Page 33 of Extraction Play

Where did they stand after last night? Had it been a random hookup, or would Eva want to do it again? However, she couldn’t deny the urge to lean in and kiss this woman before she left. Part of her never trusted promises to return because anything could happen. She’d fallen prey to a lot of her mother’s at first, when her mom wasn’t in her right mind, so she’d wrapped caution tape around everything after that.

An idea came to her. “I’ve got a spare key in the breakroom. In case you come back while one of us is out or working.”

“Thanks,” Eva said, and Pixie headed to the back of Whipped. It wasn’t a lie. She did keep a spare in the breakroom due to how many times she’d misplaced her keys, but she had an ulterior motivation.

She stepped into the small corridor to the offices and the staff breakroom. The lights were all off, since during the munch, everyone was out on the floor. She slipped inside and went to her cubby to fish out the key.

As much as she wanted to ask for a kiss, to ask to hook up again, to ask if Eva was returning, her nerves deserted her. “Here,” she said, extending the key.

Eva crossed her arms. “Oh, so it was actually a key?” The woman’s wry tone of voice soothed her.

Heat rose to her cheeks. “Partially.”

Eva prowled toward her, and Pixie didn’t move. Her whole body vibrated with need, with want for Eva’s mouth on hers, her touch before Eva drove back to Reno. Maybe to never return.

The tension stretched between them, but Eva took her time closing the distance, inch by excruciating inch, until her body was a mere inch from Pixie’s, until her breath puffed against her cheeks, her lips. Eva stared at her with an intensity, visible even from the dim hallway lighting pouring in.

“We’ve got to stop meeting in the dark like this,” Eva said.

She leaned down and kissed her. Eva wrapped her hand around Pixie’s nape, guiding her into the kiss, and she swept her tongue into her mouth with a caress that weakened her at the knees. The way Eva took the lead was everything Pixie needed, the reassurance she wasn’t imagining this crazy connection flaring to life between them.

Except attraction was easy—Pixie was wildly attracted to many individuals.

No, the rarity was this deep-seated sense of safety around Eva, not something she’d experienced from anyone.

Her core throbbed as Eva lapped at her mouth, claiming her over and over. The rush to her head was pure euphoria, and she wanted to lose herself in these sensations for as long as possible. It was like when she was a kid and used to wade as deep as she could into the ocean, feeling the bob and sway around her, the blue depths surrounding her. In those moments, everything grew lighter, effervescent. In those moments, her mind went quiet, and she just felt.

She drank in the taste of this woman, sharp like coffee, and her firm yet soft lips brushing against Pixie’s. The heat blooming between them turned her legs to jelly. Pixie let out a little moan, unable to help herself.

Eva pulled back, a smirk on her lips so sultry and devastatingly hot Pixie couldn’t stand it. “I’ll see you soon.”

With that, Eva stepped away and, offering a tiny wave, walked through the door.

Pixie stood there in the dark, dumbstruck by the kiss. She traced her fingertips along her lower lip like she might be able to capture the sparks of electricity dancing there and keep them.

Because who knew if she’d get to experience them again?

Chapter Thirteen

For most of the drive to Reno, Eva fumed.

Fuming was better than breaking down, which she had been tempted to do the moment Jack called yet again to make her life harder. Kicking her out of the relationship hadn’t been enough. No, he also had to go back on his promises. And he hadn’t stopped there. The bastard didn’t even have the grace to give her time to adjust. Her fingers ached from how hard she clenched the steering wheel as the familiar highway signs heading into Reno passed her by.

Considering she’d been away for almost two full weeks, the sight of the place she’d carved out for herself as a home should’ve filled her with relief, with warmth. Instead, her stomach curdled the closer she got.

All that was left here were soured memories. Her friends hadn’t reached out. Besides, most of them were ones she’d met with Jack or through him, so they made their stances clear. Eva hadn’t bothered keeping up with older friends from home when she moved, wanting to spend as little time around her parents as possible. She didn’t regret it, though. Most people in that town hadn’t been for her. Instead, she’d cultivated a whole new home in Reno.

Which had just gotten torched to ashes.

Eva got off at the exit she knew by heart, one she’d traveled the whole five years she’d been dating Jack. They’d been on a fast track to forever—talks about proposing and everything—until they’d added Sienna into the mix. And Jack hadn’t been the only one smitten. Eva had fallen just as hard.

Sweat coated her palms as she drove down roads she remembered better than she wanted to. The moment she made the turn onto what used to be her street, her heart thumped so hard it drowned out whatever grating music poured from the radio. Some shit from the “oldies” station that made her feel old, even though she was twenty-eight.

Seeing Jack again would be a gut punch either way. Seeing Sienna might hurt even more. Eva pulled into park in front of the house, pointedly not looking at it. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, breathing in and out slowly, trying to stave off the panic attack. Why she insisted on doing everything by herself, she didn’t know.

Maybe because she was a control freak.

Or maybe because she didn’t believe anyone would truly help.

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