Chase

by Sidney Bristol

  “Eres hermosa.” He spoke against her skin, dragging his mouth down her sternum.

  She curled her toes into the upholstery.

  He called her beautiful.

  Had she told him she’d studied Spanish in the intervening years? It didn’t seem like an important point of conversation in the moment or something she could just work in casually.

  “Do you know what I’m going to do to you?” He stared up at her, a hand on either breast, his lips lightly grazing the valley of flesh between them.

  “No.” It was hard to speak, but she got the word out.

  “Good.”

  He lifted his face to her left breast and sucked the tip into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the tightly furled nipple.

  “Oh.” Nikki groaned and closed her eyes. She couldn’t grasp his short, black hair, so she cupped his head instead, but found herself urging him on, pressing him closer. He gently bit her breast, not hard, just enough for her to suck in a breath and squeeze her thighs shut.

  Gabriel shook off her grasp, lifting his head.

  “Quiero estar dentro de ti.”

  “Yes,” she hissed. It was almost a crime he couldn’t be inside her again. She was glad he was just as impatient about it as she was.

  Gabriel switched breasts, attacking the other with the same amount of passion as the first. His free hand slid down her stomach and unfastened her shorts. She gripped his shoulder, bracing herself for his touch. Instead, he bit her breast. She dug her nails into him and didn’t relax until he released her.

  He chuckled against her skin and shifted, sliding his hand into her panties. She sucked in a breath. He pushed her knees farther apart, making room for his hand.

  “Look at me.”

  She pried her eyes open. The morning light fell on his face, casting him in a golden glow. He slid his fingers through her slit. Her legs and his hand were both trapped by the unforgiving denim. Why were they still wearing clothes again?

  Gabriel lowered his head and kissed her, sweetly. His lips to hers. She curled her arms around his shoulders, melting into this moment. He pressed two fingers inside her. It wasn’t the same as his cock, but it was still him.

  He lifted his head and rocked his hips into her, pushing his fingers deeper.

  “I’m going to do this later.” His voice was low, rough.

  “Promise?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  He kissed her lips and worked his fingers in and out, stroking her inner walls and curling them just right. In a matter of moments she was a boneless, whimpering wreck.

  Gabriel sat up and slid his hand out from her shorts. She almost protested, but he grasped her twisted shorts and panties and pulled them down her legs.

  She could work with that.

  Her shorts joined the rest of her clothes somewhere on the floor.

  He sat back on one leg that was curled under him, the other braced on the ground. He stared at her for a moment and her stomach did flip-flops. Did they need a condom?

  Yes.

  The answer was yes.

  But she wished they didn’t.

  Gabriel’s lids drooped and her heart fluttered in her chest. She gripped the cushion under her head with both hands. The seconds ticked by. Finally, he leaned forward and planted his hands on the cushion between her legs. He’d done this to her before. In fact, he’d taken great pleasure in tormenting her like this. Something about how she lost control.

  He pushed her legs apart, spreading her completely and sinking down to his forearms. There was nothing rushed about the way he moved, but her heart raced.

  Gabriel dipped his fingers into her channel. Unprepared for the intrusion, she gasped. His calloused hands were a completely different sensation from his velvety smooth cock.

  He bent his head and kissed her mound. Thank God she’d splurged on getting her legs and bikini line waxed. Every caress, even the feel of his breath on her skin, was more acute. He spread her folds with his thumbs and kissed her again, more intimately. His tongue traced her seam and her back arched off the couch. All the blood rushed to her extremities, her sex and nipples throbbed.

  She wanted him, so badly. He cupped her bottom, kneading her ass, and thrust his tongue inside her.

  Nikki cried out and shifted her hips. He stroked in and out of her, rubbing the flat of his tongue along the walls of her channel. She rocked into him, riding his face, and he moved with her. There was nothing like the feel of Gabriel inside her.

  She wanted more.

  Gabriel had always urged her to pursue her pleasure in whatever form it took. There was no reason to be shy or afraid with him.

  She let go of the cushion and stretched her hand down to her mound. Her clit throbbed with her pulse, completely untouched save when he had his hand down her pants. She rubbed the hard nub with her thumb in bold, sure strokes.

  Gabriel pushed her hand away and shifted his mouth to her clit. Her eyes snapped open and she stared at the ceiling as he thrust at least two fingers inside her vagina while gently sucking on the bundle of nerves.

  “Oh, my—my—Gabe!”

  Nikki planted one foot on the tile and draped the other over his shoulders. She lifted up and undulated against him, moving in tandem with his fingers. His head bobbed with her, never breaking contact with her clit. She babbled, chanting his name, losing all sense of control.

  The tightness in her abdomen released the very moment she thought she couldn’t take any more. She groaned, her body caught in a cascade of pleasure that went all the way to her toes.

  Gabriel kissed her mound and eased his fingers from her body. She held out her hand and he took it, touching his lips briefly to her palm.

  She loved this man. This amazing, selfless man.

  “I’ll get us some breakfast.” He squeezed her hand and let her go, but she held on.

  As if.

  They might have been apart for four years, but his habits were committed to memory.

  She pulled him toward her and he sat down hard on the cushions. He must still have been partly asleep, because she managed to get him sitting and straddled his lap before he could voice a protest.

  Nikki curled her arms around his neck and kissed him. He tried to talk, to probably point out something sweet. For a man who could kill with one hand, he was surprisingly gentle. Too bad for him he awakened something in her that would not be shut down.

  He grasped her ass with both hands and hauled her closer. Despite coming, she wasn’t done. Okay, she might be done in the orgasm department, but there was a whole other pleasure she got from just being with him. His hands in her hair, their bodies touching.

  She slithered to the floor, dropping out of his grasp. He braced his hands on the cushions, blinking down at her. She smiled and grasped the jeans that were already sliding south.

  “Nikki—”

  “Don’t pretend you don’t want . . .” She fumbled for what to call it.

  “I’m not pretending anything.” He braced his hands on his knees and leaned toward her. “My dick is hard. There isn’t an immediate solution. I’m dealing.”

  “There are other ways.”

  He grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger.

  “You know the only kind of sex I’m interested in.”

  Gabriel was maybe the only man she’d ever met who had zero interest in receiving oral sex. Not that it was high on Nikki’s list of things to do, but for him it would be number one.

  “Then what are you going to do?” she asked.

  “Ignore it. Hope it goes away.”

  She laughed.

  “What? Is my dick funny?” He gestured at the erection tenting his boxers.

  “No, but I know you. That isn’t going anywhere.”

  “What do you suggest, then?”

  “I don’t know. Help you out?” Was she being ridiculous? It was hard to think about the bigger picture instead of the single-minded desire to get him off.

  For a moment they stared at each oth
er. This was crazy, why was she pushing it? Heat crawled up her neck, and she knew he could see her blush. She was too pale for it to not be painfully obvious.

  Gabriel stood, hooked his thumbs in his boxers, and shoved his clothes off. She reached greedily for them, stripping the jeans off his legs. He sat back down, crossing his hands behind himself, and nodded at his erection.

  “Go ahead,” he said.

  Go ahead—what?

  She froze.

  Okay, so her vague plan didn’t exactly cover this, but it was all about what felt good, wasn’t it? Gabriel wanted passion, to feel her, so she’d give him that. She inhaled a breath and slid her palms up and down his legs. The wiry hairs tickled her and grounded her all at once. She leaned forward, letting her breasts brush up against his knees.

  She grasped his cock with both hands. The muscle twitched in her palm. A reassuring sign. She stroked his erection, hand over hand, running her fingers along the bulging vein and under the mushroom cap. At first Gabriel sat impassively watching her, but slowly little tells seeped through. A tensing of his jaw, a slow blink, until he outright groaned.

  There wasn’t enough slide in her grip and she definitely hadn’t come prepared with lube. So she’d use the next best thing.

  Nikki bent her head and licked his stiff flesh, root to tip. It wasn’t a bad taste. Salty, masculine, and distinctly him. She sucked the crown and stroked him, thrilled when he lifted his hips just a tiny bit. He might not like oral, but he liked her.

  She let him go and glanced up. His cheeks were sunk in and his eyes seemed darker, almost black. She leaned toward him and kissed his chest. His erection notched between her breasts.

  There was an idea.

  She pushed her breasts together, capturing his cock between them, and sank down.

  “Fuck,” he muttered.

  She grinned, enjoying the bewildered look on his face. She swiped her thumbs over her nipples as she rose and fell, stroking him with her breasts. He scooted forward, giving her more room to work with and better access. As her skin began to drag unpleasantly across his, she bent her head and took him once more in her mouth, as much of him as she could.

  “Come here,” Gabriel growled.

  He hauled her up onto his lap. She straddled his thighs, his cock jutting up between them. He dug one hand into her hair, twisting it around his palm, and kissed her. She fumbled between them, seeking his hard length. She wrapped her hands around it and stroked. He cupped her ass with his free hand while he devoured her mouth. She ground her hips against his, moving in time with her hands, rising and falling as much as his tight hold on her would allow. He lifted his hips, thrusting into her hold.

  He let go of her hair and cupped her mound, thrusting his fingers inside her. It was so unexpected she gasped. She was a one-hit wonder when it came to orgasms, but it felt so damn good to have him in her, she didn’t care.

  “Oh, yeah,” he muttered.

  The hand on her ass squeezed, changing the angle of his penetration. She groaned as warmth spread through her lower body. He continued to thrust, lifting his hips, their sexes grinding together with his fingers doing amazing things inside her.

  Nikki’s vision hazed and her breath caught.

  “Gabe . . .”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh!”

  The second orgasm caught her completely by surprise. She pitched forward, curling around him as her body went limp.

  He wrapped his hand around hers and guided her, the thrusts growing jerky and uneven.

  “Te amo,” he whispered against her shoulder, so low she doubted he meant for her to hear it. “Te amo muchísimo.”

  He—what?

  Te amo wasn’t exactly hard to understand.

  Stunned, she was hardly aware of the guttural shout, signaling his orgasm.

  He’s just said he loved her.

  He so did not know she spoke Spanish.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Gabriel admired the silhouette of the woman sitting in his passenger seat through the tinted glass. He strode across the gas station lot without fear of getting run over. This early, they were the only patrons, though in an hour or two this place would be bustling with people grabbing a drink or snacks for the beach.

  God, she was something else. Utterly and completely amazing. He pressed the key fob to unlock his door, opened it, and dropped into the driver’s seat. Nikki’d left her dark hair down, and dressed in a bright blue tank top and shorts, she almost looked Miami enough to belong.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  “Yup.” He tossed the plastic bag into her lap, just for the sheer joy of seeing her turn red when she realized what he’d bought.

  He watched her peer at his purchase out of the corner of his eye while he shifted into gear and eased onto the street that would take them straight to the beach.

  “Only three?” she asked.

  Her demure tone surprised a laugh out of him. Well hell, he liked this confident and sexy side of her.

  “I figured that could get us through the morning.” He winked at her.

  Nikki’s eyelids slid shut. She held them closed for a second before opening them again. Was that her version of a count-to-five technique for dealing with him?

  “Where are we going again?”

  Ah, ignoring his teasing. That was okay, they had time to get around to the fun stuff.

  “Miami Beach,” he answered.

  “Why?”

  “Because I think best there. And—breakfast.”

  “Well, all right then.” She placed the bag on the floorboard. “Emery hasn’t been able to track down where Wilson’s people are. All of the images of their vehicles can’t read the license plates, either.”

  “That could be due to anything. Hell, clear gaffer tape works in a pinch to obscure license plates.”

  They pulled into one of the many parking lots along Miami Beach. A food truck was doing brisk business. He parked across the road in the free lot to avoid any kind of bank or paper trail and walked over to the vendor. The cooks offered a variety of breakfast tacos, fruit, and bottled drinks. People in suits waited next to the morning swimmers, a testament to just how good this particular truck’s food really was. They left the tablets and files in the car and, armed with only breakfast and coffee, took to the beach. It was still early enough there weren’t many people out. Good, because he wanted to be able to do a bit of brainstorming while they sat and ate.

  They settled in the sand, far enough away from anyone else that he wouldn’t have to be concerned about eavesdroppers.

  “What does finding out where they’re holed up do for us?” he asked between bites.

  “Tells us where their new base of operations is, it could give us leads to their connections, and it might reveal something about how Wilson has established himself.” She sighed. “There’s some trigger, something that’s happened to Wilson recently that’s the inciting action for all of this. After last night, though, if we can find where they are, we can call in—everyone—and get them stopped.”

  “I’m thinking he already has a secondary place ready. They torched that waterfront property way too quick.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “The water access made it ideal for moving meth to fund this thing. At this point, he doesn’t care about the money—okay, he probably does, but it’s secondary. He might ditch the meth business altogether and focus on his main objective.”

  “Which is hitting an event. That’s my guess based on the profile.”

  “Exactly. I’m willing to bet that whatever he was really working on wasn’t there. It was too open. That’s what’s been bugging me.”

  “I can see that. So, he’s got two places. One where he keeps his expendable people, makes the meth, and deals with people like Hillary and her brother.”

  “Brothers. I don’t know where the others are. One was in that green car at the Shop, which tells me Hillary is more involved than I thought.” And that had dan
gerous complications he didn’t want to deal with.

  “Great. So then what would he have at this second location?”

  “No idea.” He pushed to his feet. “Let’s walk.”

  Gabriel offered Nikki his hand and helped her to her feet. They strolled along the beach for a few minutes, like any normal couple. Of course the majority of people weren’t packing a 9mm on their morning date. Still, this was about as typical as it got for them.

  “It’s pretty here,” she said.

  “I guess.”

  “Is this where you thought you’d end up?”

  “No.”

  “Where did you think you would go?”

  Gabriel hesitated. Should he speak the truth? Or give her a pleasant answer?

  What the hell did he have to lose? He was going to put it all on the line with her, like it or not.

  “I didn’t think things would change. I didn’t expect to go anywhere.” He didn’t look at her, but he could feel her gaze.

  Back then, he’d thought he would be a lifetime FBI agent. They’d end up in different departments, but hopefully in roles that were as nine-to-five as possible so they could have a life together. It was crazy, especially for a guy like him, raised poor on the wrong side of the tracks, but he’d dared to hope for more. And he’d almost had it. Second chances didn’t come very often for people like him. This time, he had to make it count. She had to know just what she meant to him. What he was willing to do for them to last.

  “What should I have done differently?” she asked.

  That was Nikki. Assessing the situation and evaluating to improve her performance. She never shrank from blame, but this wasn’t on her.

  “I don’t know that you should have done anything different. Me? There’s a lot I would have changed looking back.” He glanced at her. “I’d have listened better, for one. You wouldn’t have kicked me out if I hadn’t stacked the deck.”

  “Gabe—”

  “It’s the truth, mi querida. I knew I’d screwed up, but I had no idea how badly until you told me the other day. If I’d been honest with you instead of trying to shield you, maybe we’d be in a different place. I still think I’d have left, but who knows what would have happened to us? Maybe we could have salvaged our relationship? Maybe it wouldn’t have been an end?” Maybe he could have moved in, started that life together. Found a different job. Just like what he was thinking they could do now.