There’s a long pause. Sterling stares fixedly at me without saying a thing.
“Sterling—” I begin.
“Don’t bother,” he slurs the last words. “I think I better go, Lucky. You have enough new toys to play with.”
“I don’t want those,” I coax, wrapping an arm around him and pressing my body against his. “Let me make it up to you.”
His angry look turns blank, like his processing time has slowed, then he shoots me a crooked grin. “That was the plan, wasn’t it?”
“It can still be like that,” I promise.
“How?”
“Follow me.” I smile and take his hand. We head out the main entrance and toward the pavilion, now empty and cold despite the gas heaters. Everyone really has moved inside. Instead of cutting towards the pool house directly, though, I head toward the pavilion.
“This your idea of private?” Sterling mumbles. “Where are the cameras in here, anyway?”
“There aren’t any,” I say brightly. If I can get him away from my friends long enough, I know he’ll come around. At least, I hope he will. “That’s why we’re here.”
He narrows his eyes quizzically, and for a moment the brooding stops.
The sides of the pavilion are still covered by roll-down canvases, tied together to form a temporary wall to keep the heat in—they’ll also keep curious eyes out. I undo a couple of knots and pull the canvas to the side. “After you, sir.”
“What am I? Alice headed to Wonderland?” He shoots me a sloppy grin, seems to think better of it, and replaces the look with a scowl.
“You’re not Alice. But I did plan on making a stop in Wonderland.”
He’s ducking through the opening, so I can’t read his reaction. If that didn’t cheer him up, probably nothing will.
I follow him through and we come out exactly where I planned, on a path winding between a garden and the garage. Sterling is walking ahead of me already, too far ahead.
“Stop!”
He turns slowly in the darkness. “What now?”
“That path has motion-activated lights. They’re wired into the security system.”
It takes him a moment to understand what I’m getting at. “Who lives like this?”
“Everyone I know, unfortunately.” I point to the tall hedge that walls the garden. “It’s through here.”
“Your Wonderland has a lot of gates, Lucky.” Before I can go any further, he grabs me and spins me into his arms.
For a second, I consider fighting it. I give in, instead. My body molds to his. I taste the sharp sting of whiskey on his tongue as a greedy hand moves from my hip to my ass. His fingers fiddle with my short hemline before dipping under it to fondle the curve of my buttocks. I’m so lost to him that it takes me a moment to process what he’s doing—it feels too good. I’m painfully aware that he’s touching me in places I usually only dream about. The floodlights wake me up, and I feel a cold rush of air against my bare skin.
Yelping, I jerk my skirt back over my ass. We must have stumbled back far enough to trip the lights, which means we’ve also tripped the security system. I reach for his hand to grab him and get him out of here, but he refuses to move.
“Now I can see you,” he says silkily. He yanks me back against him, and I realize just how strong he is. I can’t fight it. Not that I want to. This is what I wanted tonight. Just maybe with less cameras.
“We shouldn’t,” I murmur as his hand slips between my legs, bypassing the scrap of underwear I wore as a nod to propriety and dipping deep inside me. “Sterling!”
“Ask nicely.” He kisses my neck.
“Not here.” My eyes shutter despite my objection, my core clenching around his probing fingers.
“I didn’t hear a question,” he says.
“Can we please go to the poorhouse?” I pant, trying not to moan.
His tongue flickers along my earlobe. “Why? What do you want to do there?”
“You know what,” I snap impatiently, but I can’t seem to break free of him. It feels too good.
“I need you to say it, Lucky.”
“So we can sleep together,” I whisper, feeling heat explode on my cheeks.
“Like a nap?”
I groan and it morphs into something guttural as the pad of his thumbs finds my ticking center. “Fuck. I want to fuck.”
He pulls aways, still kneading me, and raises an eyebrow.
“Will you please fuck me?” I pant. I’m not just ready. I’m bursting.
Sterling withdraws his fingers and lifts them to his lips. He sucks each one, a slow smile spreading over his face. “Lead the way.”
I don’t waste any time dragging him towards the hedge.
“My dad has tried to fix this hedge a dozen times,” I explain. “He still hasn’t figured out why he can’t.” I give Sterling a wink and step sideways through a gap in the hedge wall. A couple of branches snap as I pass, just like they always do. “Alright, you can come through. Make sure you don’t get poked in the eye.”
I hear a wordless grumble, followed shortly by an ouch, but Sterling manages to force his way through. He takes a second to shake off the foliage and look around. “It’s a garden,” he says, surprised.
My mother’s garden. I don’t tell him. That’s not what tonight is supposed to be. Of course, nothing tonight has turned out how I wanted.
“I hope you’re not too drunk to climb through a window,” I say, pointing to the pool house, which forms one of the garden’s four walls.
“All this to avoid your own cameras?” he says, incredulous.
“Exactly.”
The big picture window overlooking the garden can’t be opened, but the one through the kitchen does. I push it up, straddle the bottom of the sill, one leg at a time, and I’m through.
“Welcome to Wonderland.” I say triumphantly. “Now we can be alone.” I give him a sexy smile, but I doubt he can see it through the darkness.
“Too bad I only rate the pool house,” he says, his dark silhouette coming towards me.
Good. He’s joking. We might be able to rescue my birthday after all.
“We’ll see about upgrading you next time,” I tease.
Our bodies collide awkwardly in the darkness, but as soon as he touches me it doesn’t matter. I cover his lips with mine, and he responds instantly, hungrily. I explore the stubble along his neck, planting kisses and slowly making my way towards his chest.
“I suppose lights are out of the question?” he says with a deep purr.
“If you want there to be a sequel,” I say, pausing to nip his earlobe before continuing, “we’d better not.”
“Whatever you say, Lucky.” He puts both hands on my hips and spins me away from him. His hands are greedy on my body, and his stubble scratches along my neck as he kisses me there.
“Oh, that’s nice,” I moan, rolling my head onto his chest.
“You know exactly how hot you are, don’t you?” He sighs before planting kisses on my shoulder.
“Do I?” I whisper, melting into him.
His hands slide up slowly from my hips toward my breasts, which tighten in anticipation. Sterling’s fingers glide over the tight points of my nipples and pinch slightly. The other hand wraps around my neck, and I gasp as he turns my head to the side and kisses me again.