adrian-run-to-you-v1

by Lara Adrian

  Not only did I never expect to see Gabe here, I can’t believe he’s managed to end up in front of me just in time to assist with an uncomfortable situation.

  “Thanks,” I say, blinking up at him in a mix of astonishment and relief as the other man staggers away. Then I shake my head because I’m still not sure I’m actually seeing him or if it’s the night’s four martinis playing tricks on me. “What . . . what are you doing here?”

  “Someone told me about this hot new club that just opened,” he says, only the barest trace of wry humor in his deep voice. “I thought I’d come check things out.”

  “Is that right?” I tilt my head, unable to keep the big grin off my face.

  Definitely blaming that on the martinis, because if I were even a little more sober, I’d be holding my cards a lot closer to my chest. Instead, I feel ridiculously thrilled to be staring at Gabe’s handsome face under the spinning lights of the club.

  “After what happened between us yesterday at my place, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” I admit, my unfiltered thoughts slipping right off my tongue.

  I see Gabe’s gaze slide to my left, where Mel is still standing in mute confusion beside me.

  “Oh. Sorry. This is my friend Melanie Laurent,” I explain. “Mel, this is Gabriel Noble.”

  “This is him?” Her eyes go wide when I glance at her. “Oh. Um, hi. Nice to meet you.”

  “Hello, Melanie.” He nods at her, but he’s already looking at me again. His brow is slightly furrowed, his hazel eyes dark and serious. “You okay?”

  It takes me a second to realize he’s not asking about my state of sobriety, or the fact that I can’t seem to stop staring at him. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for getting rid of that guy.”

  “Who was he?”

  I give a vague, dismissive wave of my hand. “No one.”

  “You don’t know him?”

  “No.”

  “Have you seen him before?”

  I shake my head, feeling more satisfied than I should to be on the receiving end of Gabe’s stern, almost possessive, interrogation. “He’s just some rando who recognized me and refused to go away. At least, until you showed up.”

  Gabe grunts, his expression schooled, yet radiating an unmistakable menace as he flicks his gaze into the crush of people. Although I’ve never seen Gabe in uniform, I can imagine how formidable he must have looked garbed for war and armed to the teeth with heavy weapons. Because right now, even dressed in his dark suit and graphite-gray buttoned shirt, there is no mistaking the fact that he is a dangerous man, a skilled and lethal warrior.

  God help me, I’ve never wanted him more.

  A heated, heavy silence pulses between us as he looks at me. If I’d been doubting that he wanted me yesterday, it’s hard to think it now.

  Even Mel seems to pick up on the tension that smolders in our silence. She rests her hand against my upper arm and awkwardly clears her throat. “You two probably want to, ah, catch up. I’m sure I saw Paige across the way just a minute ago. I should go find her.”

  I think I say something in reply before Melanie takes off, but I can’t be sure.

  I can’t be sure of anything so long as Gabe holds me trapped in the hooded intensity of his dark eyes.

  “Did you really only come here tonight to check out the club?” I ask him. “Or did you come here to look for me?”

  “What do you think?”

  I reach for his hand, lacing my fingers between his. “I think I want you to ask me to dance.”

  He makes a low sound in the back of this throat. “That’s probably not a good idea.”

  “I think it’s an excellent idea. One of my better ones, in fact.”

  A slow grin spreads over his sensual mouth, making the quick flutter in my stomach kick into a steady, warming pound in my core. But he still shakes his head in slow denial. “I don’t dance. I’ll only step on your toes.”

  I smile. “You’ve been stepping on them since we met, Boy Scout. Why stop now?”

  I don’t wait for him to refuse again. Still holding on to his hand, I swivel and sway to the tempo of the current track’s bass-heavy beat. Gabe’s feet stay rooted to the floor, but his eyes follow my every move. They are hooded and unblinking, searingly hungry.

  I let myself go, sinking into the music. I only intended to tease him a little, maybe cajole the stiff soldier into having a little fun, but it doesn’t take more than a minute for the playfulness of my intentions to give way to something deeper. I hear his low growl as I move my free hand into my loose hair, then bring my fingers down along the silver line of the zipper that runs the length of my dress. His jaw is rigid as he watches me, his body radiating a palpable heat in the scant inches that separates us.

  Knowing he’s watching me, knowing he wants me, strips away any inhibition not already erased by the martinis I’ve consumed. I guide his hand to my hip and hold it there as I continue his private dance, slowly moving closer to him, until there is no more room between our bodies. I dance against him now, shameless in my desire for him.

  And while his need is held on a tighter leash than mine, I can see that he is close to breaking. I want him to. God, I want to smash that iron control of his into a million jagged pieces.

  Impulsively, I reach up and take hold of his scowling face.

  I kiss him, slow and deep and desperately.

  He kisses me, too, searing me with the heat and power of his answering desire. But then his strong hands are on my arms, his grasp tight and unrelenting. He growls, and the dark, furious rumble of it vibrates through me, all the way to my marrow.

  I’ve pushed too hard this time.

  The scorching truth of it is written all over Gabe’s thunderous expression, and in the low curse that boils out of him as he stares at me now.

  Yet he is infinitely gentle as he sets me away from him.

  It takes a moment before he speaks. When he does, his voice is as rough as gravel.

  “Tell your friends you’re leaving now. I’m taking you home.”

  17

  ~ Gabriel ~

  She doesn’t speak a single word to me for the duration of the drive from Muse to her apartment building on the Upper East Side.

  Maybe she senses the volatility in me. She damn well should. I am caught in a vise of dark emotions, beginning with the unspent fury that’s been riding me since I first glimpsed that drunken jackass accosting her at the club.

  Nothing would have given me more satisfaction than planting my fist in his leering face--or in that of any of the other men who’d been circling Evelyn like sharks on the dance floor before I approached her.

  As the man who’s now personally responsible for her well-being, I’d have been justified taking her out of there based on concerns for her safety alone.

  But it’s not her safety that’s foremost on my mind as we enter the elevator from the garage where I’ve parked next to her repaired Volvo.

  It’s not duty I’m thinking about as the elevator doors close behind us and I reach for Evelyn’s hand.

  And it’s not fury that makes me drag her against me, although it is something dangerously close to it. A rough curse explodes out of me as I crush her mouth beneath mine.

  She moans, going instantly pliant in my arms. It’s not enough for me that she’s willing. I need her to know that this time, there is no turning back.

  Not tonight.

  Not for either one of us.

  I am a goddamn powder keg, and she is the open flame that’s going to obliterate me.

  Christ, she already has.

  If I thought I could deny it before, that private slow dance she performed for me back at Muse, and the kiss she’d ended it with, has burned all of my resolve to ash.

  This woman has torched every last scrap of my reason and my dubious honor, too, because right now I’d trade everything--including my other leg--just to be inside her.

  Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realize she and I have been heading towar
d this moment from the beginning. I try to rationalize now that maybe the only way to put out this fire is to get in front of it. Let it burn itself out tonight, and maybe then we can both go back to our lives as they were before.

  It’s a flimsy plan, but I’m willing to grasp for anything. Especially anything that will allow me to justify the arousal that’s raking me as I hold Evelyn against me now.

  A shocked sound escapes her as I clutch the rounded swells of her behind and grind her hips into my erection. I push my tongue past her parted lips, invading, taking, demanding.

  The elevator walls are mirrored, and I can’t help thinking about the one-way glass of Muse’s VIP rooms. If I were any less a man--if Evelyn Beckham were any other woman in the world--I’d have her naked and bound, spread out beneath me in one of those voyeuristic playrooms right now.

  The thought alone makes my cock even harder. But I don’t want to share her with anyone. Not even the hapless building security personnel at the lobby desk who’s probably monitoring the elevator feed at this very moment.

  As soon as the doors slide open, I stalk out to the vestibule outside her apartment, holding Evelyn by the hand. My lungs are heaving, my voice nothing more than a rasp. “Give me your keys. I’ll get the door.”

  She fishes them out of her small crossbody purse, positioning herself in front of me as I hastily work the locks. Her hands rove across my chest and up along my neck, driving me past the point of distraction. We barely make it inside before she attacks my mouth in a fevered kiss.

  Fuck. I’m a man who prefers control when it comes to sex--hell, I require it--but it won’t take much for me to lose my grasp now. I’m too raw, too hungry for this woman who seems to trigger every base craving that lives inside me.

  I slam the door closed and pivot her against it, our lips joined and hot on each other. I’d assumed all of the blood in my brain had already vacated to points south, but as I pin Evelyn’s soft curves beneath me against the door, my arousal surges past agony to rampant, urgent need.

  She moans into my open mouth, her body meeting mine as I move against her, punctuating each thrust of my tongue with a hard roll of my hips. She wraps one long leg around my ass, opening herself even more, teasing me with the promise of what we both need. The release that waits for both of us beneath the barrier of our clothing.

  “Gabe,” she sighs, panting between kisses. “Please, Gabe . . .”

  “I know, baby.” It’s all she has to say. We’re both too far gone to slow down, let alone pause to think this through.

  I reach up for the zipper of her black dress and pull it down. A faint metallic scrape of sound as the tiny teeth let go, inch by delectable inch. Evelyn’s shuddery exhalation as I peel the curve-hugging fabric away from her buttery light-brown skin. It all combines to drive me fucking wild.

  I lower my head to taste the velvety smoothness of her collarbone, then the delicate dip at the base of her elegant throat. The mounds of her breasts ride high on her chest, firm and buoyant, held aloft in the pretty black lace cups of her bra. I bend further, trailing my mouth over both lovely swells, cleaving my tongue into the sweet valley between them.

  “This is beautiful,” I murmur, tracing the edge of the black lace with my thumb. “One of your designs?”

  She nods, her bottom lip caught under her teeth. I grunt and rip the lace open.

  At her startled gasp, I arch a brow. “Did you think I was going to play nice after the way you teased me tonight?”

  Whatever she means to say in reply dissolves into a shuddery groan as I lift one of her perfect breasts in my hand and bring it up to meet my mouth. Her dusky brown nipple is as tight as a pebble on my tongue, her skin as sweet as sugar. I suck her deep, grazing her with my teeth while I caress and knead her with fevered hands.

  Her fingers toy with my hair, wrapping tightly as her body quivers under my assault. I tear my mouth away from her on a low curse.

  “Jesus, what you do to me. You had me so hard in that club, you’re lucky I didn’t lift your skirt and fuck you right there in front of everyone.”

  Her eyes widen, but there’s no fear in her shocked gaze. “You should’ve tried. What makes you think I would have stopped you?”

  Holy hell. A wordless growl rumbles in my throat. It’s all I’ve got, lust rendering me incapable of speech now. I swoop back to her mouth, taking it with another hard, hungered kiss.

  I push her dress and bra off her shoulders, leaving the clothing to pool at our feet. She’s so exquisite it almost hurts to look at her. Every inch of her is perfection. Flawless beauty, dressed only in strappy black sandals and minuscule black lace panties that match the pretty bra I’ve ruined.

  I want to apologize for that, but I can’t when she’s looking at me with such open need. I step in close again, wedging myself between her legs as I catch her face in my hands and kiss her until we’re both out of breath, both vibrating with the force of our need.

  I’m fully clothed, with my service weapon still holstered across my chest beneath my jacket. I want to be naked against her, but the desire I see in her face won’t wait for that. My own desire won’t wait for the time it would take me to free my leg from the prosthesis and undress so I can make love to her the way I want to, the way she deserves.

  Her head falls back against the door as I leave her mouth to have another taste of her breasts. With one hand still caught behind her neck, I send my other over her breasts again, then down the smooth planes of her torso, until my fingers graze the top edge of her panties.

  My cock jerks when I reach beneath the lace and find her smooth and bare. “Ah, Christ.” My fingertips slip into the silky, wet cleft of her pussy and my answering groan sounds raw, animalistic. “You’re so soft here, Eve. So fucking hot.”

  “Gabriel . . .”

  Hearing my name slip off her tongue like a prayer decimates what little control I have left where she’s concerned. I want to hear it again. I want to hear her scream it and know that I’m the only man she wants right now. The only man she needs.

  Rubbing the firm bud of her clit with my thumb, I cover her mouth with mine and sink my fingers into her slick, silken folds. “You’re so tight,” I mutter against her lips. “I can feel your little muscles working all along my fingers.”

  She moans, moving in time with my strokes, her teeth grazing my tongue and lower lip. I thrust deep, into her mouth and into her sex. She shudders, her body soft and melting against me, her tiny muscles rippling against my fingers.

  She’s teetering on the edge of climax, but I’m not ready to take her there just yet. Not with my hand.

  “I need to taste you, baby. I want to feel you come against my tongue.”

  She stares at me through desire-drenched eyes, then trembles as I move away from her mouth and begin to kiss my way down the gorgeous length of her body.

  I sink to a crouch between her parted legs, pausing along the way to tongue the hollow of her navel and the tender skin above the lace of her panties. I slide them down her thighs, then guide her to step out of them.

  The honeyed scent of her hits my senses like a gunshot. Her pussy glistens, dark pink and slick with her juices. I move in like a thirsting man in need of water, pushing my face between her thighs.

  She staggers back on her high heels, her spine thumping against the door. “Oh, God.”

  Her fingers spear into my hair as I lick and lap at her, feasting on the molten sweetness of her. She shudders on my face, a tight cry curling out of her as I suck her clit into my mouth.

  “Gabe,” she gasps. “Oh, God.”

  I growl in praise of her response, wondering if she’s ever felt this depth of need with anyone else. I know I haven’t, and it staggers me to think that I have found it now, with her. The one woman I shouldn’t want and have no right to take.

  But there’s no use for second thoughts now. No room for regrets, not that I can muster either when Evelyn is about to shatter on my mouth.

  I thrust two fingers i
nside her heat as I increase the tempo of my tongue’s worship of her clit. Her hands tighten in my hair, fists clenching as her thighs tense around me and her hips convulse in time with my strokes. My cock is rock hard. I’m on the verge of exploding, but I hold it together, if barely.

  Not a moment too soon, Eve’s pleasure erupts on a broken shout. “Oh, shit, Gabriel. Oh, fuck yes.”

  She shatters against my mouth, tremors rippling over her body and vibrating on my tongue. I keep fucking her with my fingers, drawing out her climax, savoring every nuance of her release.

  Holy Christ. I knew this moment would taste sweet, but as she unravels in my arms, I realize the true depth of my mistake here.

  Because this need I feel for Eve isn’t the end of what I want from her.

  It is only the beginning.

  I rise, looping her arms around my neck as I come to stand in front of her again. I kiss her slack mouth, brushing some of the damp hair from her face.

  “Wrap your legs around my waist.” She frowns in confusion but complies without a sound. “As I recall, you offered me a tour of the second floor last time I was here.”

  She nods, resting her head on my shoulder. With my hands under her bare thighs, I carry her toward the winding staircase that leads to her bedroom.

  18

  ~ Evelyn ~

  I feel boneless and weightless in Gabe’s arms, my senses still thrumming with the force of my orgasm.

  I don’t know how he manages to carry me up all of the steps and into my bedroom as if I’m no more than a feather. I don’t know how he manages to make me burn like no other man before him, but he does. He has from the very beginning.

  He makes me feel safe in his strong arms, protected--though from what, I don’t even know.

  All I know is that I like this feeling I have with him.

  I like it too much. Because I fear it is my heart that will be in need of saving when it comes to this man.

  I cling to him, my head resting on his shoulder as he walks to my empty king-sized bed and sits on the edge of it with me in the semidarkness of the room. I am seated astride his lap, naked against the fine fabric of his suit and dress shirt. My thighs are spread wide open, my sex nestling the hard bulge of his erection. Maybe I should feel exposed or vulnerable like this, but the only thing I feel is keenly, unabashedly aroused. I’ve never felt more alive than I do in Gabe’s embrace.