Free Unknown (Unknown Series Book 1) by Wendy Higgins Page B

uncle. And the bartender is my cousin.” I looked around.
    “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”
    “Don’t worry about it. They’ve been serving me since I was sixteen.”
    My eyes went wide and he laughed. I agreed on a fruity rum concoction in the belly of a porcelain Buddha glass. And after dinner, he got me to try a shot of sake with him at the bar. I tried, and failed, not to think about how Ry had been drunk on sake when he got his pepper tattoo.
    You’ll always be like a sister to him. Move on .
    The shots were gross, but they warmed me up inside and I found myself smiling. A lot. I switched to beer, and we sat there talking for two hours. Mostly work stuff, which was kind of nice to be able to blow off steam and tell the stories that other people in my life could not handle hearing. He stopped drinking and bought me another.
    By ten, I was pretty buzzed and feeling so relaxed I’d actually been staring at his mouth as he talked. I think I wanted to kiss him. The thought was so shocking, so welcome, that it made me giddy.
    This was what I needed. I started to touch him as we talked—a hand to his wrist, my knee bumping his thigh—small touches, but they didn’t go unnoticed by him. When I finished my beer he cleared his throat and ran a nervous hand through his strands of black silk.
    “You wanna maybe come over to my place and watch a movie or something?”
    “Sure,” I said without hesitation. His eyes popped wide with surprise, and I giggled, which made him laugh too.
    “All right. We can leave your car here,” he said. “I’ll bring you back when the movie’s over if you’re okay to drive.”
    “Okay.” I let him take me by the hand and lead me to his car. The feel of my hand in his larger one was nice. We drove with the windows half-down while he blasted EDM. I felt alive and young in that moment. This was what I should be doing. Going out, having fun. Living my life. Giving nice guys a chance.
    We got to his apartment and he put on a new Greek war drama. But by the time the title was across the screen, he’d sat next to me, looked at me, and then we were kissing. I think I surprised him when I leaned back and pulled him down on top of me, because he let out a moan and then chuckled at himself. My head was buzzing and my skin welcomed his touch. It had been a long time since I kissed anyone, and Ken knew what he was doing.
    Things progressed quickly. I’d dated guys during college, and done some stuff, but I’d never had sex. The full desire had never been there. But tonight I felt something inside of me pushing. Something seeking. Something begging me to fill that longtime void inside of me. And Ken was more than willing.
    His shirt came off, and his smooth brown skin hovered over mine. He pushed up my shirt and gently shoved a hand under my bra to cup me in his palm. I felt strangely . . . disembodied, like I didn’t want to think about it. I just wanted to keep going, as quickly as possible, before I could talk myself out of it. I squirmed underneath him until I’d pulled my shirt and bra off. He moaned again and took each of my breasts in his warm mouth, one by one, until my back was arching for more.
    “Amber . . .” he murmured.
    I reached between us and stroked the outside of his jeans, eliciting a guttural cry from his throat. Then I unbuttoned his pants and he sat up. His eyes stayed on me, hungrily eating me up as he dropped his jeans and stepped out of them. His eyes roamed down to my hands where I was unbuttoning my shorts. That’s when the first small bout of nervousness hit me.
    Keep going, I told myself. It’s okay.
    I lifted my hips and he tugged down my shorts before climbing on top of me. Now there were only boxers and panties between us. I felt an underlying panic, like if I didn’t hurry up and do this I would lose my nerve and never move forward in life. As he kissed me, I reached down again. He lifted his hips and let me pull down the elastic of his