Read Story: SEASON 2 EPISODE 113

Placing my hand over the smaller one resting on my chest, I curled my fingers around hers and gave a gentle squeeze. She gave me that cocky, challenging look—eyes dancing—then squeezed back, her dark fingernails dragging lightly across my shirt.

“So,” I said. “That’s what I have to do to win a date with you? Sleep with another woman?”

She cocked her head, jaw tilted in playful thought. “Not just any woman.” She nodded toward the dance floor. “That woman.”

What an incredibly Erin thing to do.

I grinned. “Challenge accepted.”

Erin’s smile widened, gleaming. “All right then. How about you get out there and woo that damsel!”

“A kiss for good luck?”

“What if she sees? Don’t you think that might hurt your chances?” She smirked. “Eye on the prize, Upton.”

I looked around. Erin had a point. But I wasn’t about to take no for an answer. Natalie looked distracted, weaving in and out of the dancers with Tara close at her side.

“Let’s go,” I said, grabbing Erin’s hand and dragging her toward the edge of the garden.

“Excuse me!” Erin protested, mock offended. “I believe the girl is that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction.

Ignoring her, I pulled her just past the brush, tucked us behind enough greenery that we were mostly hidden from the rooftop.

Then I turned to face her, wrapping an arm around her tiny waist and pulling her tight against me. Her hands pressed to my chest, and she looked up at me with those big brown eyes. A small gasp escaped her parted lips. Her tongue flicked out to wet them. She looked so vulnerable.

Before she could say anything—before the snark could surface—I crashed my mouth onto hers, filling it with my tongue.

Her hands slid to my biceps, kneading with delicate fingers. I felt her nails digging through the fabric of my shirt. Her lips closed around my tongue, sucking on it. She moaned into the kiss, her mouth vibrating with want. I could feel it… recognize it... because I was burning, too.

I wanted her.

I’d had her—so many times—but the need never faded.

It was her size. So small in my arms. I could wrap my hands around her waist. She couldn’t weigh more than a hundred pounds. I wanted to throw her down right there and take her.

It was the way she kissed—wet, hungry, enthusiastic. Very French. Her tongue circled mine, coaxing and massaging it. It reminded me of all the wicked things she could do with something else in her mouth.

It was her beauty. God, this girl was stunning. Those liquid brown eyes could pull anything out of me. That silver hair contrasting with her bronzed skin. Her lips—just pouty enough to be addictive. Plush and sinful. Her fine, elfin features could shift from girl-next-door to femme fatale in a blink.

Erin wasn’t just a woman.

Erin was the woman.

My hand slid from her waist to her ass. I grabbed it and squeezed, kneading that perky little rear with all the enthusiasm I could summon.

Erin pressed her hips into mine, moaning into the kiss. Her teeth raked across my lip as her right hand slid up my arm and into my hair.

I could take her to my room right now… for the rest of the night.

Fuck Natalie.

Fuck everyone else.

A throat cleared behind us.

We broke apart like we’d been hit by lightning. Erin gasped, instinctively covering her chest with one hand in a reflex of modesty I hadn’t expected from her.

Henry Psalter stood roughly five feet away from us, holding a small plate of finger food in one hand and a beer in the other.

“I have to ask,” he said, pointing between the two of us. “Is this the employer giving a bonus… or the employee going above and beyond?”

I blinked.

It took me several seconds to process what he’d just said.

Erin and I looked at each other. She looked just as confused as I felt.

Psalter smiled. I could see a flicker of regret in his expression.

“Apologies,” he said, raising the beer in his hand. “One too many of these, I’m afraid.”

“I didn’t know you were up here,” I said, still trying to decide whether I should be amused or annoyed by his question.

“I hope that’s all right. Gleaning information from Ryo Tanaka can engender quite the appetite.”

“No,” I said quickly. “It’s fine.”

Psalter popped the rest of a half-eaten pinwheel into his mouth and chewed as we watched.

“To tell you the truth,” he said, after swallowing, “refreshment was the secondary reason for coming to your rooftop. I thought you ought to know—we’ve located James and Nate Lucas.”

“Already?” I asked.

“You doubt my ability, Mr. Upton?” he asked with an arched brow.

“No,” I replied, distracted by the implications of Jim being found. “It’s just… with Roger VanCamp still on the loose…”

And then I realized I’d actually insulted his skills this time.

“Well,” he said, looking less offended than genuinely impressed, “I could take offense to that.”

“Sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean—”

“It’s all right, Mr. Upton. I suppose I had it coming after my catty comment upon arriving. What would you like us to do about Jim and Nate?”

“Where are they?” Erin asked.

“Sioux Falls.”

“South Dakota?” I asked.

“Yes,” Henry confirmed, taking another swig of his beer.

“That’s where he and Phoebe are from,” I explained to Erin, recalling Phoebe’s story about how she and Jim met.

“They’re actually from a small town nearby called Fulton,” Henry added. “It’s how we found them so easily.”

“Okay,” I said, thinking through the next steps. “We need to get Nate back, but I’m not sure how to go about it. What do you suggest?”

“Well,” Henry said, “we could involve the police. Safest route. But there are more… unsavory options.”

“Like what?” I asked.