by Gail McHugh
His voice so carnal, so full of lust, made her body shake. With his words twisting deliciously in her mind, Emily untangled her hands from his hair, and once again, did as he said. Bringing her hands to her breasts, she palmed them for a second before tugging on her nipples. Tension built, growing fierce between her legs. She rode every screaming wave of desire he brought her with each thrust of his fingers. Spasms hurtled through her body, sending her higher and higher. Though she was close, so close, she needed him inside her and she needed him now. She couldn’t wait.
As if sensing what she wanted, Gavin eased his fingers out of her, leaving her pussy hot and wet in their wake. She could feel the protest crawling up her throat, but it died on her lips as he hoisted her up, his one hand sliding underneath her ass as the other yanked his shorts and briefs down just enough. Within a split second, he’d pulled her down onto him. Emily sucked in a ragged breath as she felt the head of his cock spread her swollen flesh, the pleasurable burning nearly sending her into orgasm. Her eyes went wide. Though still in shock over where they were, his growls and heavy breathing made the risk of getting caught worth her while. Hot and hard, he was nothing but pure, primal, fierce, consuming alpha male. He filled her. Claimed her. Broke and owned her. Brought her full circle from the woman she once was to the woman she was becoming. The woman she was meant to be with him.
“Fuck,” Gavin bit out, his voice strained. Digging his fingers into her hips, the pressure and need that’d built up throughout the day nearly exploded as Emily thrust down hard onto his aching cock. His muscles jumped and twitched. He brought the fingers he’d had buried inside her to her mouth. “Taste yourself on me. I want you to lick your sweetness off my fingers.”
And she did. She sucked on each one with an intensity she’d never before shown him. So entranced by her, Gavin felt lightheaded as her hand curled around his wrist, licking and stroking her tongue along his fingers.
“Tell me how good my pussy feels, Gavin.” The demand burst from Emily’s lips as she pulled his fingers from her mouth, leveraging forward to place her hands on his knees for balance. She moved up and down, her speed increasing. “Tell me.”
Holy shit. Gavin swore he was about to lose it right there. Fisting one hand in her hair, he took the other and gripped her waist, guiding her body in vicious strokes up and down his cock. “You feel like heaven wrapped around me. Fucking heaven.” And she did. Soft velvet over hard steel. Her slickened warmth, so tight, had Gavin’s balls nearly climbing into his stomach. He wanted to spill every ounce of himself into her. But he would wait.
Wanting to always get her off first, he slipped his hand from her hair to her clit and rubbed hard and fast. Fuck. Emily gasped and her muscles tightened, constricting and clamping down around him so fiercely, he wasn’t sure he was going to make it. She saved them both when she arched her body against his chest, her movements a sexy, sensual rhythm. However, it was all the more devastating to Gavin’s already heated senses because now he could feel her core in its entirety, felt each flick of her hips as she circled his cock.
“Jesus Christ,” he groaned, skimming his palm from her waist to her breast. He cupped it, squeezing. With the other, he kept steady pressure on her clit, stroking and teasing the swollen bud. “That’s right, baby. Fuck me slow. Nice and slow. Let me feel every bit of you.”
So turned on, Emily drew in a breath, overwhelmed by the sensations. “Please don’t stop rubbing me.” She whispered the plea, bringing her arms up and entangling her fingers in his hair. God. Between his mouth closing over her shoulder, his hand playing with her breast, and the other tripping over her clit, Emily was close to done for. Licking her lips, she whimpered. “Please, Gavin.”
Unrelenting, unforgiving, and unstopping, Gavin bucked his hips, filling Emily completely. No longer breathing, thinking, or worried about who might be watching, painful pleasure shot through her body. It exploded, unfurling a release so intense, so deep, and wicked in its potency, she thought she was going to lose her mind. She cried out his name, her voice louder than expected, but she couldn’t help it. It was pure fucking bliss. He was pure fucking bliss.
Spasms tore through every one of her muscles as Gavin slid his hand over her mouth. He held it there as she felt his orgasm hit, felt his hot, silky semen spilling into her. His body tightened, shuddering violently beneath hers, his breathing coming rough and fast against her ear. With shockwaves still possessing her and her body limp like a wet rag, lost in a haze of passion, Emily’s breathing started to slow. She turned her head to the side, catching Gavin’s mouth with hers. For a long moment, he kissed her deep and hard as he groaned, palming her breasts.
Spent and completely sated, Gavin reached for the blanket and covered Emily’s naked body. Moving her long, damp hair away from her bare shoulders, he feathered his lips along her neck. “I love you, Emily, and I need you to know there’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be than here with you.”
Turning, Emily stared into his eyes. They held so much passion and dedication, her heart swelled. With an intensity bordering obsession, she kissed him, thankful their roads had crossed paths once again. She drew strength from him she never knew she possessed. She blossomed when he was near. Holding her life in his hands, he was nothing short of carbon to a flame within her, waiting to ignite. Slowly breaking the kiss, Emily turned back around, taking in the heat of Gavin’s strong arms wrapped around her stomach. Her gaze fell from the clear sky blooming with stars to the dark waves, dappled silver by the light of the moon. Emily released a satisfied sigh, her soul warm with a love she was certain she’d never find with anyone else. She knew tomorrow would be hard, but somehow, she also knew this might be one of the sweetest Christmases she would ever have. As Gavin pulled her closer, she was pretty sure she was correct.
Emily awoke when the bright sun coming in through the blinds hit her face, its warmth not so welcomed considering she and Gavin had stayed up into the late hours of the night. Pillowed against his chest, his peaceful breathing in her ear calmed her. But that only lasted so long. Emily’s thoughts struck, just as unwelcome as the early morning wake up. Flashes of last Christmas hit, a day spent in the hospital next to her dying mother, nearly yanking the air from her lungs. Dillon was also there in her mind, further souring her stomach.
Lifting her head, she glanced at Gavin’s beautiful face, beyond grateful for him. Though she was happier than she could ever remember, her mood shifted as emptiness anchored deep in her gut. She didn’t want to look back, but ghosts from her past wouldn’t allow her to move forward. Her ache for her mother hovered like a dark storm, bringing a cloud of sadness.
Trying to escape the despair taking hold, Emily slipped from the bed. The yearning for her mother followed her with each quiet step she took across the cold wood floor. She shivered as she reached for the door handle, careful not to wake Gavin as she opened and closed it. Being it was just shy of a quarter to eight, the house wasn’t alive yet. Void of any sound and clear of any movement, Emily was alone in her thoughts.
On a sigh, she moved toward the Christmas tree. Her gaze fell upon several ornaments she and Lisa had made for their mother when they were little girls—paper angels glued to clothespins and silver, red, and gold glittered reindeer highlighting each of their names tossed themselves into her memory. Emily ran her fingertips across the fading reminders of the past as tears gathered in her eyes. She swallowed, her body instantly shaken, her heart instantly crushed. Had she already been without the only parent she’d ever known for close to a year? The same parent who’d brought her love and insanity in equal parts? Her mother’s voice danced in her ears as she tried to compose herself.
Emily didn’t hear Gavin come into the room, but she didn’t need to. His soothing presence blanketed the air. He wrapped his arms around her from behind as she wiped away an errant tear slipping down her cheek. Still staring at the ornaments, she shook her head and sucked in a deep breath. “How do I let her go?”
Gavin p
laced a soft kiss on the crown of her head, and without saying a word, he gently reached for Emily’s hand and led her back to the bedroom. Confusion dripped into her mind as she watched him haul his luggage onto the bed. After unzipping it and pulling out a small black velvet box, he sat on the bed, motioning Emily toward him. When she approached, he stared at her, his eyes soft with concern. Once again, he reached for her hand and guided her onto his lap. With her back against his bare chest, he moved her hair away from her shoulders.
“You don’t let her go, baby,” he whispered as he clasped a diamond-studded, platinum oval locket around her neck. “You hold onto her with everything you have. You carry her with you through every joyous moment in your beautiful future. Your accomplishments. Seeing your children’s eyes for the first time. Your life in general. You shoot for the stars with her in mind. She’ll be there, watching. You forgive her for the mistakes she made while you were growing up, and during the bad times you have to face, you lean on whatever words of wisdom she gave you. But you never let her go. Ever. She wouldn’t want you to let her go.”
Opening the locket, Emily’s breath caught. Her eyes swept over a picture of her mother as a teenager. With the sun shining against her dark hair and her smile highlighting the warm, carefree glow found only in one’s youth in her eyes, Emily couldn’t help but think it was the happiest she’d ever seen her mother. Emily sniffled and more tears fell. However, these tears were delivered by a man who couldn’t even begin to understand the empty space in her heart he’d filled so many times.
Turning, Emily straddled his waist and stared into Gavin’s eyes. The emotions swirling behind them riveted her. She was in awe he was hers. “My God, are you even real?” she whispered.
Holding her gaze, a sad smile lifted his mouth. “I think I am.”
“You make me feel like I’m in a dream,” Emily confessed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Like I’m sleepwalking and I don’t even know it.” Continuing to take in the pure, honest, unselfish man in front of her, Emily lost herself in the fact he was real. “I’m able to close my eyes and just… trust you. You’re the color on my blank canvas, the light in my dark, the air in my lungs, and I almost let you go. I almost erased us from ever happening. I can’t imagine not having you here with me. Please tell me you know how much I love you, Gavin. I need to hear it right now. Please.”
Gavin swallowed, his senses reeling. She owned him, mind, body, and soul. Words. God, he didn’t have enough words to let her know how much he knew she loved him. Even if he did, how could he ever begin to let her know how much he knew she’d risked changing her life for him? Words weren’t meant for this moment and Gavin knew it. He brought his lips to hers, kissing her softly. He kissed her the way she should’ve been kissed the first time a man was ever allowed to feel her body. He kissed her hoping he could banish every headstone of grief that’d taken up an ounce of space in her heart. Wanting to wipe away every sick moment and twisted memory her eyes ever witnessed, he held her closer, trying to shield her from the demons he knew she was battling.
In the silence, with only the sound of their beating hearts, Emily slowly pulled away. The heaviness in her chest lifted, its weight no longer suffocating, no longer draining.
Gavin ran his hands through her wavy hair, his smile soft. “Merry first Christmas.”
“Merry first Christmas,” Emily whispered, placing another kiss on his lips. After a moment, she edged off him. She hopped to her feet, strolled across the room and dug in her luggage. Pulling out a white bag, she lifted a devious brow. “Now it’s my turn to give you your gifts, but I have to warn you, you have to start using each of them today.”
With an equally devious brow lifted, Gavin ran a hand through his messy hair and leaned against the headboard, the grin on his mouth wide. “These gifts wouldn’t happen to include a black lace ensemble worn by you, double ‘A’ batteries, and your shmexy legs shaking uncontrollably around my head, would they?”
Eyes wide, Emily belted out a laugh. But shit if he didn’t look so hot waiting for her, shirtless no less. She swallowed, suddenly aware of the throbbing between her legs. All humor left her face as she slowly crawled onto the bed. With the bag in one hand, she slightly lowered his sweatpants with the other. She rained kisses along his hip, following his glorious tattoo all the way to the side of his left rib cage. Sighing in pure contentment, she moved her lips back over every delicious peak and dip of his washboard abs. She felt Gavin tense, his muscles tightening. He buried his hands in her hair as she hovered, lightly skimming her tongue along the edge of the evil-looking beast’s wings. In all its evilness, it tasted like the sweetest cotton candy.
Emily brought her eyes up to his, their light-blue sexual intensity shocking her system. She smiled. “So you never told me why you got this particular tattoo.”
Gavin blinked, a rush of puffed air escaping his mouth. “Are you honestly going to ask me that after you just achingly licked your way up my body?”
“What?” Emily giggled, straddling his waist. Looking down at him, she frowned. “I want to know. You told me why you got it where you did, but you left out why you picked a dragon.”
Eyes zeroed in on her lips, Gavin smirked. “I got the dragon because I knew women would never… ever… ever be able to resist licking it.”
Emily playfully swatted his arm. “You bastard. Are you saying I’m not the first to lick it?” In one quick movement, Gavin slipped his arm behind her waist and flipped her onto her back. Emily gasped, her heart nearly stopping as he hovered above her, lightly brushing his mouth against hers. “Oh my God,” she breathed. “I was right. You are crazy.”
“And you’re trying to kill me with your questions,” Gavin countered, nipping her bottom lip, which she started to realize was something he loved to do. “You’re no longer allowed to say the words ‘lick it’ in my presence. Is that understood, Miss Cooper?”
His demand drifted over her like a caress, but she was about to push a few buttons. She popped a brow, her mouth curled into a smirk. “Lick… it… Caveman.”
Gavin’s eyes went wide right about the same time he dove his hand under her tank top. Emily squealed, squirming under his embrace. She yanked his hand away from her breast. “Gavin! No, I want you to open your gifts.”
“It’s a done deal,” he replied, his voice a desperate groan. “I’m convinced you’re seriously trying to kill me. I thought I was pretty on point with my game. Where did I go wrong?”
Emily released another giggle. “You could never go wrong, and I swear I’ll make it up to you later.”
Grinning, Gavin shook his head and sighed.
After kissing his cheek, she eased out from beneath him and straddled his lap as he sat cross-legged. Reaching for the bag that had gotten lost under the tangled mess of blankets, Emily smiled and pulled out a small envelope. “Here. This is something that you have to use for the rest of your life.”
Gavin looked at the envelope. Written across the front in Emily’s handwriting was:
With a small smile, Gavin pulled out a thin card, showing Emily had purchased him a lifetime subscription to Architectural Digest. It was then he realized she also remembered things he’d told her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, Gavin ducked his head, whispering a soft kiss on her lips. “You’d be happy with me if I was an architect?”
“I’d be happy with you if you picked garbage up off the side of the road if that’s what you wanted to do.”
“You would?” He knew Emily wasn’t with him for his money, but her answer somewhat shocked him. Most, if not all, women he’d encountered would’ve told him to stuff his dreams up his ass if he wasn’t making the millions he did with Blake Industries. Though a career as a sanitation worker would never be his choice, his heart warmed. He’d found a woman who would accept him under any circumstance he might find himself in.
“Of course I would,” Emily replied, tossing her arms around his neck. A teasing smile crept across her lips. “And I’m think
ing you’d look pretty damn hot in the uniform.”
“Ah, always an ulterior motive.” Gavin popped a kiss against her forehead. She smiled, and his features sobered as he stared into her eyes. “Thank you. I love it.”
“No. Thank you,” she whispered against his lips. Unwrapping one of her hands from his neck, she reached into the bag and pulled out a small box. “I have more gifts for you. This one kind of coincides with the subscription in a weird way.”
Gavin smiled and started unwrapping it. Once he’d peeled the red wrapping paper away, he found a black box with the name Patek Philippe Calatrava engraved on it. Shocked, because he knew his time pieces as well as he did cars, Gavin knew it held a very expensive watch. Upon opening it, his suspicions were correct. Trimmed in gold, the piece was amazing and something Gavin could easily see himself wearing. He ran his fingers over the soft black leather wristband, his eyes taking in the fine, Switzerland-made contemporary design. Though the Breguet piece he was currently wearing dented his checkbook a cool $260,000, this particular Patek Philippe Calatrava must’ve cost Emily upwards of $25,000.
Emily smiled, and handed him a second card with the words:
Now he understood how the two gifts fit together. Gavin cupped her cheek and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Thank you,” he whispered, stroking her hair. Emily smiled, but Gavin couldn’t help wonder how she was able to afford the watch. “Did you use the funds I put into your bank account to buy me this?” Gavin searched her face. Though she’d argued with him about dumping any cash into her account, spending it on him was the last thing he wanted her to do. “I told you not to buy me anything with that money.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “Do you like it?”