Free In Too Deep by Kira Sinclair

cap, he tipped the neck toward her in salute and then pulled a huge swallow before offering the bottle to her.
    She reached for it, trying to ignore the fire that erupted up her arm as their fingers tangled. It would soon be drowned out by another burn anyway.
    Grasping the bottle, she couldn’t help but grimace at the sharp scent as she brought it close to her mouth.
    “Bottom’s up, doc,” he said.
    Her lips wrapped around the smooth edge. Liquid flames poured down the back of her throat. She didn’t even really taste it, but the inside of her nose suddenly felt as if it was on fire.
    “What the hell is that?” Avery wheezed. Setting down the bottle, she sucked in hard, trying to catch her breath. “That stuff is awful.”
    Knox gave her a twisted, lopsided smile. “Moonshine. Apparently, they’re multitalented criminals.
    Jeez, the stuff was vile, but even now Avery could feel the pleasant warmth spreading from her belly out to her fingers and toes.
    Her entire body tingled, as if she’d been standing just a little too close to a lightning strike and conducted the residual charge.
    The second swig wasn’t quite as bad. By the fifth she couldn’t taste anything.
    Back and forth, they silently shared sip after sip. It didn’t escape her notice that her sips were much smaller than Knox’s, although that made sense. He was a big guy, all shoulders and arms and thighs to die for.
    After a few drinks her body began to relax. Pretty soon it felt as if the moonshine had replaced her muscles. She was all liquid warmth and firelight.
    It felt good. It felt strange. A relief to let the weight of everything she’d been holding up for so long just...disappear.
    She loved the way the golden-red flames danced across Knox’s skin. He’d taken his shirt off while lighting the fire and hadn’t bothered to put it back on. She could see every curve and dip of his pecs and abs.
    The man might be out of the military, but it was obvious he hadn’t used that as an excuse to let his body go.
    He was gorgeous. And the way his muscles bunched and flexed when he moved...
    “Doc, you keep looking at me that way and we’re going to do something we’ll both regret.”
    “What?” she asked, forcibly jerking her gaze up from Knox’s chest to his eyes. His hot, molten-caramel eyes. She could just lick him up with a spoon. Which was funny because she rarely allowed herself to indulge in sweets. Things that were bad for her. Just as Knox McLemore would be if she let him get too close. “What? How am I looking at you?”
    “Like you want to run that gorgeous mouth all over my chest.”
    “Hmm.” She enjoyed the sensation of the sound in her mouth. “Maybe I do.”
    She could hear her own words, a little slow, a little slurred. Logically, she realized what that meant, but she no longer cared.
    “You’re drunk, doc.”
    “That’s usually what happens when one drinks alcohol, smart guy.”
    Flopping back onto the sand, Avery stretched her legs out to her side and somehow found her head propped against Knox’s thigh.
    She stared up at him, his head haloed by the black sky and twinkling stars. They both seemed so far away—Knox and the heavens.
    He watched her, the spot right between his eyebrows creased with worry even as the corners of his mouth tipped up in stifled amusement.
    Lifting her hand, Avery smoothed the tip of her finger over the ridges, hoping the action would take away the emotion causing them as well. She didn’t like seeing Knox upset.
    “I don’t think you’re drunk, though,” she finally said.
    “No.”
    “Pity. I’ve never gotten drunk and made bad decisions. Yet another rite of passage I’ve missed. Was hoping you were drunk enough that maybe we could make one together.”
    He made a sound, a cross between a laugh, a wheeze and a groan. “What kind of bad decision did you have in mind?”
    “Oh, you know, giving in to the sexual tension that’s been clawing at us both since the day we met. But I