Page 14 of Inarticulate

“What?” She looked over her shoulder to find Penny with her back turned. “Are you hiding from her?” She wanted to add, “You big girl,” but held her tongue.

Keenan tugged her again, regaining her focus as he began walking backward. He wanted her to follow, but where? A few feet away? To the shadows?

She stumbled after him, the heat of the fire leaving her body and an entirely different warmth enveloping her from the inside out. As darkness surrounded them, she chanced another look toward the partygoers and made eye contact with a glowering Dominic.

Yep, I’m disappearing with a stranger. Please come looking for me if I don’t return.She smiled at him, ignoring his concern, and two-stepped to catch up with Keenan’s confident stride.

“Where are we going?”

He didn’t stop. His grip held tight on her wrist, never loosening, and she didn’t want it to. The noise of the party faded and the sound of her boots crunching in the grass became clearer. So did the pounding in her chest. He led them to a gap in the head-high hedge and pulled her into seclusion.

“Keenan?”

He stopped and turned to face her, their breath fogging in the frigid night air. He didn’t gift her with a wicked curve of his lips. No. He was far better than that. He simply stared at her, his interest brushing over her facial features until he paused at her mouth.

She couldn’t help the reaction to lick her drying lips. It was instinctual. The same way her nipples hardened and her pussy tingled.

He raised her hand to chest level, his friendly grip around her wrist changing to something more when he brought them palm to palm and entwined their fingers. She didn’t have time to cherish the rough texture of his skin, or concentrate on the way his thumb slowly brushed hers, because he started walking again, leading her along a stone path.

She tip-toed, well aware they were trespassing, but unwilling to pull her hand from his grasp. Perfectly trimmed knee-high hedges bordered their way forward, and the darkness grew the closer they approached the overbearing house. Large white pillars held up curved balconies with glass banisters. Each window had the curtains pulled closed, not a glimpse of the inside visible.

“Isn’t this private property?”

He didn’t answer. Not in words or movements.

There were still no lights on inside, and the possibility that no one was home should’ve lessened the fear scorching her veins.

“Do you know who lives here?”

He tugged on her hand, making her realize she’d stopped in the middle of the path. She didn’t want to move. At least not in a forward motion.

He tugged again, and her feet complied.

“Keenan,” she hissed.

He stopped, huffed, and pulled her close, their feet bare inches apart. She swallowed over the restriction in her throat, and fell a little further under his spell from the glow of the moonlight on his skin.

“Do you know who lives here?” Her voice was so soft she could barely hear it.

He focused on her eyes and his nostrils flared. She didn’t know what was happening. What they were doing. She only knew her body was overheating even though her breath fogged between them.

“Keenan.” God, she loved the sound of her voice whispering his name. “Are they home?”

He raised a finger to her mouth, held it there, and made her yearn to lick it away with each second that ticked by. He bit his lower lip, still staring, still standing so close. Then she was left reeling when he turned back to the path and continued to lead her forward, not stopping until they reached the corner of the building.

“Okay.” Enough was enough. “I’m all for breaking the rules every now and again, but breaking the law is a little different.”

He tugged her toward a nearby door and crouched down, scouring the ground underneath a leafy shrub. There was another breathy huff, then he moved to the garden on the other side of the doorway and performed the same scavenging ritual. When he sat back on his haunches, the shiny silver key in his hand incited nausea to pool in her belly.

“You must know who lives here.” He had to if he knew where the key was, right?

She couldn’t do this. Couldn’t enter someone’s house without an invitation. What was that even called? They weren’t breaking into anything, but they were entering without permission.

“Keenan.”

He stood, brushed his hands together, and maneuvered behind her, leaving her to face the door.

Oh, hell no.“You know what?” she whispered. “You’re hot, mysterious, and tempting as hell, but this is really pushing my boundaries.”

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