My jaw clenches. “Agreed.” I’ll just have to make damn sure she has no cause to regret her decision. “But in exchange, you need to delete your dating app immediately. I’m not sharing you with anyone else.”
She stiffens in my arms. “I’m not deleting it, but I promise not to use it until things between us are resolved one way or the other. Do you trust me?”
“I do.” If either of us has proved themselves untrustworthy, it’s me. Besides, I can hear in her voice that she thinks I’ll mess up and give her reason to use the app again. But I won’t. Ican’t. It’s simply not an option. If I have to fit training in around time with her, then my dad and Seth will understand that, won’t they? I swallow, my mouth dry. She’s so fucking gorgeous, and finally, I’m on the verge of being able to touch her the way I’ve always longed to. Nothing else matters. I’ll figure it out. “Are we really doing this?”
“Yeah.” A smile curves her lips, and she caresses the side of my face. “I think we are.”
“Good. Can we get to the kissing part now?”
She laughs, but the sound is nervous. I get it. We’re taking a massive step. “Kiss me again, Gabe. And please, please don’t stop.”
That’s all the permission I need. I tug her closer, rocking into the cradle of her pussy, as my mouth covers hers. She moans, and melts against my chest. She’s boneless, and I support her with one arm while I learn the shape of her lips with my own. I’ve stared at them so many times. Dreamed of them. Imagined them around my dick while I got myself off, only to be riddled with shame afterward. But now,finally, I know how soft they are, and how sweet.
“Gabe.” Her head flops back, and I graze my lips along the length of her throat, pausing on the delicate skin beneath her ear. She shivers. If I have my way, she’s going to be shuddering a whole lot more than that. I intend to make sure she’s completely satisfied by the time we’re done, so there’s no chance she’ll even consider letting anyone else touch her ever again.
I nibble on her ear, taking my time, determined to draw this out and enjoy it, even if my erection is straining against my underwear and I’m legitimately concerned about coming in my pants before I get her to a bed. I’m not ashamed of it. I’ve wanted her for so fucking long that I’m certain if I do bust early, I’ll be ready to go again within a few minutes.
“Did he kiss you like this?” I murmur against her throat, hating the possibility that I’m not the first guy to kiss her tonight. To touch her. I should have spoken up earlier, and owned my feelings like a man rather than behaving like a scared little boy.
“No,” she gasps, clinging to my shoulders, her eyelashes casting shadows over her cheeks. “Not like this.”
Satisfaction rips through me, overwhelming in its intensity. How did I ever believe I could let someone else have her? Ican’t. It’s not in my genetic makeup. I need her more than air in my lungs.
“Good.” My chest swells, and I have the insane urge to throw her over my shoulder, carry her to the bedroom, and lock her inside until she understands who she belongs to.
But then she guides my face up to hers and kisses me sweetly. Her tongue strokes mine, and I’m putty in her hands. Six feet three inches of pliable male. She kisses like she’s craved me forever and has finally been allowed a sample. The perfect balance of shyness and confidence. She smells like the Sydney I know—coconut with a hint of disinfectant—and yet feels so different. I’ve never known the taste of her, or the sensation of her nipples brushing my chest, until now. Fuck, I want to see them. I can remember the color, clear as day. Dark plum, with areolas small enough for me to fit my mouth over.
Another wave of adrenaline crashes through me. I haven’t come down from the rush of the fight yet, and when I try to ease my fingers beneath her waistband, they shake, making me clumsy. This is a recipe for disaster. Post-fight, I always need to fuck, but my hand is usually the only one who sees any action. I’m afraid of how carried away I might get with her. It’s our first time, and I don’t want to frighten her off just because I’m doped up on adrenaline and haven’t been with a woman in more than a year.
“Baby,” I pant, pulling back, my chest heaving. She looks up at me, her pupils swallowing the brown of her irises, making her eyes almost black. “I’m trying so hard not to overwhelm you, but I’m dying for you here, and if you want our first time to be gentle and slow, you’d better tell me to leave before we go any further. Because if you let me stay, I’m gonna fuck you over and over, and I can’t promise I’ll be completely in control of myself. So tell me if you can’t handle that, ’cause in two minutes, I don’t think I’ll be able to make myself let you go.”
Her expression softens. “I’m dying for you too, Gabe. I never imagined this would happen, and now it’s like a switch has been flipped inside of me and I don’t want it to end.” She leans forward and brushes her lips over my cheek. “So don’t you dare go anywhere, okay?”
“Okay.” Her mouth hovers over mine, and we exchange breaths. In this moment, every part of me is alive and fully present. She centers me like nothing ever before. “I want to see everything you’ve kept hidden from me. Take off your clothes,carino.”
9
Sydney
Oh. My. God.
This is actually happening. Gabe is going to make love to me. I’m still struggling to accept the fact that the attraction between us is mutual. I mean, I’ve caught him checking me out a few times before, but the same goes for Jase and Devon, and I’m damn sure they wouldn’t be reacting to me the way Gabe is now, like he’s drowning and I’m his last breath of air.
This is all moving so fast my brain can hardly keep up, but perhaps that’s for the best. I don’t want to ruin this by overthinking it. I just want to feel all of the things I know Gabe is capable of making me feel. Taking his hand, I draw him into the bedroom. My apartment is small, because no single woman in her twenties with as many student loans as me could afford anything bigger, but despite that, I got a pretty great deal. I’ve often wondered if Gabe had something to do with that. He may not flash money around, but he has plenty of it.
The lamp is already on, casting an unexpectedly romantic glow around the room, because I’d been in the process of preparing for bed when he knocked. His hands cup my shoulders as he comes up behind me.
His breath stirs the hair by my left ear, and then he whispers, “Let me see you.”
I shiver, and his arms wrap around me, his fingers interlacing across my stomach. I tilt my head and he drops a soft kiss on the side of my neck, then nips the skin there with his teeth. Leaning into the shelter of his powerful body, I feel so safe and loved that tears spring to my eyes. Blinking them back, I tell myself not to be fanciful. He may care for me, but love has never entered the equation, and I’d be foolish to consider myself safe in the arms of the person who could hurt me the most.
Yet I do. And I want it to last forever.
Slowly, I pull away from him. Then I pivot and peel off my top, so all I’m wearing is pajama shorts, and panties. The panties are my favorites—vivid purple, which flatters my coloring, and I’m grateful for that as I shimmy out of them and the shorts in one movement.
“Oh, fuck,” he mutters, his gaze locked on my body, skating up and down the length of me, not settling anywhere, as if he can’t tell what part to pay attention to first. “Just look at you. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
My cheeks flame and I duck my head. No one has ever stared at me the way he is now. Blatantly and unapologetically. My skin tingles with awareness and my pussy is damp with arousal.
