“Get it to go,” Meredith said in a no nonsense voice.
Chaz looked at Josh and then me in confusion and then I saw realization dawn on his face. “You know what,” he said, rising from his chair, “I’m stuffed. I couldn’t eat another bite.”
“You guys don’t have to rush off,” Josh said.
“I’m so tired,” Meredith said, slipping on her coat. “I hope I can stay awake long enough to get home.” The twinkle in her eyes contradicted her statement.
“So stuffed,” Chaz said, rubbing his stomach. “I need to get home and put on some sweats to give my gut some room before I explode.”
“See you Tuesday.” Meredith dropped a kiss on Josh’s cheek.
“Tuesday,” Chaz repeated and kissed Josh’s other cheek.
I blinked and the duo was downstairs and out the back door. “Let me help you clean this mess up and then I’d like to talk.”
“Talk?” Josh asked.
“Yes, talk,” I replied. “I have some groveling and apologizing to do. You won’t want to miss it.”
Josh removed his cloth napkin from his lap and tossed it on the table. “In that case, cleanup can wait.”
ISCOOTED BACK MYchair and rose to my feet. “Why don’t we go into the living room so we can be more comfortable when you beg and grovel.”
Gabe smirked as he stood up. “I didn’t say anything about begging,” he replied. “I believe I said apologize and grovel.”
“Same difference.” I waved it off dismissingly. “Would you like to have dessert first? I baked banana pudding with meringue on top.” I remembered the way his eyes glazed over the first time I mentioned making the pudding when at the pet store.
Gabe’s eyes widened with food lust that almost rivaled the look he gave me when I got naked for him. “Let me get the apologizing over with first.”
“Don’t forget the groveling,” I reminded him. “It’s my favorite part.” I led us into the living room and sat on my sofa. Gabe sat beside me and I morphed my expression into one of vast confusion. “Oh, you’re not doing this from your knees?” I released a playful sigh.
“Apologizing and groveling will not be the activity I do from my knees.” Gabe chuckled, which meant he could tell by the expression on my face where my mind had immediately gone. I was about ready to forget the apologizing and groveling portions of the evening for more satisfying parts. “Seriously,” he said, steering me back to the present. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I really think we need to talk out what happened between us. That’s what mature adults do, right?”
“I think so,” I replied. “Not sure who the hell you’re calling an adult though.” I attempted humor to relieve the tension building up inside me. Truthfully, I’d never had a mature relationship so I had no clue what it entailed, but I suspected that Gabe was right and we both needed to talk about what happened the night we argued in my salon. Gabe’s throaty laugh at my response sent thrills throughout my body and threatened to derail his good intentions. I told myself to calm the fuck down because there would be time for sexy stuff afterward.
“I make no excuses for the stupid things I said or the references to being high drama,” Gabe began. “I do not ever think of you as feminine nor do I think you’re a queen of any sort. I want that to be very clear between us.” He reached over and clasped my hands in his much bigger ones. “I need to think about what I say before I speak because it’s obviously a sore button with you. I also need you to not punish me for someone else’s mistakes. I know that people have hurt you in the past, but I’m not them.” His words surprised me and I sat up straighter. “I messed up that first night we met months ago. I’ve apologized for it. I’ve told you that I don’t think that way about you. I need for you to believe it though, it’s the only way we’re going to have a chance at…something.”
I knew that he was right about me lumping him in with the others and he had a valid point about me punishing him for past hurts. I nodded my head in agreement while my brain tried to form the words I wanted to say. “Some hurts run bone deep and they can skew the way you see, hear, and interpret things. I will try harder not to jump all over everything you say and twist them into something you didn’t mean. I also need you to trust me, Gabe. Trust that if I knew something that would help you solve a case, especially one involving my friend, I would tell you. Trust is very important if we’re going to have a chance at…something.” He smiled when I used his exact same phrasing. “I’m not always an easy person to get along with, but I really hope you think I’m worth the hassle because I… like you.”
“You are worth it, Josh.” Gabe tugged my hands until I was almost in his lap. “I… like you too.” The deep timbre of his voice made me want to rub against him like a kitten. When he pressed his lips to mine, I melted against him and kissed him with every ounce of longing I had while we were separated.
For the first time since I’d met him, I wasn’t in a rush to get naked beneath him. I was willing to savor every second that we had. I didn’t try to rustle up resentment in an attempt to push him away; I held him close. I didn’t warp my mind with all of the things that could go wrong, I focused on everything that was right.
Gabe pulled back from our kiss and smiled down at me. “You know what we need to do now don’t you?”
My hard cock knew exactly what we needed to do next. I rose to my feet and held out my hand to him. I started to head to my bedroom but Gabe tugged me back. I turned and looked at him in confusion. He pointed to the mess on the dining room table that was waiting. I cocked a brow at him. “You’d choose to clean the dishes over getting naked with me? I’m thinking it’s been way too long since you’ve been inside me, but if you’d rather scrape pans…”
Gabe yanked me into his arms and kissed me savagely to show me exactly what he’d prefer to be doing right then. “I’d choose getting you naked over breathing.” He began walking me backwards to my room. “I’ll help you with the dishes after I show you just how much Ilikeyou.”
It was amazing to me how much things could change after a few sentences were exchanged. It wasn’t like Gabe and I sat on my couch and divulged every feeling we’d ever had. We told each other exactly how we felt about the argument we had and talked about how we could avoid it in the future. I felt like there was solid ground beneath our feet for the first time.
The confidence I felt spilled over into the bedroom. I felt bolder as I undressed him and touched his body. I wanted to take the time to learn all the nuances of him and what drove him wild. I needed to hear him moan my name and dig his fingers into my skin because he couldn’t get enough of me. Gabe seemed willing and patient enough to let me have my way.
I pushed on his broad chest until he lay flat on his back in the center of my bed. I placed my lips just beneath his jaw on his neck and began my journey of exploration. I loved the way his muscles jerked beneath his skin when I reached an exceptionally sensitive spot, like his ribs beneath his armpits or the crease between his thigh and pelvis. I adored how his nipples pebbled beneath my tongue and the way his cock flexed when I licked a path from root to tip.
The sexy way he growled when I sucked his cock to the back of my throat had me leaking. Gabe white-knuckled my comforter as he fought hard not to fuck my mouth. I loved the dominant side of him that liked to take control and fuck me hard, but I also liked that he was willing to temper that to give me what I needed.
When I felt he’d had enough torture, I slowly released his cock from my mouth and reached for the condoms and lubricant. Gabe sat up and grabbed me before I had a chance to do anything else. He pulled me until I straddled him with my knees on either side of his face. Seemingly out of patience, Gabe lifted his head and swirled his tongue around the tip of my cock before he sucked it into his mouth. His big hands grabbed my ass cheeks and urged me to fuck his mouth.
