His eyes were dark and bright. Hardly a fraction of a heartbeat passed before he captured her mouth and an all-consuming kiss.
She lost herself in her lover and had no idea he’d moved her to the bedroom until she felt the mattress behind her knees.
“I love you.” She couldn’t hold it in anymore.
Gabe froze. His eyes burned into hers. “Say it again.”
She cupped his face, thumb brushing the corner of his mouth. “I love you.”
A sound escaped him—half relief, half wonder—and then he kissed her like the words broke him wide open. He tugged her closer, plundering her mouth. Between every sweeping pass, another word burst out.
“Felicity. I…love…you. God…I love you.”
Clothes weren’t an obstacle for a passion like theirs. In seconds, she lay bare beneath his naked body, with his mouth teasing all the sensitive spots on her throat, neck, breasts.
Then lower.
He stretched out between her thighs, stare unraveling her completely.
“You’re beautiful. And you’re mine…if you want to be.”
“I want to be.” She felt the truth of it low in her belly and much higher in her chest.
His eyes slipped shut, and he lowered his mouth to her pussy, his warm lips and tongue tormenting, then questing…then carrying her away on a scream of bliss.
Without any hurry, he settled over her, warm and protective, finding her mouth again.
The world faded as he filled her with his stiff length, burying in her innermost spot that pulsed around him.
His roughened groans turned to growls as he plunged inside her, hitching her thighs high around his waist to sink deeper, deeper. When her body could hang on no longer, she looked up into his eyes.
Together, they tipped off the edge of the cliff, diving into whispered I-love-yous and urgent kisses.
When the world faded to only their settled breaths, she knew this was the end of their loneliness and the first page of the rest of their lives.
Chapter Fourteen
Gabe had faced down armed men with less adrenaline in his veins than he felt walking into that Denver bank with Felicity at his side.
She was jittery as hell, practically bouncing across the ritzy lobby. She clung to his hand, fingers flexing against his palm as if checking he was still there.
As they approached the counter, she shot him a sideways look. “Why do I feel like I’m a treasure hunting character in a book?”
He squeezed her hand. “Because you are, bookshop.”
They spoke to the bank teller, who directed them to the manager. Meanwhile, Gabe’s trained eye took in everything from the cameras in the corners to the posture of the guard. But his focus kept snapping back to the woman at his side.
Gabe might be on alert, but Felicity was flushed with excitement.
The manager led them down a narrow corridor lined with metal boxes, stopping at one near the middle. Producing the key that had been hidden in the spine of the book, Felicity unlocked it. Gabe watched her slide the box out with both hands with as much reverence as she handled antique books.
They were escorted to a small private viewing room. Though Gabe’s hands itched to carry the box for her, he simply remained close.
The door shut with a soft click behind them.
Felicity set the box on the table. For a second, she just stared at it. “This is it,” she murmured. “Whatever Henry wanted me to find.”
“What he wanted you to have.”
