Eva came slowly around the back room wall. Will sat at the bar, a bottle of whiskey near his right hand, and a cigarette burning over an ashtray in his left. His head was bent, hanging over one of her books that he had spread on the counter in front of him.
She watched him silently for a few minutes. There wasn’t a shred of hardness to him in that moment; just a painfully handsome man, enjoying a book and a drink like he didn’t have a care in the world. He seemed lost in it, the way he didn’t even hear her approach. She understood that feeling well.
Will jolted when he realized she was there, his eyes widening, but his smooth face barely registered the surprise. “I...” His words got caught in his mouth as he ran his gaze up and down her body, lingering at the bare skin on her thighs exposed by the short robe. Eva flushed. “It’s a good book,” he said instead, his voice cracking just a bit. He closed the hard cover as if he was self-conscious and took a drink of whiskey.
“I can leave you alone, if you’d prefer to read,” she said, thumbing toward the back door.
Will shook his head immediately and took a drag from his smoke. Eva could see his gaze devouring her body, like he couldn’t help himself. She felt warmth and wetness building between her legs, wondering what he was thinking about.
“It’s your place,” he said.
Eva nodded and walked behind the bar. She grabbed a glass and poured herself a double-shot of whiskey. Will watched her drink it down, interested. “Can’t sleep?”
“Happens sometimes,” she said. “Especially considering the situation.”
Will took the bottle and poured her another drink. “It will pass, once this is over.”
Eva drank the second pour a little slower. Sitting at the bar reminded her of the bits of conversation she’d heard earlier, when Will was speaking to his friend. She wanted to broach the topic with him, try and dig at him a little bit. She wanted to understand her attraction to him. Eva wasn’t typically interested in men who seemed so violent, who acted so gruff. Especially after Rick. But she couldn’t stop herself from being drawn to Will. Why? It was driving her crazy.
She thought about playing nice, but just decided to come right out with it. “You wanna tell me what that was, earlier?”
“What?” asked Will, his voice low, half somewhere else.
“That ugly conversation you got into with your friend,” she said.
Will didn’t answer. He took a long drag of his cigarette and blew out the smoke. “That was private.”
“You almost had your hands on my ass this morning,” she shot back. Eva felt surprised by herself.
Will looked up with a glint in his eye and a smile on his full, soft lips. “Touché.”
A bit of pride radiated out into her blood. She shrugged. “So, talk,” she said.
“My friend and I are in a bit of a… rough patch,” he said carefully, pouring himself another whiskey. “He was coming here to give me a hard time.”
“Sounded like he was worried about you,” she said.
Will drank the whiskey down in one gulp without wincing like Eva did when she drank it. “He can worry all he wants, so long as he does it somewhere far away from me.”
Eva paused a beat, took a sip of her own whiskey, then said, “What did he mean when he mentioned the pain you’d been through?”
Will seemed to hold his breath after she asked the question. When he didn’t respond, she continued. “Earlier, when we were talking about Coriolanus, you said your grandpa read to you while your grandma baked.” She licked her lips. “My uncle told me the place that used to be here before was a bakery. It was completely torn down two years ago. He got the land at a steal.”
With every word she said, she watched Will’s face get tighter, harder to read. The cigarette burned forgotten in the ash tray.
“Do you know anything about that?” she asked.
He seemed like he was wrestling with his own thoughts for a moment before he responded. His voice was almost too quiet to hear. “It was her bakery. There was a fire… she died in it.”
Eva felt her heart break. She had had her suspicions, but to hear them confirmed was both a disappointment and a relief. “Christ, Will… I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he said. “It was years ago.” He picked up the cigarette, took a final drag, then tamped it out in the ash tray.
There was silence as the jukebox switched between songs in the Muddy Waters catalogue. Eva got the sensation she had prodded at him more than enough for the moment, so she changed the subject. “Did you pick this?”
“Either that, or you have some blues-loving ghosts around here.”
“Always loved this music,” she said with a dreamy smile. “Something about it always makes me feel safe.”
Will laughed, but it was more from amusement than anything mean. “You’re an interesting woman, Eva.”
She shrugged, blushing. “Thanks, I guess.”
“You got to ask me a question. Is it my turn now?” Will straightened in his stool, fire sparking in his eyes. Eva’s breathing came in tighter bursts.
“Sure.” She shrugged again and laughed to hide her nervousness. “Actually, I’m not sure at all, but… I need to be more adventurous.”
Will quirked an eyebrow at her as he slipped off his stool. “Oh?”
Eva nodded, surprised at her own admission. Something about Will made her want to spill all her secrets to him. She poured herself another whiskey, drinking it down in one quick swallow this time and immediately regretting it as the burn traveled down her throat. She was starting to feel a little fuzzy and warm on the edges, though. “Yes. I’ve been a little too… vanilla… lately.”
Will slowly moved around the end of the bar, coming toward her. His gaze ran up and down her body with abandon. He wasn’t even trying to hide it as he licked his lips, drinking her in. Her knees felt suddenly weaker than they should. Must be the whiskey, she reasoned, but it wasn’t even a believable lie in her half-drunk state.
“And you want to be a little wild, is that it?” said Will in a gruff half-whisper, his voice thick with desire. He stepped toward her until he hovered in front of her face, the warmth of his body nearly pressed against hers.
Eva took a deep breath, staring into his eyes. “Maybe.”
“I’ll ask you my question, then, and we’ll see,” said Will. He moved down until his lips were inches from hers. “Deal?”
“Deal,” she whispered.
Will wrapped one strong arm around her waist and pulled her hips into his. The other came around her shoulders. His lips brushed against her gently as they formed the words: “Do you taste as good as you look?”
Eva let out a breathless gasp against his lips that then melted and reformed into a passionate kiss as she hungrily connected with them. Will answered by crushing her body with his, and she could feel the hardness of his erect cock pressing through the denim of his pants. Their kiss deepened, a moan escaping her mouth into his.
Strong, manly hands roamed up and down her body for the first time in what felt like ages and she didn’t shy away from them, even as he ripped open her terrycloth bathrobe and shoved it roughly from her shoulders. As soon as it hit the floor, Will’s pulled away and leaned back to devour the sight of her tiny silk nighty. The soft fabric was her favorite shade of tiffany blue, and barely covered the length of her ass.
Holding her head steady, he kissed her again, this time only starting at her lips. The next one hit her chin before forging a hot trail down her neck and chest. Each pause against her heated skin was followed by a suck, lick, or gentle bite. Before Eva knew it, Will was on his knees in front of her and, hands on her ass, pulling her body against his face. His rust-colored scruff scratched against the silk before he nuzzled his way underneath the hem, landing right above her panty covered pussy.