Hard & Fast (Rules to Break #1) by Ana Gabriel

dig in for more.
    Another laugh. “Pork knee marinated in dark beer. Try it with some mustard.”
    I do. It’s a whole other taste experience.
    “I’m never eating anything but pork knee ever again.”
    “I’ll have to let my cook know,” he says.
    By the time we’re done eating and spill out of the restaurant, the sky’s turned blue-black and is lit with a canopy of twinkling stars. Minstrel music floats through the cobbled streets, which is teaming with vibrancy and light and people swirling past in ribbons of color. The whole thing is so enchanting that I feel like I could burst from happiness. Cole must feel it too, because he pulls me into an alley and presses me against the damp brick. His lips find mine, hot and urgent, and I tangle my hands in his hair to deepen the kiss. He pulls apart for a fraction of a second, and the way he’s breathing fast, the way his eyes sparkle as they stare deeply into mine, the feeling in my chest, like my heart is going to catch fire or float right out of my body—it’s all so much that I feel like I could cry. I wonder if this is what love feels like. And then we’re kissing again, and I never want it to end.
    A kid runs into the alley and gasps when he sees us. We laugh, breaking apart.
    We’re back on the street now, but it’s different. I don’t even see beautiful Prague anymore. All I see is this beautiful man. I want to be alone.
    “I have one last place I want to show you,” he says.
    I nod and try not to look disappointed as Cole leads me through the busy streets, cutting a path through the city like a local, until the people dwindle and disappear behind us. Before long I realize he’s leading me to a great hill. He finds a set of nearly invisible stone stairs that trip up the back of the mini-mountain. We climb for ages, my feet sore from a long day of walking. But when I finally reach the top, it’s worth it. The stairs open up to a grassy area with a statue of an angel with sleeping cherubs at her feet in the middle. Beyond it, the city unfurls in front of me, its great spires cutting a sky swirling with mist and stars like a Van Gogh painting. Like a scene out of a fairy tale.
    We’re alone.
    I can’t help wondering how Cole found this place. If I’m not the first girl he’s taken here.             
    Stop that, Rose , I chide myself.
    Cole wraps his arms around me from behind and pulls me into him, pressing his nose into my neck. His kisses are gentle, touches so bare that they send shivers racing down my body. I angle my neck to give him better access, but he doesn’t deepen his kisses. He takes his time, his lips moving down my collarbone until a breathless sigh escapes me. I resist the urge to go faster, harder, and remind myself that he isn’t going anywhere—at least not tonight—and close my eyes and let myself feel it, be consumed by the feeling. Cole finally moves around in front of me. When his hands cup my face and his lips find mine, he kisses me so sweetly that it’s as if he’s trying to say something. I cling onto him, not just because I want to feel him closer, but because I’m so dizzy with emotion that I feel like I could collapse.
    “Are you okay?” Cole whispers, his voice tight.
    I realize I’m crying. Why the hell am I crying? I’m not supposed to care. I dash away the tears and nod.
    “I’m fine.”
    He stares at me a moment longer, his dark eyes full of conflict, and then I can’t take it any longer. I pull his face to mine and erase the look with a kiss. But it’s like Cole can read me, can tell that I’m trying to speed up the pace so that it doesn’t feel so personal, so raw. And he won’t let me. He guides me into the grass and presses his weight on top of me, our bodies tangled together from our thighs down to our toes. He hooks my hands together above my head and kisses me senseless.
    “Cole, what if someone comes up?”
    “They’ll see two lovers,” he says, his breath warm on my skin.