His Inspiration

by Tanya Gallagher

  “Fuck, Bex.” His cum pulsed into her, so very warm, and just that act—him coming inside her, filling her even more—made her come again.

  For a long minute the two of them stood there—her body loose-limbed and unable to hold itself upright—just breathing heavy.

  Gabe kissed the spot where her neck met her shoulder. “We should get cleaned up.”

  “Can’t function,” she protested.

  “I’ll hold your hand.”

  The world swirled back to her—Gabe so very real in her arms, her brother out on the couch.

  “Oh shit,” Bex said, laughing at the realization. “We’re so busted.”

  Gabe’s satisfied face made her blush. “Maybe. But it was totally worth it.”

  He dropped his eyes below her waist, a look of utter adoration on his face.

  “What?” she asked, suddenly shy.

  He swept his eyes to meet hers. “My cum on your legs,” he said, and she blushed deeper. He handed her a dryer sheet, and she wiped herself clean. “That’s my favorite sight in the world.”

  Chapter 22

  Bex was a consenting, grown-up woman, but walking into the living room where her brother nursed a now-empty can of soda made Gabe feel like a teenager getting caught by her parents with his dick in his hands. Bex breezed in a moment behind him with her skin still beautifully flushed and her hair a mess, and it was obvious what had just happened between them.

  Luckily, Sam couldn’t meet their eyes either.

  Bex settled onto the sofa next to her brother, and Gabe caught her gaze across the room. Something in her smile made his chest feel light. She looked happy and—other than the Sam situation—relaxed. More at ease with this whole situation than she’d ever been before.

  He was so damn lucky to be here with her.

  “So, Sam,” Gabe said, trying to break the tension. He slanted himself in the doorway between the living room and kitchen. “Bex tells me that you’ve got a kid coming soon.”

  Sam gave Bex a searching look.

  “Was I not supposed to say that?” Gabe asked. “Sorry, man.”

  Sam worked the tab of the soda can back and forth with his thumb. “No, it’s okay. It’s just not finalized yet.”

  Gabe nodded. “I hear you. Well, when everything comes together, I’d be happy to do baby pictures for you.”

  Bex’s brother lifted his eyebrows. “Really?”

  Bex brightened beside him.

  “Sure,” Gabe said. “Gotta capture those important moments. It’s always good when family grows.”

  Sam smiled at him. “Well, I’m going to take you up on that offer. Aderyn will be thrilled. You got any family out here, Gabe?”

  “Not yet. But my brother Vinny is thinking about moving out.”

  “Vinny?” Bex’s head perked up.

  “You know him?” Sam asked.

  Bex caught Gabe’s eye and flashed a private smile. “Sort of. Not exactly. We saw each other briefly at the Euphoria Lounge.”

  “Okay then.” Sam twisted the soda tab all the way off. “Actually, that’s why I stopped by.” He dropped the tab inside the soda can, then set the can on Bex’s coffee table. “I need your help, Bex. This is all happening way too fast, and we have so many things to pick up before the baby comes.”

  “Does that mean I get an excuse to shop?”

  Sam nodded.

  As if the orgasm hadn’t been enough, Bex’s smile stretched even wider. “Of course I’ll help,” she said.

  Sam pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, and he and Bex bowed their heads together as they reviewed the items on the list. They murmured in the background, but Gabe’s mind was spinning in a different direction. Now that he had mentioned Vinny, his mind trailed back to the Euphoria Lounge, and to his date with Bex at the art gallery on the first floor of the Renegade Hotel. A smile curled across his face. He might know how to fix all the problems he’d caused for himself.

  Gabe had an ulterior motive for taking Bex to the Euphoria to dance, but he had to admit that having her dressed up and spinning in his arms was perhaps an even better result than he’d originally intended. The dance floor of the Euphoria Lounge overlooked The Strip, and in the distance, he could make out the famous Bellagio fountains, with the water lit up in golden sprays. Down the street, tourists stumbled in and out of the huge hotels and milled around the miniature Eiffel Tower. The scenery provided a high-energy backdrop to the club’s sensual, luxe aura.

  Bex grabbed Gabe’s hand while the DJ at the edge of the floor whipped the crowd into a frothing, dancing mix. She wore a tight, white dress that highlighted her slim curves, and she ground her body against his cock as she danced.

  Fuck. Fuck. Why had he thought it would be a good idea to bring her here? They should have been alone tonight. They didn’t need the alcohol or the music or the ambiance to set the mood. They were already electric, just by being together.

  Bex looped her arms around his neck, and her eager hips swirled under his grip. Her eyes sparkled as she leaned forward to breathe into his ear, and her mouth curved into a smile. “If I had known you could dance as well as you fuck, I would have insisted you bring me back here a long time ago.”

  He couldn’t stop his laughter. “Is that so?”

  “Totally. In fact, if you had danced with me that first night, I probably wouldn’t have waited until we got back to your place to sleep with you.”

  “I would have gotten lucky at the Euphoria Lounge?”

  “In the back room, if not on the dance floor itself.”

  Gabe grinned. “Glad the dance lessons my mom made me take paid off.”

  “You took dance lessons?”

  “I was ten. And very popular, if you must know.” At least Vinny had had to suffer through the humiliation as well, although at six years old he was way less conscious of his social standing than Gabe had been.

  Bex snorted out a laugh, and he stroked his hands lower, spinning her back to his front. He guided her hip with his palm while she surged against him. As much as he thought the nightlife scene in this town was a lot to handle, seeing Bex like this made his heart pound. Dance lights strobed over her body in red and blue, timed to the pulsing beat mixed by the DJ.

  The song spun into the next, and Gabe dropped his cheek next to Bex’s. “I love seeing you like this, honey. All lit up.”

  “Mmm,” she murmured.

  “Bex?”

  They both turned at the sound of the stranger’s voice, and Bex stiffened in Gabe’s arms. The man approaching them wore a gallon of cologne, and he had the broad chest of a guy who spent too much time in the gym. The whole effect was of someone trying too hard—just too much, overall.

  Bex pulled away from Gabe and lifted a feeble hand. “Hey,” she said. “You.”

  If the man was offended by the fact that Bex didn’t seem to remember his name, he didn’t show it. He just held out a hand to Gabe. “Spencer,” he said.

  Gabe shook his hand and dropped it. “Gabe.”

  “Bex, you look fantastic.” Spencer had the nerve to step forward and press a kiss to Bex’s cheek. Gabe almost lost it right there, his hands curling into involuntary fists. Clearly, Spencer and Bex had some sort of past together—maybe even one where they’d been intimate.

  His stomach roiled. He knew that Bex hadn’t seriously dated anyone before he met her, but this was a fucking gut punch—her past coming back to remind him that she’d been with other men. That she’d given them parts of her that he wanted to keep to himself.

  Bex recovered from her momentary shock. “Spencer, Gabe is my friend.”

  Friend? That’s not at all what they were. His jaw tightened. “Nice to meet you,” he ground out. “I’m going to go grab a drink.”

  Bex’s face dropped, and when Gabe started toward the bar, she followed him for a few steps. She caught him by the elbow. “Don’t leave because of Spencer.”

  He needed a minute to clear his head, and even though he sounded like an ass right n
ow, he couldn’t make himself care. “First of all, I’m not leaving. I’m coming right back. And second, if I were leaving, it wouldn’t be because of him.” It would be because his heart was a black hole.

  Bex pushed her shoulders back and blinked up at him, her lower lip wobbling. “If you say so.”

  He left her and walked to the bar. Luckily, the guy he’d been looking for still stood behind the dark, polished countertop.

  “Jack and Coke, please,” Gabe said, and when the bartender returned with his drink, Gabe leaned on the bar. “You’re Bex’s friend, right?”

  The bartender nodded. “Derrick.”

  Gabe made sure Derrick could see the generous tip he set on the bar. “Out of curiosity, do you happen to have contact information for the curator at the Trailblazer Gallery? I’m working on a pitch for them.”

  Derrick shrugged. “You do realize there are hundreds of people who work at this hotel? I don’t necessarily have this magic connection you seem to think I do.”

  Dude, he didn’t need to be an ass about it. “Yeah, but I’m sure you can figure it out.” Derrick started to turn away, and Gabe tried once again. “Please. It’s for Bex.” Derrick looked skeptical. “It’s a photography exhibit,” Gabe explained. “Bex is in the pictures.”

  Derrick sighed and reached for the cash on the bar. “I’ll do what I can, man. Leave your phone number with me.”

  Gabe handed over his business card and took a sip of his drink. The soda fizzed in his nose, but the alcohol went down smooth. “Thank you.”

  “Sure.” Derrick looked over Gabe’s shoulder and frowned. “I know you said you’re Bex’s friend. So why the hell is she leaving without you?”

  Chapter 23

  Bex was halfway down the block, trailing through a crowd of drunken club-goers when she heard Gabe’s voice through the night.

  “Bex, wait!”

  She sighed and waited for him, her shoulders pinching in and her body stiffening.

  Gabe’s footsteps pounded on the pavement as he jogged toward her, and he arrived beside her all in a rush. “Where are you going?”

  She shrugged, her chest tight. “Home.”

  A sorority girl in six-inch stilettos tripped on the sidewalk next to Bex, digging a sharp elbow into her ribs as she fell. Her laughter made the hair on Bex’s arms stand on end.

  Dammit. She couldn’t even escape tonight without physical injury. The emotional injury was already done, and all she wanted was a smooth exit. Not that Gabe was letting her go.

  Gabe laced his fingers through hers and tugged her to the side of the street. Pedestrians streamed around them, everyone else oozing with excitement and energy and sex. But Bex was the gray lump of coal on Christmas morning, the puddle you stepped around so it wouldn’t ruin your day.

  “We’ve gotta stop doing this outdoors.” She pulled her arms around herself. She was too private for this, and out here in the dry night air, everything felt too exposed. Even her dress felt too small, so stupidly hopeful. She couldn’t outrun her past. Why had she even tried?

  “Why’d you leave me?” A glimmer of light reflected in Gabe’s eyes. When she realized it was tears, her heart squeezed.

  “I was trying to make it easier for you.” Her voice was almost swallowed by the crowd.

  “What are you talking about?” Gabe asked, leaning closer to hear her.

  Bex sighed. “I was trying to spare you pain. That scene in there with Spencer…” She ran a hand through her hair, and her heart dropped. “I wouldn’t be who I am today if I didn’t make certain choices in my past.” She’d chosen to live a life where it didn’t matter who she slept with, and she’d been straightforward so no one’s feelings would get hurt. But that same life was catching up to her now. To Gabe. She could cut him without trying, just for being who she was. And that wasn’t fair to either of them.

  Gabe reached for her hands and rubbed heat back into her fingertips. She hadn’t realized she was cold until his warmth rolled over her. “I wasn’t a virgin when you met me, either, Bex. I don’t want you to regret your choices. Where would that leave us?”

  She frowned. “It’s hard not to feel bad when those choices hurt you.” She’d seen the look on his face when he realized what must have happened between her and Spencer.

  Gabe gripped her fingers like he was afraid of letting go. “Bex, pain was when you left me. Pain was when you didn’t even give me a chance to talk this through.”

  He was right.

  Dammit.

  She was so bad at this relationship thing. She hadn’t wanted to be involved with anyone for so long that now she didn’t even know how to do this. “But, god, I forgot the guy’s name.” Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. “You must think I’m such a bitch.”

  “I don’t think you’re a bitch.” He squeezed her hands again and smiled, those dimples dipping in. “Anyway, the guy was pretty forgettable.”

  Bex gave him a skeptical look. “Are you giving me a free pass?”

  “That depends.”

  Oh. Her heart dropped.

  Gabe’s voice lowered, husky. “Why did you call me your friend?”

  Was that what this was really about? She wanted him to be more than just her friend, but maybe she’d screwed that up, too. Her throat was dry as she whispered, “I panicked.”

  His face was a mask of marble, his jaw tight and his dark eyes flinty. “Is that all I am to you?”

  Her voice broke, and her hands trembled. “God, no. I just don’t know what we are.”

  “I thought I was pretty clear before, Bex. I know I’m not perfect…” Gabe’s voice broke off. “I know my health history is far from spotless, and sometimes that terrifies me.”

  “You can’t control that,” she whispered. She hated the reminder of his past just as much as she hated to see him hurting over it.

  “I know. The only thing anyone has control over is the minute right in front of them. And I want you to be my girlfriend. You and me, we’re exclusive.”

  She nodded up at him. “Yeah, I guess we are.” But it was overwhelming, too. For him to be so sure.

  He pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Do you have any idea how much you mean to me?”

  Bex lifted her chin to meet his eyes. “Maybe you should take me home and show me.”

  “Bex, honey, wake up.” Gabe’s voice swam to her through the fog, and she blinked her eyes. Layers of sleep fell off like leaves, and the air filled with the scraping sound of her unsteady breath. Her eyelashes brushed against the hard muscle of one of his forearms, and she could feel his other arm wrapped around her in protection.

  “Bex, you were crying.” He pressed his face against her cheek, and his stubble scratched against her ear.

  Bex swiped at her face, and her fingertips skidded across her cheeks. She hadn’t just been crying. She’d been bawling. Her throat felt raw, and when she drew in a breath of air, it had a sharp bite like she’d been sucking on wintergreen lifesavers. Everything felt cold, but her skin was so fucking hot.

  “Bad dream,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

  Gabe stroked a hand through her hair and brushed a stray strand off her forehead. “It’s okay, honey. You’re safe now.”

  “Thank you.”

  He trailed his hand down her side and pulled him back against his chest. “What were you dreaming about?”

  Bex peered into the darkness of his bedroom. How could the night have so many edges, so many secret spaces? “I was with my parents in the hospital,” she whispered, and the dream clutched at her with desperate hands. She was there again with the metallic smell of the hospital in her nose, and with the air so clinical and sterile and cold. She leaned into Gabe’s touch and shivered. “With my dad, at the end. He was trying to be brave, but we were all so scared for him.”

  They’d spent weeks there—her mom and Sam and Bex—all crowded around her dad’s hospital bed. He had kept fighting, staying strong for his family until the
end, and slowly their lives reshaped into a new reality. They had all gotten used to the hospital being a fixture in their lives, and they made new routines around visiting hours and mealtimes and chemo sessions. Bex had sat by his bed and sung to him whenever he felt nauseous because he’d claimed it made him feel better.

  When the oncologists told her dad he could return to their home, she had wanted to scream. Everyone, including her dad, had known the doctors were sending him away to die.

  Gabe kissed Bex’s ear. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

  She frowned, and a tear trailed into her mouth. “Me too.” And then she remembered, with a chill, that she wasn’t the only one who had suffered. She turned in Gabe’s arms, so they were snuggled together, shin to shin, stomach to stomach, chest to chest. “I’m sorry you went through that, too.”

  Gabe kissed her, long and slow. “Do you ever think that maybe all the suffering we went through was for a reason? That it got us to today?”

  She blinked at him. In the weak glow of his alarm clock, she could make out his features—his strong, sharp cheekbones, his straight nose and thick hair. “Do I believe in fate?” she whispered. “Is that what you mean?”

  He shrugged. “I guess.”

  “I don’t know. The idea of it makes me so angry. Because believing in fate presupposes that the things you go through are okay because they’re part of some plan. And I don’t know how I could ever label the loss of my parents or the fact that Sam got sick as anything other than tragedies.”

  Gabe unfolded one of her hands and brought her fingertips to his mouth. He kissed them, making heat surge through her body. “You know I’m here for you, right? That I’m not going to bow out just because it gets hard?”

  Bex tucked her head under his chin and nodded, feeling the pulse at the base of his throat. Just under his scar. “I know. I’m just afraid that I’m going to hurt you somehow. Bad things have happened to the people I cared about the most.”