“Stay” is all he says as light, teasing kisses continue down my nape. His hands grip my hips and he is hovering over me. I feel the heat from his body but not the press of his weight upon me. Not the toned muscles that flex as he wraps himself around me. I curl my hands around his biceps and blink into the depths of his eyes.
I need to feel it all. I am yearning for the weight of him and the touches he’ll give me. I need it all.
“Please, baby. Let me feel you.” I’m begging. It’s only been three hours since I’ve felt him inside me and I’m feeling bereft without the feeling. I can feel my core tightening in anticipation for him.
“Always,” he murmurs into my nape and then, oh God he’s pushing into me. The slow motions he’s using makes the filling feeling even better. I feel my muscles stretch around him, clench around him as he fills me up and then withdraws, then pushes back into me ever so slowly.
“Gavin,” I moan, my head falling back in pleasure and my thighs tightening around his lean hips when he’s buried to the hilt inside me. I want to stay just like this, feel him so deep inside me forever, but when he starts to move in and out, rubbing that oh so sensitive spot inside me, I can’t stop the sound of a whimper and a moan that escapes me.
“My Aria, this is heaven. Being inside you is the best feeling I’ve ever had. Don’t ever leave me again.” The words are a plea and the softness of them makes me tilt his head up and my breath catches in my throat when I see the love in his stormy blue grays.
“Never again,” I vow, lacing my fingers within his on either side of my head.
Then, he begins to move. We move with a desperation that I’ve never felt before and when he reaches the end of me one last time, I tighten my inner muscles around him and I simply cannot hold the pleasure inside anymore.
“Come, baby.”
And with one last cry of his name upon my mouth, I do.
* * *
Gavin wakes me with a tender kiss to my temple and I feel his hands spreading against my lower back. The feel of his hands on me is heavenly.
“Sleepy,” I whisper, refusing to open my eyes for another few precious seconds. I hear the deep rumble of Gavin’s chuckle beside me.
“Come on, Beautiful. Open your eyes.” He brushes his fingers over my cheek just under my eye.
“What do I get if I do?” I tease, reaching up to his thank Jesus bare chest. I think I moan at the feel of it under my fingers.
“This.” The promise in his voice makes me slowly peek one eye open and when I see the platter of blueberry waffles, my favorite cinnamon raisin toast and more eggs than I can possible eat, I most definitely moan at the sight of it.
“You shouldn’t have,” I say as I sit up against the pillows and reach for a large piece of toast.
“It was our deal, remember? And I haven’t been able to do this for you lately so… ”
He scoops some scrambled eggs onto a spoon and I moan when they reach my mouth. The mischievous look in those stormy eyes of his is worth the soreness in my muscles.
“Hmm, you’re right about that. But you could have popped a stitch running around like that, Gavin. You should be taking it easy.”
He shakes his head slightly and the look of amusement in his eyes doesn’t waver.
“I was standing in front of the oven, Aria. And I wanted to do this for you. You deserve to be pampered and adored and I’m going to do that and more.”
My heart melts at his honest words and I nod at him, smiling softly.
“Thank you, baby.” I lift my mouth to his and rub my lips over his in a light kiss.
Gavin helps me finish the rest of the food and then sets the tray to the side to place a steaming cup of coffee in front of me. When I look down I’m happily surprised he remembered how I like my coffee. Light with cream.
“You remembered.” I take a sip and smile at him.
“I remember everything about you, Aria. I couldn’t forget if I tried.”
He lies back beside me and with a few more sips of the Oh so amazing coffee, I set the mug down and turn to face Gavin, our noses touching.
“Stay home with me today. I don’t want to give you up to the rest of the world yet.”
“I actually have… ” The words die in my throat when I remember how long it’s been since we had a full day to spend together. We need that. And I can reschedule the meeting this afternoon. The person I am supposed to be meeting with is supposed to help me get back out into the dance world now that Grayson is off the table. They specialize in helping women of the art professions find opportunities for growth. Kel had set it up for me after I told her about losing the spot with the company. I need to take that meeting. As I look at the man I could have lost only a few short weeks ago, I know it can wait. Gavin is the important one right now. Only him.
“Okay.”
I reach forward and press my cheek to his, embracing him in my favorite way. I can feel the tension come off him and I know he must have been worried I would say no. But honestly, I need this time with him. Our time.
“Let me get dressed and we can figure out what we want to do today,” I say, pulling away and giving him a smile when our eyes meet again.
“Hell no.”
Before I know it I’m pulled back to the bed and he’s hovering over me, that sexy-as-sin grin across his face. That face that I fell in love with so many weeks ago is all I can see.
“Where do you think you’re going, Ms. Morgan?”
“Um, the shower?” The shake of his head is all I get before Gavin’s mouth comes down to mine. Immediately, my thighs clench around his hips and my lips part for him. I’m lost in the kiss and the man and the weight of him between my legs.
Abruptly, Gavin stands and scoops me into his arms.
“Now, we shower.”
I giggle and burrow my face into his chest while I’m carried to the bathroom and he sets me gently down on my feet.
“Make it hot,” I say huskily as Gavin adjusts the dials on his floor to ceiling shower.
“You make it hot, baby. In you go.”
I’m placed under the hot, hot spray of water and immediately I’m sated by the soothing sensation of the water gliding down my back and the backs of my legs. The blues of Gavin’s eyes are lit up with desire as he reaches between our bodies to lift my hands to his mouth where he kisses each fingertip gently.
“Turn around.” As I do, I feel his hands reach around me for the loofah and a small bottle of body wash I left the last time we were here. I feel my need for him unfurl in my belly and I can’t help thinking how the last time he made love to me in here feels like ages ago even though only a little over a week has gone by.
“Oh, Gavin,” I say as his smooth hands begin to slide down the small slope of my neck, over my nape and to my shoulders. His fingers rub and massage the muscles there, soothing away days of tension and angst. I lean into his hands and rest my head back on his chest as Gavin continues to adore my body with his touch and the scrub of the pink loofah he must have bought for me.
“I love your skin.” he whispers next to my ear just before his teeth come down to catch my earlobe.
“Ahh.” I turn and reach for the body wash I know he uses and begin my own torture on his lean and amazingly toned body. I’m careful on his ribs and lower stomach and especially over the patch covering part of his right forearm.
“Does it still hurt?” I ask, blinking up at him once he’s rinsed both shampoo and my favorite Aloe and Chamomile conditioner out of my hair. Being adored by this man in this way is heavenly and I know I could get used to it; I could want it for the rest of my life. Somehow, I do want that and it doesn’t scare the ever living crap out of me.
“No, and these don’t either. The pain medication did its job. Please stop worrying, baby. I’m OK.”
He dips his forehead to mine and rests it there for long seconds.
“Can we go to the Chateau?” I ask, referring to the small but absolutely stunning Italian chateau Gavin’s
cousin owns. His eyes light up as he grasps my hand in his to interlace our fingers.
When he leads me out of the shower, it’s the first time in these past few days that I’m free of worry. I’m just looking forward to the rest of the day.
Twenty Three
MY EYES OPEN AFTER A LONG and restful sleep and I reach out for Gavin’s warmth next to me, but when my hand touches cold sheets, I look over to see the empty space beside me. Where is he? I wrap the sheets around me and my feet shuffle down the hallway to where I hear Gavin speaking on the phone. He must be in his office, I think to myself. I was hoping that he didn’t have to go back to work so quickly, but I know his work is important, vital to the man I love and I wouldn’t want to ever change that. So, I settle in to make some coffee and skim my fingers over the bookshelves lining the walls in the spacious living room. I’ve never seen Gavin with a book in his hand and it surprises me that he has such a large collection. Charles Dickens, Ray Donovan, Marie Barnes, Nicholas Sparks, the authors range from one genre to another and somehow I know that most of these couldn’t be Gavin’s. I couldn’t imagine him reading a full length novel like Great Expectations. He thrives on action, solving problems, making strides in whatever he is focused on at the present. Sitting with a book for any length of time would be a rarity for him.
“There she is,” Gavin says as he wraps an arm around my waist and kisses the side of my head. His warm hands make tingles spread over my bare skin. I point to a Nicholas Sparks novel, The Notebook.
“Are you hiding a romantic side of you? Or is that Callie’s?”
My voice is teasing and when he doesn’t answer me right away I turn in his arms and skim my fingers down his firm arms to where he’s holding me around the middle.
“My grandmother’s. She loved to read. She always told me that whenever she was feeling down, she’d lose herself in a different world. It was her escape.” His voice is wistful and I can hear how much he still misses her. I want to say so many things. I’m sorry. She sounds so wonderful. You miss her, don’t you? But I don’t say any of those things, I wrap my arms around his back and press my face into his bare chest. For a beat, I just hold him. But then Gavin sighs and presses his cheek against the top of my head. He holds me gently, but fiercely.
“She would have loved you.”
“I would have loved her.” I lift my eyes to his and I smile shyly.
“I know, baby.” He takes my hand and tugs me into his arms so he can kiss me. I nibble his bottom lip and it ignites a moan from his parted mouth.
“Bed.” He growls, making my core tighten in anticipation. But I know it’s time to get back to the real world, work and my inevitable problem of a career. It’s time.
“I’d love to, but I have that meeting this morning. You know the one I put off yesterday to spend the day in your bed?”
Gavin pushes a strand of my hair behind my ear and grins, his eyes on mine.
“It’s time, huh?”
“I guess so. Shower with me?” I wrap my arms around his neck and gaze up in those smiling eyes of his.
“Yes, Beautiful.”
* * *
A little while later, Farah meets me outside King’s Bar and Grill with a big ole smile on her face.
“Hey, sweets! You look happy.” She comes over to me and I link arms with her as we walk towards the entrance. It feels good to spend some time with my best friend after all that’s happened in the last three days. I tell her about Gavin and Jasmine and the call from Mr. Pearson while we wait for our waiter. She leans over and gives me a tight hug.
“I’m so happy for you; I honestly think that boy is crazy about you.”
My heart leaps, remembering the pain of seeing Jasmine lock lips with the man I love so fresh in my mind. I couldn’t breathe at the sight of them. But now that I know the truth, I can’t help but blame myself for all that time we were apart and inevitably—the accident.
“Yes, he is. I feel so stupid knowing all that time—the truth? She kissed him, and I didn’t know because I didn’t let him explain the night I saw them kiss.” I’m still mad at myself for that.
We sit in a corner booth by the bay windows facing the far side of East End and she looks at me, understanding.
“It wasn’t your fault, you know that right?”
I fold my hands in my lap and tell myself that she’s right.
“Yeah, I know. I was so scared, Fay.”
“How—do you know what happened?”
“I guess a loader truck ran through a red light on I-22 and hit the driver’s side of Gavin’s Lexus. Then a jeep hit him head on, the doctors said if it wasn’t for the airbags… he could be… .” I can’t bring myself to say the rest. The outcome is so unthinkable to me. Farah clasps my hand across the table, her wide eyes filled with worry.
“Don’t think about that. He’s okay, right?” I nod, remembering his bright smile and heated eyes this morning. He’s okay and we’re stronger than ever. We’re together.
“Very much so, he’s catching up on work today.”
“Have you talked to him about Jasmine? About what you saw?”
“I did. He told me that she kissed him and that’s what I saw. I know he has no feelings for that girl.” That’s one thing I am absolutely sure of.
She eyes me speculatively, strumming a hand across the wooden table. I know she wants to say something. I sigh and tilt my head to the side.
“What?” I ask, knowing she has to speak her mind.
“You should make it clear to her who he belongs to, Aria. Girls like that don’t care if he’s taken. She might not stop unless she knows that you’re not letting Gavin go.”
Oh, my. I didn’t think about this before, but I do know I trust him. If she becomes a problem, then I’ll have words with her. That’s for sure.
“I’ll think about it. I just want to focus on Gavin right now. If I’d lost him—I don’t know if I could have gone on.” The devastation of that is still so raw for me.
Farah’s eyes immediately soften and she nods, squeezing my hand.
“Don’t think about it, he’s okay now. Do you want to order? I’m just going to run to the bathroom real quick.”
“Sure, you want a Pepsi? Or something stronger?”
She winks at me and slides out of the booth.
“A Blue Moon, please.”
I watch her go and close my eyes briefly, reminding myself to breathe with the memory of Gavin in that hospital bed so fresh in my mind. My phone begins to ring in my jean’s pocket and I pull it out, seeing Gavin’s name flashing upon the screen. My heart lifts.
“Hi, handsome,” I say, hoping he doesn’t hear the thread of uneasiness in my voice.
“Hey, baby. How’s your lunch?”
“Good, Farah’s got some big news to tell me. I told her about everything. She’s been pulling for you all this time.”
He chuckles, enticing me to bite my lip when I remember our shower this morning.
“Happy to hear that.” He laughs again, and I swear I could listen to that sound for the rest of my life. God, I love his carefree laugh. I love that it comes from deep in his chest, it’s never forced. I love the sound of it against my ear when I’m resting my head against him at night.
“I love your laugh,” I whisper. I can practically feel his smile on the other side of the line.
“Is that all you love about me, Aria?” His voice is gravelly with that southern charm that always makes me weak in the knees.
“Among many more, Gavin.”
In the background I hear his office phone ring and he sighs. He must be at Thomas because I hear the hustle of motion around the phone.
“I have a call, see you soon.”
“Okay.”
I hang up just as a blonde waitress with amber colored eyes approaches, smiling warmly.
“I’m Daniela, I’ll be your server today. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Yes, can I get a Blue Moon and a diet Pepsi?”
&n
bsp; “Sure, here’s your menu. Take your time, I’ll be back with your drinks shortly.”
I smile and take the two menus she hands me as she heads towards the kitchen. Farah comes back and flicks through the menu with me, laughing about the lovey-dovey couple sitting behind us.
“So what’s this news you have?” I ask, filled with curiosity.
She beams up at me and sets her menu down, her eyes bright and full of joy suddenly.
“Well… ” She takes a sip of her Blue Moon and her eyes are filled with happiness. There is no doubt or uncertainty that I’ve seen since she’s met Jaden. He’s so good to her and I know she is happy but I also know that it’s hard for her to believe in happily ever afters and forever’s. She’s never been that kind of girl. She deserves it, though. A happy ending, just like the rest of us.
“I’m moving in with Jaden. He asked me last night.”
My jaw drops open and I immediately reach over and squeeze her hand.
“Oh my God, and you waited all this time to tell me?” She grins brightly and I can see how happy she is, now I know why.
“Well, I figured I’d let you be curious for a bit. Anticipation is the best part isn’t it?”
“Not on this! How did he ask you?” She tells me how Jaden put a key on her key ring and told her that he didn’t want to be away from her anymore.
“I’m so happy for you, Farah,” I say into a bite of my food only moments later.
“I know, sweets. It’s a good thing.”
After a delicious BLT and over-sized portion of French fries and a smoothie to split, we head over to Gold’s Gym to meet with Kel. My meeting with the recruiter is at three so I’ll have time for a workout with my two best girls.
“So what are you going to do about Grayson?”
I look over to Farah who’s driving my KIA. I shrug, knowing there’s not much I can do.
“Not much I can do. I lost the spot, Farah. I can’t expect another opportunity like that. I did schedule an appointment with that recruiter you mentioned. It’s at three so hopefully he’ll have some suggestions for me.”
Finding Beautiful Page 20