Page 62 of Savage Cravings

Fuck, but I couldn’t wait to taste her in the back seat of this car. That was my one and only goal for the day.

I pulled out of the shitty motel, and despite what I’d said about taking her out to see the city, I drove out of there too. A part of me wanted to keep going, leaving New Orleans behind and heading straight to Chicago. I didn’t do any of that.

She looked at me questioningly when it was obvious we were no longer in the city.

“Where are we going?” she asked warily.

I grinned, but didn’t look at her. “Don’t sound so worried. If I wanted to kidnap you, I would have done it already.”

She didn’t need to know I was planning on doing just that when the time presented itself.

I felt her eyes on me.

I pointed to the back seat. “We’re going to Couturie Forest for a picnic.”

She seemed surprised at that. “Like on a date?”

My smile widened. “A date.”

I supposed this could be considered a date, though I hadn’t really thought of it as such. I just wanted to take her somewhere alone. Away from my brothers’ gaze, away from the city and the problems. I wanted to take her somewhere that didn’t care whether I was Silas Tiernan, one of the three heads of theTiernan crime syndicate, and where she wasn’t just Mila Hayes, Daniel Hayes’ daughter.

Where we could just be us, and that would be okay.

She was silent the rest of the drive there, and when I pulled up to a spot overlooking the scenic forest view, with a bench and table to boot, I parked the car.

She looked around. “You know, this would be the perfect place to commit a murder.”

I bit my lip and shook my head, hiding my amusement. “Are you planning on murdering me?”

She turned to me, not answering right away. As if she was really contemplating it. “We’ll see, huh?”

I laughed and got out of the car, reaching for the picnic basket in the back seat.

She got out too, and we met at the hood of the car. She eyed the picnic. “You know, this isn’t what I thought would happen when I got in the car with you.”

“What did you think would happen?” I asked, letting my voice drop to a seductive tone. She got it and blushed in a way that made me want to keep saying things to provoke that blush. I shook away the whimsical thought, playfully tapped her chin with my free hand, and headed to the picnic bench. “Come on, naughty girl.”

She gasped with an outrage that made my smile widen as she followed behind me, muttering to herself.

I shook my head. I didn’t think I had smiled this much in—I couldn’t remember.

I set down the basket on the table, and she came over, opening the lid a little to take in the contents.

“You really went all out, didn’t you?” she asked.

I laughed. “I had someone pack it for me.”

She shot me a curious look. “Youhadsomeone pack it for you.” She eyed me head to toe, then looked at the car before looking back at me once more. “You’re rich.”

She didn’t sound impressed anymore. She said it matter-of-factly, and I supposed that made sense. Despite the huge shit pile of debt the club was in, her father wasn’t exactly hurting for money.

I had no doubt the bastard hid most of his fortune away, saving up for when he would need to go on the run.

“Does it matter?” I asked.

She surprised me when she answered, “Yes. I don’t like rich people. Rich men, particularly, who always think the world owes them something.”

I moved a little closer to her. She didn’t take a step back. Instead, she tilted her head up and stared right at me. Brave girl.

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