“Sleep over next time.”
If Gabe’s display of affection bothered him, he didn’t say, and maybe he had just grown accustomed to us kissing, but this kiss reminded me of the power Gabe held over my body. His kisses were like brands that sizzled through my insides and left a mark too far to ever consider removing.
“Maybe. Why don’t you go play until Gabe and I are ready to go? You can watch TV if you’d prefer.”
He hopped down and ran to the couch, turning on the television and flicking to a cartoon channel.
“Sleepover, huh?” I teased, rubbing my hand up Gabe’s chest.
“Yeah.” He pulled me closer, nuzzling my neck, his stubble a gentle scratch on my skin. “I think we should have more of them.”
“How often?”
“Very often.” Head lifting, he wiped a sleeper from my eye. “I forgot how gorgeous you are in the morning.”
Laughing, I replied, “Do you need your eyes checked?”
“No, I’m serious.” With his fingers drifting through my knotted hair, he said, “Are you still okay with last night?”
Okay? I was still coming down from my high; my addiction to Gabe’s touches was almost overwhelming. Running my hand over his jaw, I nodded. “Absolutely.”
His smile returned, lighting his eyes to a golden hue.
“But…” I started, hating how the smile faltered. I inched closer to him, stepping between his legs. “You didn’t ask if I was on birth control again.” I’d gone off it for years, subconsciously knowing I wouldn’t need it. There was no replacing Gabe. But I’d started taking it again after I’d accepted him back into my life, something he didn’t know.
“Are you?” he asked, sweeping a strand of my hair back.
“What if I’m not?”
Laying a kiss on my nose, he gave me a grin that had sparks flaring through me. “It doesn’t matter.” I gaped at him as he stood and tipped my chin up. “I plan to have you in my life until there’s no life left in me, Tori. If that includes more children, then it does. I’m not going anywhere, so it shouldn’t matter as long as we both agree, and since you didn’t ask if I had a condom, that tells me you’re on birth control or as willing to make our family bigger as I am.”
My chest shouldn’t have burned as much as it did. I rubbed it, saying, “Did you have a condom?”
His brow lifted. “I haven’t carried one since the day I met you.” That burning turned into pressure that made it hard to breathe. “There was no need because there was never anyone but you.”
I swallowed, the sound loud enough that his grin turned even more mischievous. “I am,” I said. A slight frown had me explaining. “I started back when I let you back in.” And the grin returned. “And…I think I should stay on it until…” Until what? I was afraid to say the words because the last time they had dominated my life, I had lost him.
“Until we exchange vows and rings?”
A torrent of flutters raced through me. Excitement, nerves, fear. I nodded. “And we’ll talk about it first to make sure we’re both ready.”
“That sounds like the perfect plan.” Thumb brushing over my cheek, he brought my mouth to his. The kiss charged through me like all his kisses did. “Until then, I will take every chance to practice.” His mouth raced down my chin and over my neck. “Starting with you joining me in the shower.”
This time, my stomach did a series of flips that left me unbalanced. I glanced over to where Reid was watching television.
“I think there’s a strong possibility I could partake in that.”
A devious gleam sparkled in his eyes as he rose. Pulling me into his arms, he dragged his cheek over mine, his teeth nibbling at my ear. “I’ll meet you in there, luna mia.”
He lifted his shirt over his head as he walked away, and I watched his tight back muscles, thoughts of what he was about to do to me leaving me grasping for words.
I gave Reid another kiss on the head and told him I was going to use Gabe’s shower because the one in our room wasn’t as big.
“Is Gabe going to help you?”
I stifled my laugh and heard Gabe yell from the room. “If there’s a spot she can’t reach, I’ve got her covered.”
“I guess that’s a yes,” I answered Reid, shaking my head as I looked up to see Gabe’s sexy smirk peering around the door.
