On the Edge of Dangerous Things (Dangerous Things Trilogy Book 1) by snyder-carroll s.

fly.
    Al didn’t call her that evening as she’d hoped, but he did come by her classroom at the end of the next day to ask her out.
    Friday night the temperature dropped into the twenties. With the wind chill it felt like the teens. Al picked Hester up at her apartment in Trenton, and they drove north on River Road along the Delaware River to Lambertville. He was taking her to a place he claimed had the best food in town, Bell’s on Union Street. Al parked in the empty lot of Niece’s Lumber. When they got out of the car, the cold made Hester gasp.
    “It’s freezing,” Hester shouted.
    “It’s not that bad.” Al hunched his shoulders and started walking toward the restaurant.
    “Yes, it is,” Hester insisted. She was a few steps behind him.
    “Don’t be such a baby, Miss Randal.”
    “I’m not, I’m just really freezing, Al.”
    Al stopped and turned to look at Hester, who was wiping her dripping nose on the back of her gloved hand.
    “Alright, get in the car. I’ll see if I can park closer.” He didn’t sound happy. He sounded like getting in the car and finding somewhere else to park might be a problem, but he hurried back and held the door open for Hester. He got in the other side and started the car. Before he put it into gear, he looked at Hester hesitantly.
    “Thanks.” She ventured a quick glance.
    Al turned the heat up full blast. “Hot enough yet?”
    “Yes, it’s perfect now.” Hester wanted to start a conversation, but she could think of nothing clever to say.
    “Here, move closer to me if you’re still cold.” His voice was softer. She slid over. He put his arm around her. She put her head against his shoulder and watched the lights on the dashboard. Their breathing condensed and steamed up the inside of the windshield. It was like they were inside a silk cocoon. Hester sat there silently berating herself for not knowing what subject might interest Al, so they sat in silence until he kissed her. She kissed him back.
    Too fast, she told herself. She swore she was going to slow things down, hold back, make him wonder whether she wanted to do anything with him at all, despite how far she’d gone the other day, and in school at that. Temporary insanity .
    But his lips were on hers again. His warm, demanding tongue in her mouth.
    It was over before Hester could resist.
    She pulled her panty hose up from around her one ankle, hooked her bra, and buttoned up the top of her shirtwaist dress. She was breathless, and fretful. What in the hell had she done! Al, though quick, had excited her intensely, touching, messaging, sucking her body to its breaking point. All thought ceased, all common sense went out the window. He knew what to do to her and did it passionately. As if he’d known her body for a long time, how it worked, what it wanted. As if he’d been down this road before and knew all the bumps and curves. How easily he’d driven her mad with desire.
    Al zipped his pants up, put the car in drive, and rode around the small town looking for a parking space. He put the radio on. Wolfman Jack was reviewing the top twenty hits. Al turned the volume up. He couldn’t find anywhere to park. After circling the block two times and over Cher belting out “Dark Lady,” he said loudly, “Guess we’ll have to call it a night.”
    They drove back to Trenton listening to the Wolfman and not talking, except for Al lowering the volume on the radio once and saying, “You are on birth control, aren’t you?”
    Hester’s first impulse was to lie. Al would think she was an idiot to have sex with him and not be on the pill. But she wasn’t about to go to a gynecologist to get a prescription. She had her reasons.
    “No,” she admitted with some trepidation. She knew what it felt like to be lied to, and she didn’t want to start out lying to Al.
    “Well, maybe you should get some,” he replied flatly.
    “Okay, I will.” Hester was relieved. Al was planning on seeing her again. Maybe she could