Lilac

She actually thought those creepy-ass fucking lemurs were cute. I swear one of them stared at me as if he knew me or something.

Loren griped the entire time about the smell.

Houston remained impassive even when a male lion charged the fence and roared. It baffled even the keepers who admitted he was a pretty vocal lion…just never toward guests.

Braxton explained that Houston had that effect. Apparently, it wasn’t limited to humans. Houston got some curious looks from the staff after that as they not-so-covertly whispered to each other. We moved on, and when we reached the giraffes, Braxton lost her shit. She talked endlessly with our tour guide about some chick named April, who’d given birth last year. I was confused along with Houston and Loren until she saw the looks we exchanged and filled us in.

April wasn’t a friend of hers.

She was a giraffe we’d never heard of before. At the time, we were too busy fighting in vain to keep Calvin alive to realize a fucking giraffe had set the internet ablaze.

Braxton claimed the wave had only lasted a couple of months but that it helped the world lose themselves in something meaningful. At least for a while. As she talked, we nodded, pretending to give a damn until she turned back to our tour guide.

At some point, as we made our way through the park and for no reason at all, Braxton slipped her hand in mine. I wasn’t sure if she planned it or was just caught up in the moment, but I didn’t let go. If she noticed my tension, she didn’t comment on it. She was thoroughly enthralled by the guide’s boring facts about fucking flamingos.

I glanced at Houston, who was currently hiding behind his black shades. I could tell by the set of his lips that he’d noticed, and he wasn’t thrilled. Braxton wasn’t only defying orders. She was risking it getting out that we were making more than just music behind closed doors. Liking the fact that she’d chosen me to make her stand, I tightened my grip.

Houston could kill me and then pry her from my dead body if he wanted me to let go.

Braxton’s hand was soft and small in mine, and I suddenly had this urge to go all alpha-dick and stake my claim. That was usually Houston’s speed. I’d never felt this way with Emily. With Braxton, the possibilities of who I wanted to be for her were endless. I wanted to protect her from everyone.

Including me.

Knowing that when Braxton found out about my wife, she would never forgive me, I loosened my grip. When I started to pull away, Braxton’s head turned, and then she was staring up at me, a question in that deceptively innocent gaze. My heart began to pound out of control.

Fuck.

She had me.

She so fucking had me.

I tangled our fingers once more, but she kept staring at me like she could read my guilty thoughts. She wanted to know why I tried to pull away. She wouldn’t let it go unless I made her.

Desperate to avoid the inevitable, I did the first thing I could think of.

I kissed her right there in front of the tour guide and the other keepers trailing us while pretending to work. With a moan, she melted into me, not bothering to think twice as we spiraled deeper within each other’s souls. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her lips since she wrapped them around my cock. I will never forget how it felt to have her on her knees for me.

I was vaguely aware of the guide trailing off mid-sentence, Loren storming off like I’d stolen his favorite toy, and Houston plotting to make us both pay. Xavier had faxed over NDAs for the employees to sign in exchange for our patronage, so word wasn’t getting out, but that was never Houston’s problem.

He wanted Braxton for himself.

He’d rather scheme and plot and make arbitrary rules than simply admit it so that we could deal with the fact that we wanted her too.

Braxton broke the kiss, and when our gazes met, we were the only two people in the world.

“Take me somewhere, Jericho. Just you and me.”

It only took me half a second to pick up what she was putting down. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her back the way we came. We hurried over a bridge and underneath a covered walkway before crossing over to the tunnel that separated the park’s east and west side. Or maybe it was north and south.

There wasn’t enough blood left in my brain for critical thinking, let alone navigation skills.

The moment we were under cover of darkness and the prying eyes of the security cameras, I kissed Braxton again. With my hands on her waist, I kept kissing her as I backed her against the wall of the tunnel. I could hardly see shit, but I felt how crazy she was making me.