“We’ll get arrested,” Jenna gasped, her pupils huge and deep as night. “One more second of kissing you like that and I’m going to have to have you inside me.”

Gard’s chest exploded as if she’d been shot. “Jesus Christ, Jenna.”

“Don’t tell me you can’t tell.”

“I can’t even think when all my blood and half my brains are headed between my legs.” Gard heaved herself back into her seat and scanned out the window. No one around. She rubbed both hands over her face. Her mind was mush and all she wanted was to touch her again—good sense, consequences, and lookie-loos be damned. “You’re making me nuts.”

“Stay over there while I put these damn boots on.” Jenna jammed her feet into the ankle-high work boots, quickly laced them up, and jumped out of the truck. She pushed the tails of her pale yellow cotton shirt into her jeans, zipped and buttoned them. “Safe now.”

Gard rolled her head on the seat and studied her. Her cheeks and neck were flushed, her eyes bright, her lips swollen. She let her gaze drop lower. The faint outline of Jenna’s nipples, hard and round, pressed outward beneath her shirt. Jenna’s breathing grew faster the longer Gard looked. “You’re a long way from safe. You like teasing me, don’t you?”

Jenna rested her arms on the roof of the truck cab and leaned in, her crotch riding against the seat, her breasts pushing forward. She rocked her hips back and forth. “I haven’t even started to tease you yet.”

“Get in the truck.”

“In a hurry for lunch?”

“If you keep it up, we’re gonna have to get takeout.” Gard gripped the steering wheel in both hands. “There’s no way I can sit across from you in a restaurant without everybody knowing exactly what I’m thinking. And what I’m thinking is private.”

“Is that right.” Jenna got in, closed the door, and put her hand on Gard’s thigh. She dragged her nails along the seam inside Gard’s thigh, up and down, up and down, until Gard’s hips lifted off the seat. “Then let’s have a picnic.”

“Where are we exactly?” Jenna peered out at the small turnaround where Gard parked. The road ended in a rutted trail narrowed by creeping undergrowth at the base of a mountainside thick with evergreens.

“Right on the Vermont–New York border.” Gard cut the engine and came around to Jenna’s door. “Go ahead and pass me the food. There’s a blanket behind your seat too.”

Jenna handed out two bags filled with sandwiches, takeout containers of coleslaw and rice pudding, a nice bottle of white wine, and a faded olive-green blanket. They’d stopped at a little place in a strip mall incongruously called the Epicurean Café, and it had lived up to its name. According to the newspaper reviews tacked up inside, the owner, a well-known French chef, had wanted out of the rat race of competitive big-city restaurants and had retired to the countryside, where he still cooked as if he were in a five-star establishment.

“I don’t see any tables.” Jenna made a three-sixty. Nothing but more trees.

“This way.” Gard held out her hand and Jenna took it as if it were the most natural thing in the world for her to do. The calluses on Gard’s palm rubbed lightly against hers, and the little bit of friction was as exciting as a kiss. She wasn’t certain how she was going to get through a picnic when she couldn’t think of anything except Gard touching her, caressing her, filling her.

“Jenna,” Gard said in a dangerous tone.

“Sorry. Sorry.” Gard led her to a second trail that hadn’t been immediately visible—a rocky, pine-needle-covered path just wide enough for two people to walk abreast. Almost immediately they started to climb, and she was happy for the purchase of her new boots. Sneakers would not have been sturdy enough. “How can you tell the second I get turned on?”

“Your mouth gets soft,” Gard murmured. “Your lips darken a shade and you swallow a little bit, as if waiting for me to slip inside.”

Jenna caught her breath. “You can’t know what you do to me.”

“Oh, I know.” Gard’s voice was rough, frustrated. “Because you do the same to me. I feel like I’m going to explode.”

“Good. I hate to suffer alone.”

Gard laughed. “You have nothing to worry about, then.”

After ten minutes of vigorous uphill hiking, the trail dwindled into a twisting, brush-encroached path. Jenna was about to ask if Gard really knew where she was going when all of a sudden the forest opened up into a small grassy clearing on the edge of the mountain. The deep green carpet of grass was dotted with granite boulders that resembled blocks tossed down by a bored child. Below them stretched a valley completely untouched by human habitation. Mist swirled from its depths and floated on the air like the breath of lovers on a cool fall night.

“God, it’s so beautiful.” Jenna glanced at Gard who was looking at her, her eyes dark storm clouds. “What?”

“It’s all I can do to keep my hands off you.”

“Then let’s distract you for a while.”

“Why?” Gard’s voice was gravelly, her mouth a tight line.

Jenna smiled. “Because I like waiting. I like feeling you want me.”

“Jesus.”

“Come on.” Jenna spread out the blanket and stretched out on her side, propping her head up in the palm of her hand. “Bring the food down here.”

Gard knelt and put the bags next to the blanket. She found the corkscrew and opened the wine. Handing Jenna the package of plastic cups, she said, “Would you?”

Jenna got out two and held them while Gard poured the white Burgundy. They toasted each other and drank. Jenna loved the way Gard’s eyes never left her face. When she skimmed the tip of her tongue over her lips, catching the last drops of wine, Gard’s gaze followed. Jenna leaned forward and kissed her, but drew away before Gard could hold her in place.

“Sandwiches?”

Gard stared at her for long seconds and Jenna wondered if Gard’s tight reins were finally going to snap. She thrilled at making her lose control. She was still in control, and that was good. Essential.

Gard removed the wax paper from one of the sandwiches and spread it out between them. She picked up half and held it out to Jenna. “Bite.”

Jenna wet her lips again, watching Gard’s eyes narrow dangerously, and, getting to her knees, took a corner of the sandwich into her mouth. She slowly bit down and tugged off a small section. She chewed, murmured her approval. Took another bite. After she swallowed, she said, “Now you.”

Gard ate a little and brushed the back of her hand over her mouth. Her fingers trembled and Jenna throbbed.

“Coleslaw?” Jenna asked. Her voice was husky.

Grinning, Gard found the container and took the top off. She set it down, hunted some more, and came up with a plastic fork. She dug into the slaw and held out the fork. “Open.”

Jenna stuck out her tongue and laughed when a strand of cabbage dropped into her lap. She licked the tart sauce off her lip, took the plastic container, and fed some to Gard.

They took turns feeding each other. When they were done, Jenna grabbed Gard’s wrist and slowly licked her fingers, one after the other, twirling her tongue around the tips, sucking lightly. By the time she got to Gard’s thumb and rolled her tongue over the pad, Gard’s jaw was so tight it looked as if it might shatter.

“More wine?” Jenna asked.

“I’m good. I’m driving.”

Jenna bit lightly and when Gard grunted—her expression flickering between intense arousal and something close to pain—Jenna got terribly wet. She was losing control of her own game and quickly drew back, willing her body to calm.

“Maybe we should get back,” Jenna said. “Your office—”

“I called while you were trying on clothes,” Gard said. “I didn’t have anything critical. My vet tech is handling things.”

“So you’re free.”

Gard nodded. “Completely.”

Jenna edged closer on the blanket until her knees touched Gard’s and draped her arms over Gard’s shoulders. She kissed her, light and quick. Her breasts brushed against Gard’s and she tightened everywhere. “How likely are we to be disturbed?”

“This time of day, middle of the week? Way out here? Not likely.” Gard caressed Jenna’s sides, her thumbs brushing along the outer edges of Jenna’s breasts.

“Getting naked is probably not a good idea, though.”

Gard smiled. “Not recommended.”

“We should probably go, then. Because I want you to get me naked.”

“Is that right?” Gard slid her hand around Jenna’s nape and clasped her firmly, drawing her closer until their mouths met. She kissed her as if she were still hungry, exploring the inside of her mouth with long, probing strokes, cradling Jenna’s breast in her other hand, her thumb sliding back and forth over her nipple.

Jenna’s thighs softened and she leaned into Gard, not caring any longer who led and who followed. All she wanted was more. More of Gard touching her, kissing her, setting her on fire. She moaned and caressed Gard’s shoulders through her shirt, and it wasn’t enough. She yanked up on the shirt and drove a hand underneath, finding her skin, massaging the hard muscles of her back. Gard held her captive with one hand gripping her neck, the other roaming over her body, squeezing her ass, caressing her breasts, stroking her stomach. Still she needed more. She needed to be naked. She needed Gard everywhere, over her and inside her.

Jenna pulled back, gasping. “Oh God. Bad idea. Bad idea.”

“Oh no. Very good idea. Amazing.” Gard slid her mouth down Jenna’s throat and licked the moisture that had pooled in the hollow. She expected salt but got clear cool water. She raised her head and felt raindrops on her face. The sun shone brightly overhead as a summer shower descended on them. “We’re going to get drenched.”

Laughing, Jenna fisted her hands in Gard’s hair. “I don’t care.”