She thinks she can just brush me off. I bristle in my seat. “Oh, you mean the part where you dragged me out into a storm, stranded me in a dilapidated cabin, and then left me with the biggest case of blue balls of my life?”
Her mouth opens and closes. “God, Gabriel. Your asshole is showing again.”
I feel my thunderous expression dissolving and with it the tension and awkwardness. Unfortunately, it had to come at her expense and she covers her now heated face with her hands.
“That’s not what I meant,” she mumbles through her hands. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“I didn’t know you were so concerned,” I reply through my laughter.
She grumbles and stalks away.
I follow her to the door, but when she goes to open it, I place a palm against it, closing it instead. I press myself against her back, caging her against the door. Her entire body stills at the contact.
She stands there for a moment, her chest heaving, and with every intake of breath she brushes against me. Slowly, she turns to face me, but her gaze stays latched at the base of my throat, her face splotchy.
I cup my hands under her chin and bring her eyes to mine. I savor the moment she realizes I’m about to kiss her. She sucks in a sharp breath and her lids flutter closed.
Then our lips touch and I realize that maybe there’s a flaw in my grand plan to seduce her. One taste and she’s utterly seduced me.
Chapter Seven
Chloe
At first I didn’t quite understand what was happening. When Gabriel arrived at my door, I was shocked, to say the least, and then grateful because he literally saved my job—again. Nerves made me want to flee the second he barged in, but he was like gravity and I didn’t have the strength to resist his pull.
Nor, apparently, did I have the strength to resist his kiss. His lips slant across mine as he pins me against the wall with his rock hard body. My hands automatically go up to grip his nape because the mere taste of him is enough to knock me off my feet. I make an involuntary surprised sound against the potent press of his lips.
His hands slide down my neck to the curve of my arm, and then traverses the length of my back. He reaches the flare of my hips and his fingers flex against the material of my robe, gripping my hip forcefully, pressing me against the thick length of his arousal.
I may be tall for a woman, but Gabriel practically towers over me. His massive shoulders and arms surround me until I’m helpless against him. His lips play over mine, again and again, until he coaxes my mouth to open for him.
With that, he makes a growling sound deep in his throat and hitches my leg up and around his hips, causing the thin material of the robe to spread until I’m bare against him. Then I’m overcome by the wet sound of our lips, the gasping breaths I’m able to take in between, and the little rumbles of satisfaction he makes in the back of his throat.
My hair tumbles from the sloppy bun I’d thrown it up in after my shower, and falls in a wet mass of tangles over my shoulders. It surrounds us in the soft scent of coconut and vanilla, and he breaks the kiss to press his face into the curve of my shoulder. He inhales there, nuzzling my skin with the sandpaper-scratch of his beard. It tickles every nerve ending I possess until I become one livewire from head to toe.
“I had to see you again,” he confesses, his voice a mere whisper against my neck. The confession washes away most of the embarrassment from my earlier blunder.
My arms twitch around his shoulders and I pull him closer, almost afraid that if I let go, he’ll evaporate and this will all have been a dream. “I thought you were upset about what happened.”
He laughs, his hands running lines up and down my back, pressing into the muscles and soothing me into a stupor. “To be honest, I kind of was.”
I make a confused sound and try to pull back, but he doesn’t let me.
He pulls me closer, hands still massaging my back and lulling me into complacency. “No, let me explain.” He presses a kiss to my hair and I remember that he did the same thing when we were interrupted at the cabin. “I was perfectly content to go on living my life as I had been. And then you crashed in and changed all of my plans. I told you women try to run the world.”
“Only because you need so much managing,” I reply.
He chuckles, and the sound warms me from the inside out. “We don’t have much time to waste and I want to spend it getting to know you more. So, I—I know we’ve done this backwards, considering we’ve already essentially slept together. But, Chloe McKinney…” he pauses for one long heartbeat, making my breath catch in my throat. “Would you like to have dinner? With me?”
My heart nearly explodes with joy and I smile so huge that my cheeks hurt. It’s like a dream. I can’t stop the laughter that escapes. I press my lips to his. And it’s sloppy and crazy, but we’re both smiling when we break apart, and on him, God, it’s beautiful. A heart-stopping kind of beautiful.
I peer up at him. “Isn’t it too late for any restaurants?”
“Don’t worry. I know the perfect place. They’re always open. Why don’t you go change? I’ll wait for you.”
“’Kay,” I whisper breathlessly.
He backs away with careful steps, like he doesn’t want to leave either, and I manage to scoot past him. I can feel his eyes following my every movement as I grab a change of clothes from the suitcase I’d already packed up, and head to the bathroom to change.
The only clean outfit I have left is a ridiculously sexy shift dress that I had planned on wearing to grab drinks at one of the local bars or restaurants. Nerves wage war in my stomach as I slip into it. It flows loosely around my thighs and the arms are long sleeved with slits from shoulder to wrist. The slight tan I’ve managed to get looks phenomenal. My hair can’t be helped, so I brush it out and plait it into a simple braid that I let hang over my shoulder.
I don’t bother with any makeup, aside from a little mascara and gloss. He’s already seen me at my worst anyway and he still wants me. Something about that makes me ridiculously happy. I didn’t date much, but the rare men I went out with were sticklers for dressing to the nines 24/7. There were times that a girl just wanted to relax. He was right about the fact that we’d already slept together, anyway. I’d learned so much about him in a short time that it almost relieved any first date jitters.
Almost.
I give myself one last cursory glance in the mirror and then slip on my sandals. I find Gabriel standing by the balcony looking out to the waves. I pad across the room and wrap my arms around his waist. His hands cover mine and he gives me a gentle squeeze. He taps them and I release my hold.
“All ready to go?” He turns and gives me a once over. “You look amazing.”
“Thank you. Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“This great Italian place I know. Trust me, you’re gonna love it.”
Gabriel
“You’re just the whole package, aren’t you? Sexy, smart, and now you say you can cook?”
Chloe settles onto one of the stools and leans on my island bar. She crosses her legs and I almost wish she hadn’t changed out of her robe. Wisps of hair have broken free of her loose braid to frame her face. She looks ridiculously beautiful in my house. Something I have never been comfortable with when it comes to other women.
“A man can’t give away all his secrets, now, can he?” I pause while dicing tomatoes to press a kiss to her soft lips, and then another for good measure. Responding immediately, her hands slide up to my neck and I almost say to hell with dinner.
I had forgotten how nice it was to cook for someone other than myself. How much I liked having someone in my house to care for, especially if that person were Chloe. She spent the last ten minutes entertaining me with stories about the antics of her family and sipping on another Piña Colada we’d grabbed before leaving the hotel.
“Well, none of the men in my family have ever been able to make more than scrambled eggs. Not to mention the fact that
I’ve never wanted a plate of spaghetti more in my life after our gourmet meal of peanuts and beef jerky. Seriously, it smells amazing.”
“Of course it does. Plus, this serves dual purposes. Emily is coming over tomorrow. She’ll devour the leftovers in like ten seconds. It’s her favorite thing to eat.”
Chloe’s eyes light up. “She’s coming over? Oh, Gabe, that’s so awesome. I bet you’re excited.”
“Pumped. We always have so much fun. I just wish we were able to spend more time together.” I pour the diced tomatoes into the sauce and stir, a crease forming between my brows.
She sets her glass down on the counter and snuggles into my side. “Is there anything I can do to help with dinner?”
“No, you don’t worry about it. I’m going to take care of you tonight.” And I mean that in more ways than one, if she’ll let me.
She brushes off my statement and moves to root through my fridge. “Aha,” she exclaims. I turn to find her with arms full of salad mixings. She dumps the supplies on the counter and then turns to search in the cabinets.
“What are you doing?” She bumps her head on the open cabinet and yelps. “You okay?”
“I’m seeing double, but at least I found a salad bowl.”
I tug on her free hand and circle her in my arms. “I told you that you didn’t have to help.”
“It’s just a bump. I’ll be fine.”
I grab a cloth and some ice from the dispenser and press it to the goose egg already swelling on her head. “You sit and relax. If you must do something, you can put together that salad while sitting. Surely, you can’t get hurt that way,” I tease.
“Har, har.” She gets to work shredding and assembling the salad. “So I’m a little clumsy. You should probably know that about me up front. I also do crazy things like get on boats in the middle of storms. Spend the night with a strange man.”
“Do that often?”
She sputters around a sip of her drink. “Completely not what I meant and you know it.”
“C’mon. You’re gorgeous. I wouldn’t hold it against you even if you had. But you also don’t seem like the kind of girl to take relationships lightly.”
“Got me there. I’ve had two serious relationships, both pretty much crashed and burned so I didn’t date much after that.”
“Their loss,” I murmur. And it’s true. They were crazy to give up a girl like her.
“You’re so sweet.” She finishes sprinkling cheese on the salad and wipes her hands on a cloth. Finished, she scoots off the stool and rewraps her hand around my waist. She smells candy-sweet. Too sweet for an asshole like me, that’s for damn sure. I find the source of the scent at the base of her neck and nibble there.
“You didn’t think that yesterday,” I mumble into her throat.
“Well, I didn’t know you yesterday.”
“I’m not sure knowing more would improve how you feel about me. First impressions last, you know.”
“Gabriel, the only thing I know for sure is that I want to know more. Like who taught you how to cook because this smells amazing.”
She gives me a smile and moves to put the finishing touches on the salad while I spoon up the pasta onto some plates. It’s homey and normal. It’s funny how you don’t realize a part of your life is missing until a beautiful woman strands and blindsides you with her perky smile and sweet perfume.
Chapter Eight
Chloe
“I don’t know about this.”
Gabriel smiles devilishly and I respond with a full body shiver. Now that I know he wants me in return, it’s like I have no control over my reactions to him.
We’d spent the last hour talking about everything. And I mean everything. He told me about his years in the Navy, and how much he wanted to get away from his horrible home life to make something out of himself. I learned that he was one of those rare unicorns who believed in love and marriage, and when his had turned sour, it ruined him for future relationships. I’m not normally one to speak ill of another, but his wife has to be out of her mind to give up a great man like Gabriel. Then again if she hadn’t, we never would have met.
Once he finally lets his guard down, he is truly a thing of beauty. His smile—and his damn good spaghetti—had me reduced to a pile of goo by the time dinner was over. Well, that and the two drinks I’ve had to celebrate.
I toss my napkin onto the table with a groan. “I can’t possibly eat any more.”
“Excellent. Time for the next surprise of the evening.”
The food coma I’m nursing abates a little. “Next surprise?” I eye him warily. “If it’s dessert, I hate to say it, but I’m seriously going to have to pass. There’s no way.”
He chuckles and takes our dishes to the kitchen to rinse. While sitting back and relaxing, I hear a whine coming from outside, so I go out to the porch to investigate. I open the sliding glass door and am attacked by a blur of black and white. I immediately crouch down and start loving on the dog—a Boston Terrier from the looks of it. He’s equal parts bug eyes and smushed nose and the most awesome combination of ugly and cute.
“Who is this guy?”
“That’s Rudy. I’m surprised he didn’t introduce himself earlier.”
Rudy jumps up and licks all over my face. “Well, he’s definitely affectionate.” I laugh and give him a good back scratch. None of my apartments have allowed pets and I’ve wanted one for years. “I bet he and Emily are best buddies.”
“Oh, they are. He ditches me to sleep in her room whenever she visits.”
“Was he my surprise?”
“This handsome guy? Unfortunately, no. But I’m sure he’s loving the attention.” Rudy pants happily, rolling over on his back so I can give his belly a scratch, too.
We leave him a sated mess on the porch and Gabriel leads me down the steps and to a walkway. He situates me in front of him and covers my eyes with his hands and we walk in tandem through a gathering of trees behind his house. We stop and Gabriel presses against my back, breath tickling my ear as he says, “Keep your eyes closed. No peeking.”
“Is this one of those situations where I should be running for my life?”
“If you run, I’ll just have to catch you.”
I hear the telltale sound of a zipper followed by the brush of material falling to the floor. My mouth goes dry and every languid part of me perks right back up. My senses drink in every whisper of cloth against skin. The rasp of his shirt is like an electric shock to my heart and I grip myself around the middle to stop it from bursting right out of my chest.
Then I hear the subtle sounds of what can only be Gabriel walking into water and instead of bursting out of my chest, my heart just stops. Gabriel. Naked. In the water. Naked in the water a few feet away from me.
“Open your eyes.”
I take a few useless breaths that do nothing to calm the internal freak out that’s going on inside of me and do as he says. And oh, God, I go weak in the knees. I see the most magnificent expanse of back, and sweet baby Jesus, I swear I see a flash of ass before he disappears completely under water.
He’s going to kill me.
A few seconds later, he emerges on the other side of the pool, scrubbing the hair out of his face. He treads water there and I move to him because there is no walking away from this.
He watches with hooded eyes as I walk to the sunken stairs and slip off my sandals. My fingers are trembling when I grab the bottom of my dress. The cool air bathes my skin, though it does little to cool the heat inside me. My hands automatically reach for the bannisters because the sight of him just below me sends a rush of intense arousal through me. I take the first tentative step onto the first rung. Gabe shifts toward me, his easy-going mood replaced by desire. When I take the next step, he grips one of the bars with one hand so that when I enter the water, it’ll be right into his arms.
The water heightens every sensation—the slick feeling of his skin rubbing against mine, the gentle tug of my weighted hair. Even without
touching me at all, he’s managed to turn me on more than I’ve ever been in my life. This morning included.
Then he glides to me, pressing me against the cool tile of the pool wall, his arms a cage around me that I never want to leave. His arousal presses thick and hot against the thin material of my panties. My legs go up and around his hips to urge him closer, to slick myself against him the way I’ve been wanting to all day.
His hands tangle in my hair and he pulls back just enough that my body is hovering on the precipice of pleasure and pain. With little bites, he trails a line down my throat to the thin material covering my breasts. He covers one nipple with an open-mouthed kiss, taking it between his teeth. The twin bites of pain, which are so good it hurts, causes me to cry out.
“Yes,” he whispers against my skin. “I want to hear you come for me this time. No one here but you and me and I’m gonna make you scream.”
He bites, nips, and kisses his way to my other breast. This time, he pulls down the material of my bra to use teeth and tongue to drive me to distraction. I clasp his head to me and writhe against him. My hips move in subtle motions that mimic the flicks of his tongue. I arch into him, giving him everything. I’d only managed a taste of how good it would be between us and it was even better the second time around.
His hands drift down my sides and grip my thighs. For one glorious moment, his cock is right where I need it. I throw my head back in response. He uses his hands to glide my pussy up and down the length of him, taking care not to hinder his attention to my breasts.
“You feel so good.” His voice is hoarse and he rests his head between my breasts as he attempts to catch his breath.
“So do you.”
He lifts his eyes to mine and now it’s nothing but the gentle rhythm of the water rocking us against each other. My hands map their way over his sun-browned shoulders and down his sculpted chest. I pause to flick the rigid tips of his nipples and delight in the strangled grown it elicits from his throat.