On the way back to the station, we passed Curl Up and Dye. Cars were parked on both sides of the street for practically the entire block. I had worried that Josh being brought into the station for questioning might damage his business, but it looked like it brought out the nosey Nans in spades.
“Smalltown, USA,” Adrian said after he had a good chuckle. “Speaking of that, is Josh a good kisser?”
The question came out of the blue and caught me completely off guard. “What?”
“I heard you laid one on him in the veterinary hospital parking lot,” he replied, not bothering to keep the humor out of his voice. “Hell, people were talking in the diner this morning like you were about to put a ring on it or something.”
“Fuck me!” That was all I needed. If Josh was skittish before then he’d be doubly so after the rumors of our kiss spread like wildfire all over town.
“You’re not my type.” Adrian laughed at the way I glared at him.
I looked over at my friend and partner as I put my car in park at the station. I wasn’t a kiss and tell kind of guy, which he knew damn well. I didn’t like people knowing my personal business, so it meant that he only asked to get a rise out of me. “He’s a damn good kisser,” I said, answering to his question about the kiss with a wicked grin.
IHAD ERRONEOUSLY WORRIEDthat my salon would suffer business once word got around that I had been taken into the police station for questioning. I should’ve known that every Theresa, Debbie, and Harriet would be in my salon hoping to learn a juicy bit of gossip. The funniest part was the side eye they gave each other, as if they were shocked to find out that other people came up with the same idea as them. On the bright side, I sold out of my hair care products, nail polish, and hair styling tools. The downside was that it left me feeling chaotic and out of control.
Which was why I was jogging on a Tuesday evening. I rarely ran on consecutive days, choosing to let my body recover and do yoga on my off days. Yoga, which normally helped me find balance and center myself, wasn’t getting it done. So, I put on my running gear with the reflective stripes due to the late hour and set out to run the frustration out of my system.
I made it as far as Gabe’s house, saw the kitchen light glowing through the windows in the rear of the house, and stopped. I found myself clenching and unclenching my fists and shuffling my feet from side to side as I tried to talk myself out of making a huge mistake. Again.
“Fuck it.” I let myself in through his gate. I quickly knocked on his door before I changed my mind. I heard Buddy barking ferociously and Gabe calming him down. Too bad his words did nothing to soothe the unrest I felt flowing through my body. “What the hell am I doing here?”
Gabe opened the door before I could change my mind and run away like a kid pulling a prank. I had seen the man wearing many different things – suits, casual clothes, and nothing but a “fuck me” smile. Somehow, seeing him in a t-shirt, flannel pajama pants, and bare feet felt more intimate to me. It was enough to scare the sense back into me and I took a step back from the door.
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Gabe fisted my running jacket and pulled me inside his house. “I got you now.” He shut the door soundly behind me and I found myself staring up into dark, lust-filled eyes.
“I’m not sure I even like you,” I heard myself say to Gabe, earning a quick flash of a smile from him.
“That’s okay because I’m not sure I like you either.” He relaxed the fist that held my jacket and slid that hand around to cup my neck. “But I will respect you in the morning.”
Then his mouth was on mine – hard and hungry. I opened to him automatically, as if it was what I wanted all along. My brain and my heart might’ve wanted to steer clear of Gabe, but my body knew exactly what I wanted. His grip on my body was firm – but not hurtful – as if he worried I might try to escape. He had nothing to worry about because I was his after the first tangle of tongues.
Like the first time we were together, my body was immediately engulfed in flames. My hands wanted in on the action and were unwilling to lie idly against my body. I slipped them beneath the hem of Gabe’s t-shirt and relished the way his muscles quivered beneath his skin at my touch. It was good to know I affected him as much as he did me. I let my hands roam all over the hard body that I thought about every time I closed my eyes and let myself relax into him.
I was honest about my uncertainty that I liked him, but I knew that I was safe and he wouldn’t hurt me - physically. He let me take control and set the pace the first time we were together, but that wasn’t what I wanted – needed – when I showed up on his doorstep.
Gabe’s ravenous mouth consumed me, turned me inside out, and made me feel raw; as if the most secret parts of me were exposed to his touch. I moaned when he slowed his kiss and finished with a few sweet pecks before he bit my bottom lip and gently tugged it. I felt that pull everywhere in my body, especially my dick who wanted a piece of the oral action.
“I’ve wanted to strip these things off you since the first time I saw you running in them,” Gabe said, running his hands over the slick fabric that clung to my ass. “Jesus, you might as well run naked.”
“Too much bounce.” My smart reply was met by an even smarter slap to my ass. I’d never given slap and tickle much thought before, but I had to say I liked the way my skin burned a bit beneath his hand. “So, you’ve been perving on me, huh?” I asked, once the real meaning of what he said penetrated my mind.Did I like that he watched me?
His cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red than just the lust had brought out in his skin. “It’s kind of hard not to notice with those wild-ass colors you wear,” he said, trying to deflect.
“Sure, blame it on my wardrobe.” A month ago, his words would’ve made me think he was comparing me to a woman and would’ve pissed me off. I didn’t really know Gabe Wyatt, but I believed his apology and the erection straining his jammies told me just how much he wanted to be inside me. I reached down and stroked him through the soft flannel fabric. “Are you going to fuck me or not?”
Gabe’s nostrils flared as he inhaled air deep into his lungs before releasing it slowly. “Hell yes.” He let go of me long enough to turn off the stove before reaching for me again.
Nerves tried to flare up in the pit of my stomach as I followed him up the stairs to his bedroom. Even though I’d been there before, I didn’t know a single thing about his space beyond the color of his comforter. I had been focused on getting fucked, and later, sneaking out without waking him. I didn’t stop to take inventory of the room on that visit either. I wanted to say it was because I was focused on getting fucked again, and I was, but another part of me didn’t really want to learn the personal details of the man that might endear him to my heart. I wasn’t fooled into thinking something real would develop between us, no matter how badly we wanted each other. Lust didn’t equal love and fucking didn’t equal commitment.
I reached for his shirt and pulled it over his head to quiet the voices in my head that made a last-ditch effort to convince me to run. It worked too. I had his naturally bronzed skin stretched over a hard, perfectly toned torso to focus on. I kept my eyes away from his because I didn’t want him to see just how much I enjoyed his body; his ego didn’t need bolstering. I felt his eyes on my face as I watched my hand move over the smattering of dark hair that covered his pecs.
I risked looking into his eyes and was surprised to learn that mine weren’t the only ones giving up secrets. Not only did I see want in his eyes, I saw that he was going to make me pay for dragging this out longer and making him wait for what he wanted so badly. I also saw that he needed me to make the next move, to give a little bit more of myself so that I couldn’t come back later and deny what happened between us. I pulled my jacket and shirt over my head and tossed them to the floor. I dropped my hands to the waist of my running pants, but Gabe stopped me.
“Let me,” he said, lowering himself to his knees.
I expected him to pull my pants down right away so we could get to fucking, but that wasn’t what happened. Gabe leaned in and kissed my stomach above my waistband while he stroked my erection through my pants. I could feel my pre-cum seep through the fabric as he continued to tease me. I lowered my head and watched as he dropped his head and ran his tongue over the wet spot that betrayed how badly I wanted him.
I slid my hands in his hair and tugged on the silky, dark strands. I could feel the heat of his breath through the fabric and couldn’t help but push myself tighter against him. Gabe pulled my pants down just far enough to expose the head of my dick and teased the leaking slit with his tongue.
