Out of Control by Stephanie Feagan

around the garden of
     Eden. Appreciative and wolfish.
    “So, doc, whatdya think?”
    He reached for me, drawing me against him with an unhurried certainty, lowering his
     head, sliding his lips across mine slowly, lightly. His seven day beard, though not
     full, was long enough not to prickle. Instead, it was soft and erotic touching my
     face. “I’d tell you what I think,” he whispered against my mouth, “but my mama taught
     me not to talk that way in front of a lady.”
    Then he kissed me, moving his tongue against mine with lazy strokes. Me in only a
     thong and a pair of boots; him in his boxers and boots. He smelled of crude oil and
     sweat, and tasted like whiskey. His body, the wide stretch of his bare back, was hard
     and smooth and unbelievably hot.
    As kisses went…oh my God, it was amazing. I decided Robichaud could be conceited about
     his kissing abilities because he wouldn’t be exaggerating. Despite my very naked breasts
     pressed intimately against his solid, lightly hairy chest, his hands remained at my
     back, his fingers splayed across my skin, some of them tangled in the thin band of
     my thong. His arms held me close enough to fuse our skin together. His erection pressed
     against my pelvis firmly, inevitably, without demanding anything at all.
    He broke the kiss and moved his lips across my cheek, down to my throat and up to
     my ear. “You’re dirty, you smell like a barrel of crude, and you’re wearing steel-toed
     boots, but sugar, you’re beautiful. I’ve never in my whole life wanted a woman as
     much as I want you.”
    “You have a thing for dirty women in work boots?”
    His lips nibbled my earlobe. “That’s the weird part. I usually go for blondes with
     too much makeup and expensive shoes.”
    “Maybe you’ve just been away from civilization too long. Or maybe the fumes are getting
     to you.”
    “I might buy that, except that I wanted you five minutes after I met you. Remember?”
    “At the office. You said I reminded you of a cute little gal you dated at LSU. It
     was your way of patronizing me.”
    “You said I reminded you of a dumb jock you didn’t date at Tulane. It was your way of slapping me for patronizing you.”
    “Why, exactly, did that make you want me?”
    His fingers dipped to my ass and he cupped it hard, drawing me closer to him. “It
     didn’t. That was several minutes later, after a few more zingers, when you turned
     around and walked away. I’d never seen a woman walk like that, or one that was put
     together like you. And no woman, anywhere, ever threw my bullshit back in my face.”
     He kissed me again, long and slow, wet and hot. My thong was now completely soaked,
     every feminine part of me on high alert, ready for him.
    Too bad we couldn’t finish what we’d started.
    We didn’t even get to finish the kiss. I heard Cash calling my name and knew it was
     only a matter of time before he came behind the trailer to see if I’d been bitten
     by a rattlesnake.
    With severe regret, I pulled away from Nick, turned and bent to retrieve my T-shirt
     from the ground. When I raised up and turned back, he was gone.

Chapter Five
    The FBI agents finished their work within an hour and told us the well hadn’t been
     blown on purpose. It was a true blowout, sparked when the drilling crew started the
     drill stem test, which made sense, because that’s when most blowouts occur on drilling
     wells.
    With Maresco the only oil operator to get hit by intentional blowouts, all of which
     would cost them millions of dollars, effectively inhibiting their ability to renew
     the Alaskan leases, A.J. looked even more guilty.
    The agents loaded Tim Fresh in the back seat of the sedan and took off. I was glad
     to see the last of the jerk.
    Not so Conaway. Saying goodbye to her sucked. After she gave a hug and a kiss to each
     of the crew, she promised to send me a copy of her documentary, hugged me fiercely,
     then got in her rattletrap compact and drove