“Fine, it’s a brilliantly stupid idea. That better, princess?”
Resisting the urge to stomp her feet like a five-year-old, she snapped, “And stop calling me ‘princess.’”
Rolling his eyes, he said in a controlled, toneless voice, “Skylar, the idea you gave, while it has merit, is not feasible and would not be prudent to pursue. Therefore, my answer is: Hell. Fucking. No.” He raised an arrogant brow. “That sophisticated enough for you?”
She drew in a breath. Just blurting out her idea hadn’t been the wisest course of action. Gabe blamed himself for her almost getting shot. Suggesting that they brave the lion’s den as if nothing was wrong had him questioning her sanity.
Her chin set with determination, she ticked off the reasons why it was their best bet to find Kendra. “Think about it, Gabe. We can’t involve the police, because they won’t believe us without proof. LCR still can’t find where the webcam is streaming from. Cole has already admitted that by following William around, he hasn’t uncovered anything worthwhile.” She held out her hand to deliver her final point. “We’re running out of time. The longer we wait, the more Kendra will suffer.”
“Then I’ll go … you stay here.”
She swallowed a soft snort. “You’re not invited and he’s not going to let you in without me. This is an annual event. My family is invited every year. My dad and I are usually the only people in my family to go. William can’t cancel, because it would cause speculation. And he can’t call me and tell me not to come.”
His eyes searing her with heat, Gabe walked slowly toward her. “You’ve thought this through?”
“Yes.”
“And if it means putting yourself in danger?”
“I’m willing to take the risk.”
As Gabe reached her, he took her hand and drew her to him. “I’m not.”
Though his words were still saying no, she saw acceptance in his eyes. He knew this was their best shot, perhaps their only shot, to find something on William. Staying at his home for a long weekend would give them ample time to explore. If he had something there that would incriminate him or help them get information on Kendra, then they would find it.
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he said, “He’ll have people watching us, night and day.”
“There will be over a hundred there at any given time. He may have people watching us, but I’m betting you’ll find some way to create a diversion or two.”
His grin sexy and dangerous at the same time, he nodded. “I might be able to think of something.”
Unable to be this close to him and not kiss him, she stood on her toes and kissed his chin softly. The rasp of his beard stung her lips and Skylar shivered as she remembered last night when he’d buried his face between her legs and the stubble had created the most erotic, pleasurable feeling she’d ever known. She’d woken this morning with stubble burn on the inside of her thighs. And every time she moved, the sensation was a reminder of how delicious it had felt.
“You want me to kiss you?”
“Mmm?”
“You get a look in your eyes when you want me to kiss you,” he said.
“Don’t ask,” she whispered. “Take.”
With a groan, Gabe lowered his head and complied. Covering her mouth with his, he pressed deep, seeking entrance. Skylar opened her mouth and let him in. His tongue thrust hard, then retreated quickly. Skylar groaned and chased his tongue, wanting his taste back in her mouth.
Gabe spoke against her lips, “Slow down, Skye.”
Slow down? She was burning for him. Had years to make up for. Ignoring his words, she grabbed his hair and pulled him back toward her. Gabe resisted.
“Gabe,” she protested softly.
His smile filled with sexual male heat, he held out his hand and said, “Let’s go to bed.”
Holding her hand in his, Gabe led Skye to the bedroom, and for just a brief instant, imagined what life would be like if he could do this every night.
Skye’s smile was shy yet sexy, innocent yet bold. Gabe’s heart floundered for a regular beat. This one woman was the only one who’d ever made him forget how to breathe, how to exist outside of her arms.
Gabe shut the door, closing out the world and everything that told him he was crazy for even entertaining the idea of staying married to the beauty before him. It was a dream … but one he wanted to indulge for as long as possible.
Drawing her close, his mouth grazing hers, he whispered, “Will you do something for me?”
“What?”
“Strip.”
Her eyes widened with just a hint of uncertainty. Then he saw what he wanted to see. The fire … the need to please blended with the intense desire to excite. Hell, little did she know that Skye just breathing excited the hell out of him.
A slow smile spread across her face. Pointing to a chair in the middle of the room, she said, “Sit over there … and watch.”
Gabe was in the chair before she even finished talking. Her husky laughter at his speed spread fire throughout his body and then settled south. He throbbed with an erection so immediate and hard he figured he’d explode before Skye even got her blouse off.
She started with her hair, which was held in a clip at the nape of her neck. Swaying to music only she could hear, she reached up and released the thick mass, allowing it to fall around her shoulders like a dark cloud of satin.
Then her fingers went to her blouse. As she slid each button through its opening, his heart rate quickened. At last the blouse hung loose and Skye’s beauty showed through the sheer lilac bra she wore. Her nipples were hard and distended … already aroused. His mouth watering, Gabe had to grip the arm of the chair to keep from going to her and putting his mouth on the sweet berries.
Her eyes stayed on his as she unzipped the skirt and let it slide slowly down her silken legs and pool at her feet. Gabe groaned as she kicked the skirt away, then in a move that surprised the hell out of him, she tore her blouse off and threw it to him. He caught it with one hand and held it to his face. Skylar. It smelled of his Skye. The most beautiful fragrance in the world.
Still swaying to her own music, she was now clad only in a see-through lilac bra, barely-there matching bikini panties, and her heels. Gabe swallowed hard. An almost nude Skye in heels was a sight to behold. A vision beyond his imaginings. And she knew it. Gone was the shy, innocent look she’d first given him. A sweet, sexy vixen had emerged.
Continuing her dance, a smile of sensuality on her beautiful face, Skye skimmed her hands over her body the way his hands ached to do. Slender fingers ran over her breasts, circled the beautiful, erect nipples pressing against the material of her bra. Nipples he longed to taste. Delicate, slender hands caressed the soft skin at her waist, her taut belly, and then moved lower. Gabe’s heart stopped.
As if she knew exactly where he wanted her hands to go, that sexy mouth tilted as she veered her hands back up. His cock almost burst when he saw the damp evidence of her desire against the cloth of her panties. Skye would be hot, moist … delicious.
Pulling his eyes away from her sex, he watched as her hands moved up to her breasts again. He held his breath as she unclasped the front opening of her bra and, without warning, pulled the bra completely off. Then, as if her hands were her lover’s hands, she caressed her breasts, plumped them up as if in offering and then … and then she tweaked her nipples and closed her eyes on a gasp. Gabe groaned, sure that soon he would fall from his chair to his knees.
Her eyes opened now and locked with his; her hands were on the move again. They smoothed down her sides and hooked her fingers into her panties. Then slowly, surely, she drew them down. Gabe lost sight of her hands. His eyes zeroed in on her sex; he could see moisture … Skye’s essence. He braced himself, ready to come to her, taste her.
She raised her hand and stopped him. “Wait.”
Gabe dropped back into his chair. Probably best anyway. He wasn’t sure his legs would hold him.
Then Skye, h
is lovely, wondrous Skye, began to dance in earnest.
She swayed like a willow in a strong wind, bending and moving in impossible ways but never too far. It was a dance of beauty. A dance of elegance and grace. And it was all for him.
Unable to wait any longer, he growled, “Come here.”
Her smile one he would take to his grave, Skye gracefully walked toward him. Inches from where he sat, she lowered herself to her knees, placed her hands on his thighs, and ran her fingers upward.
His hand went to unzip his pants; her hands were there to stop him. Then, with slow deliberateness, she unzipped his pants and took him out. They both looked down at his cock. Had he ever been this close and not exploded? He was hard … the color almost purple with the pulsing of blood just beneath the surface. And Skye knew it … she knew what she was doing to him. Still wearing that smile of knowledge, she bent forward and swirled her tongue around the crown. Before he could gasp or groan, she opened her mouth and took him in … to her throat.
Unable to stop himself, his hands grasped at her hair and he moved her head back and forth … showing her what to do … what he liked. From the sounds of her moans, she liked it, too.
Gabe pulled his hand away from her head and reached for her breasts. And as Skye sucked and licked, Gabe leaned his head against the back of the chair, closed his eyes, and played with her beautiful breasts.
He waited. The pleasure was immense … unbelievable. He didn’t want it to end…. A red haze of lust built … blazed hotter. Her mouth tightened around him … sucked harder. And then it was too much. He jerked from her mouth; grabbing her under her arms, Gabe picked her up and seated her fully on him. Thrusting upward, he went impossibly deep; they both groaned at the sensation.
She was slick … more turned on than he’d thought. As close to explosion as he was. Holding her hips, he lifted her up and down quicker and quicker. Her eyes locked with his and then, just when he didn’t think he’d live another moment, they exploded together. She milked him and he thrust deep, hard … wanting to reach so deep inside her, she would never leave him, never deny him … always want him. Forever.
Skylar woke to heaven. Wrapped in a cocoon of warmth, she lay on her side and savored the feel of Gabe’s long, hard arms surrounding her. How many nights had she woken from this dream and cried when she realized it wasn’t real? But this was real and she cherished every single second. Gabe’s deep, even breaths told her he was sound asleep. She smiled at the knowledge that she had tired him out.
How she’d gotten the courage to strip in front of him, she would never know. The heat in his expression … that sensual, knowing look he always wore when he looked at her had empowered her. She’d seduced her husband and felt pretty damn good about it.
Never would she have thought she could behave the way she had. But when she saw Gabe’s eyes and his more than obvious arousal, something had been set off inside her, freeing her from all inhibitions. Lightning and dynamite coming together. She’d wanted to turn him on, to please him until he exploded from the pleasure. And he had … several times. As had she.
Despite the glory of being in his arms, doubts assailed her. When this was over, when they found Kendra, what would happen between them? Gabe hadn’t said and Skylar still hadn’t worked up the courage to ask. How did you ask your husband if he’d stay with you when for eight years he apparently hadn’t wanted to?
She loved Gabe. In every way possible. Growling, grumpy, caring, loving, and arrogant. All those traits were Gabe. She recognized that the man he had once been—the idealistic young man she’d adored—was still inside Gabe. And now she had fallen in love with the man he had become. Together they made up the man she would love forever. But how did Gabe feel? She knew he desired her … that was no longer in question. But lust didn’t mean love. He said he hadn’t been with a woman in eight years. A whole lot of lust could build up in eight years. She was living proof of that. But her lust was deeply intertwined with love. Was Gabe’s?
Odd, but in every other area of her life, she had tremendous self-confidence … sometimes to her detriment, since she had a tendency to be overly optimistic. That wasn’t the case with Gabe. Even years ago she’d been unsure and vulnerable with him. Maybe she had realized he had the power to hurt her unlike anyone ever had.
The arms around her tightened as Gabe gave a long, quiet sigh. She smiled at the sound of contentment. Pressing a kiss to his arm, she wiggled her bottom up against him and felt the hardening of his erection against her.
“Be still,” he growled.
“Why?”
“Because that sweet ass of yours distracts the hell out of me.”
“What’s it distracting you from now?”
“Just holding you, Skye … just holding you.”
The emotion in that one sentence was almost more than she could take. Gabe’s feelings were strong. But were they strong enough to overcome the bitterness of his past? The insecurities that hampered him … ones that he would most certainly deny?
She drew in a silent sigh. Gabe had always been so honest, so open, but there was one thing that still weighed heavily on him. One thing he’d never really been able to talk about with her. Could she break that last barrier? Would it help him or hurt him even more? Sending up a silent prayer that she wasn’t doing something she’d regret, she said, “Tell me about Brandon.”
His entire body stiffened instantly and he stopped breathing. Then, just when she thought she had indeed made a major mistake, Gabe released a ragged breath. “I think I told you that Dad married my stepmother when I was four … Brandon was two.” Skylar felt his shoulder shift as he shrugged. “For some reason, from the minute we met, we were brothers. He followed me everywhere and something inside me loved being a big brother … even at that young age.”
“What was he like?”
“The total opposite of me in almost everything.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “Medium height, maybe about five-nine or so, and skinny. We used to laugh at him because he’d shovel food in but never seemed to gain weight. He had reddish blond hair, kind of a fair complexion and freckles. Lots of freckles. And he had a grin that got him out of every bind he ever got in. Everyone loved Brandon. He had a charm about him and the kind of sunny, optimistic attitude that just made you feel better to be around him.”
Tears stung her eyes. Gabe, the dark one, with the serious personality—no wonder he’d felt so responsible for his kid brother. He’d been like a dark guardian … his brother’s protector. And when Brandon died, Gabe felt as though he’d failed him.
“What’s your best memory of him?”
Without hesitation he answered, “His acceptance into Yale.”
More tears came to her eyes … Brandon had never made it to Yale. He’d died under a mountain of coal while his big brother lay beside him trying to keep him alive. That much she knew. Gabe had been able to share a little of the dark stuff. It was the happy memories he’d never been able to speak of.
“What was he going to study?”
Gabe snorted. “Law.”
“Why the snort?”
“Because he was always in so much trouble … nothing bad or anything, just innocent pranks. With that charm of his, he could get out of it so easily. I told him he’d better work for the good side. If he’d defended criminals, the world would be more dangerous than it already is. He would’ve been able to get anybody off.”
“Tell me about that day.”
There was no need to explain what day she meant.
“It was summertime. Brandon was due to leave for college that fall. Both of us hated the mines, but that’s what we did each summer. Dad was a coal miner. All the men in my family had been miners. It’s just what we did.”
“Weren’t you in college by then?”
“Yeah. I was in my second year at UWV, but I was home for the summer. Brandon and I always tried to work as much each summer as we could to help the family out.”
“What happened?”
/>
“A lot of it is a blur. Doctors told me I’d probably never remember it all. We’d been underground for about an hour. Brandon and my dad were working over in another part of the mines, not far from me. I heard Brandon crack a joke … heard my dad’s deep chuckle and then a monstrous thundering sound. Like the entire world had caved in.
“I don’t know how long I was unconscious. I woke up … heard moaning. I managed to crawl toward the sound. It was dark as death. The air had a thick film that burned my eyes, my lungs. I remember gasping, coughing, and wheezing my way toward the sounds. I tried calling their names but no one answered. So I just kept crawling till I stumbled upon a foot. He swallowed hard. It was my dad’s. His lower body was buried, trapped under a giant rock. Brandon was beside him. My dad was unconscious.”
Gabe stopped for a second and Skylar hurt for him. “Brandon was awake … but in pain. God, he was hurting so bad and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do for him. A giant boulder was wedged between us. I could hear him. Couldn’t see him.”
“Weren’t you hurt, too?”
Another shrug. “A few busted ribs, couple of broken bones. Nothing serious. Nothing like Brandon or my dad.”
“Were you able to talk to him?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t stop talking. Afraid that if I stopped, he’d stop living. Stupid, I know, but I couldn’t reach him and thought if the sound of my voice could keep him alive, then he’d damned well hear it forever.”
“And you talked to him for five days?”
“I tried … got hoarse after a couple of days. Lost consciousness a few times.” His voice thickened. “I don’t know when he died. Even though I could barely hear myself, I wouldn’t stop talking. I couldn’t. They said my dad probably died within an hour … he never regained consciousness. The other six, in another part of the mines, died instantly. Brandon.” Another hard swallow. “They did an autopsy on Brandon … told my stepmom when he most likely died. I didn’t want to know. I was his big brother … I should’ve protected him. And in the end, I couldn’t do a damn thing for him except talk.”
No Chance Page 26
