The Road That Leads to Us (Us 1)

“Outside,” he replied unhelpfully and smiled cheekily over his shoulder.

“I deduced that.” I tried to sound mad, but it was futile. It was impossible to be mad around Dean.

The night air was slightly chilly and goosebumps dotted my skin where my arms were exposed.

He followed a sidewalk that wound around the hotel property.

Eventually he veered off the path into the grass.

“Dean!” I giggled, digging my feet into the ground.

“Almost there.” He tugged a bit to get me moving.

Before I could blink he’d wound his arm around my waist and dropped to the ground, pulling me down with him.

I landed in his lap and he burst into laughter at our clumsy demise.

“If you wanted me in your lap, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”

He shook his head at me, but couldn’t hide his smile.

I slid off his lap and sat beside him.

“Tell me, Hot Buns, why are we here?”

He groaned and lay back on the ground, stretching one leg out and bending the other.

“How much would I have to pay you to erase that stupid name from your memory?”

I pretended to ponder his question. “I’m cheap.”

“How cheap?” He lowered his arm so I could see his brow tick.

I bent and leaned close to him. My hair swept down, forming a shield around us.

“I accept sexual favors.”

“Fuck, Willow. You’re worse than a horny teenage boy.”

“A teenage boy gets more action than I do.” I gestured with my hand and he laughed. “I can’t even do that because you’re in bed beside me.”

He made this rumbling sound in his chest and suddenly I found myself lying flat on my back with him hovering above me. Every delicious inch of his body was pressed into mine and my heart pulsed like an out of control drumbeat.

“You don’t play fair, Willow.”

“There’s no fun in fair,” I countered.

“You can try all you want,” he ducked his head and pulled my bottom lip between his teeth before letting go, “but you won’t break me. Not until I know we’re truly ready for that. I won’t ruin us before we even start.”

“Why do you always have to be the voice of reason?” I complained, unable to keep the whine from my voice. “For once in your life can’t you do the bad thing?” I pleaded with him. I reached between us and brushed my fingers against the thick stubble on his cheeks.

He rolled off of me and chuckled. “The right choice isn’t always the easy one.”

“Yoda,” I groaned throwing my hands in the air before they fell to my sides. “You’re fucking Yoda.”

“So you tell me, practically every day.”

He turned his head to grin at me and his teeth were startling bright in the darkness.