“Or would you rather—”
I bent and silenced her with a kiss, dropping my own flashlight to the floor. Electricity leapt between us again, like sparks arcing between two live contacts.
Holy shit.
It was like the kitchen all over again: all heat and fire and passion. Kayleen’s tongue slipped against mine, swirling with arousal. Her hands slid upward along my back, pulling me even tighter as I inhaled her deeply, relishing in the sweet, citrusy scent of her.
The cellar was dead silent. Everything around us seemed designed to absorb sound. Standing there, shrouded in darkness, every sigh and whimper was magnified tenfold. Every sound she made was turning me on more and more.
We kissed for what seemed like forever, content to just hold each other close. Then, gradually, our hands began to explore…
Suddenly Kayleen pulled away. She looked at me with a strange expression for a moment, then sneezed violently.
“Back upstairs?” I asked.
She nodded and giggled.
We gathered the flashlights quickly and fled to the first floor. We were almost to the bedrooms — without even bothering to slide the bookcase back — when Kayleen suddenly pulled me in another direction.
Any direction other than my bed was the last thing I wanted.
“What?”
“The roof,” she said simply. “We were supposed to check it out, remember?”
Nineteen
KAYLEEN
The villa’s traditional Spanish roof consisted of overlapping clay shingles, except for the flat part that wasn’t pitched. That area had poured cement railings that curved around the front of the house. Near the back, it even overlooked the atrium.
High above us, the clear desert sky was a bowl of a million shining stars.
“My God, this is so beautiful!”
I was almost in awe of how pretty it looked, the scattered lights of the valley stretching all the way down to the mountains. The rooftop was smooth and unblemished. A stone bench stood near the front, all lonely and unused.
“How the hell is it none of you have ever come up here?”
Burke was shaking his head and glancing around in every direction. By the look of wonderment on his face, I already had my answer.
“We didn’t even realize you could.”
I barked a laugh. “You didn’t see the upper landing from the atrium?”
He made a face. “Hey. We’re writing books, remember?”
“Yeah, from your boring little bedrooms.”
Burke reached out and pulled me against his body with two powerful arms. The move left me breathless… and staring into his chocolate brown eyes.
“That’s not all we do in our bedrooms,” he growled, nuzzling in close. “As I was about to show you.”
His hands slid to my ass, and a new wave of goosebumps stippled my skin. They were strong hands. Insistent hands.
“What I meant by that was, why don’t you write up here?”
He hesitated for only a second, his lips halfway to my shoulder. Then he was kissing me there, squeezing my ass in two big palms.