The kiss intensifies, her tongue sweepinginto my mouth, her arms snaking around my neck. Her body is flush with mine, and I press her against the wall, desperate to tear off her clothes and sink myself inside her right here. The contact isn’t enough. I need to be buried in her, our bodies one, her soft moans filling my ears as I fuck her relentlessly. The urge to own and devour her manifests as a clawing, aching thirst, and I deepen the kiss.
When I feel a tear fall down her cheek, I reluctantly pull back, my forehead pressed to hers, eyes closed, wondering what the hell I was thinking.
She isn’t yours, Gable.
“Thank you for my gift.” I let her go and return to my room, closing the door and leaning against it, head back, my lips warm.
She’s too good for me. Too good for me to ruin.
And I would ruin her.
I’ve ruined everything my whole life.
Chapter 35
Ella
Well.
That happened.
I haven’t written a thing since Gable kissed me in the hallway, and that was six days ago.
Six. Days.
Six days of pretending like it didn’t happen. Six days of hoping he’d never do it again while wishing every second that he would.
It’s driving me to distraction. It lit a fire inside me. I’m torn between my feelings for Asher and that snatched moment with Gable. It was seconds, but the moment pushed itself into me with such force that I can’t shake it. Itriedto shake it. Three times this morning.
But I’m seeing him in a totally different way.
A way you shouldn’t look at a man like him.
Usually, when I’m turned on, I channel it through my writing. It helps because I can put my wishes onto paper and at least let my characters get what I can’t. But I’m living in the same house as the man my body wants and can’t escape him.
But I won’t do it. This is Asher’s best friend. His brother. It’s wrong.
Hot, though.
Wrong.
And fucking hot.
“What’s Todd saying today?”
I look up from my laptop. I’m in my usual chair by the window, and Gable is watching me from the couch. I must have tapped my temple without realizing.
“Nonsense, as usual,” I say. He glances at my clenched toes.
It’s New Year’s Eve. The tree is still up, the TV is on but muted, and I have no plans to stay up to celebrate midnight. I’ve fallen completely out of my sleeping and writing schedule, and I’m tired already. It isn’t even ten yet.
“I might call it a night,” I say, closing the laptop.
He raises his eyebrows. “Already?”
“Yeah, I’m in a funk. Todd isn’t pulling his weight.” I get to my feet. Motor is snoring near the fire.
“Okay,” Gable says, and as I walk by him, he takes my hand.
