“Give me a sec.”

The way his gaze ate her made her think of a leopard eyeing a deer. Intent, tensed, ready to spring. This should have scared her, but instead her toes squeezed, and she couldn’t fire off a text to Naj fast enough. You okay with Thomas?

OMG perfect! Naj returned.

I’m going to hang with Darak for a bit. You all right?

Okay, so she didn’t tell her friend she was leaving, precisely, but she didn’t lie either.

Three seconds later her phone dinged. You come near us and I’ll eat your liver.

Eden tucked her phone into her bra. Clearing her throat, she looked up at him through her lashes. “Do you mind if we leave out the back way?”

“Sure. Why?”

“Trust me.” She lifted her chin toward the front door, which was hidden by a thick crowd of college students. “You don’t want my cousin catching me leaving with you.”

His brow wrinkled, and Eden’s mouth went dry.

“He’d rat me out to my parents, that’s all.” She twisted her butterfly ring, silently praying he didn’t think she was a big baby.

He gave a short nod, and when he took her hand, her face lit up in an irrepressible smile.

The cool breeze that greeted Eden did nothing to chill her excitement as they left the bar behind. She noticed that Darak slowed his pace to match her shorter stride, and the look she tossed him was sickeningly grateful. Afraid she’d open her mouth and say something stupid, she kept quiet as he commented on the various stores and how pretty the town was. Twice he squeezed her hand, and each time she nearly fainted with happiness. He moved so gracefully, fluidly even. An athlete, maybe? A dancer?

Darak finally paused in front of the biggest SUV she’d ever seen, and her breath caught in her chest. “This is yours?”

“Yes. It’s surprisingly comfortable.” Darak opened the rear door, and Eden envisioned him shoving her in the back and driving off. He’d get away with it too—they were alone on the dark street. What was she thinking, leaving a bar with a guy she didn’t even know? She took a step backward.

She fidgeted nervously as he brought forth a blanket. “Success!”

“Um…” Eden took another step back. She scrambled for an excuse—anything. I have to go to the bathroom; I forgot something at the bar; my mother will be looking for me. Before she could summon her voice, however, he shut the door with a casual flick. Jogging to the front of the vehicle, he hopped up on the hood, and Eden stifled a giggle.

Hot serial murderer, indeed.

Eden’s smooch subject extended his hand, and she felt no qualms in taking it. Once he’d smoothed the blanket onto the roof, he gave her a boost.

Her innards thrilled when his hand brushed over her butt.

He followed her up, not seeming to mind that the heavy metal buckled under his weight. Her heart thrummed as he settled into place beside her. Thigh to thigh, hip to hip—when would he kiss her again?

“Not all that comfortable up top, unfortunately.” He scratched the back of his head.

“Oh no. It’s great. Really.” Her arm brushed his, and his warm, smooth skin teased the baby hairs on hers. Her breath shallowed, and unconsciously she leaned into him, wanting more. She felt his chest expand.

“Good.” The huskiness of his voice caressed her, and she melted like butter on a hot scone. His scent flooded her senses, generating visions of skin on skin, deep lingering kisses, and—

She swallowed. Calm the eff down. All she’d done was brush his arm, and her panties were soaked. Could he tell she was all turned on? You know, catch the scent? Her ears went hot.

“Are you cold?” he asked, putting an arm around her and drawing her even closer. In response, Eden rolled her shoulders and purred.

“You are so damn cute,” he mused, lightly tapping her nose. “What happened to our stars?”

“No stars?” They’d been out in full force when she’d left her tiny garage apartment. “Well, now what do we do?”

She instantly regretted the question, conscious of the kidnap-mobile upon which they sat.

“Want to get naked?” He winked.

She pulled away from him. “No!”

“Then tell me who you are, Eden Waller,” he said, recrossing his legs.

She snorted. She had no intention of sharing. “I’m not that interesting. Trust me. I’d rather hear your story.”

“Not much to tell.” He traced his fingers in a random pattern on her thigh, and Eden clenched in her down there places.

“Give me one thing,” she pressed. “No, two.”

“I like solving puzzles, and I like to travel.”

“What kind of puzzles?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Any kind. Structural, mathematical, logical…I like to use my mind. Give me a mystery and I’m hooked—just not the laboratory kind.”

“So you’re smart, then.” She made a mental note never to tell him all she had was a GED.

White teeth gleamed in the darkness. “Only in comparison to some.”

Eden tugged the strap of her bra back up onto her shoulder. “Well, so what’s it like back home?”

“It’s all right. Warm. I grew up an only child in a place where there weren’t many children. My parents devoted most of their attention to their research. I had quite a bit of alone time.”

“Must be nice,” Eden grumbled. “So, do you have, like, your own place?”

“I don’t live anywhere right now. I have to start working for my father next month, so I’m driving around North America, trying to see as much as I can.”

“No way! That sounds so nice.” The guy was living her dream.

“Not quite so nice when you know you’ll never have that again.”

“Why not?”

“Long story.”

“So what’s next?”

“I figure I’ll drive through New York and hit some of the wineries, maybe Niagara Falls before heading west. Basically I’ll drive cross-country for the next few weeks until I run into one of the K installations and head home after that.”

“Ugh. Pick something better than that.”

“How come?” He pulled away, and immediately her skin felt cold.

Eden hunched her shoulders. “I hate the K. I wish they’d all pick up and bother some other planet.”

His gaze probed hers. “Why?”

“Lots of reasons.” The least of which was the fact that compared to the K, humans were the technical equivalent of cavemen. Mankind had made thousands of years’ worth of progress, but to them we were still barbarians.

“I thought they were supposed to make the world a better place,” he said as though carefully choosing his words.

“Not for everyone.” Was that a raindrop? “My dad had a great career going until they rendered him obsolete.”

“Is your father a scientist?”

“No. He’s a professor here at Cornell. Try being a nationally respected expert on something that’s now completely moot. He’s lucky he still has a job.”

Two more hits of water stung her, one of them on her face.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Darak stared off into the darkness, his eyebrows coming together in a frown.

Eden tapped a finger against her lips, finding them dry. She hadn’t meant to displease him, and she struggled to find words to fix it. Awkwardness stretched between them, growing with each second that passed.

She curled in on the heaviness in her chest. This wasn’t a game anymore. Operation Smooch be damned—she really liked Darak. Tonight he’d made her feel wild, free even, which was a precious thing when you lived with an invisible bungee cord tied to your back. She didn’t care that he was older than she was, or that he was way more masculine that she’d ever bargained for; he made her want to rip off her shirt. Of course, she wouldn’t actually do it. It wouldn’t take him long to figure out just how naive she was, and then where would she be?

Swallowing, she took hold of his bicep. “Darak?”

Drawing his lips tight, he turned to her.

The light sprinkle chose that moment to erupt into a torrential downpour, and Eden squealed, then started laughing. In the most graceful move she’d ever seen, Darak hopped off the roof and held his hands to catch her. Abandoning the blanket, she leaped.

Eden hopped from foot to foot as he fumbled with the door. A second later she dived into the backseat and hugged her chest. She was still giggling as Darak followed.

“I’m sorry,” he said, wiping the drops from her face.

“For making it rain? Now that’s talent.” Her cheeks pinched from grinning.

“What can I say? I wanted to see you in a wet T-shirt.”

“You’re out of luck. This is a dress!” she said, still hugging her arms across her chest.

“I was joking.”

“This is fun,” she said, scrunching her shoulders.

“You’re easy to please.”

“Yeah, well, I’m short on mad adventures.”

“Why not?”

She grimaced. “I’m tied to the parental units. They’re clingy. If it were up to me, I’d climb to the top of Machu Picchu, but they have this magic leash that hauls me back if I go farther than the driveway.”

Darak shrugged. “Fight them. You’re of age.”

“I can’t. They’re super nice. Anyway, all I had to do was wait until they went to bed. What they don’t know can’t hurt them.” She cocked an eyebrow.

“Good job. What all do they not let you do?”

“Let’s see,” she said, shucking her heels and propping her feet up on her seat. “Okay. If I try to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, I’ll fall over the edge and die.”

“I’m going to the Grand Canyon.”

“I hate you.”

The corner of his mouth lifted, thrilling Eden’s blood.

“What else?” she mused, turning slightly and shifting her legs across his lap. “No dancing on the great wall of China. I’d catch the bird flu. Diving down to see the Titanic is a bad idea—the diver craft could break open and I’d drown. The North Pole is too far away, and I’d catch pneumonia or get attacked by a polar bear. Obviously, running with the bulls at Pamplona is out, and for some reason, so is studying with the Dalai Lama. That leaves paddling down the Amazon River…”

He squinted, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Every girl should swim with piranhas.”

“I know, right? But no. And they totally made me give up my bobcat.”

“Isn’t that a wild animal?” He eyed her doubtfully.

“It was a kitten. It was cute.”

“Just get a cat.”

“Who wants a tame cat when you can have a wild kitty? Besides, they hate pets in general. Who cares about them? Tonight I’m free.”

Thunder cracked overhead. Eden gasped, and Darak swooped in and kissed her. She stiffened. But the soft coaxing of his lips sent tingles to her belly, and when his tongue sought permission, she parted her lips with a sigh. Her sex clenched and began to ache in the most delicious way as he explored her. Darak. This was kissing; this was what she’d come for, and she knotted her fingers into the shoulders of his shirt in a desperate attempt to hold onto him.

She registered a light whirring noise, but as he deepened the kiss, the importance of the sound waned. The ache between her thighs intensified as the scent of him fogged her thoughts, and she was afraid if she let go, she’d lose herself in him.

Darak pressed backward, and Eden found herself on a soft, incredibly pliant surface. There was a bed in his SUV?

But he cupped her breast through the material of her dress, squeezing gently in a light massage, and she couldn’t have cared less what he had in his car—van—whatever. He traced his tongue down her neck in light, feathery licks, and she shuddered. It felt—God, so, so good. But then he caught the hem of her dress and began to push it upward.

“Wait…” She hadn’t meant things to go this far.

“Shhh. Relax. You have swimwear that’s more revealing than this, don’t you?”

He had a point. Her pink cotton underwear and plain, JCPenney bra weren’t exactly what she’d call sexy.

“Raise your hips,” he whispered against her ear. Shivering, she did as she was told, and he made quick work of the garment.

The scrape of his zipper against her belly felt foreign, strange. Even stranger was the sensation of his lips through the material of her bra. Gasping at the forbidden thrill, she stilled and let him do what he wanted. He pushed the fabric aside and caught a nipple between his teeth. Fearing pain, she tensed, but when he only grazed the tender areola, she relaxed, reveling in the jolt of electricity that shot to her core. He took the tip into his mouth, and she clutched his shoulders. He began to suckle her. She cried out as the urgent pulling made her inner muscles clench. This was what she wanted. What she needed. Years of fear and dread, of trying to stay positive when darkness pressed against her on all sides had worn her down, made her feel like a ghost, and she didn’t want that. She wanted to live, and right here, at this moment…God, the things he was doing…Yes.

“You taste so good,” he murmured before capturing her other breast and drawing on her, hard.

She dug her fingers into his hair, finding it every bit as thick and soft as it looked. She clutched him to her, silently begging him not to stop.

“Good girl.”

The clasp of her bra snapped. He slipped the straps down her shoulders, and when she was completely free, he cupped both globes. When he thumbed the tips, pinched them, she thought she might faint. Instead she whimpered deep in her throat.

“I want to feel you.” Grasping her hips, he pulled her against his hard male flesh. “Yeah.”

His warmth enveloped her. When had he taken off his shirt? The light cropping of chest hair scraped against her skin, and it felt savage. Like she was pressed against heaven in the form of a warm, ravenous predator. She shifted against him, and the feeling of flesh against flesh set the beast inside her free. She pressed a kiss to his collarbone.

He groaned. “Touch me.”

“I don’t think I…”

He captured her hands and placed them against his chest. “It’s all right. We’re just getting to know each other. I like you, Eden. You like me, right?”

“Yes.”

“Touch me.”

She ran her hands over his chest. As she moved lower, his stomach dipped.

Sighing, he swallowed, and taking over, he guided her lower, until she felt the hard bulge of his erection through the crisp denim.

Alarms went off in her head, and she stiffened. “I think we should stop.”

“Do you want to?” he asked, moving his hips against her touch. He bent his head and reclaimed a breast. And she wanted to feel him. It. He unzipped his jeans and pulled his cock free, and her inexperience made her tense. Not knowing what else to do, she wrapped her fingers around his shaft.

“That’s it,” he breathed, rocking his hips. She allowed Darak to guide the rhythm, but when the tip moistened, she hesitated. Was that her imagination, or were his eyes glowing? A trick of the light, of course. He shifted, and the new position allowed him to trace his fingertips up her thigh. Her belly fluttered. Shifting her panties aside, he slid a finger between her folds.

“Wait, no, Darak…”

“Have you ever done it in a car before?”

“No, never,” she breathed, relaxing. He understood. He’d stop now.

“You said you liked adventure.” He slid his thick finger up until he found her clit.

“Oh!” Instinctively her body arched to meet his strokes. She shook at the feelings his touch awakened. The light circular movements felt so—felt so—

She grabbed his wrist with both hands.

“I’ve never had sex.” She rushed the words, afraid she’d chicken out.

He stilled. “How old are you?”

“Old enough.” She wasn’t lying. Twenty was definitely legal.

“Exactly how old? You’re twenty-one, right?”

Not until February. Biting her lips, she nodded.

His expression relaxed. “Can I make you come?”

Alarmed, she shook her head, but his fingers resumed their wicked dance over her most sensitive parts, and without thinking about it, she relaxed her thighs, spreading herself for him.

“Please,” he murmured and then kissed her. “Coming doesn’t mean anything. You’ll still be a virgin.”

He was right. She’d done it to herself lots of times, furtively and alone in the dark of her bedroom. It had felt nice, but nothing could compare to what he was doing.

“Okay,” she breathed, beginning to move her hips. She couldn’t help it. Tension began to build deep in her inner muscles, and she wanted him to go on.

He dipped lower, lower, until his fingertip found her entrance.

His. Desperate for more, she spread her legs wider to give him better access.

“Good girl.”

Her heart fluttered in gratitude.

He rubbed his thumb against her clit, his finger probing her opening. Her body took over, suppressing all thought as it drove to fill its needs.

He grinned. “What an eager little slut.”

She clenched down hard on his fingers. His words made her feel dirty, but she wanted that.

“Darak, please,” she begged. She needed to come. Now!

His breath hitched, and he pushed his finger past her barrier. “You’re so tight. God, baby, you were made to be fucked.”

Her orgasm slammed into her, and she cried out. Mindless, legs shaking, she was helpless against the hemorrhage of tension and ecstasy that pulsed through her.

“Touch your breasts,” he said hoarsely when her orgasm began to fade.

“What?”

“Do it,” he ordered.

Still panting, she obeyed. At that moment she would have done anything for him. Massaging her own flesh like this made her feel like a whore, but she didn’t stop.

“Pinch those little nipples.”

She did as he ordered, and fire dipped from her breasts into her womb. After that she couldn’t stop, couldn’t think.

A moment later she felt a sharp jerk as he tore away her panties, and almost immediately something thick and hot took their place.

“No no no…Darak, I thought we were just—”

“Do you trust me?”

She didn’t. That was the thing.

“I need your pussy. Can’t you tell how good you make me feel?”

He slicked himself against her folds, and oh God, she wanted it. She fought the instinct to guide him to her.

“I can come this way, and so can you. There’s no harm in that, right? Technically you’d still be a virgin.”

That was logical, but still… Then again, Naj gave her last boyfriend a blowjob, but she was as pure as they came. Eden did not feel pure. His dick was thick and hot, and she craved it. Her body ached for it, and she fought hard against the urge to move ever so slightly, just like that, and draw him into her.

Eden writhed under him, and he grasped her hips, guiding her movements.

“Do you want to feel me come?” he said in a ragged breath. “God, you’re so wet.”

Her answer was to wrap her legs around him. Surrender.

He continued rocking against her, and she moved with him. The thick, blunt head of his rod hesitated when it found her entrance, and he stilled, gritting his teeth. Sweat poured off his brow and onto her breasts, and she lay splayed out under him, naked. Panting with lust. That secret channel inside her demanded fulfillment.

“Just for a moment,” he said.

But the predatory look in his eyes frightened her, and she pushed uselessly against his solid chest.

“I just want to feel you. I don’t have to break your hymen.” His eyes burned her.

How had she let things go so far? She’d said yes to everything, without really thinking about where it would take her. He moved, and she felt him push a little deeper. Her treacherous body actually flexed in welcome. Was it too late to change her mind? His dick was out, hard and painful, judging by the furrow of his brow. She’d done this to him.

He was a man, and she’d let him believe she was a woman, an equal match for him. An adventure seeker just as he was, but she hadn’t meant it in this way. But really, what was so bad about this? She’d heard how fumbling and awkward younger men could be, high school boys and even college boys, trying to figure it all out. Her first time could be with someone who knew how to make it good.

He ground himself against her throbbing clit, and her mind went blank as something primal seized her. The tension began to build again. His hands replaced hers at her breasts, and she moaned, alternately holding her breath and gasping as she wrapped her legs around his hips, holding him to her as it came closer, closer…

She cried out, mindlessly grinding herself against him as spasms of pleasure gripped and regripped so hard she could have screamed.

Shifting, Darak guided himself to her entrance once again, and she felt an uncomfortable sting as he pressed forward.

“Wait!”

“Please.” He blinked hard as he pulled in a gulp of air. “I need to fuck you.”

“No, that’s not what you said. You told me you wouldn’t.”

He cupped her face, his thumb caressing her cheek. “You’re so beautiful, Adventure Girl.”

The way he looked at her. Too gorgeous to be real, and he thought she was fun. He didn’t think her dreams were stupid. He didn’t try to hold her back from anything. And he was asking, not forcing her. And shaking like he did—a big man like this. How could that be? In a way it made her trust him—want him more, if that was even possible. Why not do it, a voice whispered in her head. He made her feel more alive than she’d felt in years, perhaps more than she ever had, and really, shouldn’t losing her virginity be on her list, anyway? Who knew how much time she had? She could get sick tomorrow.

She didn’t want to think about tomorrow. Tomorrow scared her. Let her have tonight, when tonight felt so good. It wasn’t wrong, especially after…

Her eyes shone as she gazed up at him, and before she could change her mind, she nodded.