Behind Your Back by Chelsea M. Cameron

her out of the restaurant. She leans toward me the slightest bit.
    “Thank you so much for bringing me here. That was nice.” Her fingers grip my arm a little too tight. I fold her shawl over her shoulders and she looks up at me. Those green eyes can be a bit unnerving when you’re staring right into them. I have a very specific plan, but I decide to deviate from it.
    “Would you like to go for a walk?” I ask and her lips turn up slowly.
    “Do you read minds, Quinn Brand?”
    “Only redheads,” I say as we leave the restaurant and start walking down the street. “Going to be okay in those shoes?”
    She stops and sticks one of her feet out in front, as if she’s studying it.
    “These old things? Psh, I could run a marathon in these.” I bet she could. We resume walking and she tugs me closer.
    “Are you cold?” I ask.
    “No,” she says.
    Interesting. I’m going to take her lead and see what she’ll let me get away with. If we had it my way, I would have pulled her into the nearest dark alley, pulled up her dress and fucked her hard against the dirty stone of the building.
    But I’m not sure if Saige is that kind of girl and I don’t want to ruin something that hasn’t even started. It’s easier to stay in her good graces than get myself out and then back in.
    Tendrils of her hair swirl in the breeze and I want to capture one with my fingers.
    “What are you thinking about?” she asks. The silence between us has been easy instead of awkward. I like that.
    “You.” I say the first thing that comes to mind.
    She turns her head and looks at me from under her black-slicked lashes.
    “Yeah? What about me?”
    I’m not going to tell her what I’m really thinking, of course, but I almost consider it, just to see what she’d say.
    “About how pretty your hair is. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a color quite like that.” She tucks a strand behind the ear that doesn’t have the white flower on it.
    “Well, I can’t exactly take credit for it. I had nothing to do with it.” I chuckle a little and we reach an intersection.
    “Where to?” I ask.
    “Left,” she says, pointing, so we wait until the way is clear and cross.
    “What are your plans for the rest of the night?” she asks.
    “I’m not sure. I’m only thinking about right now.”
    “Smooth, Quinn Brand.”
    “Thank you.” She stops walking and I nearly trip, which is unlike me. This woman has put me off-balance more than once this evening already.
    “But I don’t want to know the answer you think I want to hear. I don’t want to hear a line you’ve fed to other women. I want to know what you want to happen. Just tell me.” She turns to face me and her hands grip my lapels. She’s almost close enough to kiss, but I’m not going to. She doesn’t want to know what I’d like to do with her, but I’m going to tell her anyway. Just to see what happens.
    “I’ve been thinking that I’d like to pull you into an alley. Any alley. Run my hands over your skin, rip the pins out of your hair, yank up your dress and fuck you until your back is bleeding from being rubbed up against the wall behind you. And then I’d want to take you somewhere with a bed so I can fuck you some more. Satisfied?”
    Her mouth is slightly open, but her eyes aren’t filled with shock at all. They’re filled with fire and if I stare into them too long, she’s going to consume me. She blinks and I try to pull back, but she’s still holding onto me.
    “Why don’t you? Are you scared?” She’s taunting me and I’m starting to get pissed off.
    “Are you asking me to fuck you? I will. Don’t think for a second that I won’t.”
    She lets go of me and takes a step back.
    “Then fuck me.”

 
     
    Nine
     
    I really wish she would stop surprising me. I’m getting tired of it.
    “That’s what you want?” I say and I can’t stop the rush that goes through my body as I think about doing that very thing. I’ve been hard for her since the moment