by Anna Blakely
“Andino was close to you. If I’d continued to argue with him about giving up my weapon, he could’ve grabbed you. Put a gun to your head and forced Kole and I to disarm.”
That particular scenario ran through Zade’s mind when he’d refused to hand over his gun.
He’d wanted to tell the bastard to go to hell and order Gabby to leave the club with him and Kole, but then thought about the possible consequences.
“So I gave up my gun. For you.”
Because letting something like that happen to this woman wasn’t an option. Fucking ever.
Gabby blinked and started toward him again. “I was so scared,” she admitted quietly. “I saw the way Andino was looking at you. His men were so close to you, and I knew on Andino’s order they wouldn’t have hesitated to hurt you and Kole. Or worse.” She licked her lips, sending another rush of blood to his already hard-as-steel shaft. “I couldn’t let that happen.”
She stopped walking, mostly because she now stood less than two inches away from him.
Without blinking an eye, the damn fool woman had put on that little act of power for Hector in order to protect him and his teammate.
Jesus, she’s incredible.
Of course, Zade already knew that. Tonight’s performance only solidified the thought.
“There’s not a lot that scares me.” His voice deepened. “Seeing you walk through that door with Andino tonight, knowing I was unarmed and it would be hell getting to you if you needed me…that shit terrified me.”
Zade’s hands became two, tightened fists at his sides to keep from reaching for her. His control was too volatile. Too close to imploding.
If he touched her now, Zade knew he’d lose it completely. Gabby deserved the gentle lover he’d been on that island. One that took his time, savoring every inch of her delectable body.
She didn’t need a lover who was seconds away from pouncing on her like an animal making its claim.
“Zade.” Her eyes softened. “I was okay. Knowing you were right outside and could hear everything being said made me feel safe and protected. It was like you were standing right next to me the whole time.”
He shook his head. “I was out of my mind with worry, waiting for you to finish making your little deal with that asshole.” Zade stretched his fingers before curling them back into a pair of white-knuckle fists. “I could tell when he was close enough to touch you. I wanted to break down that damn door when he tried to—”
“But he didn’t.” Gabby raised her hand to his chest and touched him. Right over his racing heart.
Her eyes widened when she felt how powerful her touch affected him. How much she affected him.
Doesn’t she know?
“It always feels like that when you’re around,” he admitted. “I see you, and my heart beats faster. It pounds against my ribs as if it’s fighting to get out…to get closer to you.”
“Zade.” His name fell from her luscious lips like a whispered prayer.
“Every part of me wants to be closer to you. Always.” Zade brushed some hair from her forehead so he could see every inch of her gorgeous face. “I see you, and I want.” He leaned in, his lips whispering over hers. “I feel the warmth from your touch, and I crave.”
“Zade?” That time she said it as a question.
You need to tell her. Make her understand what you’re trying to say.
“I’m a greedy bastard, baby.” Zade stared into her emerald eyes. “No matter how many times we’re together, it’s never going to be enough. I’m always going to want more.”
“I want you, too,” Gabby whispered the greatest words he’d ever heard. “I’ll always want you, Zade. Only you.”
Before he even knew he was moving, Zade spun them around. He pushed her up against the door, his hand cupping the back of her head to keep from hurting her as his mouth slammed against hers in a rush of need.
Go easy, damn it!
He’d rather cut off his own arm than ever hurt this woman.
He pulled back. “Sorry.” His chest heaved. “I’ll slow down. Be more gentle.”
“I don’t want slow, Zade.” Heated eyes stared up into his. “And I don’t want gentle.”
Zade swallowed hard, the sound filling the otherwise silent room. “What do you want, baby?”
She needed to tread lightly. Should tell him to make slow, sweet love to her like a gentleman should. Either that or to get the hell off of her.
Because if she said—
“I want you to fuck me.”
His control snapped.
Zade’s mouth began to devour hers. The kiss was exactly like him—demanding and selfish—and his hands weren’t any better.
In a fury of passion and need, he shoved her skirt up to her waist and ripped her panties off. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he made a mental note to buy her another pair, later.
Much, much later.
Going straight for the gold, Zade slid his hand between her thighs and pushed two fingers into her slick, wet heat. Gabby cried out as he speared her body, pumping his digits in and out, over and over again.
She tilted her head back, allowing him access to kiss and nip at the skin along her jawline and neck. She moaned loudly, her freshly manicured nails digging into his shoulders as Zade gently pressed his teeth against her thundering pulse point.
“Now, Zade.” Gabby’s rough breathing matched his own. “Please. I need you inside me.”
She’d never have to beg him for that.
Moving lightning fast, Zade pulled his hand from her body and reached for his belt. He unclasped it, pulled it free, and had his pants unbuttoned and unzipped in record time.
Later he’d go slow. Later he’d take his time reminding her how good they could be together. Right now his only goal was to get his dick inside her and make her come.
After they finished this first round, he’d carry her to the huge ass bed behind him and spend the rest of the night making her forget every other man she’d ever been with.
He thought he was going too fast, but apparently, he wasn’t moving fast enough. Because in the next second, Gabby was reaching between them to pull his pounding cock free.
Zade hissed in a sharp breath when he felt her fingers wrap around him. She began stroking him with determined vigor, her rhythm matching his hand as he slid his fingers back into her body, thrusting them in and out of her tight sex.
A familiar tingling ran the length of his spine, and shit, he was even closer to losing it than he thought.
Gabby first, asshole.
She would always come first. In every possible way.
Continuing to lick and nip against her delicate skin, Zade pulled his fingers free for a second time. Gabby let out a sound of protest but stopped when he wrapped his hands around her hips and picked her up.
On reflex, she wrapped her legs around his waist and locked her hands behind his neck. Bodies perfectly aligned, Zade started to push forward but froze.
“Shit.” He’d been so wrapped up in her he’d forgotten to grab a condom.
As if reading his mind, Gabby said, “It’s fine. I’m on birth control. Have been since…for a long time.”
Since her foster brother. “I’m clean,” Zade blurted. He wanted to ask her more about what happened back then, but not while his dick was one slip away from the one place it had been craving. “We get tested regularly, and I’ve never had unprotected sex.”
Not that he had a lot. In fact, Zade got razzed on the regular about how few women he’d been with. But for him, sex should mean something.
With Gabby, it meant so much more.
“So what are you waiting for?” Gabby gently bit his bottom lip. When she tilted her pelvis toward him, her wet, bare slit brushed against his sensitive tip.
Zade surged forward, not stopping until he was seated balls-deep inside her welcoming core.
He and Gabby moaned in unison. God, she felt good. Better than good.
Zade started to move. He pu
lled himself out, almost to the point of breaking contact before pounding back into her. She cried out, so he did it again.
And again.
And again.
Best…Thing…Ever!
“Oh, God!” Gabby moaned loudly.
Her eyes closed, and she leaned her head back on the door. He continued pumping himself in and out, hard and fast, until the tingling in his spine returned.
He felt his balls tighten and wanted nothing more than to let go, but…
“You first.”
Zade wrapped an arm behind her back, supporting her that way while squeezing a hand between them. He slid it down to where their bodies were connected, his fingers finding her swollen clit with ease.
Gabby jolted in his arms, her inner muscles clamping down on his aching dick. Though her body had just given him the answer, Zade rasped, “That feel good, baby?”
“God, yes!” Gabby’s nails dug into the skin on the back of his neck. “So good!”
Twirling and swirling, he gave her body the attention he knew it needed. He needed to get her there. Now.
“Mine,” Zade rasped the declaration.
“Oh, God, Zade…I’m going to—”
“Say it.” He pushed into her again. “I want to hear you say it.”
“I’m yours!”
Gabby practically screamed it as she erupted in an explosive release. A low, keening sound escaped the back of her throat, her orgasm sending a rush of hot liquid over his cock.
Her channel tightened, its quivering muscles sending Zade straight into his own earthshattering climax. Zade pumped once…twice…three more times before finally letting himself go.
Growling her name, he held on tight, riding out each electrifying wave of pleasure that rolled through him.
Rough, ragged breaths and the smell of sex and desire filled the air around them. Aftershocks of the best, most intense orgasm Zade had ever experienced left his body trembling and his knees weak.
A set of heavy-lidded, sated eyes met his, and in that moment, Zade knew those were the eyes he wanted to stare into for the rest of his life. He wouldn’t tell her that yet. It was too soon, and their situation was anything but ideal.
After the mission, however…after they took Andino down and Gabby and her sister were home and safe…all bets were fucking off.
“That was…I can’t even…” Gabby licked her lips as she searched for words to describe what had just happened.
There are no words, baby.
For now, he’d go with, “Incredible.”
Her smile lit up her entire face. “It really was.”
Leaning down, Zade pressed his lips to hers. The slow, languid kiss was meant to show her what he couldn’t say with words. Yet.
Knowing he couldn’t keep her shoved up against the door all damn night, Zade ended the kiss and pulled himself free of her body. Their sharp intakes of breaths matched as he set her back down on her feet.
Looking down, he realized his pants and boxer briefs were gathered around his ankles. He still had his shoes on, for crying out loud.
Smooth, King. Real fucking smooth.
“Sorry.” He offered her a chagrined smile.
“For what?” Gabby pushed her skirt down over her hips.
Zade hated to lose the view of her magnificent body. If he had anything to say about it, he’d be seeing it again, soon. And often.
“I just fucked you up against a door.” He pulled his boxers and pants up and began buttoning them. “Hard.”
Was he too hard? Too rough? She’d said she didn’t want gentle, but shit.
Now that Zade thought back to the last few minutes, he realized how not gentle he’d been.
“Do you hear me complaining?” Gabby cupped his face with her hands. “I wanted it hard.” She rose to her tiptoes and kissed him. “I wanted you hard.”
His cock twitched behind his open zipper. The damn thing was getting hard again. A common condition when Gabby was around.
“Right now, I want a shower.” She looked up at him with an ornery smile. “Feel like joining me?”
Zade stared back at her, deadpan. “Just so you know, I will never say no to that question. Ever.”
She laughed softly. “I’ll get the water started.
“I’ll be there in a second.”
“Okay.” Gabby stepped past him and headed across the tiled floor. When she reached the bathroom doorway, she looked back over her shoulder and grinned. “Don’t take too long, or I’ll be forced to start without you.” Then she disappeared.
The image of Gabby in the shower, naked and wet…touching herself…
Jesus!
Zade started stripping off his shirt, leaving a trail of clothes as he covered the distance to that bathroom. Already hard and ready for more, his dick bobbed with his movements.
And when he took her again in the shower, Zade did take his time. He tasted and laved. Treasured every ounce of pleasure she was willing to give. And Gabby did the same.
Later, after that amazing round of shower sex, he carried her to bed and cuddled in close. He knew it probably wasn’t the best time, but he felt himself compelled to broach the topic.
“Tell me about what happened when you were sixteen.”
She turned her head to look back at him. “You know what happened.”
“I know what the court record shows.” When she didn’t respond right away, he shook his head and let her off the hook. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“No, it’s okay.” Gabby shifted so she was lying flat on her back, the movement causing a swishing sound against the expensive sheets. “I mean, it’s the total cliché story, right? Older foster brother forces himself on the damaged and vulnerable foster sister. Girl fights back, parents blame the girl to protect their precious reputations. The end.”
But that wasn’t the end. Gabby had been sent to juvie because of what that asshole had done to her.
“I want to kill him.”
The boy was now well over eighteen. That made him fair game for the major ass kicking Zade would most definitely be dishing out.
“Zade, no.” Gabby turned even further so her entire body was facing his. “It’s done and over with. Besides, I’m pretty sure I got my message across to him loud and clear.”
“What did you do to him?” He hadn’t read the details of the assault.
“He was big into baseball. Always leaving his bat lying around the house. After he...finished, he got off of me and started talking about the next time. Next time would be better, he said. Next time he’d go slower, take his time with me. I would rather have died than go through that again, so I found his bat and hid it in my room. The next time he came after me, I was ready. Pretended to be asleep and when he started to climb onto my bed, I slammed it right into his crotch.”
He couldn’t hold back his cringe. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, baby.”
“Thanks.” She offered him a half-smile. “But I dealt with it a long time ago. I’m past it, now.”
She hadn’t merely dealt with it. Gabby had used what happened as fuel for her own personal fire.
The strength and tenacity with which she handled what life threw at her was amazing. While it terrified him to no end, the bravery and courage she possessed was also proof of a past she’d overcome.
Proof of the incredible woman she’d chosen to be. One he was damn lucky to have found.
She looked up at him and bit her bottom lip. “I didn’t make a direct hit with that first swing, but when he came at me again, I tried a second time. He threw his hand up to block the blow. It broke in three places.”
“Good.”
Her eyes widened as if his immediate response surprised her. It shouldn’t have.
She should know…
“Anyone ever tries to hurt you again, I’ll end them.”
Those eyes grew even wider. “I don’t want you hurting someone because of me.”
“Ah, baby.” He ran hi
s knuckles down her cheek. “Someone dares to come after you, I’ll do a hell of a lot worse than hurt them.
Her brows turned inward with confusion. “Why?”
“Why?” Zade parroted her question as he propped himself up on one elbow in order to see her better. He needed to look her in the eyes for this next part. “I meant it when I said you were mine, Gabriella. With that, you get all of me. My heart, my soul…and my protection. Mine and the team’s. Anyone lays a finger on you, it’ll be the last thing they do.”
He could hear her trembling breath. “Why me? I’m…a criminal. A nobody.”
“You’re not a fucking criminal.” Zade threw the covers off and got out of the bed. “Some judge may have been too fucking blind to see what really happened that night, but I’m not.”
“W-where are you going?”
Uncaring of their nudity, he walked around the foot of the bed to her side and reached for her hand. When she gave it to him, he gently pulled Gabby to her feet as well.
Again, Zade remained silent as he led her into the bathroom. Flipping on the lights, he stopped in front of the vanity. Positioning Gabby in front of him, they locked eyes in the large, ornate mirror.
“Tell me what you see.”
“What?” She tried turning around, but he held her in place.
“Look at yourself in the mirror and tell me what you see.”
“Zade,” Gabby looked away with embarrassment.
“Fine, I’ll start. I see a strong, intelligent woman. She’s funny and unpredictable. She’s also stubborn as hell. Though she’s come a long way in a short period of time, she’s still somewhat guarded. But got these eyes that I find myself getting lost in and the most beautiful, caring soul I’ve ever met.”
Her eyes rose hesitantly to meet his reflection. “W-what else do you see?” she whispered almost shyly.
The woman truly didn’t see how amazing she was. Had no one in her life ever told her?
Zade thought about her childhood and the way she’d grown up. His heart broke when he realized they probably hadn’t. Or if they had, it had been too damn long since she’d heard it.
“I see a woman whose beauty nearly knocks me on my ass every time I lay eyes on her. One who isn’t afraid to defend herself and is willing to risk her own life to save someone she loves.”