by Claire Adams
Gabrielle’s breathing hitched, then she swatted my arm lightly. “If you distract me, our dinner will burn, and we’ll have to settle for something mediocre. I know how much you like good food, so down boy.” She took the command to my cock right out of my mouth.
Sorry, buddy. Food first. My stomach agreed wholeheartedly.
I smirked. “Just saying hello properly.”
“Yeah well, your hello will have to wait until after we’ve eaten.” She couldn’t hide the flush spreading over her neck where I’d kissed her, despite her outward nonchalance.
A timer went off somewhere in the house, and Gabrielle jumped up, leaving me to survey my surroundings.
Her entertainment area was open, like mine, and led to a green lawn with cacti in pots lining the walls and a sparkling blue pool. Her uncovered blue pool, the dad in me noticed.
“Come and get it,” she called from the kitchen. “If it tastes like shit, just tell me. I haven’t attempted this in a long time. I won’t be offended. I think I may have added too much salt.”
It tasted like heaven. Mrs. W.’s cooking was hearty and comforting, the fancy restaurants that I frequented were great, but neither had anything on the food that I shoveled into my mouth. Gabrielle’s food was on a whole different level. “This is amazing.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and her eyes lit up. “It actually kind of is. I think that I may have done it justice.”
“And then some. Was your mom Spanish?” I knew that her mom was a touchy subject, but the smile that played on her lips told me that she was okay with that line of questioning. Like it brought back fond memories for her.
“No, but she lived there for a few years after college. She always said that she could never get enough of their cuisine.” She sipped on her sangria. “Enough about me. How was Harper’s party?”
That unfamiliar feeling stirred in my stomach again. “It was great, if her exhaustion is anything to go by. They had a bouncy castle and ice cream.”
Gabrielle laughed. “Well, with those two things, there’s no way it could have been anything but amazing.”
“Yeah, that combination will win you the hearts of every kid there every time.” It surprised me how easy it was to talk to Gabrielle about Harper.
We kept talking as we finished our dinner and cleared the table. It was seriously the best meal I’d had in forever.
“So, you going to give me the grand tour?” I gestured to her hallway.
“Okay, so this is the kitchen. That’s the living room. And we just had dinner outside.” The girl loved her some sarcasm. I liked that about her.
I followed her down her hallway, where more personal pictures were tacked to the walls. She pointed out several rooms, but I was distracted by a picture of Richard holding a baby that must’ve been her.
No shit, Sherlock.
There were several others surrounding it. It was clear that her relationship with her father meant more to her than she liked to let on.
“James,” she called from somewhere out of sight. She had disappeared into a room at the end of the hall.
“Yeah, coming.” Hopefully soon.
The bedroom that I followed her into was tastefully decorated, with a four-post bed made up with crisp white sheets and flowing curtains that hung in front of glass sliding doors.
None of that made an impact on me. The only thing that I could absorb was the fact that Gabrielle was standing there in front of her bed.
Stark. Fucking. Naked.
Chapter Eighteen
Gabrielle
James did a double take and froze as he stepped into my bedroom and laid eyes on me.
It was a risk, I knew, but he hadn’t disappointed thus far. I just had to trust that he wouldn’t this time.
A frisson of pleasure ran through me as his eyes widened and his pupils dilated. I loved that I affected him in the way that I did.
Never in a million years would I have expected that the sexiest, most beautiful man that I’d ever laid eyes on would look at me the way he did.
I’d had a good long talk with myself the night before, trying to make sense of the feelings that I started having for him.
Somewhere along the line, he had gone from being a distraction that would piss my father off to no end, to the guy who had my heart skipping a beat with every touch. The man that made me smile every time my phone displayed his name. The man who could make an ache rise between my thighs with one look.
Exactly like the look he was giving me as he moved towards me. My entire body hummed as he kept my eyes locked on his and stalked me with powerful grace.
“Don’t ever stop surprising me like this,” he growled before he wrapped his strong arms around me and kissed me like he meant it. I had every intention of obeying his order.
His kiss lit me up, and heat spread through my body, causing my nerve endings to spark and come alive. He devoured me like I was the answer to every secret that the universe held. I held nothing back from him.
I was putty in his very capable hands. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and I pushed my chest against his. My hands tugged at his hair, and he grabbed my ass, lifting me against him. His hands moved to my thighs. He broke our kiss and ran his lips down my neck.
My hands trailed down his sculpted back until suddenly I was on mine, sinking into my mattress with his glorious weight pressing into me. He nibbled at my collarbone before tugging his shirt over his head, letting it fall to the floor. Then his lips found mine.
We were skin to skin as he crawled over me. It felt incredible. His hands traveled to my thighs, and he squeezed them with delicious pressure.
His tongue traced the shell of my ear and moved down, finding places that I didn’t even know were sensitive. He had a way of doing that. It was like he knew my body better than I did.
His head dipped to my shoulder as he slid down my body, trailing kisses over my chest, down to my bare stomach.
My hips moved of their own accord. He played my body as well as the sport that he was the star of.
My hips brushed his erection, and a soft moan escaped my lips. He groaned at the contact, kissing the underside of my breast, then clamped his warm mouth over one hardened nipple.
I sucked in a deep breath and arched into his mouth, craving more. I would never get used to that feeling.
My fingers dug into his shoulders; then it was his hips. Anything that could anchor me as the intense sensations threatened to take over. He moved to the other breast, his hands moving from my thighs to my hips to my neck.
It was the first time we could explore one another. Take our time. It was clear that he intended on doing exactly that.
The way he touched me made me feel like he was worshipping me, adoring me. I pulled at his hair, and he looked up into my eyes as he flicked his tongue over my nipple.
He crawled up and brought his lips to mine in a searing kiss. The bed, the room, and the world fell away. There was only James. Only the fire burning in his eyes and his hands on my body.
Our legs tangled together. His jeans were rough against my skin. He needed to be out of them. I needed him naked. I needed us to be truly skin to skin for the first time.
I twisted my legs, and he rolled us over, giving in to my silent demand. Our kiss didn’t break until he felt my hands at the waistline of his jeans.
His breathing was heavy as I slid down his body, tugging at his button until it popped open and unzipping his zipper.
His eyes never left mine as he lifted his hips helpfully and allowed me to slide his jeans off, along with his black briefs.
James was finally gloriously and completely naked. On my bed. My breath caught. He was beautiful.
I couldn’t wait to explore every inch of his perfect body. I planted his hips between my knees.
His hands flexed on my thighs as I explored the hard lines of his chest and his abs. His eyes darkened as I traced his hip bones and twisted my fingers into the tuft of soft hair under his belly button.
Finally, I allowed myself to move to his erection. I took hold of its base with one hand and stroked its length with the other.
“Fuck, Gabbi,” he moaned, arching his hips as his fingers tightened on my thighs.
I ran my fingers over the head of his cock. The muscles in his stomach tensed, and he groaned.
It was a heady feeling, having him losing control underneath me. Because of me. It was intoxicating.
My hands moved over him again, eliciting another groan. I was fascinated by how hard he was, yet his skin was so soft. Like steel sheathed in velvet.
I looked up to find his eyes closed. His throat worked, and his muscles tightened with restraint. Seeing him like that sent an ache shooting straight through me.
He allowed me one more stroke before his eyes snapped open, and he rolled us over so that my back was against the bed again.
“Enough,” he growled. His voice was low as he spoke against my mouth. “Can’t have you pushing me closer to the edge than that.”
“How close would that be?” My heart hammered in my ears as he pressed kisses to the tops of my breasts.
“Too close.” His hands moved on my thighs, stroking their way up slowly. Too slowly.
“What if I enjoy testing your limits?” Rational thought fled from my mind as he kissed me.
“Do you?” he asked between kisses. One of his hands tunneled into my hair.
“Do I what?” For the life of me, I couldn’t remember what he’d asked me.
He licked and sucked at the skin on my neck, and I arched my hips. The hand that stroked my thigh needed to be on me. “Enjoy testing my limits.”
“Yes,” I moaned. His erection pressed against my stomach, hot and heavy. I lost my train of thought.
“Why?” he asked. His hand danced up my side.
Why was it moving away from where I needed it to be?
My hips strained against his. I needed friction. Any friction. He drew away just enough to deny it.
“James,” I pleaded.
Suddenly, his palm pressed to my sex. “Damn, you’re soaked.”
His eyes fluttered closed. I should’ve been embarrassed, but as always when I was with James, I couldn’t bring myself to feel anything but desperation. If he didn’t touch me soon, I wouldn’t be accountable for my actions.
“If you want me to touch you, you’re going to have to tell me why you enjoy testing me.” His finger grazed my clit. I nearly combusted.
I bucked my hips against his hand, but he moved with me. He wasn’t going to budge on this.
Okay, damn. If he was going to insist on an answer, I had to force myself to focus. It took everything I had. “Because a guy like you shouldn’t want a girl like me. I can’t believe that I can affect you like that.”
His hands moved swiftly to my ass, and he tugged me against him. His cock pressed right where I needed him to be. I moaned.
“You are fucking exquisite, Gabrielle. Never doubt that.” He rubbed his rock-hard shaft against me. “Feel that. That is how much you affect me. Even when I’m not around you, if I think about you, I’m hard. So hard that it fucking hurts.”
He punctuated each word with a glide of his shaft against my seam. His head hit my clit over and over again. Thoughts scattered from my mind, being flung to four corners of the globe at the sensations. Already, the tension was building, but it wasn’t enough. I needed more.
“But—” I started.
His hips kept moving as he punctuated his next words with kisses. “No, Gabrielle. This.” Kiss. “Is what you do to me.” Kiss. “You’re fucking beautiful.” Kiss. “You’re the sexiest fucking girl I’ve ever met.”
He made me feel beautiful as he worshipped my body, claiming my mouth with possessive, hungry kisses.
“Are you on birth control?” he groaned against my ear, his breathing coming in ragged pants.
What? He wants to go bare? “Yes.”
“I’m clean. We get tested all the time.” He shifted between my legs, positioning himself at my entrance.
“So am I.”
“Thank God. I need to get inside that tight pussy of yours right fucking now. You okay with that?”
“Please.” I was not beyond begging if that was what it took. There was nothing in the world that I wanted more than to feel him inside me with nothing between us.
He gripped the back of my neck with one hand and looked deeply into my eyes. Then he thrust home.
We both cried out.
He began to move with sure, steady strokes that hit exactly where I needed them. His hips kept a perfect rhythm, and his muscles locked as he kept moving. Stroking me higher and higher until I felt the edge approaching.
“Fuck, Gabbi. You’re so perfect. So fucking tight. So wet. It’s like you were made for me.” His mouth pushed me closer to the edge as I rocked against him, meeting his thrusts as he reached down and pressed his thumb against my clit.
“Let me feel you come for me, Gabrielle.” His eyes begged me as he rubbed his thumb in a circle, increasing the pressure until it was so perfect that I flew over the edge in a flash of beautiful white light.
My fingers dug into his hips as I screamed his name, riding out waves of the most intense pleasure that I’d ever felt.
I felt him tense above me, in me as he let out a long, low groan and growled my name and came inside me.
He held me until our breathing calmed and our heart rates returned to normal. Then he rolled off me, taking me with him and pulling me flush against his side. My head rested on his outstretched arm as his eyes raked over me.
My eyelids felt heavy. I’d never felt so exhausted or so alive in my life.
“You okay?” Always so attentive. He tangled his hand in my hair and wrapped both arms around me.
“I’m fine.” I burrowed into his chest, tracing the lines that my fingertips found there. “I think you wore me out pretty good.”
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “You complaining?”
“Never, I’m just warning you that I might fall asleep.” I stifled a yawn. My limbs felt like jelly, and a feeling of deep relaxation had settled over me.
Sex with him had been explosive and delicious from day one, the best I’d ever had by leaps and bounds, but that night felt different. Better. More intense. I didn’t know what it was, but it felt like something had changed.
“I should probably get going soon, then.” His muscles flexed as if he was preparing to move.
“Or you could stay,” Please say yes.
I suddenly wanted nothing more than to fall asleep with his heart beating in my ear and his strong arms wrapped around me. I wanted to wake up to him with sleepy eyes and tousled hair.
“Yeah? I’d like that.” His hand snaked to my bedside lamp, and he flicked it off. Moonlight filtered in through the open window. I studied his profile as his chest rose and fell. He looked down at me, a small smile playing on his lips. Not his usual confident smirk.
“Goodnight, Gabrielle,” he said against my hair, his voice low and growing sleepy.
I lay there studying his profile for another long moment, memorizing every plane of his face. Then, it hit me. I knew what had changed.
I was falling for James. Hard. And I had absolutely no idea if he was going to catch me.
Chapter Nineteen
James
“No way!” Gabrielle exclaimed from the other end of the line. “We are not doing that.”
I was trying to convince her to go tandem skydiving with me later on that week. “Come on, Gabbi,” I said into the phone. “It’s been a long time since I’ve gone. No one ever wants to come with me, and it's only half as fun when there’s no one with me to experience the epic adrenaline rush. I’ll make it worth your while. I can think of at least a dozen places there where we can—”
“James Skye. Do not finish that sentence. First of all, I come with you plenty.” I couldn’t even believe that she was teasing about that. “Secondly, you can go jump out of a perfectl
y functioning plane by yourself and share the epic adrenaline rush with me after.”
“Don’t give that ‘perfectly functioning plane’ bullshit,” I argued, grabbing my gym bag and heading in to meet Ryder for our daily workout. “The only people who think about it that way are people who have never experienced it.”
“I haven’t, and I absolutely do not want to.” She wasn’t giving an inch on this one. She turned me down without a second’s hesitation, no matter how much I asked.
I shouldered my way through the swinging doors and turned to the locker room. “Jamie!” Ryder called from the weights section.
“Do me a favor and just think about it,” I said. “Read some blogs or something.” I made my way across the floor to Ryder.
“I have thought about it. There are so many things that I’m willing to try, as you well know. But I will not do that.”
“What if I promise to hold you tight and keep you safe?” Ryder’s eyes grew wide as he overheard the offer. Fuck.
“Oh God,” she groaned. “Do you honestly think that a cheesy line is going to get me to jump out of a plane? You have much to learn, young Padawan.”
“Nope, didn’t think it would work, but I had to give it a try. And I know plenty, I’ll have you know. I’m just desperate.” Ryder eyed me curiously. I had to get off the phone. He was never going to let it go as things were. I didn’t need to give him more ammunition.
She laughed. “Please, you’ve never been desperate for a day in your life.”
“That might have been true, until today. Look, I gotta go. We still on for tonight? We can talk about it then.” I avoided Ryder’s piercing gaze.
“Yes, we’re on for hanging out tonight. I’ll meet you at the beach at 9? But only if we don’t keep talking about it then.” A teammate had told me about a little Spanish place that I knew Gabrielle was going to love.
“We’ll see about that. Have fun studying.” I ended the call and threw my phone into my bag.
“What’s up, man?” I slapped Ryder’s palm.
He tilted his head as he studied me. “Who was that?”
