt and crop top that complimented her curvy figure.

We were looking for a good time, not for a high-end club serving twenty-dollar cocktails, so this place was perfect. I settled against the sticky bar to scope out the terrain. Over the screaming speakers bleeding Latino salsa, I swear I could hear blaring horns from every taxi waiting outside the club.

“You know Eva, I’m glad you two broke up. Really, I am,” Amanda smiled, tossing her blond locks in an attempt to get the bartender’s attention. “He wasn’t that great anyway. I always thought he was a little shady.”

I turned to look at her, but my dress didn’t turn with me—it was stuck to the bar. Gross.

“Shady is an understatement,” I said. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t tell Amanda the truth about why I’d broken up with my boyfriend.  If I couldn’t handle the truth, why would I expect she’d be able to?

Amanda and I met in college at San Diego State, where we both majored in Psychology. She knew my dating habits better than I did. I’d always heeded my foster mom’s advice, and she’d told me to stay away from the bad guys, the unreliable guys. The guys who were apt to leave you high and dry.

Guys like my birth father, a man I’d never met.

A warm breeze rolled across my skin, soothing the scorching heat. I glanced across the bar, trying to figure out why we were still without drinks, when I glimpsed an extremely attractive man, young, tall and tattooed.

He looked like the type of criminal I might have chased down at my day job.

My stare lingered on him as he spoke with the bartender. A couple bodies separated us. His broad shoulders and thick biceps were covered with a black V-neck. The tight shirt accentuated each muscle, while tattoos poked out of the neckline. His icy blue irises did things to me, and when he ran a hand over his short brown hair I had to bite my lip.

He leaned on the bar. His gaze shifted, our eyes locked, and he didn’t look away. I didn’t either, frozen by the man’s gorgeous face.

He seemed like a guy who could probably get any girl he wanted, and would leave her high and dry given the chance. Still, a current of electricity ignited in my heart. When he smirked something inside me lit up, and sunk into my gut. He was bad news.

He didn’t stop staring at me until I averted my eyes and looked away, his cocky grin seared into my brain.  A faint dizzy flutter started in my chest, spread to my fingertips, and reached my toes. It was like morphine spreading through my limbs.

I stole one more glance at him out of the corner of my eye. Two gorgeous girls were clawing at each other to position themselves closer to him, but he just appeared bored. He nodded at the bartender and eyeballed a bottle of mezcal behind the bar. Almost instantly he had four shots of the liquid in front of him. After he took his shot, he put his shot glass down, looked right at me, and leered with a smirk like he’d thought of some funny joke I hadn’t figured out yet.

“Hey, buddy!” Amanda yelled before turning to me. “The bartender must be talking to his best friend or something. It’s like we’re ghosts. Do I not have the twins out tonight? I’m starting to feel insecure.”

I look down at Amanda’s top. Usually we got quick service. “The twins are definitely ready to play tonight. Maybe the bartender is gay?” I joked.

I sighed and turned away from the bar. In the process, I accidently made eye contact with an out of shape, fortyish man with thinning black hair and a mustache, who smiled back at me.  I cringed and tapped Amanda on the shoulder.

“Creepy guy coming, five o’clock. We need to change locations, stat,” I warned.

We spun around to find another opening at the bar, but it was too late. Mr. Mustache was right next to us, boxing us in. Up close, he was even less attractive then he had been standing ten feet away.

“Well hello, amor,” he said. “How about I buy you a drink?”

Amor. Nasty. “I’m not anyone’s amor,” I said, scowling, hoping he’d take the hint.

I glanced over at the tall man with the tattoos again. He was ordering more shots. Lifting his chin, he winked at me as he took them from the bartender.   

What the hell?

The mustached man didn’t move. He was not taking the not-so-subtle-hint. Instead of leaving us alone, he moved closer.

“Oops. Looks like my funds are a little low tonight. Do you want to split a beer?” he offered, opening his wallet.

“Split a beer? Is that a thing?” Amanda shot back.

“I’m sorry…I don’t have a lot of money. Don’t you like beer?”

“No, we’re fine,” I responded tersely. I looked back to where the sexy beast with the tattoos had been standing, but he was gone.

“You don’t have drinks yet, though,” he pointed out, refusing to throw in the towel.

I shot Amanda a look. Apparently the twins were working, they just weren’t attracting the kind of guy we wanted.   

“Uh, my boyfriend is here,” I blurted out.

“Yeah,” Amanda said. “Both of our boyfriends are here.”

The man didn’t budge. “No they aren’t. You’re lying. Please, just drink a beer with me. I’m nicer than you think. Come on, just one.”

I eyed Amanda and tried to move away from the bar. Talking to creepy old men was exactly the opposite of how we wanted to spend my birthday celebration.

“Hey Honey,” a man’s low voice crooned from behind me.

I whipped my body around to see the tattooed hottie right behind us holding three shots in one big hand. He extended his free hand toward my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. A tingle ran down my spin when our skin touched.

“I finally got those shots. Sorry it took so long,” he said in a deep and scratchy voice. He handed Amanda and I each a shot with a big smile on his face, as if he was doing the most normal thing in the world.

“Thank you, baby,” I smiled, willing to play his game for a moment.

We clinked glasses and each threw back our shot. Still, the annoying man didn’t leave.

“You two aren’t together,” the mustached man said. “I saw you girls walk in alone. And you—you’ve been with them all night.” He pointed to the two girls who were standing a few feet away, eyeballing Amanda and me.

Mr. ‘split a beer’ also had great observational skills. Just brilliant. Meanwhile, the tattooed man’s eyes sparkled beneath his long lashes.

“Honey, let’s make sure this man knows who you belong to.”

Before I could react, he gripped the back of my head and crushed his lips to mine.  

Are you fucking kidding me?

My arms shot out away from my body, and I tapped his back like I was a wrestler who wanted to tap out. This wasn’t a middle school first kiss. The man knew what he was doing.

“Ahem,” I heard Amanda say.

I opened my eyes and pulled away from the muscle man, and the mustached man was gone. Amanda was as wide-eyed as a child who’d just discovered pizza. She turned away from us though, and gestured to the bartender, who finally seemed to be paying her heed.

“Listen,” I put my hand on the man’s shoulder and pushed, creating more space between us. He was noticeably taller than me, and even in heels I had to angle my head up to address him. “Thanks for saving me from that creepy guy, but I don’t go around kissing random guys whose names I don’t even know. It’s just not my thing.”

“I’m Corbin,” he stuck out a hand to shake mine. “Now you know me. Problem solved.”

I examined the man. He was even more gorgeous up close. His lips curled up in a smirk that simultaneously scared and attracted me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my fingertips burned as I touched his skin.

“Well, Corbin, I know guys like you. You’re not my type, trust me.”

“What’s the matter? Didn’t you like the way I kissed you?” He made an exaggerated frowny face.

“It was okay, but—”

“Beers! Who wants a Corona?” Amanda said, handing each of us a cold bottle with a lime.

“You finally got through to the bartender,” I rejoiced.

“Bartender told me these are on the house—wouldn’t even accept payment for them. Said my money is no good when we’re hanging out with…you.” Amanda nods at Corbin. “Are you like the Godfather or something?”

Corbin shrugged. “I have friends in low places. Or high ones, depending how you look at it.”

I had no idea what he meant, but from the way he was smirking at me, I got the sense he was some either some covert billionaire or a very, very bad man. Maybe both.

“So you know my name. But what are your names?” Corbin asked. “You never told me.”

“I’m…Alexa,” I said. I cleared my throat and raised my eyebrow toward Amanda. She knew where I was going with this.

“And I’m Bambi,” she smiled without missing a beat.  

“Well, nice to meet you two. Listen, you’ve got to be careful in a place like this. You never know who you might meet.” He turned to go.

Corbin should have had a warning sign on him that read: Do not touch: Magnetic. Even though I had just told him he wasn’t my type, now I reached my hand out and placed it on his arm.

“Are you sure you don’t want to hang around for one more drink?” I said. My heart picked up its pace. Amanda shot me a subtle glance that gave me the impression she was wondering the same thing I was: Where was this flirty side of me coming from?

He turned back, looking pleased. “I would love to. Why don’t I invite my brother to hang out with us?”

Corbin made a come-hither hand motion to a tall man standing several feet away. The man’s lean build and bulging arms were bigger than Corbin’s. He had blond hair and one pierced eyebrow. As he strode toward us Amanda blushed and he stopped right in front of her, extending his hand. “I’m Casey. Who might you two lovely ladies be?”

Smart. Corbin brought a wingman. Who was also a very sexy, very possibly shady man. Casey gave the impression that he might be a surfer one day and a Mafioso the next.

Casey swooped Amanda away, and she didn’t protest, giving me a thumbs-up as they went outside for a cigarette. Corbin took a step toward the bar.

“I can get this next round,” I offered.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it.”

Corbin waved his hand and in a few seconds, we had two more Coronas in front of us.

“Here you are Corbin,” the bartender said. “Welcome back.”

“Welcome back? Where have you been?” I asked Corbin as we clinked bottles.

“Can I be honest with you?” he asked, and then took a swig of his beer.

“Of course.”

“I’m a very forward person. And,” he leaned his head down and pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear. “You, Alexa, are fucking gorgeous.”

I swallowed, and thanked him silently for reminding me that I’d given myself a fake name tonight. Alexa was my ‘what happens in Tijuana stays here name.’

I also considered for a moment that he had dodged my question. And staring into his river-blue eyes, I didn’t really care who he was or where he’d been. The electrifying current running through me told me all I needed to know.

*     *     *

At two a.m. the music stopped, the club lights turned on and we headed downstairs and out of the club. Amanda had danced the night away with Corbin’s brother, Casey, and asked me if it was all right if she headed back to his place, which shocked me. Amanda was even less of a one-night stand girl than I was, but she insisted it was fine.

It wasn’t Amanda or my usual move to go home with a guy after one night. Apparently, something was in the water tonight.

Or maybe—and more likely—the tequila had us feeling like rock stars.

Plus, Corbin offered to take me home on his motorcycle, and I couldn’t resist having one more chance to touch him. I got on behind him and gripped his muscled body, my breasts pressed into his hard back as we flew against the warm summer night air.

We passed through the border crossing on our ride back to San Diego, and I was half surprised Corbin didn’t get detained. After spending a few hours with him, I’d reached a couple of conclusions. First, Corbin was the sexiest man in the entire bar. Hell, maybe in the surrounding area. Second, he was a mini celebrity in that club. Walking around with him, people got out of our way like he was Moses and they were the Red Sea.

We pulled up in front of my house on his motorcycle. Corbin turned and smiled at me, his strong jawline visible in the shadow of the street lamp. "So, you mind if I come up for one more?" he baited.

I pressed my hand to my heart, which thumped hard. “Yeah, I guess that’s fine.”

Inside my apartment, I popped a bottle of wine and poured a couple of glasses. We stood and leaned against the marble counter in my kitchen, sipping them.

Corbin grinned and let his gaze linger on me, giving me the same deep stare that entranced me hours ago when we met. “Quite delicious.” He swirled the liquid at eye level a few feet from my face, then shot me a look.

I scrunched my brow and took a sip. “Yeah, I agree it’s not bad.”

Corbin put his hand on my neck like he did the first time he’d touched me in the bar. “I was talking about you. You look delicious.”

He leaned in and kissed me softly on the side of my neck. I had nowhere to go, my body wedged against the marble. I leaned my head back and exposed my neck. He wrapped kisses in a U-shape down from my neck, close to my breasts, and back up the other side. Heat coursed through my skin, making me even more sensitive to his touch.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

Corbin’s brow furrowed, like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. He covered my lips with his, and tingles spread through my body.

I breathed deeply and pressed my chest into his, feeling solid muscle as he continued to wet my neck with kisses. I reached my arms around him and caressed his flesh through his shirt. He ground his leg between mine, and my dress rode up my legs, exposing my panties. I felt his length growing beneath his jeans.

“Oh hello,” I said.

“He says hello, too,” he smiled.

He brought his mouth to mine, parting my lips with his tongue. I let out a soft moan and dug my fingernails into his back through the cloth of his shirt. Corbin unbuttoned his shirt and I ran my hand over his washboard abs. Through his pants, I could feel his length graze my leg. He let out a low growl.

“Jesus you’re sexy,” he grinned as he gripped the bottom of my dress and rolled it up. I took the hint and helped him slip it up over my head. He lifted me up by the hips with seemingly little effort and set me on the kitchen island. He devoured my lips again, and rubbed my through my black thong, moving his finger in a gentle circle. Our foreheads touched and we gazed into each other’s eyes. Breaking eye contact, he began to work his mouth down my body. Starting at my neck, kissing lower to my breasts, past my stomach, until he reached the lace of my thong. Corbin pulled at it with his teeth. I lifted my hips and he slipped it off.

“You sure you want to do this?” he teased and tossed the throng to the ground.

“Shut up and go down on me,” I said, surprising myself a little at how forceful the words sounded coming out.

He dove between my legs, found my core, and began to move his tongue in soft strokes. Oh, God…yes!

“Shit. Ugh…yes,” I moan. The man definitely knows what he’s doing down there.  He reached up and put a finger in my mouth. I wrapped my lips around it as he worked his magic, my hips gyrating in sync with his strokes.

Finally, Corbin released me from his grip and stood up next to the kitchen island. I propped myself up on my elbow and saw him slip his jeans and boxers off, revealing another tattoo around his midsection. From there my gaze drifted downward.

“I know it’s big, thanks,” Corbin ran his hand over the tribal tattoo on his stomach, speaking in a low voice. “When I decided I wanted tattoos, I wasn’t going to get some tiny little thing. Go big or go home, that’s always been my motto.”

“Oh, right,” I say sarcastically. Because I was definitely thinking about how big your tattoo was and not anything else. I stared at Corbin for a moment too long, and he grabbed his length, stroking it as he eyed me.

“Alexa, are you ready for this?” he asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow my way.

“Who is Alexa?” I asked, and scrunched my face, confused. As soon as the words came out, I covered my mouth and my heart dropped to my knees.

I remembered: I’m Alexa. Oh yeah.

Corbin squinted at me. “I can’t tell if you’re fucking with me right now.” He leaned in and whispered in my ear. “And I kind of like it.”

“Yeah I am! Did I almost have you?” I coyly smiled, hoping Corbin wouldn’t notice anything was amiss.

“Well, Alexa,” he emphasized my fake name, “are you ready for this?”

I glanced between his legs at his length one more time. “Umhmm,” I hummed, nodding at him. If not now, then when?

He reached to a lock of my hair, tucking it behind my ear. “Ready for what? Tell me you want my cock.”

“I want you—inside me. Please,” I sat up further and ran my hand down his chest and abs and then gripped him between the legs.

Corbin moaned and pushed my hand off him, then picked up his jeans from the floor. He reached his hand into a front pocket, pulled out a golden foil packet, tore it, and rolled the condom on.

“Last chance to back out.” He raised an eyebrow.

“No. Please, now,” I murmured. I could take any more teasing from the son of a bitch. I lay back on the cold countertop, my naked ass pressed against the hard surface. I took in Corbin’s gaze, his muscular tattooed body, and his whole essence as he eyed me from above, standing as I lay.

“God damn you are sexy when you beg for it,” he growled.

Corbin folded my legs so my feet pointed toward the ceiling as he entered me from a standing position, his body the perfect height for doing so on the counter. I tensed slightly and whimpered as he slid his tip inside me. His first thrusts were shallow.

“Ohh baby. You’re so tight.”

“It’s been a while,” I blurted out, and instantly wished I hadn’t.

“Don’t worry, honey. The wait is over.”

Cocky damn bastard’s words sent waves of pleasure through me.

Corbin pushed all the way into me and I let out a loud moan, the heat inside me a direct contrast with my bare back on the cold marble of the kitchen island.

After a minute, his thrusting quickened. I wasn’t sure why I’d never had sex on this kitchen counter before, because the angle could not have been more perfect. Corbin gripped my hips with his strong hands, forcing himself deeper inside me. He filled me from root to tip and I arched my back and moved my hips to meet his thrusts. His body pumped away over mine, our sweaty skin making a slap slap slap sound as our bodies met.

After a while he slowed and stopped, gazing into my sex-stare.

“I want you to ride me on the countertop. Can you be a good girl and do that for me?”

“Yes.”

We switched positions so that I was standing and Corbin was lying on the once cold counter that I had warmed up for him. Careful not to hit my head on the ceiling light, I squatted down and guided his warm thick cock into me.

I moaned as I took him inside me.

“Shit, you’re so fucking hot when you whimper like that,” he growled as he stared into me with his light blue eyes.  I bounced slowly up and down on him, feeling his full length with every movement. I used his body for balance as I fucked him.  

“Are you ready to come?” he growled as he wrapped his hand around my head and gripped my hair, pulling my face closer to his chest.

I’d been on the brink for some time now, feeling seconds away. All I needed was a little gentle prodding and I would ripple over the edge. “Yes.”

He slapped me on the ass as he pushed deeper inside me. Ouch. That was probably going to leave a mark in the morning. “Come for me baby. Come now,” he growled as he stared into my eyes.

I screamed as loud as my vocal chords would allow, releasing months of built-up sexual tension. Corbin’s strokes somehow found their way deeper inside me. He hit the spot. Again. And again.

My God, what is that spot?

“Holy fuck, baby,” he said. I tightened around his full circumference. I could feel him pulsing and twitching as he came inside me.

Our sweaty bodies remained frozen together for a few glorious moments. I lay on top of his hard chest, taking deep breaths. My quads burned. Finally Corbin opened his eyes, kissed me on the lips, and helped me ease off of him. I laid down on my back next him on the cold marble counter while he took the condom off, tied it off, and tossed it in the garbage.

“Nice toss,” I joked.

“I never miss the hole,” he said and winked.

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, okay, buddy. Hilarious.

A bird tweeted in a tree outside, and I noticed that the sun was starting to come up. What time was it?

I propped myself up on my elbows and looked at the microwave. 6:04. Holy shit. It’s Monday, and I freaking work in three hours. I hopped off the island.

“That was amazing,” I said.

“Yeah, it was,” Corbin agreed.

I looked at Corbin’s gorgeous naked body in all its glory on the countertop. God smiled on this man’s genetics. If there was a build-a-man video game, he was what I would build. Ripped muscles. Dimples when he smiled. Eyes that sparkled under long eyelashes.

As much as I didn’t want to say what about to say, I had to say it.  

“Well, I think it’s time for you to go,” I told him as I picked up my undergarments from the floor.

Corbin got up, and for the first time all night, he genuinely surprised me by not smirking like an arrogant lady-killer.

“What did you just say?”

“I said, Thanks. This was fun. And now it’s time for you to go.” I picked up my dress off the floor, looked down at Corbin’s clothes in a pile on the floor, and back up at him.

With a hanging jaw Corbin tentatively grabbed his briefs, jeans, and shirt.  Clearly he wasn’t the kind of man who was used to being rushed out. I had a feeling that he was the one who usually rushed girls out.

“You’re kicking me out?” he protested, confirming my hypothesis.

“You seem hurt, but let’s be honest. What are we really going to do here? Are you going to take me out to dinner tomorrow and pretend that you’re interested in what I’m saying so you can try to sleep with me again? Or maybe we could date for a few months before it ends? I’m not about that. We had our fun. Tonight was fun. Let’s end on a high note.”

“Um, no, that’s not what I was thinking. Er, I just…” Corbin slipped into his jeans. His shirt was still off and I was enjoying the end of the show as the early morning sunlight highlighted all of his gorgeous muscles. He was visibly flustered that I was kicking him out, and not doting over him like most girls probably did. I ushered him toward the door and opened it. He hopped on one foot and tried to put his shoe on quickly.

“Goodbye!” I said. I gave his body a light push, and didn’t kiss him goodbye.

“Alright then. Bye Alexa,” his low voice reverberated through the hallway outside.

I had to be realistic. What future could we have? What was I going to do, get married to some sexy bad boy I met at a Tijuana club and had a one-night stand with? To whom I didn’t even give my real name? I mean, this was fun, but I worked for the DEA, and something about Corbin screamed shady. Besides, I needed to at least grab a couple of winks before work began.