by Sara Orwig
She found Lou in the nursery. “Here she is, all ready for bed, but she doesn’t act sleepy yet.”
“I’ll take her to the family room with your dad and Julian.”
Ashley carried Ella to Lou and went to find Gabe. He stood at the end of the hall, talking to her dad, who held Julian in his arms. Gabe turned to watch her as she walked toward them. His gaze flickered over her, making her tingle.
While both men stood waiting, she thought how lucky she was to have them in her life and how lucky to have Julian who was already precious to her. How glad she was that she’d decided to come home from Chicago to have Ella. Dressed in a dark suit and tie, Gabe was as handsome as ever. Her racing pulse jumped another notch when she looked into his eyes.
“I’d say you’re all ready to go,” Gabe said.
“Yes, I am. When are you leaving for Dusty’s?” she asked Quinn who glanced at Julian.
“In a few minutes. I told Julian I’d read two books to him before I go. You two have fun.”
“We will,” Gabe said, taking Ashley’s arm. She brushed a kiss on Julian’s cheek.
Gabe kissed his son and then took her arm and they left. As soon as they went out the back door, he glanced at her. “We’ll drive to dinner in San Antonio, but if I had my way, we’d head down to the barn, close and lock the door and spend the evening in the loft.”
“Not on your life, mister. This dress wasn’t meant for hay.”
“I wouldn’t get one little straw on that dress. You’d never know it had been near a hayloft.”
“This is one time you’re not selling your idea.”
“I really didn’t expect to, and I’m not giving it my all. I’ll take you out like I promised. I just wanted you to know what I’d prefer.” He held open the door of his car and she slid inside. He closed the door and went around to sit behind the wheel, and in minutes they were speeding along the highway to San Antonio.
Ashley reached over to place her hand on his knee. He glanced at her and took her hand to brush kisses across her knuckles. She inhaled swiftly.
“I’ve thought about tonight all week,” he said. “I’ve wanted to be with you.”
His words gave her a thrill, and she ran her fingers across his nape. “Watch out, Gabe. I may make you fall in love with a Ryder.”
He gave her another smoldering glance that sent tingles running over her nerves.
“Just try me, honey.”
“Ah, a challenge! You’re on, Gabriel Brant. Watch your heart!”
He inhaled deeply. “I wish I had you in my arms right now.”
“Instead, you watch the road.”
In the sprawling clubhouse, they were seated at a table near a large window that overlooked the first hole of the golf course.
Their table was covered in a white linen tablecloth centered with a pink rosebud in a crystal vase. Gabe ordered a steak and smoked salmon for Ashley. With glasses of wine, they talked about the day, the children and the ranch, yet all the time, Ashley felt sparks dancing between them, and she wanted to be in his arms far more than she wanted to eat.
“Dad said if you keep buying flowers at the rate you have this week, you should get your own greenhouse.”
“I’m making up for things I didn’t do back when.”
“You’ve more than made up for them,” she said. “You don’t have to keep sending flowers.”
“I know I don’t. I wanted to.”
Their dinners were only half eaten, the elegant dessert barely touched when the band began to play and lights dimmed. A waiter cleared their table and Gabe took Ashley’s hand to dance.
She moved with him, glad to be in his arms, wanting to dance all night. It was a slow number and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as they moved together perfectly.
Gabe inhaled her perfume, dancing slowly with her, feeling on fire with longing, yet reminding himself to go slowly. She deserved this courtship, deserved to be taken out to dinner and dancing. This was a special time and Gabe wanted to make it as enjoyable as possible for her. They couldn’t have done this when she was in the last month of her pregnancy or right after Ella was born even if both of them had wanted to.
The dance ended and a fast one followed and he watched her as she danced with him. She was willowy, graceful, tantalizing. He knew he was falling in love with his beautiful wife. Every hour they spent together, she was becoming more important to him, more exciting. She responded to him with an eagerness that made his control almost shatter.
He twirled her around and pulled her close. “Let’s go, okay?”
“Sure,” she answered, her blue eyes changing as she inhaled. It took all his willpower to keep from kissing her right then. He led her off the dance floor and waited while she picked up her purse, and then they walked silently out of the club. As soon as they drove away, he glanced at her.
“We can head right back to the ranch. What I’d rather do is get a hotel room—”
“A hotel room?” she asked with amusement. “We have a home.”
“I want some time with you all to myself,” he said in a husky voice. “Just a few hours. Lou is staying the night and I’d like to get out where we won’t get interrupted for hours.”
Her pulse drummed. “Whatever you want is fine with me.”
He caught her hand to brush a kiss across her knuckles and turned the car to head into town. He wanted her with a need that made him feel he would explode into a million pieces if he didn’t get her into his arms in the next few minutes.
He slowed, pulled over and parked on the side of the road. While she waited, Gabe retrieved his cell phone, called information and soon found a hotel with a vacancy. Twenty minutes later they entered a suite on the top floor of an elegant hotel on the river. Gabe shed his coat and tie, tossing them on a chair, unbuttoning his snowy shirt. While he opened and poured wine, Ashley stood looking at the view. Only a light from the bathroom was on in their suite, and she looked out at sparkling lights reflected in the rippling, dark river.
Then Gabe was standing in front of her, offering her a glass of wine. She took it and raised it. “Here’s to our marriage. May it be long and oh, so happy, Gabe.”
Without taking his gaze from her, he touched her glass with his and then sipped. He set down his glass and took hers to set it on a table beside his.
“I’ve waited forever,” he whispered, pulling her to him to kiss her hard and long, bending over her until she was moaning softly, the sound caught in her throat. She returned his kisses wildly, letting her feelings for him show in her response. He was strong, so handsome, and she was in love with him, wanting him to want her and love her, hoping that was what was happening.
His hand combed through her hair, sending the pins flying until her black locks fell freely over her shoulders. Ashley pushed away his shirt, running her hands over his muscled shoulders and across his smooth, bare back.
Still kissing her, he picked her up and carried her to a sofa where he sat down with her on his lap, leaning over her and cradling her head against his shoulder. His hand caressed her, sliding down across her breasts, down to slide beneath her skirt and peel away her stockings and pumps.
Winding her fingers in his hair, she kissed him passionately, their tongues tangled, escalating her desire.
She didn’t know how much later he stood, still kissing her. He trailed kisses from her mouth to her throat, turning her to lift her hair and kiss her nape while his fingers tugged the zipper of her dress down and it fell away.
Love for her tall, handsome husband made her tremble. He was sexy, romantic and irresistible. Ashley turned to face him and he placed his hands on her hips, leaning away to look at her while he stroked her breasts lightly. She inhaled, quivering, wanting to reach for him, yet unable to move as his dark eyes devoured her. She stood in wisps of lace.
“Saints alive, you’re beautiful,” he said, his hands caressing her and then unfastening the clasp to her bra and slipping it off. His large, dark hands c
upped her breasts, his thumbs stroking her nipples so lightly. She moaned with pleasure, closing her eyes and momentarily clinging to his arms. She ran her hands over his thick muscles, his hard chest, trailing her fingers to his waistband to unbuckle and remove his belt and then unfasten his slacks.
Yanking off his boots, he tossed them down and stepped out of his slacks.
She inhaled, trembling, reaching out to slide her hands over his narrow waist, slipping her fingers beneath the waistband of his briefs and sliding them down to free him.
Gabe shook as she knelt and stroked him, kissing him slowly. He groaned, pulling her to her feet while he kissed her hard. He knew that any control he had was fast vanishing. And he remembered the resolutions he had made during the week.
With another groan, he released her and stepped back, yanking up her dress from the floor and dropping it over her head. He scooped up his clothes and headed for the shower, thinking that he had to get distance between them.
“Gabe?”
“I made a promise to you,” he said with his back to her. “Ashley, I intend to keep it. Tomorrow I don’t want you to think I fast-talked you into something you didn’t want—”
She was against him, pressing her softness against his backside, her arms sliding around him, touching him intimately. “Gabe, I know what I want,” she said quietly. His heart thudded violently, and he clenched his fists, turning to her.
“I want you with every ounce of my being,” he said, grinding out the words. “But a promise is a promise.”
“Gabe, are you hearing me? I know what I want.”
“You’ve told me you wanted to go slowly. I can do that.” Why was he arguing with her? Yet the words fast-talking hustler kept resounding in his memory and that wasn’t what he wanted her to think about him in the light of day. “If you still want to make love, we can tomorrow night or next Saturday night, but you didn’t walk into this hotel room wanting that. It’s called seduction, lady. I want you to like me in the morning.”
He turned and hurried to the bathroom and closed the door, swearing and wondering if he had just been the biggest fool. “You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t,” he told himself. Had he hurt her or made her feel rejected? Or would she be glad in the morning? If they had made love would she hate him when the sun came over the horizon and reality set in? To himself, he had sworn that he would take time to court her. Tormented by questions that held no answers, he stepped into the shower and turned on the cold water full-force. The cold gave him a jolt, but it didn’t cool his desire or his seething thoughts. Was she back there in the other room crying because he had said no?
Ashley stood in the dark, staring through the bedroom at the closed bathroom door while his questions and statements ran through her thoughts. Would she feel the same in the light of day?
She loved him and wanted him, and he obviously cared more about her every day. And tonight, whether he recognized it or not, he had acted like a man in love. He was trying to do what he had promised, and she admired him for that, but she knew her own feelings and she was ready to consummate this marriage that with every passing hour was becoming more real.
“Gabriel Brant, this is one decision that’s going to be taken out of your hands,” she whispered and stepped out of her dress as she hurried through the darkened bedroom. She heard the gushing shower before she opened the bathroom door.
Eleven
Through the almost opaque shower door she could see the blurred image of his naked body as he showered. She smiled and walked with determination to the shower, yanking open the door.
He looked around, his brows arching.
“I remember being invited to shower with you,” she said, not caring that water was spilling out. Icy water splashed over her. “Turn on some warm water, Gabe!”
He stared at her, his eyes round with so much surprise, she almost laughed. Her gaze went over him and flew back to his. “Doesn’t look as if that cold water is cooling you down one bit. Are you going to let me in with you or not?”
His surprise was gone. He inhaled and turned on warm water along with the cold as he stepped back and slipped his arm around her waist. “You had your chance. Don’t ever say I didn’t try to keep my promise.”
“I won’t,” she said, running her hands across his chest, leaning forward to kiss him, feeling his flesh, still cool from the freezing shower he had been taking.
“Damn, woman, my intentions were honorable,” he said, hauling her tightly against him while he kissed her hungrily. As her heart thudded, she wrapped her arms around him, both of them getting drenched, yet all she could feel was his body, warming fast.
“Mine aren’t,” she said. “I want you, Gabe. I love you.”
He kissed her long and hard, holding her close with one hand while the other slid over her wet, naked skin. Then he stepped back, cupping her breasts in each hand. He leaned forward to take a nipple in his mouth. His tongue was hot, teasing her and she closed her eyes, clinging to his strong shoulders.
Gabe couldn’t believe she was here, in his arms. Never in his life had he been as surprised as when she had opened the shower door. Yet she always had seemed to know exactly what she wanted.
He had done what he should have. He had given her the chance to stop and go home. If this is what she wanted, then he could let go. “I love you.” He heard her words and knew he should say them in return, yet he didn’t.
Rational thought stopped as she closed her warm hand around his thick shaft, stroking him and causing him almost to lose control. He wanted to take her here in the shower, but he also wanted this first time to be slow and special. He turned off the water, stepped out of the shower and yanked a towel from the rack to hand it to her. Retrieving one for himself, he dried her, moving it lightly, slowly, teasing her with it until she tossed hers aside and hugged him.
He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. Light spilled into the room from the bathroom, yet the room was still shadowy. He set her on her feet and grabbed the covers off the bed, yanking them down, and then he turned to her to cup her breasts again, leaning down to kiss her. “I want to love you all night long, to make this last until you’re falling apart in my arms. I want to kiss every inch of you, know every inch of you.”
Ashley closed her eyes, trembling, caressing him as he kissed her breasts, and then he lifted her to the bed and moved to her foot to do what he had said, taking her foot in his hand and kissing her ankle, moving higher, slowly trailing hot, wet kisses that made her writhe with longing. Reaching for him, she sat up, but he pushed her gently down. “Just let me love you.”
She inhaled, watching him as he watched her, his kisses going higher, his hands a magic torment. He moved to the inside of her thighs, caressing her and then trailing slow kisses, gradually moving up to her breasts. She did come up off the bed then, winding her arms around him with a soft cry.
“I want you, and I want to kiss you like you’re kissing me,” she whispered, pushing him down. She caressed him, discovering the scar on his calf, another on his thigh, her hands sliding over him while she kissed him until he groaned and shifted, suddenly turning her onto her back and moving above her, his hand caressing her thighs and then moving between her legs.
His dark eyes blazed with passion as he leaned down to kiss her while he stroked her. She gasped before his mouth covered hers and then she clung to him, arching against his hand. She tore her mouth from his, trying to move. “Gabe, I want you!”
“Shh, let me love you. I want you to want me more than this.”
“I couldn’t,” she ground out the words, knowing in a minute all arguments would be impossible. Then she was lost, rocking against him, kissing him wildly while her hands flew over him.
“Gabe!” she cried. She wanted them to be one. “Come here,” she whispered. “Now—”
He moved between her legs. He was fully aroused, ready for her, masculine, so handsome. She ached for him, wrapping her legs around him and pull
ing him to her.
Gabe eased down, and the velvet tip of his shaft touched her, moving lightly against her, an exquisite torment. She pulled him closer, her hands cupping his hard buttocks. “Gabe, please,” she whispered.
Sweat poured off his body as he moved slowly, entering her and then withdrawing slightly while she gasped and arched beneath him again.
“I want you to want this more than anything,” he whispered and then leaned over her to kiss her as he slowly entered her again. Driven to a mindless urgency, she moved beneath him.
He slowly filled her and they moved together and still Gabe tried to hold back, to last as long as possible for her—and then his control was gone.
“Gabe, love!”
“Ah, Ashley,” he whispered.
Ashley was swept away in passion until release burst within her, and she felt his hard thrust and then he slowed. Their pounding hearts beat in unison and she held him tightly, feeling his weight on her and wishing she could hold him this way forever. She knew that tonight her life had changed totally. And she knew she was deeply in love with her husband.
His smooth back was damp with a sheen of sweat, and she stroked him as he showered light kisses on her face and then raised slightly to look down at her. Their gazes met and the warmth in his dark eyes made her breath catch. She tightened her arms around him as he leaned down to kiss her long and hard, a kiss that affirmed that what had happened between them was special.
“Ahh, darlin’,” he said, and rolled over on his side, taking her with him as he lay facing her. He stroked damp locks of hair from her face. “You’re beautiful and wonderful and I’m a very lucky man,” he whispered.
Ashley thrilled to his words, her heart beating fast as her hands trailed over him. She couldn’t get enough of touching him. She ran her finger lightly over his lips. He caught her finger in his teeth gently, then took her hand to kiss her palm, his tongue stroking her sensitive skin.