“Told some people at school,” Brandon said with a shrug. “Maybe took one of Dad’s guns in to show it off.”
Natalie’s sharp whistle cut through the room. “I bet that went over well.”
And those were memories Gabe preferred not to take out and examine. “Which is why we no longer live in West Virginia and haven’t for more than a decade.”
Brandon nodded but kept his head down. “Right.”
Turned out Gabe wasn’t quite ready to let the topic drop. Not while Brandon did all that squirming. “Don’t let the hunting crowd fool you, they do not like guns in the classroom. Lots of ticked-off parents in West Virginia. Hours of explaining without really saying anything.”
“That happened years ago. Let’s move on.” Brandon tried to wave it off with a flick of his hand.
Gabe didn’t buy that. “It’s cute you think it works that way.”
“We really take him to this empty cabin and—”
This woman had him justifying everything. Gabe wanted that part of their relationship to end. “Stop being offended on his behalf. He might act like it, but he wasn’t raised by wolves.”
Brandon was smiling now. Clearly having the attention shift did wonders for his ego. “Not entirely.”
“An older family friend, also Army, lives there and watches the place for me. Brandon only uses it as a meeting place for people he doesn’t know that well or is just learning to trust.”
“So, at some point you are allowed to bring friends here?” she asked.
Gabe wondered if she knew how insulting some of these comments really were. “It’s not a prison.”
“It wouldn’t be if I had a car.” Brandon mumbled the comment loud enough for the next town over to hear.
Natalie sat down hard on the barstool next to her. “Wow, he never stops.”
“And this is him on his best behavior.”
Her gaze went back and forth between Brandon and Gabe. “Because I’m here?”
“I don’t want to mess it up for Dad.”
Her attention shot back to Brandon. “What?”
“You.”
“We’re not dating . . .” Her gaze kept bouncing around and finally landed on Gabe. “Say something.”
Since he’d only decided just that second that they actually were dating, or the kind of dating people like them did—in the shadows, hot and heated, always together—he wasn’t sure what she wanted him to say. “I’m waiting to hear what you come up with next.”
“Sex here. You being invited in. You’re dating.” When Natalie made a strange noise Brandon nodded his head and kept talking. “Hey, I approve. I just don’t want to scare you away before Dad can.”
Gabe eyed the sack by Brandon’s feet. The one previously filled with nothing but dirty clothes now held snacks and what looked like a load of clean laundry. “I wonder if you’ll fit in that duffel bag.”
“Not after I take the rest of your food.”
Gabe didn’t fight it. Pay for the food here or at school. Didn’t matter to him. “Grab whatever you want.”
He was about to help empty the rest of the cabinets when Natalie slipped off the stool and grabbed his arm. Pulled him into the great room, just a few feet away.
“We’re not dating,” she said in a desperate whisper.
The denial was starting to get annoying. Sure, he would have backed her up just yesterday, but now . . . no. “You sleeping with someone else I don’t know about?”
“My life is a mess.”
“No question about that.” Seemed to be an affliction of almost everyone he knew.
“The plan is to placate the CIA and start over.”
The words, however smart and right, grated on his nerves. “Where?”
“I have no idea.”
Relief smacked into him. From the wild look in her eyes he got the sense she wasn’t lying. She’d planned out so much of her life but now she was winging it. And Natalie was not a winging-it kind of woman.
He knew the changes, the uncertainty, had to be ripping her apart. She had mad skills but no place to use them. She’d served with distinction and was being hounded and followed. The whole thing pissed him off on her behalf.
So did the idea of her panicking and running away. “Then, for now, you’ll stay here.”
She held up a finger in front of his face. “Not dating.”
He folded his hand around it but didn’t push the topic. Not yet. “Call it whatever you want, but you’re sleeping in my bed tonight.”
“You’re mighty sure of yourself.” But she didn’t jerk away from him. If anything, she moved in closer, lowering her voice with each sentence.
No woman had ever wreaked havoc on his senses like this one. She had him thinking things, wanting things. Breaking promises he made long ago to stay unattached.
But one fantasy had been playing in his head almost from the start and it was time to bring it to life. “Let’s just say it’s time I follow through on that promise to tie you up.”
“Your son is right there.”
“And he’ll be gone tonight.” For once Gabe didn’t hate the thought of Brandon heading for school. Not when he remembered what waited for him at home. He leaned down and whispered into her ear. “Be ready.”
TWENTY-ONE
The man kept his promises.
Stretched out on Gabe’s big mattress, Natalie breathed in, letting the last of her worries morph into excitement as Gabe walked around the bed. Naked. He didn’t wear a thing. Neither of them did. Except for the red ties in his hands and the soft white sheet underneath her, not a scrap of material threatened to get in their way.
She’d been in this position, arms above her head and legs spread wide, for what felt like an hour. After stripping the clothing off her piece by piece, he positioned her there. Waiting. Then he performed an excruciatingly slow striptease. When the last of his clothes hit the floor she almost jackknifed off the bed to get to him but she clamped down and waited. The tension rose, and her stomach churned with each passing minute.
Those long, lean thigh muscles brought him around to her side of the bed. Her gaze traveled over the flat stomach to his broad chest and the sprinkling of dark hair there. Up she continued, to his bulging biceps, then farther until she met him gaze for gaze. The intensity in his dark eyes nearly had her turning away. But she couldn’t. Wanting him, needing him, entwined until she craved the touch of his hands and mouth.
He had her wound up, fighting against her own shaky control. She wanted to move, to squirm, but she stayed still. Every cell waited for his next move. Even the air in the oversized room felt thick. The overstuffed couch, the soothing medium blue walls. She ignored it all and focused on him. The one man whose memory danced in her head from the first minute they met.
At first, months ago, he’d said very little, almost nothing, as his gaze followed her. She’d pretended he repelled her and tried to boss him around. Insisted she didn’t need his protection and would be fine on her own. But everything about him, even from that very first day, intrigued her. Made her want to know more.
All that strength. The command he held over his body. His competence. The scruffy beard that drove her wild. Her hands balled into fists as she forced her arms not to move.
The mattress dipped from his weight as he sat down next to her. Facing her. He put his palm on her stomach and his long fingers spanned her waist. She’d never been considered tiny or petite. She found comfort in being bigger, taller, a little stronger. Victims might have to curl into a ball and mentally disappear to survive. She’d lived that way too long. Killing her father, trying to save her mother. It all smashed together until, in her head, the answer had come to her. She’d lead with a gun. Have weapons training. Never get caught and risk being the victim again.
The system served her well for years. She’d been on the run, maybe not physically but emotionally, her whole damn life. But with Gabe, she felt free. She could be a smartass, throw his words back at him. Sometimes s
he even went too far and said crappy things he didn’t deserve. Despite her flaws and her attitude, he never lost his control. Never struck out. He actually seemed appalled at the thought of doing so.
He gave her a different kind of strength. A feminine one. She knew she held a certain power over him, that she could meet his needs. He didn’t deny his attraction to her or try to hide it. Didn’t hold back.
And with him she didn’t have to pretend either. She could let go. For the first time in a long time, trust.
The warmth from his hand seeped into her skin. Still he didn’t move. Every nerve ending inside her jumped to life, begged for more, but he just watched. Held his ties in one hand and touched her with the other.
“You are so fucking beautiful.”
Not what she expected him to say but somehow exactly what she needed to hear. “With you.”
“It’s bound up in how you look, which is so smoking hot my dick gets hard just watching you walk. That voice, so sexy.” He shook his head as a small smile played on his lips. “The things you do with that mouth and that brain.”
The words battered her defenses. The awe in his voice, the reverent way he touched her, she knew he meant it all. “I never found big men with beards appealing until you.”
He ran a hand over his chin. “I let it go a little for this assignment.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t like it?”
“When I kissed the inside of your thigh that first time, I knew you did.”
The memory floated through her head and her stomach dropped. The roller coaster, spinning-out-of-control feeling assailed her. “Any chance you’re going to kiss me now?”
The smile lit up his face now. “Much more than that.”
Desperation clawed at her. “Do it now.”
“You’re not in charge, Nat.”
The nickname spun through her. He used it and her insides turned to liquid. She had no idea why. “I feel pretty powerful.”
“Oh, you are.” He lifted his hand and skimmed his palm over one of the red ties. “I plan to harness that.”
“But I won’t be able to use my hands.” He flirted, so she flirted back. She’d do almost anything to keep him close.
“You can still use your mouth.” He bent down and brushed his lips over hers then lifted again.
Quick and short but enough to get the excitement revving inside of her. “Gabe, please.”
She knew he liked the begging. She’d seen his eyes widen, grow darker, when she pleaded. When her voice dipped low and got all scratchy with need.
He slipped his fingers around her wrist. Touching his thumb to the tip of his forefinger. Encircling her without binding her. Then he lifted her arm, laying it against the fluffy pillows as his finger went to work threading the tie through the thick post at the top of his bed.
Air hiccupped in her lungs as he slid the tie around her wrist. At the first touch of the silkiness she knew she’d misjudged. Not a scrap of material at all. A thin padded cuff with a long length of red curl at each end.
He tightened the bindings. At first her skin pinched but then it eased around her, soft but strong. She tugged and realized unless she planned on tearing she’d have to wait until he released her. A tiny fissure of fear spun through her, but the press of his mouth against her breasts, over the fleshy part before licking her nipple, stamped out the last of her doubts.
With an aching slowness he leaned over her, letting his chest hair tickle her chin as he fastened the other cuff. After he’d attached both, she yanked on her arms. The bindings pulled tight. She curled her fingers over the material and held on.
He eyed her, staring as his gaze moved over her face before dipping for the briefest second to her chest then back up again. “Are you sure you want this?”
With her mind scrambled and her body starting to shift around on the sheet, she said the first word that popped into her head. “Now.”
He nodded. “Right now.”
She expected him to move down her body, but he didn’t. He straddled her chest and leaned forward. His cock stood long and thick, just inches from her mouth. She lifted her head and skimmed her tongue over the tip.
Just as she was about to lie back down, he cradled her head, slipped his fingers around the back of her neck and into her hair. Held her there with one hand. The other moved to the base of his cock. He dragged the tip across her lips. Once, twice.
She didn’t play games. Opening her mouth, she took him in deep. Felt the bed dip again as he put more weight on his knees. She kept sucking, taking him deeper. Her mouth worked as his hand supported her. In and out, he pressed against her lips. Slid to the back of her throat. Never too much. Never too hard. Enough to kick up his breathing and make him rock hard.
When she thought he might continue and end in her mouth, he backed away. His lips replaced his cock in a kiss that left her shaky and aching. Hot and wet. Filled with a mix of longing and need. Every emotion bombarded her. Tiny pulses moved through her.
“You are amazing.” He whispered the compliment against her mouth.
She tried to talk, wanted to say something, but he moved back to her breasts. One after the other, side to side, licking and sucking. Caressing and cupping. He didn’t leave a single inch of her skin untouched.
Her back lifted off the bed and those bindings pulled tight. She heard a creak and knew the bedpost strained under her hold. The sensual torture continued until her breaths came out in gasps. She’d gulp for air then his kiss would pull her under. Just when she thought she couldn’t take the cycle one more second, he slid down her body. Moved to her stomach. Caressed the small bump as he covered it in lingering kisses.
She’d never felt so sexy. From the thump of his heartbeat when his chest touched her to the shake in his hands, she felt his need. She did this to him. She took a strong, vibrant man and turned him inside out. Had him crawling all over her for more.
Then his mouth continued its journey. His tongue snaked down. His fingers slipped between her legs and his shoulders settled into the V he created. Her body vibrated, almost hummed, at his touch. And when he pressed his tongue inside her the winding sensation gripping her stomach tightened even more.
Her skin felt too tight. Too sensitive. He’d turned her body into his playground, running his hands and mouth all over her. Bringing her right to the brink then backing off to taste another part of her. If he wanted her clinging to the edge of reason, desperate for him to move over her, he’d succeeded. She wanted the friction.
“Gabe . . .” He licked that spot that made her vision blur and she wanted more. “There.”
Her voice dripped with heat. She heard the tone and refused to apologize for it. The room faded away until all she saw was his shoulders and that dark hair. Just as the orgasm started to ripple through her he sat up. Her inner muscles clenched and she tried to reach for him, to bring him back, but the bindings tugged on her wrists.
Sweat collected at the base of her throat as the need to find her release gripped her. “God, Gabe. No.”
Then she saw a flash of something and a wrapper fell to the side. A second later he slid in deep and sure, pressing her thighs back close to her chest and opening her even wider. She could feel his hands on her legs and his cock inside her. He said her name and plunged inside her again.
She tried to hold on to every moment, every thought. To savor each blinding touch, but her body betrayed her. Her hips started to buck and her head shifted on the pillow. He had her entire body in motion as he filled her. Trying to fight off the orgasm as long as possible, she dug her fingernails into the cuffs.
Her body trembled as she came. The grabbing sensation inside of her gave way as a sudden warmth washed through her. She couldn’t control her breathing or her body. Her lungs strained to the point of bursting. Her heartbeat hammered in her ears. She felt it all as his body leaned forward and a low moan escaped his lips.
She knew he was coming but she couldn’t help him. Didn’t have the strength to do
anything. Spent, her hands fell back against the pillows with her palms open. Her legs curled around him but she could barely feel his skin. Her body had turned to mush beneath him.
She lay there, gasping. When she turned her head to the side, the room came back into focus. The picture of Gabe and Brandon on the end of the dresser. Gabe smiling and so proud. The big wall mirror where she could have stolen peeks of him during their lovemaking before she lost the ability to think. It all registered, slow at first but then with greater clarity.
Gabe’s hot breath blew across her collarbone. His weight pressed her deeper into the mattress but she didn’t care. It anchored her. Filled her with an odd sense of security.
“Holy shit.” He mumbled the words against her skin.
She couldn’t help but laugh. Her body still tingled from the joint caress of his mouth and tongue. He’d been gentle at times and so determined at others. His hands had readied her until every cell begged for release. And when that release came . . . damn.
“You are a man of your word.” She could barely get the words out because her breathing refused to return to normal.
He lifted his head then. Balanced his elbow against the bed and pushed up a bit. “And you are pure fire.”
From him it sounded sweet. She was about to tell him that when he reached up and massaged her tight arm muscles. Feeling came back in bursts, like being poked with tiny needles. She gasped from the shock as he untied her arms and lowered them to drape over him.
His brow wrinkled. “You sore?”
She rubbed a hand over her opposite wrist then smoothed out the lines on his forehead. “Are you asking about my arms?”
His eyes roamed a little then. “I was, but now I want to know about all of you. You okay?”
He couldn’t think he hurt her. That never happened and she would never pretend he did. “I’m great.”
She meant that. He gave her so much. Treated her both as precious and as an equal. He had her head spinning and her thoughts jumbled. She wasn’t sure what to say or how to handle the rest of her life but she knew, with absolutely certainty, she did not want to leave him yet.
Mine Page 20