Gritting her teeth and biting back the urge to tell him to go screw himself, Patience glared at him. “You know it has,” she growled as she tried to ignore just how good his hands felt against her body.
“Uh huh. And did I plant my babies in you while my dick was inside you?” he questioned again with gleaming eyes, his hands closing around her hips and tugging her closer.
“Yes,” Patience hissed, her blush deepening at his bold interrogation.
“Then I’d say it’s been fairly well established that you and I have been in a fairly close and personal relationship, babe. You’ve just been a little slow on the uptake. Now, I think you were gonna add some conditions to our now very established relationship, weren’t you?”
It was at that moment that the atmosphere between the pair of them went electric – supercharged by all the estrogen and testosterone clogging the air between them. A long moment passed where both parties stared at one another while a war of willpowers was waged between them. Surprisingly, it was Patience that conceded first. “Fine!” She seethed as she leveled him with a furious look of disapproval. “We’re in a damn relationship, Abel! I just hope you’re ready for everything that means,” she warned.
“Now why does that statement sound like a vague threat, darlin’?” he asked as his fingers flexed against her hips.
“Oh, was it vague?” Patience queried with mock innocence as she shifted in his lips, dragging her butt against the hard ridge beneath his pants. “I thought it was a pretty obvious warning. My bad. I’ll try to be clearer in future.”
“Where you goin’ with this, Hellion?” Abel asked suspiciously, his jaw clenching as she moved against him again.
“We’ll be goin’ to your shallow grave in the middle of nowhere if you screw me over with this crazy-ass relationship business you want so bad, Abel. You want a relationship with me? Fine! You got it, buddy. I’ll give you one. But it’s gonna be on my terms,” she replied, her tone seductive as she swiveled her hips.
“Finally! We’re finally getting somewhere. All you have to do is share what you want from me, Patience. You’ll find I’m a pretty reasonable man; there’s not much I’d refuse you,” he shared with a predatory grin, arching his hips against her ass suggestively.
“Well, first,” she began with a tiny sexy smile, “I need you to understand that I’m not like any of those women that have walked through the revolving door into your bedroom, Abel. See, even as a kid, I never liked sharing. That hasn’t changed. In fact, I like sharing even less now. Hence, the fact that you’ve been my one and only lover in my entire twenty-three years. I’m a selective girl, you see.”
“And I’m a very lucky man to have been the guy you chose to invite into your body,” Abel admitted openly, unable to tear his eyes away from her beautiful face. It was like she’d bewitched him…and he was thrilled to be under her spell.
“You are,” she agreed readily, giving him a small nod. “And if you want to stay lucky, you need to really hear and genuinely understand what I’m about to tell you.”
Abel nodded as he saw just how serious she was.
“I know you’ve been around, Abel,” Patience acknowledged softly. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes over the years, I’d have figured it out based on how good you made me feel in bed. I’m not naïve; I know there have been others before me. Many, many others.”
Abel opened his mouth to interrupt, but Patience’s raised hand and shaking head made him pause.
“Please, just listen,” she requested evenly. She wasn’t quite ready to hear Abel defend his extremely active sex life to her. She knew in her heart he hadn’t been doing anything wrong, but it still was painful to think about him with other women. And talking about it now completely sucked. Unfortunately, however, it was necessary. She needed to make him understand that she wouldn’t tolerate any other women in his life on a romantic level if he wanted them to be together. She wasn’t lying, damn it. She would not share him. And she needed to lay it out for him now so that there were no misunderstandings later. “The bottom line is if you want to be with me, there can’t be any other women in your life romantically from here on out, Abel. As I said, I don’t share. Not my food. Not my toys. And especially, not my man. I accept that you have a past, but I won’t allow your past to slap me in the face the way it did with Angela Hastings ever again. So, if there are going to be any jealous ex-sluts popping up to give me trouble….”
He did interrupt then. “There aren’t,” he assured her solemnly. “I haven’t touched another woman since months before you got shot, Patience. I couldn’t think about fucking another woman when it was your face I saw when I closed my eyes.” Seeing the doubt reflected in those bottomless blue eyes of hers, he sighed. “Whether you believe me or not, baby, it’s true. I’ve wanted you…and just you for far longer than you realize. I can be an asshole, no doubt about it. But I’ve never - not once - been a cheating asshole.”
Patience knew that. She did. Even in his eighties, Abel’s daddy would beat him black and blue if he disrespected her in that manner. No, he wouldn’t cheat on her, but it wasn’t just infidelity that worried her. “You can’t use other women against me either, Abel,” she insisted firmly as their eyes met. “I mean it. You can’t wave past conquests underneath my nose to make me jealous like …”
“Like I did with Angie,” Abel finished for her with a guilty grimace. “Patience, that was by far not my proudest moment. It won’t happen again; I swear it. But this whole thing works both ways,” he advised her seriously.
Patience stiffened. “What do you mean?” she asked, suddenly wary of any deals they were making. “I might have had some past boyfriends, but you know none of them were serious. Hell, you know just how innocent I am as far as that goes.”
“Not what I mean, Hellion,” Abel returned gently. “What I mean is that you can’t go gallivantin’ off on dates with men, darlin’. Especially ones that I consider friends. That’s how you get a good man killed.”
“Abel, it wasn’t a date!” Patience retorted huffily.
“It was a ploy you made to make me as jealous as I’d been makin’ you, Hellion. You know it, and I know it. I gave you that play tonight because I had it comin’. That was your one free pass. From here on out, it’s you and it’s me. No others in the mix. Get me?”
Patience wanted to argue that what she’d done was entirely different. Ice and she had been friends for literally years. She was wise enough, however, to know it would be wasted breath on her part. Abel was pissed she’d been out with another man, and he didn’t particularly care how innocent it had been. And she had to admit, when she put the shoe on the other foot, she wouldn’t have liked it either. In fact, she’d hate it. “I get you, Abel,” she informed him in a hushed voice. “It’s you and it’s me from this point onward.”
“Good girl,” he praised gratefully, leaning forward to press his lips to her hair when she dropped her head against his chest. “What’s next on your roster of conditions, babe?”
Tilting her head back to catch his eyes, she bit her lip apprehensively. “You aren’t going to like it.”
“As long as you keep agreeing to be mine, I’ll deal with whatever it is,” Abel vowed, soothing a hand up and down her tense spine.
“I want us to go slow, Abel,” Patience replied.
“Slow?” Abel repeated, one eyebrow arching as he stared down at her. “I think it’s a little late for slow now, don’t you? You’ve got my kids growing inside you, Patience. We’ve blown right past slow, babe.”
“Maybe we did put the cart before the horse a bit,” Patience confessed reluctantly before soldiering on. “But we can still choose to use the brakes when it comes to running full tilt into a relationship. We’ve both committed ourselves to seeing where this goes, Abel. I just want us to take our time doing it. There’s no rush, right?”
“Rush?” Abel echoed, blinking slowly. “I guess not if you consider six months to be a long time.”
“Six months? Is there some kind of deadline I don’t know about?” Patience asked, shaking her head in confusion as she tried to follow his logic.
“Babe, we’ve got six months until our children arrive,” he explained quietly.
“O-kay,” Patience drawled, still not following where he was trying to lead her.
“Meaning, in six months, I want us married and settled,” Abel concluded easily, smiling at her as her face lost all color.
“Are you joking?” Patience squeaked, her heart pounding against her sternum as her vision swam. “You are, aren’t you? You’re kidding!”
“Uh, no. Darlin’, our children deserve to have two parents that are fully committed to each other in every way they can be. That means having them bound together in the eyes of both the Church and the law. Six months will give us plenty of time to arrange any kind of wedding you want.”
“Oh my God,” Patience muttered, breathing hard as she shook her head. “You’re cracked. Completely cracked!” She yelled at him as her breathing became more labored. Briefly she wondered if she was having a stroke as Abel shifted her off his lap and back onto the sofa before pushing her head between her legs.
“Breathe, Patience,” Abel ordered sternly, rubbing his hand up and down her back. “Take slow, deep breaths,” he coached.
Patience’s thoughts swirled as she strained to pull air into her lungs. How the hell had she gone from discussing the terms of her new relationship with her babies’ father to having him arranging their wedding – in six freaking months, no less? Had she been sleeping or had he bypassed proposing to her entirely!
“That wasn’t your proposal, Hellion,” Abel chuckled. “Trust me, when I propose to you, you’ll know it.”
Well, shit! Evidently she’d been talking out loud and that just wouldn’t do. The bastard was throwing her off her game, and she was supposed to be in control here. She was going to be in the driver’s seat of this relationship if it killed her. Or killed him. Killing him would definitely be better for her.
Sitting up carefully, Patience braced one hand on the arm of the couch as she turned to look at the man who’d convinced her that sleeping with him was a good idea. Pointing at him with her index finger, she winced when she accidently poked him in the eye, but powered past the mishap. “Listen up, bucko! You will not mention the words ‘marriage’, ‘wedding’ or ‘engagement’ to me again for at least three months! Those words are BANNED! They do not even exist for you! Do you understand me? For God’s sake, we don’t even know if we like each other well enough to share our breakfast, let alone a life together, Abel. We’re going to go SLOWWWWW! Got it?” she declared loudly. “SLOWWWWW is your new watch word. Slow is your new best friend. Fast is BAD! Slow is good. You and I are going to take our time and get to know each other. And I mean really, really know each other. That means that we’re not jumping into marriage or bed together for a while.”
Abel’s lips twitched at the energetic insistence she displayed. “Alright, Hellion. I’ll let you have your way. For now,” he added meaningfully. “I’ll try to do slow. It’ll be rough – especially since I can’t wait to get you under me again, but I’ll do my best, okay?”
Patience slowly exhaled the breath she’d been holding. “Your best, huh?” she grunted, not quite trusting that innocent look he was trying to pull off.
“My very, very best,” he agreed, offering her a bright smile as he wrapped one hand around the nape of her neck and pulled her toward him. “In fact, I’m thinking that there will be some definite benefits to slowing things down and taking our time,” he said against her mouth.
“Really?” Patience replied breathlessly, his lips grazing hers as she shivered against him.
“Oh, yeah. And you’re in luck, babe. I can show you one of those benefits right now,” Abel responded quickly before covering her lips with his.
And as his mouth claimed hers, Patience allowed Abel to prove how pleasurable slow could be. Sinking back against the cushions on the couch, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he followed her down, his bigger body covering hers. God, he felt good with his warm weight pressing against her in all the right places.
Releasing her lips, Abel nibbled a leisurely path down her jaw to her neck. Pausing there, he gently sucked the skin where her pulse throbbed for a long heated moment. “Am I moving slow enough for you, baby? Or am I not going fast enough for you? I can never tell,” he murmured, dropping lengthy wet kisses against her flesh until he reached the hollow of her throat and smiled into the dip.
“Don’t be a condescending jerk, Abel,” Patience mumbled even as she turned her head to offer him better access to the slope of her neck. “Just keep doin’ what you’re doin’,” she breathed as Abel’s laugh vibrated against her sensitive skin, the tip of his tongue trailing over her clavicle.
“Maybe I should make you say please,” she heard Abel tease huskily, his warm breath cascading over her cheek. “As I recollect, you make a real pretty sound when you’re beggin’ me for my cock,” he continued huskily against her ear. “Should I make you beg, Patience?” he asked, drawing her ear lobe between his teeth and tugging erotically.
“You can try,” Patience sing-songed even as her body rioted. Abel was relentlessly pushing every hot button she had, and even as stubborn as she was, she knew it was only a matter of time before she was pleading with him to take the ache away and replace it with the throbbing pleasure she’d found in his arms before. Biting her tongue as he palmed one heavy breast in his hand, she nearly choked when his head swooped down to capture her already hard nipple between his teeth and bit lightly. It hurt, but in a good way – in a way that she wished it would never stop hurting. “Abel,” she rasped as her fingers dug into the hard muscles of his back. “Oh, God, Abel!”
“Just tell me how bad you want my cock, Hellion, and I’ll take all the hurt away,” he promised as he slowly tweaked her other nipple with his deft fingers. “We both know how good I can make you feel.”
Patience knew she had to get control of the situation and get herself together. If Abel ever opened his eyes and realized how much sensual power he could wield over her, she’d never get another day of peace in her life. His already super-sized ego would know no bounds if he ever knew just how irresistible she found him. It went without saying that she needed to get her act together and fast. So, she did what she was good at. She threw false, but thoroughly believable bravado at the situation. “You know, your dick doesn’t have magical powers, right? That is, unless that that cock ring I know you’re still wearing has been enchanted by a witch since the last time I saw it?” she asked throatily, opening her thighs so his hips could fall through and settle against her mound.
“Since you’re the last witch I’ve let anywhere near my willy in over a year, I’d say you’re safe from ensorcelled cock rings, babe,” Abel chuckled. “I’d say that you’re the one weaving the magic here, darlin’. Not me. You’ve put a spell on my dick. He only responds for you these days.”
“My momma would be so proud of my mystical powers of persuasion over the male penis, but I can assure you that I’m no witch. Now if you’d said ‘bitch’….” she trailed off, shaking her head at her own irreverence. Gasping when she felt Abel’s talented hands drag his tee shirt up her body and over her head, she nearly climaxed on the spot when his damp lips landed on the soft skin of her abdomen.
“I’d never call you that,” Abel replied dutifully before drawing a circle around her belly button with his tongue.
“At least not where I could hear you,” Patience amended for him, giggling as his lips found a particularly sensitive spot on her ribs. “Quit that,” she ordered through her laughter, wriggling underneath him on the couch.
“What’s that?” Abel asked innocently, nuzzling her quivering abdomen while his fingers crept over her hips to tease her flesh. Gently biting one delicate hip, he grinned as she squealed beneath him.
“You know what! That tickles, you ass, and you know it, too!”
Patience gasped through her laughs, tears filling her eyes and falling down her cheeks as she tried to escape his nimble fingers. “I swear, Abel, if you don’t lemmee go this instant, I’ll find a way to get even with you that’ll turn your pretty dark hair prematurely gray!”
Hauling himself up her still twisting body, Abel smiled down at Patience. “My hair is already goin’ gray. Found my first one the day after you got shot and have been findin’ ‘em ever since. It’s worth it, though. When I can see you like this – happy and carefree – it makes every second of struggle worth it. I haven’t heard you laugh like this in way too long, darlin’. I like the sound of it.”
Breathing hard as she finally stilled under him, Patience licked her lips as she stared up at him. “I laugh, Abel. And I’m mostly always happy.”
“First, I don’t think you’ve been truly, genuinely happy in a long time. You’ve been content enough, and I think you’ve tried to convince yourself that it’s the same thing as happy, but it’s not, though, honey. Not even close. And second, yeah, I’ve heard you laugh, Patience. But not like you just did. Usually, it’s your sarcastic little snorts and chuckles that I hear. Not the joyful, carefree belly laughs that I just listened to you make for me. Fair warning, but I plan to make it a mission to hear those beautiful sounds a whole lot more often, sweetheart. And I’ll show you what true happiness is if it’s the last thing I do,” he vowed softly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Whether you believe in them or not, you deserve to find your own happily-ever-after, honey. And I’m the man that’s gonna give it all to you.”
Oh, man, Patience thought, it was like somebody had handed Abel a map to all her weakest, most vulnerable spots. He was saying all the right words and making all the right moves. He was offering her every woman’s fantasy: a steady and loving relationship to a wonderfully successful man with a couple of kids thrown in for good measure. She should be turning cartwheels and dancing on air, shouldn’t she? Why the hell was she so afraid to try being happy?
Ready, Willing and Abel (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnon Sisters Book 3) Page 26