Chapter 4
Middle of The Night – Elley Duhe
Tally
Mirrors were the devil’s invention. I stared at my reflection, lipstick in hand, like I could paint over confusion.
“It’s just drinks,” I muttered. “Casual. Celebratory. No different than post-work beers with the guys.”
Except it was different.
Gunner and Cassidy were engaged. There’d be champagne. Photos. Lily looking radiant in that way only people in functional relationships could pull off.
And Wilder Miller, all slow grins and cocky charm, would be there too.
I told myself I was curling my hair because Cassidy always looked flawless. That I was wearing mascara because Lily would. Not because of him.
Definitely not for him.
My thumb hovered over the lipstick cap before I clicked it into place. Pink to match my nails. That’s all. Coordination, not longing.
Still, the thought of sitting beside him at the bar, his thigh pressed to mine, his hand brushing mine under the table like he didn’t mean it made something low in my stomach twist.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said to the mirror. “It’s sex. Good sex. Convenient, boundary-respecting, emotionally uncomplicated sex.”
The kind that didn’t belong in candlelit rooms or was accompanied by romantic music.
I gave my reflection a flat smile. One that almost convinced me.
Almost.
And then my phone buzzed with a message.
Cassidy
We’re already here. Gunner wanted to make sure Delaney had the champagne on ice. He’s also making me show anyone with a pulse the ring. We’re all here waiting for you. Drive the ranch truck over and Wilder said he’ll drive it back so you can have champagne and beer x
I smiled. Then frowned. Me and Wilder in the cab of the truck on the way home, with alcohol in my system.
It was not a good combination. Or maybe it was a good combination.
It had been a while since I’d had back seat sex.
The idea of Wilder saying my name in that low rasp of his against the hollow of my throat was thrilling, so maybe me and him in the truck wasn’t such a bad idea.
Downtown Bar & Grill was already buzzing when I walked in.
It wasn’t an official engagement party, but it seemed like most of Silver Peaks were there to witness another Miller brother being taken off the market.
Cassidy waved me over, her left hand flashing emerald fire under the overhead lights.
Gunner looked smug and completely besotted, Nash and Lily next to them laughing together.
As I slid into the booth, the other brother arrived.
Wilder.
His hair tousled. His blue shirt fitted against his muscles. His smile crooked.
He scanned the group as he placed the tray of drinks on the table. His eyes landed on me last and lingered.
“Hey, Brownie,” he said, as he leaned closer, his voice pitched just for me.
I raised a brow. “Brownie.”
He shrugged, sliding in beside me. His thigh pressed against mine. “Thought you liked it.”
“Just never heard you say it in public.”
His smirk told me that he was going to be using it again later.
The drinks flowed. The laughter grew louder. Cassidy regaled the story of Gunner’s beach proposal, and their midnight horse ride and Nash roasted him about the scavenger hunt he’d made her do. It wasn’t hard not to smile and laugh. It was hard not to stare too much at Wilder, though.
Having him sitting beside me felt like I was next to a furnace. The way his fingers brushed mine under the table. The glances he gave me over the rim of his beer bottle. It was pure heat.
It appeared that the blonde waitress who paused at our table was also clearly familiar with him.
“Didn’t expect to see you settled, Wilder,” she said with a wink. “This one must be special to be invited to a family get together.”
He laughed it off. We both did. But something cold slid between my ribs.
I wasn’t special.
I was convenient.
When Wilder ignored her and turned to Gunner, the waitress gave a tight smile and slipped away.
“You okay?” Lily asked me.
“Yes, good. It’s nice to relax.” As my fingers gripped the stem of my champagne glass, the lights above flickered.
We all looked up and as we did they went out completely.
Someone laughed. Someone cursed. Phones lit up across the bar as Wilder yelled, “Delaney, you paid your power bill?”
A bell clanged and then Delaney’s voice sounded out around the bar. “Looks like the whole town is down, folks. I’ll get some candles for you in a few.”
I saw Gunner stiffen and Cassidy put a hand on his which was flat on the table. The thought of candles evidently worried him after the fire at the stables.
“It’ll be fine,” Cassidy said. “Everyone will be careful, and it’ll be romantic.”
Gunner nodded. “I guess.”
Wilder leaned closer to me, his lips brushing my ear. “Talking of romance, follow me out back in a couple of minutes.”
I turned to him in the dark, catching just the outline of his jaw. “Where?”
“Just go past the bathrooms toward the door at the end of the hallway.” His hand found mine under the table. “You’ll find me.”
After Wilder had made an excuse that he needed to make a call, I managed to last three minutes before I told everyone I needed the bathroom. Full of anticipation, I just about stopped myself from running past the tables of people laughing and joking.
The hallway was narrow, dark, and smelled faintly of beer and cleaning chemicals. Nothing close to the romance everyone thought was happening inside the bar.
Exactly what Wilder and I needed.
As soon as I reached the door I was heading for, a hand shot out and dragged me into an alcove. My back hit the wall, hard enough to knock the air from my lungs, and Wilder was there, one hand braced above my head, the other gripping my hip like he’d just claimed it.
“You okay if we fuck here?” His voice was low, rough, already curling heat through me. His body pressed close enough to tell me he knew damn well what my answer was.
“Do you really need to a—”
His mouth cut me off, crushing mine. It was not a sweet kiss, not even a hint of sugar. No slow build. Just tongue and teeth and hands tugging and unbuttoning until my jeans were halfway down and his belt buckle clinked as he loosened it.
I should stop it. We were in public, anyone could see, and yet the recklessness of it made me want him more. Made me wonder when ‘just sex’ started feeling like something I'd miss if it ended.
“I was planning to be a gentleman tonight, Brownie,” he breathed against my lips. “Then you walked in looking like this. Now I’m just going to have to ask you to ride me right here.”
He trailed his mouth down my neck, biting just hard enough to make my knees wobble.
“You drive me fucking insane,” he muttered, threading his fingers into my loose hair and tugging until I gasped. “You’re like whiskey…smooth, dangerous, burning in all the right places. And I can’t stop.”
My chest rose and fell fast. “Then do something about it.”
His answer was another rough, claiming kiss. His hand yanked my jeans the rest of the way down, the motion fast, urgent, a little desperate.
“Turn around,” he growled close to my ear. Gravel and heat.
I spun, palms flat against the cold brick wall. The noise of chatter and bravado from the bar thudded through the concrete, masking the metallic sound of his belt hitting the tile.
When he pushed into me, it was one claiming thrust that stole not just my breath but every negative thought I’d had since Kentucky, every promise I’d made myself about keeping this simple.
The stretch of him filled empty spaces that I hadn’t known existed, and for a moment that lasted forever, we were perfectly, terrifyingly still.
His mouth close to my ear, sharing the same shocked breath, the same realization that it felt different.
That maybe we’d started to cross that line we’d drawn in the sand.
“Jesus, fuck—” I gasped.
His hand clamped over my mouth. “Quiet,” he hissed. “Anyone could walk back here…but I think you’d like that, wouldn’t you? My dirty little girl.”
The danger made me clench around him. He swore under his breath, his other hand gripping my hip so tight it was going to leave his mark.
He took me fast and without mercy, every thrust pushing me closer to the wall. The brick scraped my palms, but all I could focus on was the way he filled me, owned me, used me like I was his.
“You love this,” he growled into my neck. “Love knowing I could get caught with you like this.”
I reached up and curled my fingers around his neck, fingertips digging in. He yanked my head back by my hair, slammed deeper, and my orgasm tore through me before I could brace for it.
He followed with a ragged groan, his whole body going taut as he spilled into me.
For a moment, the only sound was our breathing, ragged and uneven.
Then softer, almost like he didn’t mean to say it, “You ruin me.”
The words hit low in my chest, sharp and warm all at once. My breath caught.
When I turned and looked at him, he was already pulling away, zipping up, wiping his mouth like nothing had happened.
Maybe it hadn’t. Maybe it was just sex in a hallway.
But those words stuck.
You ruin me.