Page 72

She turned on the lamp beside the bed, and it cast a soft pool of light across the quilt. Then Mara turned toward Gabe and reached for the button of his jeans, watching his expression as she unfastened them. His breathing changed when she pushed the denim and his boxers down over his hips, and her gaze followed before returning to his face. He kicked off his boots and stepped free of them.

She didn’t look away. She wanted him.

Her fingers closed around him, and Gabe groaned. “Mara.”

The sound sent a small thrill through her. He was usually so steady. Even when the bakery had been in chaos, Gabe had simply dealt with whatever was in front of him, and Mara liked knowing she could make him lose some of that control.

She stroked him, watching his eyes close for a moment. Then Gabe caught her against him and kissed her again, guiding her backward until the backs of her knees touched the mattress.

Mara sat on the edge of the bed, and Gabe kneeled in front of her to pull off her shoes and jeans. When he straightened, he looked at her for a long moment. She was suddenly very aware of how little she was wearing, but there was nothing critical in his expression, nothing that made her want to cover herself.

There was only desire.

Gabe reached behind her and unclasped her bra. Mara slipped it from her shoulders, and his hands covered her breasts, his thumbs brushing across her nipples.

Her breath caught.

He lowered his head and took one nipple into his mouth.

“Oh.” The sound slipped out of her. Gabe’s tongue moved across the sensitive tip before he sucked gently, and Mara’s fingers tightened in his hair as pleasure spread through her.

She had thought about being with him. In the shower that morning. While they were driving back from the orchard. Once, embarrassingly, while he stood on the other side of a worktable talking about apple filling.

None of those thoughts had prepared her for this.

“Gabe.”

He kissed his way down her stomach while Mara leaned back on her hands. His fingers caught the waistband of her panties and slid them down her legs, and the look he gave her when he settled between her thighs stole what was left of her breath.

Then his tongue flicked over her.

Mara gasped and tightened her hands against the quilt. Gabe took his time, his tongue moving over her until she stopped thinking about anything except what he was doing to her.

Her hips lifted involuntarily, and he followed the movement.

“Gabe.”

He paused just long enough to look up. “Like that?”

“Yes. Exactly like that.”

He returned to the same place, and Mara closed her eyes as pleasure built inside her. Each stroke pushed her a little closer.

This was Gabe. The man who made her coffee exactly the way she liked it, who remembered the things she told him, who had stood in an orchard and told her he liked finding her beside him.

Her breath caught as he slid two fingers inside her and grazed her inner walls. He stroked her intimately while his tongue circled her sensitive bundle of nerves. She arched her back and offered herself to him completely.

Tension built, deliciously, until finally it broke. Mara cried out, her body tightening as the climax swept through her, and for several seconds she could do nothing except hold on while Gabe’s tongue and fingers drew every last bit of pleasure from her body.

When at last the waves faded, she lay still, trying to catch her breath. Gabe kissed the inside of her thigh, and Mara looked down at him. The sight of him there sent another shiver through her.

She reached for him and pulled him up onto the bed with her. Then she caught his face between her hands and kissed him deeply before pushing against his shoulder. He let her roll him onto his back.

Mara kissed his chest as she worked her way lower, enjoying the way his body reacted to her. When her hand closed around him again, Gabe sucked in a breath and let his head fall back against the pillow.

She watched his face as she stroked him. Mara liked this too. She liked learning what pleased him and knowing that the need between them wasn’t hers alone.

His fingers curled into the quilt as she moved her hand again, and the muscles in his stomach tightened. Before she could take him any further, Gabe reached for her and brought her back up his body.