And Crys asking for the guitar was just another thing they had between them, had always had between them.
Another reason why he loved her so much.
"Absolutely," he said as he pulled away to put his clothes on.
He glanced at her after seating her in the truck. Something was different. He took a step forward, his hand on the heavy door, his eyes moving over her face.
"What?" she asked, reaching for the visor and the clipped-on mirror. "Is something wrong?"
"You look different," he said. "Beautiful. You look beautiful."
Her eyes came back to his and softened.
"You mean I look like I've had sex?" she asked with a chuckle.
"Well, that too," he said, kissing her nose. "But you look different."
"Couldn't do my make up like before," she said as he pulled away. She held up her hands. "Not with my paws like they are. I couldn't hold the brushes and stuff."
"Like it, Kitten," he said as he closed the door.
Because they were so early, they were able to grab the best table on Enrique's patio, the deuce set between the fireplace and the heater.
Dee was their waitress, a girl Gabe knew from high school, and who also worked the reception desk at Tangles which is how Crys knew her.
Gabe knew that Dee was working two jobs to help support her and her two kids that she had by Tony who was her on again, off again man who worked security at Fuego's.
"I did this thing with Marianne where we ordered off the ala carte menu and shared," Crys said. "Would it be okay if we do the same?"
"If that's what you want, Crys," he said with a smile twirling his tiny straw in his Cuervo Gold Margarita.
Soon they were surrounded by plates. Plates upon plates, and they just kept coming.
He watched as Crys cut and speared, distributing and tasting, stacking and relaxing between bites. It was quite a show, this dinner with her.
"Yummy," she said finally sitting back.
Gabe smiled. He liked the look of her satisfied whether it was with food or with what they had done earlier, naked and together.
J.R. came by to make sure everything was okay. He was one of Enrique's grandsons and was only one of two that actually enjoyed working the restaurant.
"Hey guys, how you doing?" he said pulling out a chair and sitting down with them as Dee cleared the table.
"Good, J.R.," Crys said settling back into her chair.
"You guys still singing together?" the restaurateur asked. "We're thinking of offering live music on Friday and Saturday nights and I remember how you guys sang together at the talent shows in school."
Gabe's eyes moved to Crys's watching her smile crawl across her face.
Yep, they remembered.
"We can pay you fifty and then a five percent portion of the drink tab if that's okay," J.R. continued after seeing the wide open smiles on both their faces.
Gabe was willing to do it for free if Crys would sing with him again. And, from the light shining in her eyes, he thought she'd want to do the same.
"Sure, what day and time?" Gabe asked.
"This Saturday? Six-thirty, seven?" J.R. said and the conversation went back and forth, working through the particulars of set up, sound and stage.
"Cool," J.R. ended as he stood up. "I'll look forward to it. You guys have a picture or anything?"
Gabe looked at Crys and she shrugged.
"Take one now if you need it," Gabe offered and watched as J.R. whipped his phone out.
They were standing, still working with J.R. on the particulars while paying their bill when they heard someone squeal.
"Christ on a cracker," he heard Crys mutter before he felt a body slam into him from the side.
"Gabe!" the voice screeched. He didn't move and tried to glance at the head that was plastered to his chest and then looked to Crys for a clue of who this could be.
But Crys wasn't looking at him. In fact, she had her face turned away before she started moving back to the main part of the restaurant.
Leaving him to deal with whatever it was.
And from the set of Crys's shoulders, it was not a good thing.
"I didn't know you were back in town!" the voice screeched again only now the body attached to the voice was bouncing up and down.
The face tilted up and he saw it was Carmi.
Which completely explained Crys leaving him stranded.
His old high school girlfriend, Carmi. On the cheer squad when he played football and basketball.
She'd called it 'destiny'.
He'd called it 'because she put out'.
"Why didn't you call me?" she demanded, still pressed up against his side and now moving her hands over his t-shirt.
Fuck.
"Stop," he said forcefully and saw her make an over-exaggerated pout, a look that had been cute when she was sixteen. Not so cute on a twenty-four year old.
Gabe, who had kept his arms and hands away from her the entire time she'd been touching him, now firmly unwrapped her, wanting her touch gone.
"Good to see you, Carmi. Got to go," he mumbled, trying to hurry after Crys.
"Wait! Can't we catch up? Talk about old times?" Carmi said, again trying to look cute as she dropped her chin and looked up at him from underneath her lashes.
"No, Carmi." He said firmly while looking at her, since he did not want to be misunderstood in the least.
Carmi was one of the most demanding girls he had ever met and had tried to make Crys's life a living hell when they were together. In fact, Gabe scraped her off when she and her friends refused to leave Crys alone.
She just stood there now, blinking up at him like he was speaking Sanskrit or something.
He didn't even say goodbye as he turned and went back inside, shaking his head at both her and the memory of them together.
The shit a boy would put up with just in the hopes of getting some.
Gabe saw Crys talking to one of the bikers sitting at the bar and started to make his way over to her.
"…only in town until Friday, Crys. Want you in my bed," the broad-shouldered, dickhead at the end was saying to her, holding onto her arm.
"And I said, it ain't going to happen, Steve. Now let go of my arm," Crys instructed, her voice hard.
"Aw, Crys, don't be like th…" the biker named Steve began.
"She said to get your fucking hand off her," Gabe interrupted, pushing himself between them.
"Who the fuck are you, man?" Steve asked half-standing from his barstool.
"Back off, Tarzan," Crys spat, looking around Gabe.
"I'm her man," Gabe said slowly. "Just so you understand, Crys is mine. She has always been mine, will always be mine."
Steve gave Gabe the eye, the kind of look which takes in the opposition as they try to find the biggest weakness.
"Well, pretty boy," Steve drawled settling himself back on the barstool. "Up until this week, she was fucking my brains out."
Gabe crossed his arms on his chest and planted his feet. "I'm thinking that it must've been some pretty short fuck sessions. Do you think you can afford to lose what little brains you've got?"
Steve and his cronies shot straight to their feet.
"Relax, Hellions. Damn," Gabe shook his head again. Who's stupid idea was it to go out to eat? Oh, yeah. Crys. Well, he'd deal with her later. "I was away. Now I'm back. Crys is with me. Got it?"
"This what you want, Baby Girl?" Steve rumbled still eyeing Gabe.
"Exactly what I want, Steve," Crys shot back, moving from Gabe's back to underneath his arm.
"Don't fuck up, kid," Steve warned. "You hurt her, you'll answer to me."
It took all sorts of effort for Gabe not to roll his eyes at the biker. Who the fuck talked like that in this day and age?
Gabe turned, taking Crys with him and headed for the front door. Steve, huh? Same shithead that was on one of the cards that came with her flowers from the hospital?
Dickhead.
But, then,
she was with him tonight and had basically told Steve to fuck off.
They were both smiling as they hit the small parking lot and made their way back to Gabe's truck.
"Goddamn, who'd we piss off that we'd each get an ex in the same fucking place?" Crys asked.
Gabe just shook his head. The coincidence of him running into Carmi and her with Steve was just a little too weird to be believed.
They shared another smile before Gabe fired up his truck.
"You really want to sing with me in public again?" Crys changed the subject as she buckled up without being prompted.
"Baby, I want to do anything I can with you, public or otherwise," Gabe murmured leaning across the seat to kiss her.
"God, Gabe," she moaned when he released her lips.
He put the truck into gear but didn't release the brakes.
"Crys? Did you mean what you said in there, to Steve?" he asked softly, his face pointing straight ahead.
He saw her glance at him and felt his heart start to pick up a faster rhythm when she didn't answer straight away.
"Did you, Gabe?" she finally asked back, just as soft.
He pointed the car to his dad's place which was just up the road from Crys's. He didn't see his dad's truck and knew he was probably out with friends.
With Crys's help he packed up a few clothes and his guitar to take back to her place.
"What? No hanky-panky in my old room?" Gabe asked as she rebuffed his advances again and again.
"What? Get fucked by Gabe at the place where he scored the most?" she grumbled with a frown. "No thanks."
He hoped she wasn't serious, but knew that people made up a lot of shit about both him and Crys.
If he believed half the rumors that had spread about her, she had some secret love child that was the result of a mating between her and an incubus before her junior year.
"Had some girls here before, Crys. You know that. But not as many as people thought," he said softly dropping his mouth to hers.
"Whatever you say, stud," she said softly in her deep voice. The voice that kept his dick on the edge of exploding all night long.
He chuckled and put the truck in gear as they headed back to her place.
Chapter Ten
I saw how much Gabe had packed from his dad's place and knew this wasn't just a simple sleepover for a couple of days.
"Uh, Gabe?"
"Yeah, Kitten?" I could see his face illuminated in the soft glow of the dashboard.
"I meant every word," I said softly, shakily.
"Me, too, Crys," I heard him say just as soft as his hand moved across the bench seat to gently hold mine.
So.
This was new. And hadn't been discussed which gave me an uneasy feeling.
I didn't know if having sex once equaled staying together long term. We had a history. And that history hadn't been so good.
But, since I was giving Gabe another chance, I'd keep it to myself for the moment. But, I was gonna protect myself from getting hurt again.
As we chit chatted during the drive back to my place, my mind was already trying to settle on what and how we would be doing in my big bed later on. The who, where and when was already decided so it was just a matter of time and allowing nature to take its course.
It went quiet for a couple hundred yards.
Both of us wrapped up in our own thoughts.
Gabe pulled into the long driveway and shut off the car. We had forgotten to leave a light burning.
"Any regrets, Kess?" he asked softly in the dark of the truck. I loved it when he called me that. His mom told me he couldn't say his R's for the longest time.
"None, Gay," I said, almost cutting off his question in my hurry to answer.
His hand reached for mine across the bench seat.
I held onto his hand as tightly as my hurt fingers could.
"That thing before," he said. "The towel, your piercings?"
I looked at him, understanding that he was the braver of the two of us. He was finally man enough to let me know that he wanted me and to question my methods.
"Didn't know if you were interested and didn't want to expose myself if you weren't," I admitted, my eyes skittering away from him.
"And do you think I was interested, Crys?" he asked.
"Yeah, Gabe," I breathed, remembering the look in his eyes when he realized there were still more piercings. "You were definitely interested."
"Goddamn, straight," he affirmed opening his car door.
We exited the truck and trudged up to the door using the flashlight app on Gabe's phone.
"So if you were so fucking interested, amigo, then why'd you wait so long?" I asked. Hell, if he could man up, I could put on my big girl panties and put myself out there too.
"I didn't wait, Crys. Sorry if it seemed that way," he said, rubbing my back. "I want you so much, Kitten, I can barely walk. But I want forever."
He leaned in and whispered right next to my ear, "I want you forever, Kess."
I got goosebumps and felt my knees go weak at his words.
Nice words. Pretty words. But as they say, talk is cheap.
I emptied a couple of drawers and pulled out some hangers so he could put away his clothes before making my way to the kitchen to swallow a pain pill and give him some space as he relocated.
He was good with change, which I had a hard time handling. But I still wanted to give him the space he needed to work through this new thing between us.
Probably more to give me the space if I was truthful. Space to protect myself.
Gabe came looking for me, leaning up against the sink, sipping the last of the water from my bottle in the soft glow of the stove's hood light.
His arms bracketed me, his hips leaned against my belly and his cheek met mine as he whispered, "You okay, Kitten?"
"Better than okay. So far and away better than okay, Gabe," I breathed, tilting my mouth up so it was next to his ear.
I felt a stirring of him pressed into my lower belly.
"I want you, Gabe," I whispered. "Want you inside me. Badly."
"Okay, Baby. You'll get me but it won't be bad. It'll never be bad between us," he whispered back.
And I knew he spoke the truth as he saw it.
I wanted to see it that way, but my perspective was obviously from a different angle.
We walked together down the hall and I saw the bedside light on in the bedroom, which he must have used when he unpacked.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and unbuckled my shoes, watching him toe his boots off.
My stomach was full of butterflies.
He was just reaching for his socks when he caught my glance. I saw his face soften and he came to sit next to me.
"Strange?" he asked. He cleared his throat and turned towards me. "Does this feel strange to you?"
I thought for a minute before answering.
"Kind of, but kind of not."
He nodded and looked away. "I know what you mean. Seems like we've been together all our lives. So being together now doesn't feel the same as when you are first getting to know someone."
It was true. I'd known him all my life and we were comfortable with each other.
"But, we haven't been doing this all of our lives, so it does feel kind of strange," I said.
"So, let's do it until it doesn't feel strange anymore," he said softly leaning towards me and capturing my mouth.
I liked his solution.
But I loved the way Gabe kissed.
He always started slow and with a closed mouth, but it wouldn't take him long before he was sucking on my lips. The slight wetness of his sucking enabled our lips to glide against one another and opened the inside of my mouth, allowing the sensitive inner portion to come into play.
Slow and sweet, he'd called it on that long ago afternoon.
I moaned without thinking on just that little bit of mouth play.
He grinned against my lips and I couldn't help but grin back.
&
nbsp; "More?" he asked raising his head a bit.
"Hell, yeah," I breathed.
He tilted his head and I felt his tongue begin to stroke my lips not too soft and not too hard. Which was Gabe's way of asking to come in. I opened my mouth and got lost.
Our tongues played together gently as our arms reached to hold, to bring our bodies closer.
He tilted his head even more as our chests met, invading my mouth and plundering with his tongue.
I moaned again.
"That is the sexiest noise I've ever heard," he murmured. "I hear it in my cock, Kitten."
I felt his words deep inside me as well.
His hands moved to my waist and pushed my t-shirt up and over my head.
"Fuck me," he breathed looking at my chest. "No bra?"
I just smiled softly. From his reaction, I made a mental note to go braless more often.
I reached for his t-shirt and brought it over his head. I dragged my short nails over his chest and swirled them over his flat nipples. I could see the goosebumps on his skin from just that small movement.
He felt so good under my hands. Smooth but furrowed with muscle.
I glanced down and traced the ink of the fire which surrounded his right nipple.
"Let me see the whole dragon," I asked softly.
Gabe raised his right arm and invited me to see most of the design.
"Did you draw the flash for this?" I asked tracing the lines.
"Yeah," he said, turning so I could see his back.
"A two-headed dragon?" I asked moving my fingers over the ink, caressing him with enough pressure not to tickle.
"Don't you get it?" he asked.
I looked closer. Each of the dragon necks, one on the front and the other on his back, had medallions hanging from them. The one on the front had a 'C'. The medallion on the back had a 'G'.
I pulled back and looked at him, remembering. The two headed dragon who shared one heart and roamed the earth. It was a story that his mother read to us time and time again when we were so very little.
I swallowed thickly. He inked us, linked us, permanently on his skin.
"When did you have it done?" I asked, hearing a roughness in my voice.
"Right after your dad's funeral, Kitten," he said softly, lowering his arm.
He turned back and pulled me up to stand between his legs.
Crys And Gabe Page 8
